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Imperial China
Unit 11
Previously in China
 Zhou
ruled China since the
early 1100s BCE, declined
around 400 BCE and began
the warring states period.
 Warring states period: several
small states battling for
control.
 Qin (CHIN) rose to power on
China’s western frontier.
 Chinese historian: swallowing
them up “as a silkworm
devours a mulberry leaf”.
The Qin Dynasty
 In
221 BCE the last rival fell and the Qin
become the first dynasty to unify Chinese
empire.
 Qin Shi Huang China’s 1st Emperor.
 Made sense out of the chaos.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aePjTY
VKHuA
Harsh Qin Rule
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Two advisors: Hanfeizi and Li Si
Founded the school of legalism (taught
that a powerful and efficient government
was key to maintaining order and control
over an empire)
Reject Confucianism
Rulers should be strong and govern
through force b/c people were naturally
bad
Built a strong centralized government
Took the land of rival nobles and forced
them to move to his capital.
Confiscated all personal weapons and
Suppressed criticism (burned books)
divided China into 36 districts
The Qin Dynasty
Qin Reforms
 Policies unified and strengthened China
 Standardized laws, writing, coins and weights and
measures
 Other: building projects, improved irrigation system,
roads and canals (taxes and forced labor)
Qin Growth and Defense
 Fierce tribal nomadic warriors to the north.
 Built the Great Wall of China for defensive purposes.
(later lengthened and rebuilt)
 Fought armies to the south and subdued them as far as
Vietnam.
Qin dynasty crumbled after Shi Huangdi’s death
 Peasants and nobles rebelled
 Liu Bang defeated the Qin forces and founded the Han
dynasty
The Han Dynasty
 Ruled
from 206 BC to AD 220
 Model for later dynasties
 The main population of China still calls
itself the Han people.
Restoring Control
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Ruled with the
mandates of heaven
Softened the harsh
policies and lowered
taxes
Practical and effective
ruler
Brought back
Confucianism
Liu Band had no
education
Appointed confusion
scholars to advise
him.
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also maintained some Legalist
policies
Continued strong centralized
government
Expanded the bureaucracy:
an organized a body of
appointed officials who
oversaw the government
Empress
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Liu Band died and one of his wives took control
while her son was too young to rule.
 The son died and she put numerous infants
named emperor to maintain power
 Empress Lu died in 180 BCE and officials and
princes had the entire Lu family murdered.
 This often became common in Chinese courts
and made it difficult to rule effectivly
The Greatest Han Emperor
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Wudi ruled from 141 to 87 BC
 Greatest of all Han rulers
 Promoted economic growth, new roads and
canals, monopolies (salt, iron, alcohol, silk)
 Took away land from large landowners and
placed limits on merchants to decrease their
power.
 Confucianism became the government
philosophy
 Developed a civil service system (candidates
for government jobs had to pass an exam in
the Confucian classics)
 Only the wealthy could afford schooling and
wealthy remained in power
Expansion under Wudi
 Known
as the Martial Emperor (for
expanding the empire by force.
 Threat: Xiongnu nomands (lived in
the grasslands, horse skills and
fierce warriors)
 Gifts and marriages to keep
peace but had to use force to
protect China from raids
 Military colonized parts of Korea,
Manchuria, Vietnam and Central
Asia ( established trade routes
with markets as far as the Roman
Empire.)
Han Decline
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Crisis in 9 CE when Wang Mang (rebel) seized
throne
AD 25 Han regained control of throne and
started the Later Han dynasty
Problems: weak rulers and gap b/t rich and poor
(taxes rose to cover costs, people lost land, less
people to tax, taxes rose more)
Revolt in 184 by the Yellow Turbans (Daoists)
which threw the empire into chaos.
led to warlords taking over and the Period of
Disunion began(lasted for 350 years)
Resources, The Silk Road,
and the Poor
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Arable land and climate of China made rice
growth capable,
rice is a labor-intensive crop causing large
portions of the population [think 90% of the
people] were locked into the peasantry.
Chinese had natural resources like jade and silk
that are highly scarce and in high demand.
only a limited number of artisan and merchant
jobs could be sustained
even with the wealth which flowed into China
along the Silk Road most members of ancient
Chinese civilization continued to be peasants.
Trade
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Basis of economy: agriculture
Han Products
 Ironwork: armor and swords
 Artisans: pottery, jade, bronze objects and
lacquerware
 Prized product: silk
Growth of Trade
 Zhang Qian: tales led to increase of trade
 Silk Road
Han Society
Family Life
 Family was central to the well-being of the state
 Father (head/authority), Filial Piety: children
obey parents & grandparents/take care of them)
 Women: few privileges, low status, little
education, didn’t own property, obey husbands
and mother-in-laws
 Older women did at times become the head of
households.
 Ban Zhao a woman famous scholar and writer.
 Valued sons over daughters
Han Society
Social Structure
 Social structure: emperor, upper class
(palace court, nobles, government leaders,
officials and scholars), peasants (largest),
artisans/merchants, slaves
Han Achievements
The Arts
 Building: palaces and towers
 Made: ceramic and bronze figurines, jade
carvings and silk cloth with patterns, paintings
(Buddhist art), poetry (Sima Qian)
Science and Technology
 Inventions
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paper!
Farming: plow and wheelbarrow
Science: seismograph (earthquakes)
Medicine: acupuncture
Other: compass, sundial, water mill, rudder, Movable
Sails, watertight compartments for ship's hulls,
Mechanical Clock, Abacus, and more!
Disunion
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Nomads invaded northern China and formed
their own kingdom.
Many fled this area to the south (Yangzi River).
A number of dynasties rose and fell in the south.
The nomads in the north started to adopt
aspects of Chinese civilization.
Northerners who fled culture also diffused into
southern China as well
Growth in the arts and philosophy.
Buddhism mostly grew at this time.
Sui Dynasty (Sway)
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Wendi or Yang Jian founded the new dynasty and reunified China.
 Modeled after the older dynasties.
 All adult males given land.
 The Dynasty is responsible for the Grand Canal that
linked northern and southern China. (more easily access
resources)
 Forced peasants to work on canal and thousands died in
the process.
 Poor conditions with the canal and failed military
campaigns started rebellions.
 The last ruler was assassinated and the dynasty fell.
Tang Dynasty
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A Sui general takes control and forms the Tang
Dynasty. Ruled 618-907
Strong central government and bureaucracy.
Had two capital's Chang’an and Luoyang.
Expanded civil service entrance exams (passing
written exams)
Flexible law codes (a model in Korea and Japan.
Golden Age!
Tang cont.
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Significantly expanded China and its influence.
Regained western lands in Central Asia and
influence over other states like Korea and
contact with Japan increased (they sent
scholars).
New contact with new states and cultures helped
spread trade and strengthen their economy.
Buddhism well established even emperors were
Buddhist. Missionaries were sent to other Asian
lands.
Age of Buddhism 400-845 until its popularity was
seen as a threat.
A campaign was started to hurt it and they burnt
texts.
Buddhism survived but combined with Daoism
and Confuscianism.
Tang Emperors
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Much expanshion
occurred during
Taizong’s (TY-tzoong)
rule.
 Ministers helped him
govern.
 Military conquests
 Built schools to help
with civil service exams.
 New emperor was sick
and his wife Wu Zhao
gained power
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Ruled through sons
until taking all power
for her self.
First woman to have
the title. (Empress)
Xuanzong (SHOO-ANtoong) then took the
reigns and the empire
prospered and
flourished the most
during his time. 712756
Tang Decline
 Began
decline in the 750’s after putting
down a rebellion.
 Military defeats cost them land in Central
Asia and in the north.
 Nomadic invasions and rebellions over tax
increases cause further problems.
 A powerful general kills the last Tang
emperor in 907, the dynasty ends. China
becomes split again.
The Song Dynasty
 Reunified
in 960 with the Song Dynasty
until 1279.
 Also brought a Golden Age of many
achievements.
 China became the most advanced
civilization in the world.
Government and the civil service
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Brought back a strong centralized government
and enlarged the bureaucracy to manage the
empire.
Revised the civil service exams grasping more
the Confucianism.
Neo-Confucianism (new Confucianism): ideas
from Confucius and spiritual matters.
Hard to pass, those that did were scholarofficials- an elite educated class.
Open to ordinary people.
Decline and the Southern Song
 Never
regained lands to the west and
north.
 Afraid of the nomads to the north they tried
to please the nomads with gifts.
 1120’s the nomads called the Jurchen
conquered China and started the Jin
Empire.
 Song dynasty did continue is south Chine
for 150 more years.
Cultural Achievements
Literature and Art
 Du Fu wrote poems and Confucian ideals or the horrors of
war. Tang
 Li Bo wrote poems about friendship, nature, solitude, and
the joys of life. Tang
 Wu Daozi (Dow-tzee) painted murals of Buddhism and
nature. Tang
 Song artists focused on the beauty of nature.
 Song artisan excelled at porcelain: type of ceramic that was
sought for all over the world. (also called china)
 Pagoda: multistoried Buddhist temples with curved roofs at
the corners and had a roof at each floor was inspired by
Indian Buddhist temples.
Cultural Achievements
Inventions and Innovations
 led the world in technology and science.
 Gunpowder: mostly used for fireworks and
building projects but as it spread it began to be
used with weapons.
 Magnetic compass, woodblock printing (Tang)
and Movable Type (song), and Paper Money.
 These inventions would revolutionize they way
things were done and would change the world
forever.
Prosperity and Society
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New advancements in agriculture: new irrigation
systems, fast ripening rice, and faster production
of cotton and tea.
Led to a population growth: Tang 70 million
people, Song nearly 100 million people. Most
populous country in the world at the time.
Trade expanded with this and improvements in
roads and canals.
Traded to med. Sea with silk road and by sea
with Korea and Japan.
Sea trade became important and had many
advances in sailing.
Economy grew strong and money and banking
system developed.
City life, Society, and Women
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Cities began to grow with increased trade, especially
port cities.
 Entertainment districts grew.
 Had the largest cities in the world but most still lived in
the country.
 Aristocrat power declined while a new class the gentry
rose.
 Gentry: scholar-officials, and leading landowners.
 Most were peasants: farmed, paid most of the taxes,
little to no school.
 Women status declined (encouraged to stay at home)
and a desire for small dainty feet began (foot binding)
 Made women immobile and showed male dominance.
The Mongol Empire
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In 1200’s a nomadic
people called the
Mongols from Central
Asia conquer China and
create the largest land
empire in history.
Steppe or grasslands with
little resources relied on
herding animals for their
needs.
Traded for what they
lacked or took it.
Like the Huns and the
Turks they come from this
land to conquer.
The Mongol Empire
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Skilled with horses and learned
to ride at an early age.
Used to living in harsh
environments with scarce
resource.
Tough and fierce warriors.
Not united but separate clans
led by a chief or Khan.
Temujin conquered his rivals
and united the clans in 1206.
He takes the name Genghis
Khan “Universal Ruler”
Building an Empire
 Military
strategies: mobile, strikes quickly,
brutality, psychological warfare, organized,
strict discipline, complete loyalty, rewards.
 Conquers most of Asia learning siege
warfare and gunpowder which helped
further conquest.
 Genghis Khan dies in 1227, tells his sons
to conquer the world.
Mongol Empire Divides
 Divides
empire into 4 regions or Khanates
with an heir ruling each but the Great
Khan ruled over all.
 Grandson kublai Khan resumes conquest.
 Was going to invade western Europe until
they heard of the Great Khans death.
The Yuan Dynasty
 Kublai
Khan only really had
power of The Great Khanate
region.
 1279 he finally beat the
Song Dynasty.
 He created the Yuan
Dynasty declaring himself
Emperor.
 1st foreign ruler of China.
Yuan Cont.
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Chinese thought they
were rude and
uncivilized.
 Did not force ways
onto Chinese but
adopted aspects of
their culture giving his
dynasty a Chinese
name.
 Also moved his
capital to where
modern Beijing is,
Chinese styled
ceremonies, palaces,
and ruled as a
Chinese emperor.
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Did not want Mongol
identity lost.
Mongols lived apart
from Chinese.
Friendships were
discouraged.
Forbidden to
intermarry.
Had different laws
and taxes.
Chinese not allowed
to have weapons or
be in the military.
Yuan cont.
 While
leaving much of the government in
place, Chinese could not hold high places
in office.
 Put other foreigners in place.
 Chinese taxed heavily.
 Money went to building roads and
extending the Grand Canal to the capital.
 Soldiers placed around empire to keep
peace and prevent rebellions.
The Mongol Peace
 Brutal
in the building of but ruled it
peacefully.
 Tolerated local beliefs and ways of life.
 Allowed local rulers to stay in power as
long as they pay tribute.
 Adopted aspects of the more civilized
cultures they conquered. (adopted Islam)
 Pax Mongolia “monol peace”
The Mongol Peace
 Guarded
the silk road and other trade
routes, that protection= trade increase.
 Chinese inventions spread world wide.
 Built enormous ships to improve trade
across seas.
 Welcomed foreign merchants to China’s
ports and offered them special privileges.
 Traders from S.E.A., India, and Europe
came to China including Marco Polo
Marco Polo In China
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An Italian trader from Venice.
Visited Yuan court with his father.
Kublai Khan liked him and sent him on many
missions in China and abroad.
During a battle was captured and told his tales to
his inmate.
They were written down and published.
Europeans became fascinated by the stories of
China.
Skeptics wonder if the stories were real.
End of the Yuan Dynasty
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Began to weaken after several failed military campaigns
into South East Asia and Japan.
 Large amounts spent on public-works projects had
weakened the economy.
 + resentment towards Mongols left conditions for
rebellion.
 1294 Kublai Khan died leaving power struggles and
weak leadership.
 Natural flooding disasters and increase taxes.
 1300’s many rebel groups, one army wins in 1368.
 Mongols leave China to Manchuria and foreign rule
ends.