Download ChineseDynasties600 1450

Chinese Dynasties of Unit 2
Unit 2: 600CE - 1450CE
Chinese Dynasties
Sui
Tang
Song
Chinese Dynasties
From beginning to end…
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Xia Dynasty 1994 BCE - 1766 BCE
Shang Dynasty 1766 BCE - 1027 BCE
Zhou Dynasty 1122 BCE -256 BCE
Qin Dynasty 221 BCE - 206 BCE
Early Han Dynasty 206 BCE - 9 AD
Xin Dynasty 9 AD - 24 AD
Later Han Dynasty 25 AD - 220 AD
Three Kingdoms - Period of Disunion 220 AD - 280 AD
Sui Dynasty 589 AD - 618 AD
Tang Dynasty 618 AD - 907 AD
Sung Dynasty 969 AD - 1279 AD
Yuan Dyansty 1279 AD - 1368 AD
Ming Dynasty 1368 AD - 1644 AD
Manchu or Qing Dynasty 1644 AD - 1912 AD
Let’s Sing!
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han
Sui, Tang, Song
Sui, Tang, Song
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic
Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong
Post-Han China
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Period of the Six Dynasties (220-589CE)
– Bureaucracy collapsed
– Buddhism gained strength, replacing
Confucianism
– Non-Chinese nomads rule much Chinese
territory
Sui Dynasty (589-618CE)
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Established by
Wendi
– Lowered taxes
– Established
granaries – stable,
cheap food supply
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Sui Dynasty (589-618CE)
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Yangdi replaced his father, Wendi
– Brought scholar-gentry back into the
administration
– Expensive construction
 New capital at Loyang
 Canals to link the empire
– Failed to conquer Korea and then defeated
by Turkic nomads, led to widespread
revolts
– Assassinated in 618CE
Tang Dynasty (618-907CE)
Li Yuan won control
of China
 Tang armies extend
to Afghanistan,
dominating nomads
on boarders
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– Used Turkic nomads in
military, assimilate into
Chinese culture
– Great Wall is repaired
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Tang Dynasty (618-907CE)
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Rebuilt Bureaucracy
– Confucian ideology restored
– Political authority shared by imperial families
and scholar-gentry bureaucrats
– Examination System
 Training in Confucian classics and Chinese
literature
 Some commoners could rise to high levels, but still
dominated by prominent families
Tang Dynasty (618-907CE)
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Religion
– Confucians and Daoists opposed Buddhist growth
 Open persecution – monasteries destroyed, taxation
 Confucianism re-emerged as central Chinese ideology
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Decline of the Tang
– Weak leadership
– Nomadic frontier peoples and regional governors gain
influence
– Worsening economic conditions lead to revolts
Song Dynasty (969-1279CE)
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Taizu reunited China under the Song
– Failed to defeat border nomads – sets legacy
of weakness
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Politics
– Not as strong politically or militarily as the
Tang
– Strong support of Confucian values
 Neo-Confucianism – emphasis on high morality,
hostility to foreign influence, stress on tradition
(stifled innovation), authority of men
Song Dynasty (969-1279CE)
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Decline
– Nomads on the borders
– Neo-Confucianism weakens the military
– Poor leadership
– Mongols – eventually invade Song China
Legacies – Tang and Song
Grand Canal – under Yangdi (Sui) and other canals continue
 Commercial Expansion – Silk Road, maritime trade,
increased urban centers
 Agricultural Production – continued to increase
 Family – male-dominated households continue and increase
with Song (note foot-binding), Neo-Confucianism
contributed to deterioration of status of women
 Technology – tools, weapons, paper money, compass,
paper, printing
 Art – artwork, poetry (Li Bo) – celebrating the natural world
 Bureaucracy was re-established
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Women vs. Men:
Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism
Roles of women and men
 Foot binding
 Wang Anshi’s reforms of the 11th Century
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– 1085 – Wang dies
– Reforms are reversed in Song Dynasty