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China: Reunification, Achievement, and the Status of Women
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“Despite almost 400 years of imperial fragmentation, many elements of Chinese unity
were potentially at hand: language, ideology, and culture that even China’s conquerors
were assimilated to it. To reunite the empire required the restoration of military power,
economic productivity, and administrative integration. The Sui dynasty (581-618)
provided all three. The Sui dynasty was founded by the Emperor Wen, a general from one
of the northern Chinese states, who usurped power in his own state and then succeeded in
conquering and unifying all of inner China… A powerful crossbow, protective body armor,
and constant drills made his troops a formidable fighting force.
Ideologically, the first Sui emperor employed a combination of Confucian, Daoist, and
Buddhist symbolism and practice to win popular loyalty. Administratively, he centralized
authority, eliminating a layer of local administrators and transferring their own appointees
from one jurisdiction to another every three years to prevent them from establishing their
own local power base… Economically, the Sui dynasty completed the Grand Canal from
Hangzhou in the south to Luoyang in the center. The canal linked the Yangzi and Yellow
River systems, and extensions connected it to the rebuilt capital in Chang’an and, later, to
Beijing. The canal provided for the transportation of the agricultural produce of the
rapidly developing south to the political-military centers of the north.
The expense of mobilizing and dispatching imperial troops and administrators on their
far-flung missions depleted the treasury of the Sui dynasty. The Grand Canal produced
many economic benefits, but it cost dearly in manpower. Built in seven years, the canal
required the labor of 5.5. million people…Finally, the leading general of the Sui seized
control of the state and under the imperial name Gaozu established the Tang dynasty in
618 C.E.” ~ The World’s History
1- What happened in China after the collapse of the Han dynasty?
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2- What “united” the Chinese in the midst of 400 years of imperial fragmentation?
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3- What was required to reunite the empire?
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4- Who was the founder of the Sui Dynasty and how did he reunite China?
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5- What philosophies did the founder of the Sui Dynasty incorporate into his rule?
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6- How did the founder of the Sui Dynasty ensure that his authority was centralized?
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7- What did the Grand Canal link and why was it economically significant?
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8- What depleted the treasury of the Sui Dynasty?
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9- How did the Sui Dynasty finally collapse?
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I.
A.
B.
C.
The Collapse of the Han Dynasty
Around 220 C.E.  more than three centuries of political fragmentation
Incursion of northern nomads, many of whom adopted Chinese customs
Disunity considered unnatural and weakened Confucianism’s hold on
Chinagreater acceptance of Buddhism and Daoism among elite
D. Unlike fall of the western Roman Empire where political fragmentation proved a
permanent condition, China regained unity under the Sui dynasty
II. Sui Dynasty (581-618)
A. Vast extension of the country’s canal system, stretching some 1,200 miles
1. Canals linked northern and southern China (Grand Canal)
B. But ruthlessness of Sui emperors and a futile military campaign to conquer Korea
exhausted the state’s resources and alienated people
C. Tang (618-907) and the Song (960-1279) dynasties followed
III. Tang and Song Dynasties
A. Established patterns of Chinese life that endured into the twentieth century
B. “Golden Age” of arts and literature
C. Explosion of scholarship gave rise to Neo-Confucianism, reviving it while
incorporating some insights from Buddhism and Daoism
D. Examination system revived, encouraged by ability to print books for first time in
historySelecting officials on the basis of merit
E. Adoption of a fast-ripening and drought-resistant strain of rice from Vietnam
F. Most urbanized country in the worldSong capital of Hangzhou
G. Inventions in printing, woodblock and movable type and shipbuilding
H. Chinese invention of gunpowder
I. Growing use of paper money [the invention of paper occurred in the Han Dynasty]
IV. Women in the Song Dynasty
A. “Golden Age” was less “golden” for women
B. By the Song dynasty, a reviving Confucianism tightened restrictions on women
C. Once again Confucian writers highlighted the subordination of women
D. But the most compelling expression of a tightening patriarchyfoot binding
1. Beginning apparently among dancers and courtesans in the tenth or eleventh
century C.E., this practice involved the tight wrapping of young girls’ feet,
usually breaking the bones of the foot - causing intense pain
E. Associated with new images of female beauty and eroticism
F. Foot binding restricted women to the “inner quarters”pain walking
V. China and the Northern Nomads
A. From early times to nineteenth century, China’s most enduring interaction with
foreigners lay to north, involving nomadic pastoralists of steppes
B. Nomads were drawn to China in order to obtain resources
C. From nomads’ point of view, threat often came from the Chinese who built the
Great Wall to keep nomads out
D. And yet China needed the nomads, particularly its horses for the military
E. Nomads also controlled much of the Silk Road trading network
F. Chinese came to view China as the “middle kingdom” or the center of the world,
infinitely superior to the “barbarians” beyond its borders
G. “Tribute system” – required non-Chinese to acknowledge Chinese superiority
1- How did the Chinese view the political fragmentation that occurred in China after
the Han Dynasty?
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2- Why did a religion like Buddhism appeal greatly to the Chinese during this time of
political fragmentation [Critical Thinking Question]?
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3- How did China after the collapse of the Han Dynasty differ from Western Europe
after the collapse of the Roman Empire?
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4- Identify an accomplishment and a failure of the Sui Dynasty.
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5- What do historians consider the Tang and Song Dynasties?
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6- Identify Chinese achievements of the golden age.
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7- What did the Tang revive in Chinese government [Continuity]?
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8- Why did the status of women deteriorate in the Song Dynasty?
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9- Why did foot binding become increasingly popular in China?
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10- Why were nomads drawn to China?
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11- Why did the Chinese build the Great Wall of China?
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12- Why did the Chinese need the nomads?
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13- Define “middle kingdom.”
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14- In the Tribute System, the Chinese required non-Chinese to acknowledge Chinese
superiority by paying a token offering of native products while agreeing to Chinese
rules for trade as well as performing the kowtow or ritual bows. Thus, the tribute
system was more about reinforcing China’s view of itself as the Middle Kingdom
then as a money-making endeavor. Prove this statement.
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“Foot binding began when a girl was about six; the toes of her foot were bent under the
ball and wrapped tightly with long bandages so that their growth was stunted.
Gradually her foot assumed a pointed shape that erotic literature described as a lotus
blossom, and the intense pain of the earliest years lessened somewhat, though the
bandages were required for the rest of her life to maintain the foot in its small size.
Foot binding did not totally immobilize women, for peasant women worked in the fields
and in cloth production with bound feet, but it prevented them from traveling great
distances. Bound feet became a requirement for marriage, so that mothers bound the
feet of their daughters in the hopes that they might make a better match; they
continued to do so until the 20th century, even when the practice was officially
forbidden.” ~ Experiencing World History Identify effects of foot binding: _________
1. Which practice dates from the Song
era?
(A) Foot binding
(B) Arranged marriage
(C) Concubinage
(D) Divorce Rights
(E) One-Child Policy
2. Which of the following were significant
technological innovations of the TangSong era?
(A) Gunpowder and paper
(B) Paper and moveable type
(C) Domed architecture and the use of the
magnetic compass for navigation
(D) The use of the magnetic compass for
navigation and gunpowder
3. Which of the following civilizations had
a capital city that was the largest in the
world during the Post-Classical era?
(A) Tang China
(B) The Delhi Sultanate
(C) France
(D) England
4. In a patriarchal society
(A) The leader holds absolute power.
(B) Power resides with the men.
(C) Religious leaders dominate politics.
(D) Trade is severely restricted by the
government.
6. Which of the following most helps to
explain why the collapse of political
institutions was more devastating to the
Roman civilization than to Han China or
Gupta India?
(A) Political institutions in Rome were
weaker to begin with.
(B) Roman emperors had more power
than did Han or Gupta emperors, so their
downfall eviscerated the Roman Empire.
(C) Han China and Gupta India had
strong religious/philosophical traditions to
provide continuity.
(D) The Romans were economically more
self-sufficient than the Han or Gupta, so
they had no long-distance trade to cushion
their fall.
7. Sociologists who study religion have
noted that religions that emphasize
individual faith will sometimes spread
rapidly in societies experiencing disorder
and a decline in influence of traditional
sources of authority.
Which of the following is the clearest
example of this tendency?
(A) The adoption of Buddhism by the
Mauryan emperor Ashoka
(B) The spread of Islam along the
trans-Saharan trade routes
(C) The spread of Buddhism in China
after the end of the Han dynasty
(D) The spread of Christianity into
northern and western Europe
during the early Roman Empire
5. Islamic and Chinese empires in the
postclassical period (700 C.E. – 1200 C.E.)
shared which of the following
characteristics?
(A) An imperial bureaucracy based on an
examination system
(B) The abolition of slavery
(C) Battles over control of religious sites
(D) Extensive urbanization and maritime
trade
Thesis Practice: Craft a thesis incorporating concepts of continuity and change in
China from the Han Dynasty through the Song Dynasty.
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