Reunification+of+China

The Era of the Song and Tang Dynasties



A.P.P.A.R.T.S. Document Analysis: Ties that Bind: Paths to power A uthor – Who is the speaker? A short story by Tang author Niu Su, was sent by a local functionary named Wu Bao to a high official to whom Wu to win an advancement in the imperial bureaucracy. P lace and Time-When was this written/said? What else was going on? The time and place is about 690-907 in the Chinese dynasties of both Tang and Song on the path to power, to show political structures of the two. Created in China P rior Knowledge - What else was going on? What other historical events are connected to this? What we know from previous chapters is that the Han dynasty fell apart and there was a lack in centralized government in China overall and china got divided into small groups started forming a kingdom. The bureaucracy was there to help the emperor and were considered to be wealthy Maingly educated system A udience – Who is the intended audience? Who is being spoken to? The letter is meant for a high official to whom, Wu wanted to attach himself with and win an advanced placement in government. He is trying to get on his favor to own the spot. R eason – What is the purpose? Why was this said/written? Wu wrote this letter to general Li who is highly qualified both as a civil and military official who has been selected to command the expedition to put down barbarians rebellions in the southern part of the empire, he is speaking of his ethos and reputation to get on his good sides. He has considered himself to be with value taks about how the bureacracy had made many achivement. T he Main Idea- Summarize the author’s point. What is this about? Wu is trying to convince an official of his ability to be on the imperial bureaucracy using some good persuasion and speaking of how “not overlooking a man from his native place…so I would render service” of him with loyalty. That people say what they want to get what they need. S i gnificance-Why is this important? What impact did it have? This is important because it show how militaristic the people of Song and Tang dynasties are and how the official have a lot of value and appreciation to their roles in the government and what Wu is trying to do is that he wants a small salary and share of honor and merit, and the company of a good engraved memory.

Notes pg 256-263


 * Less innovation occurred than in the Americas and Europe. Important developments took place in technology.
 * Political turmoil followed the fall of the Han during the Period of the Six Dynasties (220-589 C.E.), and the empire's bureaucratic apparatus collapsed.
 * Religion, Buddhism, replaced Confucianism as a primary force in cultural life. There were economic, technological, intellectual, and urban decline. New dynasties, the Sui and Tang, from the end of the sixth century brought a restoration of Chinese civilization.
 * Political unity returned as nomads and nobility were brought under state control and the bureaucracy was rebuilt.
 * The Song dynasty continued the revival; their era saw the restoration of the scholar-gentry and the Confucian order. It was a time of artistic, literary, and technological flourishing. Male dominance reached new heights.
 * A noble, Wendi, ( a member of the north chinese of the noble family) with the support of nomadic military leaders, won control of northern China.
 * In 589, he defeated the Chen kingdom, which ruled much of the south, and established the Sui dynasty as ruler of the traditional Chinese core. Wendi won popularity by lowering taxes and establishing granaries to ensure a stable, cheap food supply.
 * Wendi's son Yangdi continued strengthening the state by further conquests and victories over nomads. He reformed the legal code and the Confucian educational system.
 * The scholar-gentry were brought back into the imperial administration. Yangdi undertook extensive and expensive construction projects at a new capital, Loyang, and for a series of canals to link the empire.
 * He attempted unsuccessfully to conquer Korea, and was defeated by Turkic nomads in central Asia in 615. Widespread revolts followed. Imperial rule crumbled and Yangdi was assassinated in 618.
 * Imperial unity was saved when Li Yuan, Duke of Tang and a former supporter of the Sui, won control of China and began the Tang dynasty.
 * Armies extended the empire's reach to the borders of Afghanistan and thus dominated the nomads of the frontier borderlands. The Tang used Turkic nomads in their military and tried to assimilate them into Chinese culture.
 * The Great Wall was repaired. The extensive Tang Empire stretched into Tibet, Vietnam, Manchuria, and korea.
 * A restored scholar-gentry elite and reworked Confucian ideology helped the Tang to maintain imperial unity. The power of the aristocracy was reduced. Political authority was shared by imperial families and scholar-gentry bureaucrats.
 * The bureaucracy, subject to strict controls, reached from the imperial court to district levels of administration. A Bureau of Censors watched all officials.
 * Under the Tang and Song, the numbers of scholar-gentry rose far above Han levels. They greatly extended the examination system, and civil service advancement patterns were regularized. S
 * pecialized exams were administered by the Ministry of Public Rites. The highest offices went only to individuals able to pass exams based on the Confucian classics and Chinese literature.
 * Additional exams determined their ranking in the pool eligible for office and awarded special social status. Birth and family connections remained important for gaining high office.
 * Intelligent commoners might rise to high positions, but the central administration was dominated by a small number of prominent families.
 * The Confucian revival threatened Buddhism’s place in Chinese life. Many previous rulers had been strong Buddhist supporters. Chinese monks gave the foreign religion Chinese qualities.
 * Salvationst Mahayana Buddhism won wide mass acceptance during the era of war and turmoil. Elite Chinese accepted Chan Buddhism, or Zen, which stressed meditation and appreciation of natural and artistic beauty.
 * Early Tang rulers continued Buddhism, especially Empress Wu (690-705). She endowed monasteries, commissioned colossal statues of Buddha, and sought to make Buddhism the state religion. There were about 50,000 monasteries by the middle of the ninth century.
 * Confucians and Daoists opposed Buddhist growth, castigating it as an alien faith. Taoists stressed their magical and predictive powers. Confucian scholar-administrators worked to convince the Tang that untaxed Buddhist monasteries posed an economic threat to the empire.
 * Measures to limit land and resources going to Buddhists gave way to open persecution under Emperor Wuzong (841-847). Thousands of monasteries were created.
 * Tang and Song China**
 * Tang and Song China**

· Korea was overrun by chinese military which brought tributes. · Silk and wine
 * Tang || Song || Shared ||
 * Economy:

Social: · Authority of elders was forced by law · Children weren’t allowed to disrespect family members. · Women could get power at the highest level( Empress Wu) · Young woman playing polo suggest some freedom

Politics · Imperial bureaucracy and examination system · Trained state officials in confucianism classics.

Interaction and Technology · Trade with Islamic empire and persia · Invented use of money · Great wall · Agricultural innovarions · Interactions promotion of exchange · Internationsal interactions || · Markets and traded · Rice and rain became the products of economy. · Trade was furthered with the use of flying money.

Social · Male dominance · Status of female commoners decreased · Many schools and education · Support expansion · Woman gained more rights. · Great canal · Urban centers for a civilization · Emphasis of female confinement · Importance of virginity · No chance of education · Men favored in divorce and inhereitance. · Footbinding became popular like fashion in upper class women · Limited women mobility and freedom

· Civil service exams given every 3 years · Only civil officials were allowed to be governors · Military people can’t become governors.

· Explosive grebade, firearm abd flamethrower · Canal system made major advances || · Promotion of trade expansion · Agriculture · Paper money · Manufactured overseas trade ||



· Imported products and goods
 * · Credit vouchers

· Statuse of wealthy woman showed modest sign · Allowed divorce · Opportunities for women in the upper class · Empress Wu served political power. · Sponsored military public works · Merchant class.

Politics

· Examination run by bureacracy · Breaking aristocratic power.

· Canal system was shared by 1200 miles three dynasties · Control was its promotion · Arab ships · Junks best ships and built bridges ||

Summary: Chapter 12

New dynasties, the Sui and Tang, from the end of the sixth century brought a restoration of Chinese civilization. Political unity returned as the nobility were brought under state control and the bureaucracy was rebuilt. Wendi's son Yangdi continued strengthening the state by further conquests and victories over nomads. He reformed the legal code and the Confucian educational system. The scholar-gentry were brought back into the imperial administration. The Great Wall was repaired. The Ministry of Public Rites administered specialized exams. Salvationist Mahayana Buddhism won wide mass acceptance during the era of war and turmoil. Elite Chinese accepted Chan Buddhism, or Zen. Confucians and Taoists opposed Buddhist growth, personifying it as an alien faith. Taoists stressed their magical powers. The last Tang emperor resigned in 907, but, after a period of turmoil, a military commander, Zhao Kuangyin, renamed Taizu, in 960 reunited China under one dynasty, the Song. His failure to defeat the Liao dynasty of Manchuria, founded by Khitan nomads in 907. Confucian ideas and values dominated intellectual life. Long-neglected texts were recovered; new academies for the study of the classics and impressive libraries were founded. Many thinkers thought to prove the superiority thought is an example of Zhu Xi. The Sui and Tang had built canals because of a major shift in Chinese population balance. Yangdi's Grand Canal, eventually more than 1,200 miles long. Tang conquests and the canal system promoted commercial expansion. Expansion into central Asia reopened the silk routes to the West and intensified international contacts with the Buddhist and Islamic worlds. China exported manufactured goods in return for luxury items. By late Tang and Song times, Chinese merchants went directly to foreign ports; Chinese junks were among the best ships in the world and allowed the Chinese to be the dominant force in the seas. China's estimated urban population was 10% of the total population surpassed all others. Family organization resembled that of earlier eras. The status of women was improving under the Tang and early Song but steadily declined during the late Song. Extended-family households were preferred; although only the upper classes could afford them also foot binding was very popular as a fashion to impress men. The Confucianist male-dominated hierarchy was common in all classes. Professional female handled an elaborate process of making marriage alliances. Upper class women had increased opportunities for personal expression and career possibilities under the Tang and early Song. The empresses Wu and Wei, and royal concubine Yang Guifei, exercised considerable power. They stressed the roles of homemaker and mother; advocated physical confinement of women; and emphasized the importance of bridal virginity; The Tang and Song periods are most remembered for their accomplishments in science, technology, literature, and the fine arts. Technological and scientific discoveries new tools, production methods, weapons passed to other civilizations and symbolized the course of human development. The returned scholar-gentry class was responsible for art and literary creativity. A truly accomplished official was expected to spend evening composing songs and admiring painting. Literature focused on the doings and beliefs of common people. Under the Song, interest in nature reached artistic ideal in symbolic landscape paintings. Overall, The Song and Tang dynasties were the reason for the continuation of the sophistication in Chinese civilization during the Post-Classical era.