Chapter 14

Sui Dynasty
o Yang Jian: Duke of Sui
Sent military expeditions into China
589 C.E: Sui rules all of China
strong, centralized government
high taxes
built palaces
o Grand Canal: built during Sui reign
Facilitated trade between northern and southern
China

Tang Dynasty: 618-907 C.E

o Tang Taizong: 2nd Tang emperor, rebel leader
Made effective & stable government
Built capital at Changan
Caused era of unusual stability and prosperity
Low tax on peasants
o 3 policies made Tang successful:
1. Well made transportation and communication
system
2. Equal-field system
Allotted land to people based on fertility and
recipients needs
Tangs plan to avoid concentration on land in
hands of wealthy
3. Merit based bureaucracy
Created by Han
Based on civil serve examinations
Most office holders were aristocrats
o Tang used MILITARY POWER to gain land
o Tang decline the empire became so large that local warlords
gained more power
Huang Chao revolt
Rebellion of An Lushan

Chinese political theory: China is the Middle Kingdom- center

of civilization, other independent countries (Korea, Vietnam)
must acknowledge the supremacy of the Chinese emperor and
sent gifts

o Kowtow: ritual bowing in which subordinates knelt before

the emperor and touched their foreheads to the ground

Song Dynasty: 960-976 C.E

o After the Tang dynasty collapsed, there was an era of
restlessness but China was soon reunified under the Song
Dynasty
o Had powerful navy
o Song Taizu: founder, 1st song emperor
Increased bureaucracy power, gave them generous
salaries
Spread song power
o Song decline
Financial problems
Large bureaucracy with high salary= increase on
peasant tax
Fell to Jurchen power and then the Mongols
Song dynasty withdrew to the south because of
pressure from northern nomads and established a
capital city at Hangzhou
New Song, with its capital at Hangzhou, was located on the
southern end of the Grand Canal
o Here they concentrated on developing an industrial society
Heavy iron plows
Fast-ripening rice in Vietnam increased food supply
and caused influx in population
o Foot binding: used to control the movements of women in
an increasingly patriarchal society
o Worship of family ancestors became very elaborate
o Wu Zhao: became empress of Song
Organized secret police
Supported Buddhism
Technology and Industrial Development
o Porcelain: chinaware
o Metallurgy increased, iron/steel
o Gunpowder (Tang)
o Printing (Tang)
Block printing: like a stamp
o Compass: south pointing needle
Market Economy:
o Each region produced a specific crop
o Increased foreign demand for Chinese crops

Instead of copper coins for money, flying cash

was used: letter of credit
Qing Dynasty:
o placed issuance of printing paper money under tight
control
o cosmopolitan society
o Guangzhou: major port city
o Chinese consumers developed a taste for exotic goods
Spices: SE Asian Islands
Pearls, horses, melons
After the fall of Han, Confucianism declined and many different
religious influences were present in China
o Nestorians, Manicheans, Zoroastrians, Islam
o Buddhism had the greatest impact
Attracted many followers because
Moral standards
Salvation
Monasteries
Dunhuang: city on the silk road, home to
several Buddhists
Intertwined with Daoism
Dharma=dao
Nirvana=wuwei
2 schools of Buddhism
Chan: syncretic faith, Buddhism with Chinese
characters
o Won converts in the educated classes
Mahayana: Pure Land
o Emphasized meditation and appreciation
of beauty, life apart from worldly values
o Personal salvation if you devote to the
Buddha
Neo-Confucianism: adapted Buddhist ideas about
the soul and the individual to Confucian interests and
values
Became basis for civil service
Filial Piety
Zhu Xi: most prominent neo-Confucian scholar
o Emphasized proper personal behavior
and social harmony
o Wrote Family Rituals:
Provided detailed instructions for
weddings, funerals

o Believed 2 elements accounted for all

physical being:
Li: defines essence of being
Qi: material form of Li
Silla Dynasty: 669-935 C.E
o Tang army conquered majority of Korea, Silla organized a
resistance
o Korea entered a tributary relationship with China, with
Korea as the vassal state
o Silla kings built new capital at Kumsong: modeled after
Tang capital Changan
o Korean elite adopted neo-Confucianism
Chinese and Vietnamese relations were very tense and strained
o Did not want to become a vassal state of Tang
Nara Japan: 710-794 C.E
o Aristocratic clan in Japan that claimed imperial authority
over others
o Introduced reforms to centralize Japanese politics
o Had chinese bureaucracy, equal-field, capital modeled
after Changan
Shinto: indigenous Japanese religion that revolved around the
worship of ancestors and believed they were hosts of gods
Heian Japan: 794-1185 C.E
o Emperors were ceremonial figureheads/symbols of
authority
o Effective power was in hands of Fujiwara family:
Aristocratic clan that controlled affairs from behind
the scenes
o Did not have a emperor
o Decline
Equal-field system failed
2 clans- Taira and Minamoto engaged in wars
Minamoto won, clan leader claimed title of
shogun-military leader
Japanese syllabic script: symbols represented whole syllables,
not one sound
The Tale of Genji: written in Japanese syllabic script, offers
meditation on the passing of time
Samurai: Japanese term for mounted warrior
o Warriors of provincial lords
o Free of obligations to feed, clothe, and house their family
o Observed samurai code: bishido