“Tang and Song China”

 After the collapse of the Han Dynasty, no emperor was strong enough to hold
China together until, in 589, an emperor named Wendi united northern and southern China.
 Wendi was the first emperor of the Sui
(sway) dynasty, which built the Grand
Canal.

 After the Sui Dynasty came the Tang
Dynasty, which lasted for nearly 300 years.
 Tang Taizong was the first ruler in the Tang
Dynasty.
 The Tang Dynasty strengthened the central government of China, including a network of roads, canals, and an expanded bureaucracy.

 After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, rival warlords divided China into separate regions. Then, in 960, a general named
Taizu reunited China and proclaimed himself the first Song emperor.
 Song emperors tried to buy peace with their northern enemies. They paid tributes of silver, silk, and tea.

 China grew in many ways during the Tang and Song Dynasties:
– Population – nearly doubled
– Science and Technology – movable type, gunpowder, porcelain, clock, paper money, compass
– Agriculture – new variety of fast-ripening rice that could be harvested twice a year
– Trade – Korea, Japan, India, Persian Gulf, Africa

 More people moved into the cities.
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The power of the old aristocratic families began to fade. A new class of scholar-officials rose in influence.
Women’s status declined further and women’s work was deemed less important. Foot-binding was practiced for upper-class women.