I. Inner and Eastern Asia
400 – 1200 C.E.
The Sui and Tang Empires
581 – 755 C.E.
Sui Empire
Reunification Under The Sui
• Sui Empire reunified China
• Established a government based on
Confucianism, but heavily influenced
by Buddhism
• Sui’s rapid decline and fall may have
been due to large amounts of
resources spent on:
– Construction
– Canal and irrigation projects
– Military
Grand Canal
A. The Tang Empire
618 – 907 C.E.
Tang Empire
1. Tang Empire - Introduction
• Established in 618.
• Carried out a program of territorial
expansion
• Avoided over-centralization
• Combined Turkic influence with
Chinese Confucian traditions
2. Buddhism and the Tang Empire
• Tang legitimized control by using
Buddhist idea that kings are spiritual
agents who bring subjects into
Buddhist realm.
• Buddhist monasteries were important
allies of early Tang emperors.
– Received tax exemptions, land, and gifts
for cooperation.
3. Mahayana Buddhism
• Most important school of Buddhism in
Central and East Asia.
• Beliefs were flexible
• Encouraged adoption of local deities
into Mahayana pantheon
• Encouraged translation of Buddhist
texts into local languages.
4. Spread of Buddhism
• Spread through trade routes that
converged on Chang’an.
• Trade routes brought other peoples
and cultural influences to Chang’an
– This made it a cosmopolitan city.
5. Chang’an – Capital City
• Destination of ambassadors from other
states sent to China under the tributary
system.
• City had over 1,000,000 residents
– Most lived outside city walls
• Foreigners lived in special compounds
• Residents in walled, gated quarters
6. Land and Sea
• Roads and canals brought people
and goods to city.
• Islamic and Jewish merchants from
Western Asia came to China via the
Indian Ocean trade routes.
• Chinese commercial ships carried
goods and the Bubonic Plague.
7. Trade and Cultural Exchange
• Exports
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Polo
Grape wine
Tea
Spices
• In trade, China lost monopoly on silk,
but began to make its own cotton,
tea, and sugar.
B. Rivals for Power in
Inner Asia and China
600-907
1. Uigur Empire
• Built empire in Central Asia in mideighth century.
• Known as merchants and scribes.
– Developed own script.
• Strong ties to Islam and China.
• Lasted for about 50 years.
Uigur Script
2. Tibetan Empire
• Large empire with access to Southeast
Asia, China, South and Central Asia,/
• Open to Indian, Chinese, Islamic, and
Greek culture.
• In early Tang, China and Tibet were
friendly.
– Tibetan king received a Chinese princess
and Mahayana Buddhism brought to
Tibet.
3. Discontent
• Late 600s
– friendly relations had given way to military
rivalry in which Tibet allied with the
southwestern kingdom of Nanchao
against the Tang.
• Ninth century
– Tibetan king attempted to eliminate
Buddhism, but failed.
– Tibet enters a long period of monastic rule
and isolation.
4. Upheavals
• Late ninth century
– Tang Empire broke power of Buddhist
monasteries
– Confucian ideology was reasserted
• Reason for crackdown:
– Buddhism was seen as undermining the
family system and eroding the tax base
5. Women and Buddhism
• Buddhism used to legitimize women’s
participation in politics.
– Wu Zhao took control of government and
made herself emperor with the backing of
Buddhism.
• When Buddhism was suppressed,
Confucian scholars were very critical
of women with power.
– Also destroyed many Buddhist cultural
artifacts.
Wu Zhao
6. End of Tang Empire
• As territory expanded and faced
internal rebellions, Tang dynasty
depended on powerful military
governors to maintain peace.
• 907 – Tang state ended and military
governors established own kingdoms.
– No kingdoms were able to integrate
territory on the scale of the Tang.
– East Asia was cut off from rest of world.
II. The Emergence of East Asia
To 1200 C.E.
A. New States
• After fall of Tang, new states emerge:
– Liao
– Jin
– Chinese Song
• Liao and Jin cut the Chinese off from
Central Asia
• Song strengthened contacts with
Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Liao State
• Included nomads and settled
agriculturalists.
• Liao kings presented themselves as:
– Confucian rulers
– Buddhist monarchs
– Nomadic leaders
• Liao rulers were of the Kitan ethnic
group.
B. Liao Empire
• Lasted from 916-1121.
• Liao had strong military.
• Forced Song to give annual tribute of
cash and silk in return for peace.
III. The Song Empire
960 To 1129 C.E.
A. The Song Empire
• Song helped Jurchens of northeast
Asia to defeat the Liao.
• Jurchens established Jin Empire, turned
on Song, and drove them out of north
and central Asia in 1127.
• Song reigned in South Asia as the
Southern Song Empire (1127-1279).
Song Empire
1. Song Industries
• Made a number of technological
inventions.
– Mathematics, astronomy, calendar
making.
• 1088 – Su Song constructed a
mechanical clock that told time, day
of month, and indicated movements
of the moon, some stars, and planets.
Recreation of Su Song’s Clock
2. Shipbuilding
• Song introduced:
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Sternpost rudder
Watertight bulkheads
Improved compass for seafaring
Made possible for building larger ships
Sternpost Rudder
I have no idea who
this chick is.
3. Military
• Had standing professionally trained and
paid military.
• Iron and coal were important strategic
resource for Song military.
• Song produced large amounts of highgrade iron and steel for:
– Weapons
– Armor
– Defensive works
• Developed gunpowder weapons
Chinese Cannon
4. Society in Song China
• Dominated by civilian officials
• Put higher value on civil pursuits than
on military affairs
• Song thinkers developed a NeoConfucian philosophy.
– Zen Buddhism continued to be popular.
5. Civil Service Examination System
• Introduced in the Tang
• Broke domination of the hereditary
aristocracy by allowing men to be
chosen for service based on merit.
– Men from poor families were unlikely to
devote time and resources to studying for
the exam.
6. Moveable Type
• Allowed Song government to massproduce authorized preparation texts
for examination-takers.
• Printing also allowed for the spread of
new agricultural technology.
– Helped to increase agricultural
production.
– Spurred population growth.
Earliest Printed Book
7. Population Growth
• During Song period, population rose to
100 million.
• Population and economic growth fed
the large, crowded, but wellmanaged cities like Hangzhou.
8. Money
• Created Interregional Credit System
called “flying money.”
• Introduced government-issued paper
money.
– Caused inflation
– Later withdrawn
9. Market Economy
• Song not able to control it as previous
governments did.
• Tax collection was privatized
• New merchant elite thrived in cities
– Wealth was derived from trade, not land
10. Women in the Song Period
• Entirely subordinated to men
• Lost rights to own and manage
property
• Remarriage was forbidden
• Bound feet became status symbol for
elite women
• Working class women and women
from non-Han peoples did not bind
feet and had more independence.
Bound Feet
III. New Kingdoms in East China
Chinese Influences
• Korea, Japan, and Vietnam were all ricecultivating economies.
• Labor needs fit well with Confucian
concepts of hierarchy, obedience, and
discipline.
• All adapted aspects of Chinese culture, but
political ideologies remained different
• Valued literacy in Chinese and read
Chinese classics.
Korea
• Hereditary elite absorbed Confucianism and
Buddhism from China and passed them to
Japan.
• Several small Korean kingdoms were united
first by
– Silla in 668
– Koryo in early 900s
• Korea used woodblock printing as early as
the 700s
• Later invented moveable type, which it
passed to Song China.
Korean Buddhist Woodblock
Japanese Unification
• Mountainous terrain was home to
hundreds of small states that were
unified in the fourth or fifth century.
• Unified state established its
government at Yamato on Honshu
Island.
Political Reforms
• Mid-seventh century – rulers of Japan
implemented a series of political
reforms to establish:
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Centralized government
Legal code
National histories
Architecture and City planning similar to
Tang China
Not the same as Tang…
• Adopted Tang concepts as needed to
Japanese life.
• Maintained own concept of
emperorship.
• Native religion of Shinto survived
alongside imported Buddhist religion.
Heian Period
• 794-1185
• Fujiwara clan dominated government
• Period known for aesthetic refinement
of its aristocracy and for the elevation
of civil officials above warriors.
Heian Temple
Warrior Clans
• Late 1000s – some warrior clans
became wealthy and powerful
• After years of fighting, one warrior clan
took control of Japan
– Established the Kamakura Shogunate
• Had capital at Kamakura in eastern Honshu.
Kamakura Warrior
Northern Vietnam
• Vietnam was suitable for irrigation with
Southern China.
• Economic and cultural assimilation
took place in Tang and Song times.
– Elite of Annam modeled high culture on
that of the Chinese at this time.
• When Tang Empire fell, Annam
established itself as an independent
state under the name Dai Viet.
Southern Vietnam
• Kingdom of Champa was influenced
by Malay and Indian as well as by
Chinese culture.
• When Dai Viet was established,
Champa cultivated a relationship with
the Song state and exported rice to
China.
Confucianism
• East Asian countries shared a common
Confucian interest in hierarchy, but the
status of women varied from country
to country.
• Before Confucianism was introduced
to Annam, women had a higher status
than women in Confucius China.