The Reunification and Revival
of Post-Classical China
Chapter Twelve
AP World History
Ms. Tully
Quick Review of Chinese
History
Xia, Shang, Zhou Dynasties
Era of Warring States
Qin Dynasty
Han Dynasty
Three Kingdoms Period
(Northern Qi; Northern Zhou;
Chen)
Sui Dynasty (589-618)
Return to strong dynastic
control in China
Wendi, Northern Zhou
Emperor
Widespread popularity
Buddhist; expands
Buddhism
Sui Collapse
Yangdi, Son of Wendi
Milder legal code, supports
Confucian education
Scholar-gentry reestablished
Expensive building projects &
excessive luxury
611-614: Attack Korea  failure
618: Assassinated by own
ministers
Grand Canal
Canal system built by Sui & Tang
Build to accommodate
population shift and
transportation of goods and
revenue
Millet in North, Rice in South
1100 miles long
1 million forced laborers
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Li Yuan, Duke of Tang  Emperor
Gauzo of Tang
Used armies to unite China 
Assimilation of Turkic nomads
Expands empire into Tibet,
Vietnam, Manchuria, Korea
Great Wall repaired and
strengthened
Tang
Dynasty
at
greatest
extent
Rebuilding the Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy collapsed with Han dynasty
Goal #1: Revive scholar-gentry (bureaucrats)
Goal #2: Rework Confucian ideology
Levels of political control needed from Imperial palace
to small district
Executive department w/ 6 ministries
Bureau of Censors
New capital  Chang’an
The Growing Importance of
the Examination System
Examination system expanded  # of
educated scholars rises
Ministry of Rites established to
administer exams
Jinshi: those who passed the most
difficult/highest exams
Special social privileges emerge
Entrance into bureaucracy still exclusive
State and Religion in the Tang
Buddhism had grown in
popularity during Six Dynasties
Era
Mahayana Buddhism
Chan (Zen) Buddhism
Early tang supported Buddhism;
Empress Wu (690-705)
Anti-Buddhist Backlash
Buddhist success leads to criticism by
Confucians
Tang lost revenue and labor power
841-847: Persecution under Emperor
Wuzong
Confucianism emerges as the central
ideology; Buddhism is weakened
Tang Decline
8th C: Signs of decline
Emperor Xuanzong (713756)
Yang Guifei  royal
concubine of Xuanzong
755: An Lishan Rebellion
907: last Tang emperor
resigns
Five Dynasties
and Ten Kingdoms Period
907-960
Five Dynasties in Northern
China succeeded one
another rapidly
Later Liang
Later Tang
Later Jin
Later Han
Later Zhou (General Zhao
Kuangyin conquers other
kingdoms and unifies China)
Ten Kingdoms in Southern
China existed concurrently
and controlled their own
territory
Wu
Wuyue
Min
Chu
Southern
Han
Former Shu
Later Shu
Jingan
Southern
Tang
Northern
Han
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Northern Song: 960-1127
Southern Song: 1127-1279
960: General Zhao Kuangyin
(Emperor Taizu) founds Song
Dynasty
Could not defeat northern Liao
dynasty in Manchuria
Not as politically or militarily as
powerful as Tang dynasty
Continued growth of bureaucracy
Neo-Confucians
Revivers of pure Confucian thought and teachings
Importance of philosophy in everyday life; stress
personal morality
Hostility to foreign ideas
Emphasis on tradition: gender, class, age distinctions
reinforced
Became dominant interpretation of Confucianism
Attempts at Reform &
Southern Song Dynasty
Increase in tribute to nomadic tribes
Large military an increasing burden
Wang Anshi (1070s – 1080s)  introduces reforms
Agricultural expansion; landlords/scholars-gentry taxed
Bureaucratic reforms  analytical thinking over
memorization
1085: Emperor Shenzong dies; reforms reversed by neoConfucians and new emperor
1115: Jin Kingdom founded north of Song Empire
Song flee to south  new capital at Hangzhou
A New Phase of Commercial
Expansion
Canal systems + Silk Roads = commercial expansion
booming!
Commerce expands in cities and trading towns
Urban growth; Chang’an capital w/ 2 million ppl
Silk Roads & Indian Ocean
Trade
Tribal societies drawn to riches
of Silk Road  raided traders
Chinese rulers protect trade
and travelers on Silk Roads 
urban development
Increase in ocean trade 
Chinese Junks
Established market network
along Indian ocean coast 
rival Arabs for control
Expanding Agrarian
Production
Economy stimulated by
advances in farming
Tang and Song rulers try
to promote agricultural
production and peasants
Canals help transport
produce quickly
Breakup of aristocratic
estates  divided up
among peasantry
Family in the Tang-Song Era
Male-dominated and respect for
elders supported by NeoConfucians
Elite women have broader
opportunities
Arranged marriages
Divorce widely available if both
husband and wife consent
Neo-Confucian greatly reduce role
of women in late Song period 
confinement, repression
Foot-Binding
Symbol of subordination
Begin binding feet at 2-5
y/o
Ideal length: 3 inches
Considered highly
attractive and erotic by
men
Dies out by early 20th C
Cultural Achievements
Renaissance of Chinese poetry &
painting  nature theme
Scholars are now cultural producers
Paper techniques refined 
development of moveable type in 1041
Gunpowder & fireworks (9th C)
Abacus, wheelbarrow