China 500-1450
SUI DYNASTY
 Han dynasty had collapsed in 220 and for 350
years no emperor could reunite China
 Nomadic rulers reigned over China
 Sui Wendi united China again in 589
 Built the Grand Canal, major waterway
connecting north and south China
 Built on slave labor
 Sui are short lived and collapse in 589, largely
due to an upset public
Tang Rulers Create a Powerful Empire
618-907
 Territorial expansion
 Influence over Korea
 Tang Taizong
 Empress Wu Zhao declared herself emperor in
690
 Lowered taxes
Scholar Officials
 Revived and expanded civil
service examination
 Those who passed the exams
were called scholar gentry
 In theory exams were open to
everyone but really the wealthy
could only afford the education
necessary
 Many moderately wealthy
families shared in China’s
government
The Tang Lose Power
 Tang reimpose taxes to pay for
continued expansion
 Couldn’t defend borders
anymore
 907 Chinese rebels sack and burn
Tang capital
The Song Dynasty Restores China
960-1279
 Song had less territory but this was China’s
golden age
 Had to pay large tributes to northern
nomadic groups who finally invaded them
anyway
 After 1126 the Song were reduced to the
Southern Song dynasty
An Era of Prosperity and Innovation
 China’s population soared to almost 100
million
 Most populous and advanced country in the
world
 Movable type
 Gunpowder
 Porcelain
 Clock
 Compass
 Paper money
 Algebra
 Negative numbers
Agriculture
 Improvements in the cultivation of
rice
 New rice varieties from Vietnam
 Leads to population increase
Trade and Foreign Contacts
 Silk roads with armies guarding it
 Sea travel with new instruments
like the compass and the Chinese
junk (ship)
 Chinese culture spread to east
Asia
 Tea adopted by the Chinese
through contact with Southeast
Asia
The Golden Age of Art
 Scholar gentry expected to write
poetry and own fine painting
 Li Bo was a famous poet
 Du Fu praised Confucian virtues
 Painting showing the Daoist
influence
 Black ink instead of colors
Status of Women
 Women always subservient to
men
 This pattern worsened during the
Tang/Song era with the return of
strong Confucian values
(Neoconfucianism)
 Footbinding began