The Resurgence of
Empire in East Asia
Sui-Tang-Song China
Chinese Regionalism
 220-589 (Post Han-
Sui)
 A time of political
division, economic
turmoil, and social
conflict.
 Regional Kingdoms:
“Era of Division” 220-589 C.E.
 Nomadic Invasions
 Endless wars amongst rival kingdoms
 Re-emergence of rule by aristocrats
 Decline of Bureaucracy
 Decline of Confucianism
 Rise of Buddhism
 Economic decline
 Great Wall divided
 Technological stagnation
 …it was bad.
China’s turbulent 4th century
 Conquest and rule my non-Chinese peoples
(Barbarians) shocked the Chinese.
 Huns and Xiongnu eroded the frontier
defenses.
Confucianism in the Regional Era
 Confucianism: stressed ideas and practices
that promoted social etiquette, family values,
and political stability.
 These ideas were criticized for their failure
and their value during the regional era.
 Regional monarchs began to “re-embrace”
the value system, while scholars often
condemned its shortcomings.
Re-emergence of Empire: Sui Dynasty
 Founded by Yang Jian
 Valued Chin style
leadership with tight
political control.
 General who
consolidated his
position and usurped
power.
 Used propaganda!
 Conquered southern
China in a Naval War
Yang Jian
 Devoted to building a powerful government
 Consolidated rule in China
 Excellent judge of talented people
 Empire builder
 Extraordinary temper
 Paranoia
 Built an elaborate bureaucracy
 “thrifty”
 Devout Buddhist, supported Confucianism as a
political ideology
Return to Chin ways
 Harsh, codified laws
 Standardized everything
 Written test for office holders
 Beginnings of civil service exam
 Refusal to serve in areas of birth
 “eyes and ears of the ruler”
 Elaborate building projects such as the
capital Changan
Changan during the Sui
Emperor Yangdi and the Grand Canal
 “political intrigue”
 Great achievement: the
Grand Canal
 Purpose
The Tang Dynasty
 Founded by Li Yuan
 China’s Greatest
Dynasty? Golden Age?
 “Qin-Han, Sui-Tang”
Tang Taizong
 Ambitious, Ruthless,
arguably China’s
greatest emperor.
 Believed in a
Confucian, Chin, yet
benevolent state.’
 Stable, peaceful,
prosperous…
Reasons for Tang Success?
 1. Well articulated roads and communication
networks. (Canals)
 2. Equal field distribution system of land
sharing
 3. Reliance on a very highly skilled
bureaucracy governed by a civil service
exam.
Civil Service Exam
Tang Conquest
 Brought
Manchuria,
the Silla
Kingdom of
Korea,
Vietnam, and
as far west as
the Aral Sea
(Russia)
under their
control.
Tang Decline
 Incapable emperors
 Dynastic wars (Du Fu)
 An Lushan Rebellion
 Talas River Battle of
751
 Loss of Silk Roads
 Transfer of Power to
Islam
 Buddhist Crisis of the
mid 9th Century.
Transition
 The Late Tang period saw individual armies
loyal to their warlords dominating Chinese
life.
 Period between the Tang and Song Age saw
a return to regionalism. With non-Chinese
peoples ruling North China.
 907-960 China was dominated by Political
Fragmentation and Rivalry.
The Song Dynasty
 Song
contradiction
 Early political
stability: 960-1127




Effective
monarchs
Civil
Bureaucracy
Founded by
Zhao Guangyin
Drunken
generals story
Song Shortcomings and Decline
 Military weakness
 Economic costs of Bureaucracy
 Taxation issues
 Peasant woes
 Rise of nomads-The Khitan, Jurchen, and the
Mongols
Song split
Song Demise
 1215: lost control to Jin Dynasty
 Reverted to control Southern China
 1279 Southern Song crushed by Mongols.
Tang/Song Culture
 Neo-Confucianism


Wang Anshi: political and economic
innovations
Metaphysical (being) school of Zu Xi


Good v. Evil: Confucian study and Buddhist
meditation can treat evil.
His work will be studied and admired for a
millenium.
Tang/Song Economics
 “Champa” Rice:
 Porcelain
 Metallurgy
 Paper production
 “Flying Cash”
 Urbanization
Japanese Characteristics
 Geography?
 Comparison with Greece?
 Warrior Aristorcarcy
 Rigid society
 5% of the population was slave
 Hundreds of early political units
 Clan based society governed by warrior chieftans
 Early socieity: Yamato Clan
 Religious beliefs: Shinto-the Way of the Gods
Japan
 Early Buddhism


Deficits of Shinto faith
Diffusion of things Chinese
 Seventeen Article Constitution-Buddhist and
Confucian document
 Taika Reforms-attempt to recreate a
Confucian style system in Japan (Exam,
Bureaucracy)
Nara Japan (710-794 C.E.)
 The earliest inhabitants of Japan were




nomadic peoples from northeast Asia
Ruled by several dozen states by the
middle of the first millennium C.E.
Inspired by the Tang example, one clan
claimed imperial authority over others
Built a new capital (Nara) in 710 C.E.,
modeled on Chang'an
Adopted Confucianism and Buddhism, but
maintained their Shinto rites
Heian Japan
 Heian Japan (794-1185






C.E.)
Moved to new capital, Heian
(modern Kyoto), in 794
Japanese emperors as
ceremonial figureheads and
symbols of authority
Effective power in the hands
of the Fujiwara family
Emperor did not rule, which
explains the longevity of the
imperial house
Chinese learning dominated
Japanese education and
political thought
Buddhism exploded during
this time, despite a strong
reaction against it.
Heian Decline
 Feuds amongst the great




families
Local ambitions and political
division
War between the Taira and
Minamoto clans
Rise of Samurai class
Rise of Yorimotoa Minamoto as
Shogun (Kamakura Shogunate)
Japanese Cultural Achievements
 Began to make their mark in
literature.
 Murasaki Shikibu-a female
courtess during the Heian
Age wrote the Tale of Genji.
 A story of court life and
personality of Japanese
during the age.
 First novel in human history
Decline of Heian Japan
 The equal-field system began to fail
 Aristocratic clans accumulated most land
 Taira and Minamoto, the two most powerful
clans, engaged in wars
 Clan leader of Minamoto claimed title shogun,
military governor; ruled in Kamakura