Renaissance China
Sui, Tang, & Song Dynasties
Looking Back & Looking Forward
• Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han (Ancient-Classical China)
• With the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE, China
alternates between periods of political unity and
fragmentation. This is called the Era of Division
– Not as traumatic (or permanent) as the fall of Rome
for Western Europe
• Between 589 and 906 CE, China enjoyed a
political revival under the Sui and Tang Dynasties
and will flourish under the Song Dynasty until
1279. This represents a 700 year Golden Age
The Sui Dynasty
• The first strong
dynasty to
emerge after the
fall of the Han
was the Sui
Dynasty (589618 CE).
• Reunified China
• Expanded
China’s borders
as a result of
military conquest
Sui- Wendi
• Unity through marriage and alliances
• Wendi seized the throne from his son-in-law.
Although he was Chinese, he secured his
power by winning support of nomadic military
commanders.
• Lowered taxes and created granaries.
• Wendi’s son Yangdi murdered him & seized
the throne. How un-Confucian is that?!
Sui- Yangdi
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Upgraded Confucian education.
Restored and the civil service exam.
Promoted the scholar class over the aristocracy…BUT
Forcibly conscripted peasants to build sumptuous
palaces.
• Led a series of unsuccessful military campaigns to
gain Korea.
• Was assassinated by his own ministers in 618.
Looked like China would spiral into chaos again, but
wait….
Tang Dynasty
• Dissolution of imperial order was averted by one of
Yangdi’s military officials, Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang.
Thus begins the next dynasty.
• Under the Tang (618-906 CE), China became larger
than ever before.
– Rulers extend China’s influence to parts of Central
Asia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet, and to the
south, the Pacific Coast.
Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
• Tang economy was very strong due to
advanced infrastructure (roads, waterways,
canals) and trade.
– Grand Canal: Begun in the Sui Dynasty to link the
Yellow and Yangzi Rivers.
• Increased trade stimulated the Tang economy
– Silk industry made China exceptionally wealthy
– Horses, Persians rugs, and tapestries came to
China along Silk Road. Silk, textiles, porcelain, &
paper were exported from China to the Islamic
world via the 5,000 mile Silk Road.
Culture & Politics in Tang China
• Tang rulers were cultural patrons- Golden Age of China
– Emperor Xuanzong sponsored the creation of the Han Lin
Academy of Letters, a key institution of learning
• The Tang exerted a strong artistic and religious influence
over Korea and Japan.
• Tang monarchs expanded and reworked the imperial
bureaucracy
– Revived Scholar-gentry elite & reworked Confucian ideology
– Diminished power of aristocratic families.
– Bureaucracy reached from imperial palace down to
subprefecture, or district level.
– Executive dept was divided into 6 ministries- war, justice, public
works, etc.
Tang Examination System
• Tang emperors patronized academies to train
state officials and educate them in Confucian
classics.
– Examination system was greatly expanded under Tang
& Song. Administered by Ministry of Rites.
– Highest offices could only be gained by those who
were able to pass exams on the philosophical or legal
classics, and Chinese lit. Publically proclaimed JINSHI
• While many bureaucrats won their position
through success in the Civil Service Examination
system, birth and family connections still played a
major role in securing office.
State and Religion
• Buddhism thrived in the time before the Sui and
Tang dynasties
– Many pre-Tang rulers from nomadic origins were
devout Buddhists
• Mahayana (Pure Land). Chan variant of Buddhism (Zen)
stressed meditation and appreciation of natural beauty. Zen
had great appeal to Chinese educated classes.
• Some early Tang Emperors and Empresses
patronized Buddhism (Empress Wu r. 690-705 CE)
while also promoting education in Confucian
classics.
State and Religion
• Empress Wu tried to
elevate Buddhism to
status of state
religion.
• Commissioned
colossal statues of the
Buddha. 2-3 stories
high.
• Some carved in rocks
near Loyang, others in
pagoda temples she
commissioned.
State and Religion
• Support of Buddhism aroused the envy of Confucian and
Daoist rivals.
– Confucian leaders stress the economic impact of not taxing
Buddhist monasteries, and losing out on labor because they
couldn’t conscript peasants who worked on monastic estates.
– Some attacked the religion as alien & barbaric.
– Emperor Wuzong (r. 841-847) began the outright persecution of
Buddhists. Destroyed monasteries, shrines, and forced monks
and nuns to return to civilian lives.
Trade & Commercial
Expansion
• In addition to overland trade,
maritime trade expanded during
Tang & Song era. Indian Ocean
Trade Network: China’s control of
the southern coast allowed
participation in the Indian Ocean
Trade Network.
• Along with Arab dhows, Chinese
junks were the best ships in the
world at this time. Were
equipped with gunpowder
propelled rockets.
Dhow + Junk = Caravel
Trade, Commerce, &
Urbanization
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•
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Guild system
Deposit shops = early form of bank.
1st use of paper money occurred during the Tang Dynasty.
Merchants deposited their profits in their hometown deposit
shops. They were then given credit vouchers called “flying
money,” which they could redeem in their city of destination.
• Urban centers grew steadily. The number of people living in
large cities in China (10%) was greater than that found in any
civilization until the Industrial Revolution.
Tang Decline
• Weakening imperial control after attacks on
Buddhism. Political intrigue would plague the
remainder of the dynasty.
• Empress Wei poisoned her hubby (the son of
Empress Wu), and placed her son on the throne, but
her attempt to seize power was thwarted by another
prince, who led a palace revolt & seized the throne.
• Xuanzong became the last great Tang emperor, but
his doomed love affair with Yang Guifei would lead to
the empire’s collapse.
• See the movie- trailer for Lady Yang
Tang Decline
• During the 800’s, a
series of peasant
rebellions and military
disasters weakened the
Tang, & the heartbroken Yang Guifei was
incapable of
maintaining order.
China after the Tang
• By the end of the 8th c, little remained of the Tang Empire. By 907, the last
Tang emperor was forced to resign and China appeared to be entering
another phase of nomadic dominance.
• But in 960 military commander Zhao Kuangyin emerged to reunite China
under a single dynasty.
• He was one of the most honest & able generals of the 5 dynasty period
after the fall of the Tang. Though a fierce warrior, he collected books
rather than booty on military campaigns.
• Zhao’s subordinates insisted that he proclaim himself emperor.
• Zhao, renamed Emperor Taizu, founded the Song dynasty, which ruled
China for the next 3 centuries
• Until 1121, the primary threat to the Song was the Liao empire to the
north.
Song Politics
• Song never matched the Tang in terms of
political or military strength.
• Military weakened- commanders were rotated
to prevent building up a power base in the
areas they were stationed.
• Promoted the interests of the Confucian
scholar-gentry.
• Civil service exams given every 3 years at
district, provincial, and imperial levels.
Song Econ & Society
• Culturally and economically impressive
– Steady population growth
– Contd urbanization
– Largest cities on earth at the time (population over 1
million)
– Trade contacts lessened, but still active.
– Port of Canton (Guangzhou) became the world’s busiest
and most cosmopolitan trading centers.
– Contd Tang agrarian expansion. State-regulated irrigation.
Encouraged peasant migration to uncultivated areas.
– Broke up estates of the old aristocracy and distributed land
more equitably among the peasantry.
– Bolstered the position of peasants- balanced social order.
Song Technology & Innovation
• With the exception of the Abbasid
Caliphate, Song China was of the
most scientifically and technically
advanced societies in the world at
that time.
– Excellent mathematicians and
astronomers.
– Compasses: Had been around since
last c. BCE, but used for the first time
in maritime navigation in 1090.
– Su-Song’s celestial clock was built in
1088 CE
• 80 feet tall
• Time of day, day of month, positions of
the sun, moon, planets, and major stars.
• First device in world history to use a
chain-driven mechanism powered by
flowing water.
Song Technology & Innovation
• Gunpowder: at 1st had little impact on warfare. For centuries,
the Chinese used it mainly for fireworks. Used in grenades by
the late Song dynasty.
• Paper Currency, banking (flying money)
• Abacus: ancestor of the modern calculator. Invented to help
merchants to count profits and tax collectors keep track of
revenues.
• Bi Sheng invented movable type in the mid 11th c. Advance
over block printing that had been invented in the Han.
• Moveable type and paper (Han invention), advanced the
production of written records. Printing made it possible for
Song China to attain a level of literacy above that of any
preindustrial civ.
Song Art & Lit
• A well-educated man was expected to excel in many fields.
After a day of work at the Ministry of Public Works, an
accomplished official was expected to spend his evenings
composing songs and poems.
• Confucian scholar-gentry supplanted Buddhists as the main
producers of art and lit.
• Art became more secular and celebrated the beauty of the
natural world.
• Poetry was the main art form of the Tang (Li Bo), and
landscape painting for the Song.
• Song landscapes were painted on scrolls that could be read as
the viewer unfolded them. And you’re going to make one!
Religion
• Great revival of Confucius’ teachings, known as NeoConfucianism.
– Sought to prove the superiority of indigenous thought
systems over foreign ones (Buddhism).
– Its hostility toward outside influences would eventually
stifle innovation.
– Reinforced Chinese culture’s tendency toward hierarchy,
patriarchy, and obedience.
– Thought that social harmony was preserved by keeping
people in their proper place.
– Put a premium on education and cultured behavior.
Women in Chinese Society
• Neo-Confucianism was used to justify the greater subordination
of women. Reinforced virginity for young brides, fidelity for
wives, and chastity for widows.
• Men, however, could have pre-marital sex, and take concubines
without scandal.
• Neo-Confucians attacked Buddhists for promoting monastic
careers for women.
• Empress Wu, Wei, and Yang Guifei were exceptions. Conditions
worsened under the Song.
• Women excluded from education.
• Chinese subjugation of women was most obvious in footbinding. Counterpart of the veil and the harem in the Islamic
world.
– May have started with a Tang emperor who had a developed a fetish
for tiny dancer feet.
– Upper-class men developed a taste for small feet, and successful
marriage negotiations often hinged on male demands for small feet.
Women in Chinese Society
• Families began binding
girl’s feet @ age 5.
• Toes turned under and
bound with silk which
was tightened as she
grew.
• By the time she reached
marriageable age, a girl’s
foot had been
transformed into the
“lotus petal” form.
• One woman's story of
foot binding
Song Decline
• Funds for defense spending were re-allocated to cover
the scholarly pursuits and entertainments of the
imperial court.
• Though Song armies were large, their commanders
were rarely well trained.
• Neglect of military would be the source of their
undoing. An unprepared military was no match for the
threat from beyond the empire’s northern borders.
• The Song gradually lost territory and retreated to the
South. The smaller Song state, the Southern Song
Dynasty, will survive until the Mongol Conquests of the
1270s.