Era 2 Review
600 – 1450 C.E.
Chapter 10 Inner and East Asia, 600-1200
 What is the importance of Inner and Central Asia as
a region of interchange during the Tang period?
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Tang: took over
from Sui only in
power for 34
years 581- 618;
Tang kept
many of their
practices
1. What is the importance of Inner and Central Asia as a
region of interchange during the Tang period?
 Cultural interchange: pottery figurines show horses and
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two-humped camels from Silk Road
Weapons of Tang were part Chinese, part Inner Asia—
the crossbow accompanied by Inner Asian horsemanship
and the iron stirrup
Clothing—pants from riding became fashionable
Polo from the steppes, allowed women to compete
Turkic instruments from Silk Road
Grape wine from West Asia and tea, sugar, and spices
from India
Central Asia imported way more from China though-silk,
porcelain (always a trade imbalance there…)
What is the importance of Inner and Central Asia as a region
of interchange during the Tang period?
 Between 600-751 the Uighurs and Tibetans built large
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rival states in Inner Asia
Based around Silk Road stopping points
Mutually beneficial trade required cooperation rather
than political disunity
By mid-800s military decline and standoff
Tang hit hardest because most centralized
Nomads of the steppe survived longer
In China, anger at neighbors fueled antiforeign feelings
Caravan cities from overland trade were centers of
Islam—religion and culture (art)
2. On what were new relationships among East Asian societies
based after the fall of Tang?
Song Empire; Jin Empire
Competition
 3 rival states, very diff.
languages, diff.
religions
 Competition led to
advancement in
seafaring techniques
and military tech
 Song paid tribute to
northern people
3. Why do Buddhism and Confucianism play different
political roles in Tang and Song China?
Tang
 Mahayana Buddhism
dominated (Great Vehicle—
common)
 Permitted local gods in
religion; conversion more
attractive
 Late Tang: Elites saw
Buddhism as undermining
to Confucianism, spoke
against it; destruction of
temples
Song
 Confucian (as successors
to Tang)
 Neo-Confucianism:
reemphasized moral and
social responsibility of
the individual
 Buddhism persisted, but
officially Confucianism
was practiced
 Examination system of
gov’t hiring
3. Why do Buddhism and Confucianism play different
political roles in Tibet, Korea, and Japan?
 Confucianism had best chance of spreading east—rice
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cultivation fit well
Spread with the Chinese writing system
Examination system did not spread
Elite in every area learned to read Chinese and Confucian
classics
Japan: official reverence for Buddhism
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During 8th century surpassed China in Buddhist studies
 Tibet: (west) A Tang princess came to marry a Tibetan
king and brought Buddhism, mixed with native religion
and created a unique kind of Buddhism
4. What accounts for the scientific and economic advancements that
contributed to the thriving urban life of Song China?
 Almost an industrial revolution in the 900s…
 Because of the network of exchange at the time,
Chinese scholars put together vast knowledge of
math, astronomy, measurement, seafaring, and
weaponry
 Inventions of the Song: celestial clock, refined
compass, the junk (oceangoing ship), iron
production that created weapons of unprecedented
strength, gunpowder, “flying money”– paper money
and credit