Inner and East Asia, 600
– 1200
I. The Early Tang Empire, 618 - 715
A. Tang Origins
 Sui Dynasty (581 – 618)
 Emperor Li Shimin
 Extension of autonomy, Confucian
examinations
 Turkic culture/military
B. Buddhism and the Tang Empire
 Presence of Buddhism,
responsibility of king
 Mahayana Buddhism dominant –
facilitated cultural exchange
 Early Tang dependence on
Buddhist monasteries
 Capital at Chang’an
 Cosmopolitan - diversity, contacts
with Inner Asia
C. To Chang’an by Land and Sea
 Roads, Grand Canal
 Tributary system
 Layout of Chang’an
 Compass design, ocean vessels
 Plague of Justinian
D. Trade and Cultural Exchange
 Cultural impact from Inner
Asia/Islam
 Clothing
 Stringed instruments, food and
wine
 1000 CE exports exceeded imports
– balance of trade
 Silks, porcelain
 Increased trade along Silk
Road/Indian Ocean – traders use
credit/finance networks
II. Rivals for Power in Inner Asia and China, 600 – 907
A.











The Uighur and Tibetan Empire
Turks migrated from Mongolia westward
8th century – Uighurs controlled Tarim
Basin/Inner Asia
Cosmopolitan – merchants, scribes, art,
religion
Fell quickly
Chinese pilgrims traveled through Tibet
Alphabet, art/architecture, medicine,
math, farming
643 – Tang princess Kongjo married
Tibetan king – brought Mahayana
Buddhism, increased contact between
Tibet and Tang
Tibetan military strengths
Late 600s – Tang and Tibet competing
from control over Inner Asia
Tibet reached into Chinese provinces
800 – Tibetan king wanted to do away
with monasteries but assassinated by
monks – further isolation
B. Upheavals and Repression, 750 –
879
 New fears of Buddhism undermining
Confucianism, Han Yu
 Emperor Wu Zhao – favored
Buddhism/Daoism, reviled by
Confucian writers
 Buddhists severed ties to this world
 Edict of 845 – Tang destroyed
thousands of temples, government
gained new sources of revenue
 Fall of Buddhism in Tang China
C. The End of the Tang Empire, 879 –
907
 Empire dependent on local military
rulers/complex tax system
 755 – Rebellion led by General An
Lushan, rise of military governors
 Prosperity but political disintegration
and cultural decay
 879 – 881 – Huang Chao (gentry)
led greatest uprising Hatred of
foreigners
 Warlords – mass migrations to the
south
III. The Emergence of East Asia to 1200
Three new states: origins, beliefs
A. The Liao and Jin Challenge
 Liao Empire of Khitan (916 – 1121) – Siberia to Central Asia
 Pastoral traditions, importance of Buddhism to emperor
 Siege machines, horsemen
 1005 – Song tribute to the Liao
 Alliance with Jurchens of northeast Asia
 Destruction of Liao capital in 1115
 “Southern Song” (1127 – 1279) – Song make payments to Jin to
avoid warfare
B. Song Industries
 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION???
 Indian/West Asian mathematicians/astronomers –
fractions/calendars
 1088 – Su Song and giant celestial clock
 Advances in magnetic compass
 Junk ships – rudder, watertight bulkheads…copied in Persian
Gulf
 HUGE ARMY (1.25 million men) – half the territory of the Tang
 Use of steel/iron – sources in the north
 Government monopoly by 11th c. – producing as much cast iron
as 18th c. Great Britain
 Mass production
 1100s - Gunpowder - impact
C. Economy and Society in Song China
 Neo – Confucianism, Zhu Xi, ideal human – the sage
 Chan Buddhism (Zen in Japan) – mental discipline
 Rigorous examinations for bureaucratic offices
 Social implications of scoring well/poorly on exams
 Printing – woodblock to moveable type
 Mass printing of books, exam materials, instructions on
cultivation
 Agriculture south of the Yangzi River, plow/rakes, control of
malaria
 Migration to the south, displacement of native people
 1100 – population in Chinese territories over 100 million
 Large cities
 Problems in cities – waste management, water supply, etc.
 City of Hangzhou
 Credit – “flying money”
 Government issued paper money - inflation
 Cost of military expenditures
 Sold rights to collect taxes
 New social hierarchy based on new sources of wealth –
MODERN – growth of middle class and private capitalism seen
in 18th c. Europe
 Women’s rights/education
 Development of footbinding – status symbol
IV. New Kingdoms in East Asia



A.





Expanding Confucian world view
targeted the south
Cultivation of rice needed
structured society
Korea, Japan and Vietnam all
centralized power during the Tang
period – saw Buddhism and
Confucianism as compatible
Korea
Mountains, little agricultural land
Early 500s - kingdom of Silla
(south); power of landowners,
Koguryo kingdom in north, after
688 Silla ruled but needed support
of Tang
After early 900s (fall of Tang)
house of Koryo united peninsula –
alliance with the Song
Koryo kings supported Buddhism
– woodblock printing from 700s
Process of woodblock printing,
advances…
B. Japan
 Geography
 Mid 600s Yamato followed Tang government
 Architecture, Buddhism
 No walls, Mandate of Heaven
 Unchanging Tenno dynasty, role of prime
minister and Shinto
 Kyoto
 Fujiwara family – cultural development,
Confucianism
 Power of warriors, civil war
 Education of women – The Tale of Genji
 Kamakura Shogunate – Buddhism, rise of
samurai
C. Vietnam
 Red River and Mekong, irrigation systems
 “Annam” – Confucian bureaucratic training,
Mahayana Buddhism
 936 – Dai Viet – good relations with Song
 Rivalry wit Champa (south) – foreign
influences
 Champa and voluntary tribute – Champa rice
 Confucian hierarchy – differences in
treatment of women