Sui, Tang, Song Dynasties
Period of Disunion
• 220-589 CE
• Period of disunion: the time of disorder that
followed the collapse of the Han dynasty
“Era of Division” 220-589 C.E.
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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.
Sui Dynasty
• 589-618
• Conquered the south and unified
China
• Known for harsh rule: forced peasants
who owed taxes to fight in the army
• Compulsory labor laws
• Created a centralized and unified
state and laid the foundation for the
golden age that followed
Sui Dynasty-Achievements
• Repaired and lengthened the Great Wall
• Provided security from Northern invaders which
allowed cultural and economic growth
Sui Dynasty-Achievements
• Built the Grand Canal, which connected the
Yellow river in the north and the Yangzi river in
the south
• Connected northern and southern China
• Farmers and merchants in the south (rice) used
the canal
• Government and military
officials could travel and
watch over citizens
• Many died while building the canal
The Grand Canal Today
Engineering an Empire: China - Grand Canal (9min)
Why are the centuries of the Tang & Song dynasties in China
sometimes referred to as a “golden age”?
Sui Dynasty (589–618) reunified China
★ Sui rulers vastly extended the canal system
★ But their ruthlessness and failure to conquer Korea alienated people, exhausted
state’s resources
★ Dynasty was overthrown, but state didn’t disintegrate
Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties built on Sui foundations
★ Established patterns of Chinese life that lasted into 20th century
★ Regarded as a golden age of arts and literature
“Golden Age”
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Tang Dynasty-Government
618-907 CE: Golden Age of culture
China was the richest most powerful country in
the world
Conquered Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea as tributary
states
Rebuilt bureaucracy, more commoners
Liberal attitude towards all religions
Civil Service exams: ability not rank
Foreign Relations
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Political theory: China was the Middle Kingdom, or the center of
civilization
– Responsibility to bring order to subordinate lands
– Tributary system became diplomatic policy
– Had to recognize Chinese emperors as overlords and send
gifts to the court and
– Prostrations: knelt to ground and foreheads to ground
(kowtow)
Mancuria
– Silla kingdom in Korea
– northern Vietnam
– West towards plateau of Tibet
Tang Emperor who began the Great
Achievements of China
Ruled: 626-646
Wu Zhao First Empress of China to assume
control in 690
Expanded China’s land into Korea
Tang Dynasty-Government
• Only dynasty to have a female emperor:
Empress Wu Chao
• After her husband died she decided her sons
were not capable of ruling
• Ruled with an iron fist:
• Chose advisors based on ability
not rank, but some cruel/sadistic
• Favored Buddhism & financed the building of
many Buddhist temples.
Tang Expansion
Tang Dynasty-Economics
• Equal Field System- redistributed land to peasants
• Citizens paid taxes on how much land they received
• Central Government strengthened: benefited from
increased number of taxpayers, limited power of
wealthy landowners
• Benefited commoners and peasants by giving them a
chance to gain wealth
Tang Dynasty-Economics
• After conquering the west, the Tang were
able to reopen the silk road- a system for
trade, travel, communication, exchange of
ideas
• Connected China to central Asia and the middle east
• From China to west: silk, porcelain, jade, tea, paper,
printing, farming methods,
weapons
• From West to China: glass
rugs, horses, silver,
medicine, spices,
Christianity, Islam
Financial Instruments
&
Trade
Coins from the Tang Dynasty
Yellow and Yangzi Rivers
Economic Exchange: Letters of Credit
• Trade grew so rapidly during the Tang and Song era that copper
coin shortages developed
• Financial instruments: traders began issuing
"flying cash" (letters of credit) as an
alternative and paper money
– Enabled merchants to deposit goods or cash at one location and draw
the equivalent cash or merchandise somewhere else
• A cosmopolitan society: communities of
foreign merchants in large cities
Coin from Tang Dynasty
Economic Exchange: Paper Money
The search for alternatives
to cash also led to the
invention of paper money
 During the late ninth
century, wealthy merchants
began accepting cash from
their clients and issuing
them printed notes that the
clients could redeem for
merchandise
 Greatly facilitated
commercial transactions
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Economic Exchange: Tea
• Tea trading
flourished
during Tang
and Song era
• Tea was
compressed
into bricks and
used as money
Decline
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Casual/careless leadership
Equal-field system deteriorated
Population pressures
Peasant rebellion
Regional military commanders
The Sung (Song) Dynasty
960-1279 CE
• Technology continued to
advance.
• They created manufactured
goods to export to other areas
of the world.
• The Arts flourished.
• A combination of Buddhism and
Confucianism were added to the
civil service exams. (This was
called Neo – Confucianism .)
A scholar-official
Song Dynasty-Government
• 960-1279 CE
• Song China was limited to provinces south
of the Great Wall
• Strengthened the system of meritocracyjobs based on ability
– Accepted more candidates
– Generous salaries
– Placed them in charge of military
• Military under tight supervision
• External pressures- pay tribute to nomadic
groups
• What potential problems will this bring?
Song Dynasty-Economy
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Chinese farming reached new heights
Irrigation techniques
Dug underground wells
Dragon Backbone pump-light portable
pump that allowed farmers to scoop up
water and pour it into a canal
• Amount of land under cultivation
increased
• Discovery of fast ripening rice= 2 or 3
harvests a year
Agriculture
• imported fast-ripening
rice from Vietnam
Agriculture
• imported fast-ripening rice
from Vietnam
• allowed two crops each
season instead of one
• fueled population increase
• In the north, farmers grew
wheat, barley, and other
grains. The south was ideal
for growing rice.
AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS
New strains
of rice
&
Better
irrigation
methods
Higher
yields
&
Two
crops
per yr.
FOOD
SURPLUS &
POPULATION
INCREASE!
Agricultural developments
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New agricultural techniques increased production
• Heavy iron plows
• Harnessed oxen and water buffalo to prepare the land
• Enriched soil with manure and compost materials
• Extensive irrigation
– Reservoirs, dikes, dams, canals, underground wells
– Pumps and waterwheels
– Terraced mountainsides
Rice Cultivation
• China experienced
rapid population
growth
– Commercialized
agricultural economy
– Cheaper food,
specialized crops
exported
– Population doubles during Tang
and Song Dynasties to 100
million.
– China becomes the most
populous country in the world.
Urbanization
– Most urbanized country in the world
– Chang’an was world’s most populous city, with as many as 2 million residents.
Bustling trade center
– Song capital of Hangzhou was home to more than a million people
– Supported hundreds of resturants, noodle shops, taverns, teahouses, brothels, music
halls, theaters, clubhouses, gardens, markets, craft shops, specialty stores dealing in
gems, silk, porcelain
– Cosmopolitan Culture
– Mix of many cultures: China, Korea, Persia, Arabia, and Europe
– Religious and philosophical center: Buddhism, Daoism, and Christianity
– Influx of foreign ideas and trends: home to many foreign merchants, dignitaries, and
missionaries
• “barbarian” food and fashion popular
Cities
Southern Gate of Chang’an
The capital at
Chang’an (Xian)
Chang’an (modern Xi’an) in the Sui-Tang Dynasties
Constructed 7th century
Walls 6 x 5.3 miles
14 major EW streets
11 major NS streets
110 walled “wards”
East Market (Domestic)
West Market (Imported)
Ceremonial Hall of Imperial Palace in Chang’an
Sui-Tang Dynasty, 7th century
Tang and Song-Technology
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Mechanical Clock (700s)
Gunpowder (850)
Block Printing (700s)
Moveable Type (1040s)
Inventions of Tang and Song China
• The Tang Dynasty World View:
 west
along the Silk Road
 India,
Southwest Asia,
Korea, and Japan.
 Grand
Canal continued to
intensify trade
throughout China
 The
Song Dynasty World
View:
 looks
east towards the sea
 ocean ships
east,
Song Dynasty
 Korea
 Japan
 India
 Persian
Gulf
 east Africa
Tang and Song-Culture
• Landscape paintings-influenced
by daoism
• Pagodas: Temples
• Porcelain
• Li Bo and Du Fu- famous Chinese
poets and Wu Daozi- famous
artist lived at this time
• Foot Binding
Golden Age of Art
• wealth, education, and urban
culture = artistic achievement
• great poetry
– Li Bo and Du Fu
• Three-color ware was one of
the greatest contributions of
the Tang Dynasty.
• Many figurines, predominantly
horses and camels, were
produced.
• Most of these pieces have been found in the more affluent tombs
of the Tang period
Religion in China (watch this video)
Buddhism
Establishment of Buddhism
– Foreign religions: Nestorians, Manichaeans,
Zoroastrians, Muslim communities
– Dunhuang, city on silk road, transmits Mahayana
Buddhism to China
– Buddhism in China
• Attraction: moral standards, intellectual
sophistication, and salvation
• Monasteries became large landowners, helped the
poor and needy
• Also posed a challenge to Chinese cultural tradition
Buddhism becomes a permanent entity of Chinese culture (sinicized)
Leshan Buddha
Sui Sculpture Influenced by Buddhism
Picture # 4
Buddha reaching nirvana with his family nearby.
Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Buddha
Big Wild Goose Pagoda &
Buddhist monastery in X’ian
Statue of Buddha – X’ian
Buddhist monk,
Xuangzang leaving X’ian
on pilgrimage to India and
the sacred places of
Buddhism.
His travels took him over
25,000 miles.
Leshan carved Buddha- 25 stories tall
Buddha’a hand can hold 100
people on it.
Longmen Cave 19
Vairocana Buddha Group
Tang Dynasty, 672-675
Guardian Figures
h. 34’ 6”
Guardian Warrior from a Tang
Royal Tomb, early 8th century
Confucius says:
Peace and social order come by acting “right”
in all of our relationships.
• “Those above should be kind to those below.”
Ruler
Subject
Father
Son
Older Sibling
Younger Sibling
Husband
Wife
Friend
Friend
• “Those below should Respect and Obey
those above.”
Buddha Says:
We should speak in a manner
that does not hurt others.
We should get rid
of greed and
overcome
ignorance.
We should strive
to get rid of any
hurtful thought or
attitude.
We should act in a
way that does not
harm others.
We should
make a living in
a way that does
not harm
others.
Confucianism underwent changes and
influenced Chinese government.
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The dominant philosophy in China was Confucianism, based on the teachings of
Confucius.
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His teachings focused on proper behavior.
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Confucius taught that people should conduct their lives according to two basic
principles.
– One was ren, or concern for others.
– The other was li, or appropriate behavior.
Neo-Confucianism
• After his death, Confucius’s ideas
were spread by his followers, but as
Buddhism became more popular,
Confucianism lost some influence.
• Buddhism stressed a more spiritual
outlook that promised escape from
suffering.
• Many leaders pushed to suppress
Buddhism towards the end of the
Tang dynasty. Monks were considered
to be a drain on society.
• Neo-Confucianism developed due to a
desire to improve Chinese
government and society.
• It was similar to the older philosophy
but emphasized spiritual matters.
• Neo-Confucianism became more
influential under the Song, and
became official government teaching
after the Song dynasty.
Artistic creativity
• Celebrated poets
• Li Bo – celebrated life’s pleasures
• Du Fu – praised orderliness and Confucian
virtues.
– Also wrote about war and hardship of soldiers
– He was once captured by rebels
Li Bo
Du Fu
Art and Writing
Poet Li Bo
Poet Du Fu
Paintings
• Emphasized Daoist love of nature
– Artists emphasized the beauty of the natural
landscapes, mountains, and rippling brooks
– Objects such as a single branch or flower
– Did not use brightly colored paints
– Blank ink was their favorite.
• “Black is ten colors.”
Example of Chinese Landscape and Nature Painting, the artist’s
signature is the red stamp at the top.
Song
Dynasty
Painting
Landscape Painting
Fan Kuan, “Travelers among Streams
and Mountains,” Northern Song
Dynasty, ca. 1000
Hanging scroll, ink and light colors on
silk, 81 ¼” x 40 ¾”
Taipei, National Palace Museum
WOMEN IN THE SONG DYNASTY
• But this “golden age” was less “golden” for women
• Under the influence of steppe nomads, women led less restricted lives
-Elite women of the Tang dynasty had participated in social life with
greater freedom than in classical times
• But by the Song dynasty, a reviving Confucianism and rapid economic
growth seemed to tighten patriarchal restrictions on women and to
restore some of the earlier Han dynasty images of female submission
and passivity
Once again Confucian writers highlighted the
subordination of women to men and the need to
keep males and females separate. But the most
compelling expression of a tightening patriarchy lay
in foot binding.
Foot binding restricted women to the “inner quarters”
due to the pain that now accompanied walking.
Foot-Binding in Tang China
• Broken toes by 3 years of age.
 Size 5 ½ shoe
on the right
Foot-Binding in Tang China
Mothers bound their daughters’ feet.
The Process of
Foot Binding
First the feet are soaked in
warm water
Dried, massaged, then the
toes nails are trimmed
Then a 10 feet strip of cloth is
wrapped tightly around the toes,
curling them under the soles
Everyday the feet would be
rebound tighter and tighter and fit
into a smaller sized shoes
Foot-Binding in Tang China
• For upper-class girls, it
became a new custom.
The Results of Foot-Binding
Assignment.. Yes you need to do this.
• Create a mind map highlighting the SPICE
elements of Post-Classical China.
• Place the topic “Post-Classical China” and
draw pictures that represent the major
characteristics of China during this time
period. You should have pictures for each
SPICE element.
Social
Political
Interaction
Culture
Economics