Fast Ripening Rice:
The rapid growth of China resulted in
part from advances in farming. Farmers
especially improved the cultivation of
rice. In about the year 1000, China
imported a new variety of fast-ripening
rice from Vietnam. This allowed the
farmers to harvest two rice crops each
year rather than one. To make sure that
farmers knew about this improved
variety, Chinese officials distributed seedlings throughout the country. The
agricultural improvements enabled China’s farmers to produce more food. This
was necessary to feed the rapidly expanding population in the cities.
Tea Arrived:
Historical literature reads that tea became popular
in the Tang Dynasty and was in vogue in the Song
Dynasty. It took about 600 years from the Sui
Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty; the most flourishing
period of tea culture. Tea production was greatly
promoted because of the development of the
feudal economy and the increase in social
productivity. Tea as a major commodity entered in
the daily life of common people. A lot of famous
teas and tribute teas appeared then. It was in this
period that there appeared books on tea, dealing in
tea and taxes on tea. Tea drinking customs and
techniques began to take shape in the Tang
Dynasty and they had great influence on the later
ages.
Flourishing Trade:
Under the Tang and Song emperors,
foreign trade flourished. Tang
imperial armies guarded the great
Silk Roads, which linked China to
the West. Eventually, however,
china lost control over these during
the long Tang decline. After this
time, Chinese merchants relied
increasingly on ocean trade.
Chinese advances in sailing
technology, including use of
magnetic compass, made it possible
for sea trade to expand. Up and down China’s long coastline, the largest port cities
in the world bustled with international trade. Merchant ships carried trade goods to
Korea and Japan. They sailed across the Indian Ocean to India, the Persian Gulf
and even the coast of Africa.
Magnetic Compass:
China is a country with long
coastal lines and has a long
history of shipbuilding and
navigation.
Early sailors looked at the sun
during the day and the stars
and the moon at night to
decide the direction they
would sail. In the Song
Dynasty, the magnetic
compass was invented to help
sailors navigate both in
daytime and at night. This invention held China become a sea power and soon
promoted the exchange of culture, economy and technology between China and
western countries.
Movable Type:
Movable type was invented during
the Song Dynasty in the years
between 1041 A.D. and 1048 A.D.
With movable type, a printer could
arrange blocks of individual
characters in a frame to make up a
page for printing. Previously, a
printers had carved the words of a
whole page into one large block.
The invention of movable type was
eventually taken over to the West
and used by Gutenberg for the
printing of the Bible. Needless to say, this had a profound effect on the nature of
knowledge and the development of literature. So this is probably the number-one
invention of the Song Dynasty.
Foot binding: During the Song the
notorious practice of foot binding first
became common, clearly marking a fall
in the status of women. From the Tang
dynasty until the 20th century, many
Chinese women had their feet tightly
bound in early childhood. At first, foot
binding was something practiced only by
those within the royal court but soon
women of all social classes were eager to
have dainty, "beautiful" and desirable
feet. So exactly what did foot binding do
to the feet? Well, young girls would have
their feet bound for the first time when
they were about five years old. Their mothers would take long lengths of cloth and
bind the feet so that the toes would bend under and the bones in the foot would
break, forcing the front and back of the foot together, giving the appearance of a
high arch and tiny foot. The ultimate foot was to be between three and four inches
(about 10 cm) long. Over the course of about three years, a girl's foot would be
broken numerous times to get it to the perfect shape.
Poetry and Nature Art:
The prosperity of the Tang and Song
dynasties nourished an age of artistic
brilliance. The Tang period produced great
poetry. Chinese paintings also reached new
heights of beauty during the Song Dynasty
Paintings of this era showed Daoist influence.
Artists emphasized the beauty of natural
landscapes and objects such a single branch
or flower. The artists did not use bright
colors. Black ink was their favorite paint.
Said one Song artist, “Black is ten colors.”
Middle Class Created:
During the Tang and Song times, the power of
the old aristocratic families began to fade. While
there were still many upper class people (civil
service government workers and land owners), a
new class of people called the middle class began
to appear. It included merchants, shopkeepers,
skilled artisans, minor officials, and others. At
the bottom of urban society were laborers,
soldiers, and servants. In the countryside lived
the largest class by far, the peasants. They toiled
for wealthy landowners as they had for centuries.
Became Too Big:
The Tang Dynasty struggled to
control the vast empire they had
built. In 751, Muslim armies
soundly defeated the Chinese at
the Battle of Talas. As a result,
Central Asia fell out of Chinese
control and into foreign hands.
After this time, border attacks and
internal rebellions steadily
chipped away at the power of the
imperial government. Finally, in
907, Chinese rebels sacked and burned the Tang capital at Ch’ang-an and
murdered the last Tang emperor, a child.