Golden Age
A time of great prosperity, military glory, as well as cultural, artistic and
scientific developments.
Conditions:
 People were generally happy.
 Economy was thriving and prosperous little poverty/starvation
 Satisfaction with government and rulers peace and stability people
did not have to worry about basic things – safety, food, shelter
 Government gave money to encourage them to be creative and
innovative in thinking of new ways to improve their lives.
 There were a lot more achievements especially in areas of arts and
science.
~China
~India
~Southeast Asia
Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907)
Han Dynasty war and disunity (almost 400 years), different parts of
empire under different dynasties, none lasted long, nomadic tribes
gained control Sui dynasty united Southern and Northern China
Rebellions brought an end to Sui dynasty (AD 618) Tang Dynasty
 Royal family came from the north, intermarried with noble families
from nomadic tribes.
 It was one of the most powerful and prosperous periods of Chinese
history.
 Power, stability, wealth—built up by early Tang rulers
Second Tang emperor: Taizong (ascended throne AD 626-683)—military
genius
Strong military: untroubled by external threats could concentrate on
developing itself.
 Extensive conquests, glorious victories, wealth, victors gained great deal of
knowledge from other civilisations
-- An ambitious ruler, Family background—familiar with nomadic tribes, used
knowledge-- re-conquered lands that had broken away from the Chinese
empire
-- Chinese control also extended to parts of Mongolia, Tibet, Central Asia,
Northern Korea Trade established with people from these lands Profits
Good government/Capable ruler: peace and political stability in the
empire/kingdom, little unrest/war people pursued intellectual and cultural
interests and made remarkable developments in these areas.
 believed in learning from mistakes of previous rulers discussed with his
ministers the reasons why other dynasties had fallen, encouraged them to
express their opinions about how he might improve his rule style of working
earned respect of officials, strengthened government
 Support of old powerful families many were still serving in central
government selected new officials through imperial examinations many
capable officials were recruited strengthened government
Han Wudi—Han dynasty, started written examination for scholars who had
been recommended as officials system not continued after fall of Han
dynasty reintroduced during Sui dynasty continued by Taizong
Taizong died at age of 49 left behind a well-organized and strong
government Successor: Gaozong—did not have his father’s ability, left
running of the kingdom to capable leadership of his wife—Wu Zetian.
Death in AD 683, next two successors did not remain long on the throne—Wu
Zetian took over from AD 690-705—first and only woman in Chinese history
to rule as an emperor.
Wu Zetian ambitious, ruthless woman, stopped at nothing to get rid of enemies
 Peace and prosperity during her rule
 Made CHANGES
~Many ministers in central government from noble families and loyal to Tang
royal family  wanted new officials who would support her rule encouraged
capable men from humble backgrounds to serve her
~IMPERIAL EXAMINATION SYSTEM  developed it so that it included
more than one examination
 Final examination in Changan was supervised by Wu Zetian herself
 Increased number of officials in central government, held examinations at
regular intervals
 Open to not only those recommended for official posts, but also to all
scholars
 More officials recruited, running of the government taken over by a new
group of officials who achieved success because of their own merit and not
because of their birth
 Later Tang rulers possessed weak leadership—but presence of capable
officials in the well-organized Tang government caused the dynasty to last
many years.
Prosperity economy (trade and foreign contact): Helped development of the
arts and sciences—spare money to spend on things such as art and literature.
Wealth came largely through trade and trading links enabled new ideas and
knowledge to reach the kingdom.
Silk Road—disrupted by war and instability during Han dynasty, was reopened.
 All kinds of goods came to the capital city—Changan, along the Silk Road and
other land routes
 Silk+ porcelain were taken to other countries
 Peace and stability encouraged travelers and merchants to flock to China
 Enormous profits made from silk trade
 Later years—trades came by sea
 Ships arrived at Chinese ports (e.g. Canton—Guangzhou) were developed,
goods were traded with people from Persia, India, Southeast Asia.
 Gained knowledge about people from these other lands
 Wealth
 Art, entertainment, food, clothes (foreign fashions), taste for imported goods
amongst the wealthyshowed strong foreign influence—communities e.g.
Arabs, Persians, Indians, Turks lived in the capital of Changan—7th and 8th
centuries population of one million people.
 Merchants, pilgrims, foreign princes, envoys, other travelers
 Visiting craftsmen taught local artisans different ways of making things
E.g. Persian metalworkers taught the Chinese delicate methods of using gold
and silver—beating them into thin sheets and making objects from the threads of
the precious metals
 Chinese cultural influence spread to neighbouring lands as well
Pottery figures, carvings, paintings of foreigners exaggerated features such as
huge noses, bulging eyes
Open society: Ideas from abroad could enter, cultural and intellectual
exchanges took place intellectual and cultural development
 Foreign influence, new ideas, knowledge of the outside world
 Encouraged development of Buddhism
 Wu Zetian was known for her efforts to promote Buddhism
 Buddhism had spread from India to China along the Silk Road during the
later Han period
 By the time of the Tang Dynasty—Buddhism had become a very
important religion in China
 Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian encouraged the spread of Buddhism
 Built numerous Buddhist monuments and temples in China and along the
Silk Road
 Buddhist monk—Xuanzang, sent on a mission to India and Sri Lanka to
study Buddhist scriptures
 Tang emperors did not punish people from practicing other religions
 Openness and acceptance of people’s ideas—essential
 Buddhist statues were carved on the walls of caves (e.g. in a cave at
Luoyang). Many were carved on the orders of emperor Gaozong and Wu
Zetian.
Patronage of the arts and science: Good leaders contributed to the
development of the arts and sciences by giving their support.
Advances in Science
Medicine heavily influenced by Taoism
 Believed that illness resulted when natural forces of yin and yang in the
body were unbalanced
 Balance was restored with patients eating the correct food/taking herbs.
Metallurgy Vessels with very fine designs, tools, and weapons from bronze
 Best examples of bronze works: Shang dynasty (1523-1027 BCE), Han
Dynasty (202 BCE- 220 CE)
Seismograph Zhang Heng invented a device for detecting earthquakes in AD
132.
 Indicated when and from which direction an earthquake had occurred
 Allowed help to be sent to affected areas immediately
 China—had always been troubled by earthquakes. Thus, the seismograph
was an important invention
 Gradually developed into today’s modern electronic seismograph
Mathematics invented the abacus in 500BC—in still in use today
 A skilled person could perform complex calculations with remarkable
speed
Astronomy Zhang Heng—lived during Han dynasty, mapped movements of
the sun, moon and planets
 Wrote about the equator and poles of the earth
 Zhang Heng and the astronomers after him kept careful records of
astronomical events like eclipses and sightings of comets
 Records have allowed modern astronomers to track the paths of comets
over the centuries.
Mechanical clock built during Song period (AD 960-1279) by a government
official named Su Song
 9m high, driven by falling water, took 8 years to build, ran for 34 years until
destroyed by invaders
Gunpowder Created accidentally by a scientist during the Tang dynasty (AD
960-1279)
 At first used for fireworks, later in Song period arrows dipped in gunpowder
and used with crossbow for war purposes
 Made a lot of fire and noise—good for frightening enemies’ horses
Compass Appeared during Han dynasty (202 BC-AD 220)
 Invented by Indians/Chinese – both started using it about the same time
 Used for town planning, and later for sea voyages
Paper Before the Han dynasty, the Chinese learned the art of making paper
from mashed-up wood such as bamboo.
 Thick and spongy, used for wrapping things
 Later, made thinner, longer lasting and cheaper
 Used for books, banners, lanterns
Printing Pictures carved on wood blocks and printed on paper
 Ideas and knowledge could be passed on more easily and made available
to more people
 Education improved, many more people learned to read and write
 Desire to spread the Buddhist faith led to the invention of printing
 Oldest existing printed book in the world—the Diamond Sutra—a collection
of Buddhist prayers written in AD 868
 Further improved: Bi Sheng invented “moveable type printing”
 Each character carved on a piece of clay (a type), arranged in a frame to
printed as a page—many books printed quickly
 Europeans only learnt the skills of printing 4 centuries after this
 “Moveable type printing” remained the basis of printing until computer
technology replaced it in the late 20’’’ century
 Evidence: small piece of paper that dates back more than 2000 years to
the Han dynasty when it was created
 Was not used for writing—used for making clothes, or wrapping things up
 Paper making skills developed for some centuries before there was thin
and fine paper suitable for writing on.
Richness of the Arts
Calligraphy Pictographic writing from as early as Shang Dynasty
 Tang Dynasty—form of Chinese writing using the paintbrush was
developed
 Most famous ancient Chinese literature produced in calligraphy—became
part of imperial examinations
Literature Chinese history was written down for the first time by a court official,
Sima Qian, during the Han dynasty
 Traced Chinese history from the mythical Xia emperors to the reign of Han
Wudi (157-87 BC)
 The Shiji (Historical Records) contains reproductions of important
documents, describes emperors and famous people, one of the first history
books in the world, well-written—regarded as a great work of Chinese
literature
 Tang dynasty produced large amount of very high quality literature—
almost all of China’s greatest poets hailed from Tang dynasty
 Li Bai, Du Fu
 Poetry included in the imperial examinations
 Emperor Taizong—an excellent scholar and calligrapher
 Song Dynasty—outstanding poets and writers
 Su Dongpo—one of the dynasty’s finest poets while an outstanding writer
of that time was Sima Guang—took 15 years to write a cook on the historical
events of China from the time of the Zhou Dynasty—one of China’s first
books on history.
Pottery and porcelain porcelain is pottery made from fine white clay and fired
at very high temperatures
 Sancai (three-coloured)/ tri-coloured Tang pottery green, cream, brown,
(black)
 Placed in tombs—large number preserved
 Porcelain developed further during Song Dynasty—very delicate, now
extremely valuable
 Workshops with huge kilns were built during the Song Dynasty to meet the
huge demand for porcelain in China and overseas
 Pottery and porcelain from the Song period are still greatly valued for their
beauty today.
Sculpture Unearthed from the tombs of nobles and emperors
 Ancient Chinese were skilled in making fine sculptures from bronze, clay
and stone
 Tomb of the emperor On Shihuang – 7500 life-sized warriors, horsemen,
chariots—made of baked clay, each different from the other
Cave paintings and sculpture reached a very high standard during Tang
Dynasty—continued into Song Dynasty
 Specialized in painting mountains, trees and rivers (landscape)
 Heavily influenced by Taoism and Confucianism
 Taoism emphasis on the importance of the natural world—featured nature
instead of human beings
 Examples found: along Silk Road, beautiful cave paintings
Textile c. 2600 BCE—Chinese discovered that the fibers of silk moth cocoons
could be woven into silk
 Silk high valued in China and overseas
 Major item of trade and collected as a form of government tax
 Secret of silk manufacture closely guarded by Chinese government but
was eventually smuggled into India and Japan
Conclusion:
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Religion was a theme frequently featured in works of art.
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Contributed most to science and technology—compass, seismograph,
clock, gunpowder, paper, printing—showed that the ancient Chinese were
concerned about improving their lives
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Literature and works of art are still being appreciated today.
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Today, we continue to make advancements in science and produce great
works of art—these would have been impossible without the contribution
of the contributions of the ancient people
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We would not have the knowledge and resources to produce what we
have today without the achievements of the ancient people—thus; these
are a part of the rich cultural heritage that we should preserve.