World History A
Ch12
Tang Dynasty
•618-Li Yuan is the first emperor
•626-Li Shimin takes the throne and the name Tang Taizong
•Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea become tributary states
–Self-governing
–Pay tribute and acknowledge Chinese supremacy
•Government and economy grow
–Empress Wu Zhao and others restore the Han system of uniform
government
–Civil service system
–Officials have Confucian training
•Land reform
–Redistribute land to peasants
–Weakened large landowners
•Dynasty declines
–Corruption, high taxes, drought, famine, and rebellions
–Lands lost to Arabs
•Rebel general overthrows emperor in 907
Song Dynasty
•960 Zhao Kuangyin founds dynasty
•Invaders force retreat south of Huang River in the early 1100s
•Economy expands
–Improved farming
•Surpluses allow people to pursue commerce, learning, or the arts
–Open borders
•Import faster-growing rice; farm 2 crops (food and cash)
–Use of the Grand Canal peaks, expanding trade inside China
–Foreign trade flourished
•Ordered Society
–Two main social classes
•Gentry - wealthy landowners
–Valued learning over physical labor
–Confucian teachings
•Peasantry
–Merchants
•Lowest status because wealth came from others’ labor
–Women
•Higher status than later times
•Foot binding emerges
–Symbol of subservient status
Tang and Song
•Rich culture
–Supported by economy
–Poetry, painting, and calligraphy
•Daoist tradition – harmony with nature
–Architecture and Porcelain
•Pagoda influenced by Indian stupa
•Sculptures of the Buddha
•Porcelain
–Dishes
–figurines
–Writing
•Works on philosophy, religion, and history
•Poetry most respected form of literature
•Li Bo – most famous poet
Mongol and Ming Empires
•Mongols build an empire
–Genghis Khan
•Invades China
–1200 overrun Song
–Established order and peace
•Ruled with toleration and justice
•Pax Mongolica- Mongol peace
•Trade flourished on Silk Road
•China under Mongol Rule
–Kublai Khan
•Ruled China, Korea, Tibet, and Vietnam
•Yuan Dynasty
•Arab designed palace
–All-Mongol government
•Only Mongols in military
•High government positions reserved for Mongols and nonChinese
–Marco Polo
•Italian merchant from Venice
•Spent 17 years under Kublai
•Wrote about wealth and splendor of China
–Sparked European interest
–Outside Contact
•Tolerated other beliefs
–Christians, Muslims, etc.
–Traded products to Europe
»Gunpowder, porcelain, and playing cards
•Ming restore Chinese Rule
–Zhu Yuanzhang
•Leads rebel army against Mongols
•1368 founds Ming Dynasty
–Economy grows
–Culture flourishes
•Blue and white porcelain
•Ming vases popular in the west
•Literature
–Novels and detective stories
•Chinese exploration
–Zheng He commanded trade expeditions
•Merchants settled in Southeast Asia and India
•Showed China’s power and strength
–Exploration ends
•1435 Zheng He dies
•Emperor bans shipbuilding
–Unknown reason
»High cost with little profit
»Preserve tradition from outside influence
Korea
•Geography
–Peninsula connected to China, points at Japan
•Transforms Chinese traditions before entering Japan
–Low mountains
–5400 mi. of coastline
•3rd largest fishing industry
•Silla and Koryo Dynasties
–Silla Dynasty
•Tributary state to China
–Confucian position of a younger brother
–Confucian influence limits women’s rights
»Can no longer inherit property
»Subordinate to men
–Adopt civil service examination, but only aristocrats
could take it
–Conflict among the classes ends the dynasty
•Koryo Dynasty
–Replaced Silla in 935
–Confucianism and Buddhism widespread
–Improve Chinese inventions
•Woodblock printing to movable metal type
•Porcelain to celadon
–Mongols destroy industry losing the secret to making celadon
•Choson (Yi) Dynasty
–Est. in 1392 by Yi Song-gye
–Last and longest of 3 dynasties
–Confucian government
–Alphabet created
•King Sejong replaced Chinese alphabet
•Hangul- Korean phonetic alphabet
–High literacy rate
–Japanese invasion
•1590’s Japan invades China through Korea
•Looted and burned for years
•Admiral Li Sun-shin used “turtle ships” against Japanese fleet
•6 yrs. Later Japan withdrew
Japan and Feudalism
•Geography
–Archipelago- chain of islands
–4/5 of land too mountainous to farm
–Seas protect and isolate
•Accept or reject Chinese influence
–Destructive forces
•“Ring of Fire”- chain of volcanoes around the Pacific
•Earthquakes and tsunamis
•Early traditions
–Ainu- early inhabitants in Hokkaido
–Yamato Clan
•Create first and only dynasty
•Claim direct decent from sun god Amaterasu
–Rising sun symbol
–Emperors seen as living gods
»Current emperor traces roots to the Yamato clan
–Religion
•Shinto
–Korean connections
•Language distantly related
•Artisans and metalworkers
•Buddhism
•Warriors go back and forth causing family ties
•China’s influence
–Prince Shotoku sends nobles to China
–Monks, traders, and officials visit Tang court
•teach Chinese thought, technology, and arts
–Ideas on government
•“Heavenly Emperor” -absolute power
•Strong central government, bureaucracy, and law code
–Culture
•Nobles spoke Chinese and dressed like Chinese
•Ate Chinese food on Chinese pottery
•Tea ceremony, music, dance, and garden design
•Buddhism and Confucian ideals
–Filial piety
•Write histories in Chinese
–Selective borrowing- keep some aspects and discard others
•No civil service exam; inherited status
–Spend 400 years altering what they learned to make it Japanese
•Revise writing; create kana- phonetic symbols for syllables
•Feudalism
–Emperor was a figurehead in Heian (Kyoto)
–Clans battled for control of countryside
–Warrior aristocracy developed; shogun rule
•Kamakura shogunate
•Shogun distribute land to vassal lords (daimyo) in exchange for
military support
•Daimyo granted land to lesser warriors, samurai
–Samurai develop code of values- bushido
»Honor, bravery, absolute loyalty to one’s lord
•Peasants
–75% of the population
–Backbone of feudal system
–Fought as foot soldiers
•Artisans- armorers and swordmakers
•Merchants
–Position of women declines
–Mongols invade
•1274 Kublai Khan sends 30,000 troops; typhoon sinks ships
•1281 more troops sent and sunk by typhoon
•Kamikaze- “divine wind”
–Reinforced Japanese feeling of having the special
protection of the gods
•Tokugawa shogunate
–Want to end feudal warfare
–Created centralized feudalism
•Unified, orderly society
•Required daimyo to live at Edo (Tokyo) every other year
•Only samurai serve in military and government
–Economy booms
•Food surpluses
•Trade flourished within Japan
•Wealthy merchant class emerges
•Zen Buddhism
–Self-reliance, meditation, and devotion to duty
–Value peace, simplicity, and beauty
–Reverence for nature
•Artistic traditions
–Noh
•Plays performed on a square, wooden stage without scenery
•Zen Buddhist themes, fairy tales, struggles between feudal lords
–Kabuki
•Comedy and melodrama
–Bunraku
•Puppet plays
–Painting and printmaking
•Influenced by Chinese landscape paintings
•Historical events painted on scrolls
•Colorful woodblock prints
–Pleasures of town life
Southeast Asia
•Geography
–Location
•Mainland separated by mountains and plateaus
•More than 20,000 islands between Indian Ocean and South China
Sea
–Trade routes
•Malacca and Sunda straits
•Monsoons shape trading patterns
•Linked India, Southeast Asia, and China to East Africa and the Middle
East
–Early traditions
•Developed cultures before outside influences arrived
•Diverse ethnic groups
•Societies built around nuclear family
•Women had greater equality
–Female merchants
–Matrilineal descent
•Indian culture spreads
–Peaked between 500 and 1000
•Indian merchants and Hindu priests
•Monks introduce Theravada Buddhism
•Trade brings prosperity
–Islam
•Spread by traders to Indonesia and other areas
•Leads to trade network
•New Kingdoms and Empires
–Pagan kingdom
•Irrawaddy Valley (Myanmar)
•King Anawrahta 1044
•Major Buddhist center
•Fell to Mongols in 1287
–Khmer empire
•Peaked between 800 and 1350
•Controlled Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia
•Rulers were Hindu; people were Buddhist
•1100s King Suryavarman II built Angkor Wat
–Srivijaya empire
•Indonesia
•600s – 1200s; controlled Strait of Malacca
•Hinduism and Buddhism blend with worship of nature spirits
•Vietnam
–Geography
•Annam
•Red River rice paddies
–Chinese domination
•111 B.C. Han control for next 1,000 years
•Adopt ideas on government
•Confucianism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Daoism practiced
–Preserve identity
•Trung Trac and Trung Nhi led uprising in A.D. 39
•939 free from occupation; remains tributary state