Tang and Song China Chapter 12 Section 1 Topic China Tang Dynasty Government Tang Decline Song Dynasty Science & Technology Agriculture Description/Notes The Sui Dynasty lasted through only two emperors Their greatest accomplishment was the completion of the Grand Canal Endless labor on state projects turned the people against the Sui Dynasty. Overworked and overtaxed the people finally revolted. The Tang Dynasty ruled for nearly 300 years Under the Tang rulers, the empire expanded China had extended its influence over Korea as well Tang rulers further strengthened the central government of China and expended the network of roads and canals which helped to pull the empire together They also prompted foreign trade and improvements in agriculture The Tang rulers needed to restore China’s vast bureaucracy. They did this by expanding the civil service examination system People who passed the tough exams became part of an elite group of scholar-officials As the examination system grew in importance, talent and education became more important than noble birth in winning power. As a result, many moderately wealthy families shared in China’s government To meet the rising costs of government, Tang rulers imposed crushing taxes These brought hardship to the people The Tang also struggled to control the vast empire they had built Border attacks and internal rebellions steadily chipped away at the power of the imperial government Chinese rebels sacked and burned the Tang capital and murdered the last Tang emperor After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, China was divided into separate kingdoms The Song Dynasty, though smaller and did not have as strong a military than the Tang Dynasty, lasted about three centuries Song emperors tried to buy peace with their northern enemies. They paid annual tributes of silver, silk and tea. This policy didn’t work Despite its military troubles, the dynast of the Southern Song saw repaid economic growth. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, China’s population doubled China had become the most populous country in the world There were many important technological advances during the Tang and Song eras. Some of the advances were movable type, the development of gunpowder which led to the creation of explosive weapons Other important inventions of this period include porcelain, the mechanical clock, paper money and the use of the magnetic compass for sailing The Chinese made advances in arithmetic and algebra and the idea of using negative numbers The rapid growth of China resulted in part from advances in farming 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 This was necessary to feed the rapidly expanding population Tang and Song China Chapter 12 Section 1 Trade Under the Tang and Song emperors, foreign trade flourished The great Silk Road continued to grow which linked China to the West Chinese advances in sailing technology made it possible for sea trade to expand Religion spread. One major cultural export was Buddhism. This religion spread from China to Vietnam, Korea and Japan Art The Tang period produced great poetry Painting of this era shows Daoist influence. Artists emphasized the beauty of natural landscapes and objects. The artists did not use bright colors. Black ink was their favorite paint Social Class/Society During the Tang and Song times, the power of the old aristocratic families began to fade A new larger upper class emerged, made up of scholar-officials and their families. This class of powerful, well-to-do people is called the gentry The gentry attained their status through education and civil service positions rather than through land ownership Below the gentry was an urban middle class which 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 The Status of Women Women had always been subservient to men in Chinese society Their status further declined especially true among the upper classes in cities One sign of the changing status of women was the new custom of binding the feet of upper-class girls