Postclassical Asia – China and Her Impact
Early Postclassical China
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Period of disorder after the fall of the Han
(approx. 200s – 500s)
Buddhism spread to China by way of the Silk
Road during the Han & gained momentum after
Xuanzang’s journey to India (Buddhism had
changed over time as it spread)
Sui & Tang dynasties restored order – agricultural
& technological advancements
China interacted w/ the eastern hemisphere
through trade and spread influence to Korea,
Vietnam & Japan
Sui Dynasty
(589-618)
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580 - Yang Jian claimed the
Mandate of Heaven in state of
Sui & by 589 ruled all of China
Strong, centralized gov’t
– built palaces, granaries, walls, milt. forces to central
Asia & Korea, high taxes & mandatory labor services
GRAND CANAL – enabled trade between North &
South (rivers flowed east) – linked Beijing in north w/
Chang’an in west & Yangtze River in south
Revolts broke out when additional resources for
Korean campaign were demanded
Grand Canal
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
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Tang Taizong (r.627-649)
Capital at Chang’an
Maintained transportation & communication network –
roads, horses & even human runners
Equal-field system (based on needs – not heredity) –
it worked during the 1st half of the dynasty, but fell to
corruption and Buddhist monasteries later
Bureaucracy based on merit – civil service exams
Military Expansion – Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam
became tributary states
In decline for 150 years – rival forces, corruption, etc.
Song Dynasty
(960-1279)
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Song Taizu - mistrusted military
leaders, expanded civil service
& rewarded loyalty
Financially weak – large bureaucracy drained treasury
& peasants revolted at raising taxes
Militarily weak – military decisions were being made
by scholar-bureaucracy instead of milt. leaders –
therefore, nomads took over in the north (1st Jin
pushed Song south of Huang He Rvr., then Mongols
took over entire empire)
Tang & Song Economic Developments
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Agriculture
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Fast-Ripening Rice from Vietnam enabled two crops per year
New Techniques – iron plow, harnessed oxen (in north) &
water buffalo (in south), used manure for fertilizer, extended
irrigation systems (pumps & waterwheels) → artificial
irrigation methods enable terraced mtns
Results
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Increased population (115 million by 1200)
Urbanization (Chang’an had about 2 million residents,
Hangzhou about 1 million & many others over 100,000)
Market-oriented cultivation (southern province of Fujian was
growing cash crops of lychees, oranges & sugarcane for
export to the north & importing its rice → gov’t unhappy)
Increased patriarchy – veneration of ancestors & footbinding
Chinese Footbinding
T & S Technological Developments
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Porcelain - lighter, thinner & more adaptable (glaze)
=> Chinaware & led to increased trade
Iron & steel metallurgy for weaponry, agricultural tools
& structures (bridges & pagodas) & coke for heating
Gunpowder – Daoist alchemists – used by mid-tenth
century in warfare (spread to Europe by late 1200s)
Printing – Block-printing (stamp whole pages) & then
moveable-type (individual, moveable symbols that
could be rearranged to create pages) – Confucian &
Buddhist texts, calendars & agricultural pamphlets
Naval technology – sailed further using various ship
techniques & the magnetic compass
Chinese Inventions 700-1000
T & S Market Economy
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Chinese regions specialized in their production of
goods w/ increased internal & foreign trade
Copper coins (currency unique to China) became
scarce → letters of credit, promissory notes & checks
(borrowers lost life & fortune if tried to deny debt) →
ultimately led to invention of paper money – used first
by merchants & then by gov’t (1024)
Trade came by land (from Abbasid & Central Asia) &
sea (Arab, Persian, Indian & Malay mariners)
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Imports → spices from SE Asia, feathers & tortoise shells
from Vietnam, pearls & incense from India, and horses &
melons from central Asia
Exports→ silk, porcelain & lacquerware
Cultural Change in Tang & Song
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New religions introduced at a time when it seemed
Confucianism had failed
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Mahayana Buddhism gained popularity w/ Silk Road
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Nestorian & Manichaean Christianity (from SW Asia) and
Islam present in cities, but little impact with the majority
Monasteries important in the local economies (agriculture)
Introduced chairs & refined sugar
Chan/Zen Buddhism became very popular
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Syncretism of Buddhism & Daoism because of conflict w/
traditional Chinese thought – used Daoist terms to explain
Buddhism & encouraged one son for monastic life instead
of celibacy for all (explains Xuanzang’s pilgrimage to India)
Cultural Change in Tang & Song (cont)
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Late Tang rulers tried to rid China of foreign faiths,
but it was really an attempt to seize property
Neo-Confucianism – Song attempt to encourage
traditional Chinese traditions while still valuing
Buddhist thought
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Zhu Xi (12th century) – Family Rituals – provided
instructions for various affairs
* Illustrates deep influence of Buddhism in China &
influenced east Asian thought long-term (Korea, Vietnam &
Japan)
Theravada Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism
Reaching Nirvana is the ultimate
goal of the Theravada Buddhist.
Vow to be reborn in order to help
all other sentient (aware of
feelings) beings reach Nirvana first.
Strives for wisdom first .
Compassion is the highest virtue.
Centers on meditation, and requires
Encourages practice in the world
major personal dedication such as
and among the general community.
being a monk or nun.
Followed as a teaching or
Philosophy.
Followed with reference to higher
beings, more like a religion.
Moved primarily South and West
covering Indochina and Ceylon (SriLanka).
Early work written in Pali (e.g.
kamma, dhamma).
Moved Primarily North and West,
covering China, Korea, Japan, and
Tibet.
Early texts are in Sanskrit (e.g.
karma, dharma)
Emphasizes rules and education
Emphasizes intuition and practice
Politically conservative
Politically liberal
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Schwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
Vietnam
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Viet people settled near the Red River
During the Qin & Han dynasty, became subjugated
under feudal warlord control
Viets traded w/ China (silk in exchange for ivory,
tortoise shells, pearls, peacock feathers, etc.)
Intermarried w/ other SE Asian ethnic groups (Khmers
– Cambodia & Tais – Thailand) → separate spoken
language, village autonomy, grassroots Buddhism, art
& literature, nuclear family life, women greater
freedoms (& cultural aspects → wore long skirts,
watched chicken-fights, & blackened their teeth)
Vietnam (cont.)
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Sinification
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Revolt
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Agricultural methods & irrigation systems
Schools & administrative techniques (& Confucian exams)
Gradually adopted extended family model & ancestor
veneration
Trung sisters (39 CE ) – children of a deposed local leader
By 939, won independence from China
Expansion
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Moved south & west once independent
Hue Palace (Vietnam)
Early Korea
(worksheet)
Early Japan
Japanese Geography
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Archipelago formed by volcanoes in the
“Ring of Fire”: Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu
& Shikoku
4/5 of the land is too mountainous to farm
Close to Korea (cultural diffusion from
China through Korea)
Sea offered plentiful food resources &
thriving fishing industry
Forces of Nature: volcanoes, earthquakes,
tsunamis → fear & respect for nature
Terraced Farming
Early Traditions
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Clans known as “uji” had their own chief
and a special diety
Yamato clan came to dominate a corner of
Honshu
Yamato claimed direct descent from the
sun goddess (Amaterasu) & early
emperors were revered as living gods
Shintoism
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Worship of the forces
of nature
“the way of kami” –
spirit powers that are
natural or divine
Shrines are located in
beautiful, natural
surroundings
(mountains,
waterfalls & ancient
gnarled trees)
Cultural Diffusion w/ China
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Prince Shotoku (Yamato) sent young
nobles to study in China during the 600s
Borrowed Confucian ideas & law codes
Set-up bureaucracy (but never adopted
civil service system)
Tea drinking became popular
Used Chinese characters to write official
histories
Buddhism spread (w/ pagoda architecture)
Heian Period
794-1185
Heian Period
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794 – the Japanese established a new
capital at Heian (later called Kyoto)
Court life was the pursuit of beauty
Wrote poetry
Calligraphy valued
1010 – The Tale of Genji (Lady Shikibu
Murasaki) – world’s first novel
Due to search for beauty, neglected
tasks of government