China in the
Middle Ages
Mr. Ermer
World History Honors
Miami Beach Senior High
China: Rise of the Tang
Dynasty
• After the Han collapse; China ruled by many warlords
• Sui Dynasty reunites China, rules for 34 years
• Tang Dynasty succeeds Sui as rulers of united China
• 618 CE: Emperor Li Shimin takes advantage of Sui disorder
• Expands Tang Empire into Inner Asia (Tang were ethnically Turkic)
• Defeated by Abbasid Arabs at Battle of Talas River, expansion ends
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Nobility exercises regional power, decentralized organizational structure
Continued Han-style civil service exam for bureaucrats
Respected Inner Asian cultures
Confucian philosophy of state
The Tang Empire
• After Han collapse, Buddhist state cults proliferate in Inner Asia and
northern China
• Mahayana Buddhism and the role of kings—bodhisattvas
• Fostered language learning, invigorated travel/cultural exchange
• Tang princes enlist the help of monasteries
• Tax exemptions, land privileges, gifts for loyalty and support
• Tang emperors target monasteries as political threats
• Tang capital, Chang’an, is center of communication & trade
• Decentralized system allows for Tibetan and Uighur
• Grand Canal connects Chang’an to vast transit network
• Link between northern capital and southern port cities (Canton)
• Transportation crucial to sustaining the Tang tributary system
• Spread of information, goods, people, and disease (bubonic plague)
• Turkic style and culture influences Chinese (pants, polo, wine)
• Uighurs (Turkic Inner Asians) control area around Tarim River
• Tibetan Buddhist kingdom dominates Himalayas
• Tibetan kings follow Tang lead to diminish monastic power
• Monks overthrow king, royal authority passes to monasteries
Tang Repression & Collapse
• Buddhism attacked for weakening Confucian order
• Also for empowering women—Empress Wu Zhao
• Claims to be bodhisattva—favors Buddhism & Daoism
• Wu discredited by later Chinese officials and historians
• Buddhism seen as barbaric, weakened secular authority
• Defeat at Talas River weaken military loyalty, funding cut
• Rebellions weaken power of Tang emperors
• An Lushan’s rebellion (755-757) strengthens regional governors
• Huang Chao’s rebellion (879-881), violence against non-Chinese
• Destabilized Tang authority, ruled in name only afterward
• 907: Tang Dynasty terminated
• Three new states emerge:
• Liao: Northern, Mahayana Buddhist Khitan nomads related to the Mongols
• Tanggut: Buddhists related to Tibetans, modeled after the Tang
• Song Empire: Chinese/Confucian, expanded from Central Asia from 960
Song China
• Song Chinese make many technological, scientific advancements,
especially in astronomy
• Mechanical clock, chain driven machines, water wheels
• Adapt the magnetic compass for seafaring (fixed needle, glass case)
• The Chinese junk ship promotes maritime trade/exploration
• Song Chinese discover gunpowder
• Neo-Confucianism
• Sage: one who preserves mental stability/peace, while solving probs.
• Zen Buddhism rises as counter to Neo-Confucianism
• Women subordinated by Confucian men, minimally educated
• Foot-binding becomes status symbol
• Adoption of moveable type printing from Korea
• Growing population prompts new to deal with crowded cities
• Issuance of paper money
Chinese Foot binding (Ouch!)
Chinese Foot binding (Ouch!)
Chinese Foot binding (Ouch!)
Emergence of East Asia
• The Liao Empire (916-1121)
• Pastoralism provided military & economic base
• Culturally heterogeneous, diversity allowed
• Allied with the Song, received tributes of money & silk from Song emperors
• Kings legitimized as Buddhist bodhisattvas
• Overthrown by the Jurchens in 1125—Jin Empire established
• Jin Empire attacks Song China, conquer Jin lands north of Yellow River
• Vietnam
• Annam adopts Chinese values in Tang era, assumes name Dai Viet after Tang
• Rival state of Champa in south nurtures fast-maturing Champa rice
• Champa rice highly prized in China
Vietnam
• Korea
• Only southern 20% suitable for agriculture
• Silla kingdom dominates with Tang support, collapses with Tang
• Koryo kingdom rises, allies with Song China—Buddhist
• Pioneers printing technology—woodblock printing
• Japan
• Collection of islands with limited farmland, mountains
• Adopt Chinese building style, Mahayana Buddhism
• No Mandate of Heaven, imperial dynasty never changes, tenno has
little power, rather the prime minister and Shinto religious leaders
exercise real power
• Fujiwara family protects tenno emperors with Confucian dicipline
• Warriors left to rule towns, civil war erupts between warrior clans
• Warfare brings decentralized Kamakura Shogunate
• Fujiwara nobleman lose power to new warrior elite
Japan & Korea
Japanese Class System
The Emperor
The Shogun
Farmers
Artisans
The Daimyo
Merchants
The Samurai
The Ronin
Eta