CHAPTERS 12 AND 13:
RENAISSANCE AND SPREAD
OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION
Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties & Sinification
Chinese Renaissance
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After the fall of the Han dynasty in the 3rd century
C.E., it took China roughly 400 years to recover
economically and culturally.
These 400 years can be viewed as a type of
Chinese “Middle Age”, sandwiched between the
classical era and the Renaissance of the next three
dynasties (Sui, Tang, and Song).
Chinese Urban Prosperity
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Nowhere was this renaissance seen more clearly
than in the great cities of China. By the 8th century,
China boasted at least a dozen cities with over 1
million people (No cities in Europe, Africa, the
Middle East or the Americas could claim even one).
As always, these cities served as the centers for
wealth, artistic movements, great construction,
and political concentration of power.
Hangzhou and Kaifeng
Hangzhou bridges, canals, and
religious structures
Chinese pagoda of Kaifeng
Sui dynasty (589-618) #1&2
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This dynasty arose under the leadership of Wendi, a
powerful landlord of noble birth.
He was able to secure his power base by negotiating
with neighboring nomadic commanders and offering
them land and titles in return for their service.
He neglected the Confucian scholar-gentry class and
won support from the peasantry by lowering taxes
and establishing granaries throughout the empire to
help in case of flood, drought or famine.
Rule of Yangdi (#3)
End of Sui Dynasty
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Eventually Wendi is
murdered by his son
Yangdi.
He was overly fond of
luxury and extravagant
construction projects like
the Grand Canal.
Failed military campaigns
also led to widespread
revolt of his rule.
The Grand Canal
The Tang Dynasty (#4)
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
Yangdi’s disastrous decisions were averted by one
of his ablest generals, Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang. He
helped lay the foundation for the golden age of the
Tang dynasty.
The first thing he did was use military force to
secure China’s borders. He extended the empire
deep into central Asia (map on p.258), repaired
portions of the Great Wall, and secured frontier
armies for the empire through a harsh hostage
system.
Rebuilding the bureaucracy (#6)
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Despite Wendi’s efforts to weaken the bureaucracy,
his son Yangdi (last Sui emperor) and emperors
from the Tang dynasty took great efforts to
rebuild the bureaucratic structure of China.
The Tang emperors needed bureaucrats (also
called scholar-gentry) to govern the huge
expanding empire they created.
Though aristocrats (large landowners) still held
power, most of the positions in the executive level of
government were held by the scholar-gentry.
Civil Service Examination System (#8)
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The Ministry of Rites was
in charge of
administering the
examination system.
High government offices
could be gained only by
passing exams in
Confucian philosophy,
law, or the more
challenging literature.
Those who passed the
latter earned the title of
jinshi and all its privileges
Xu Guangqi, Jinshi
(p.261).
official (1562)
Buddhism’s growth in China (#10)
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From the Han dynasty up until the Tang dynasty, Buddhism’s
popularity continued to grow in China.
New strands of Buddhism emerged in China to appeal to
different classes. The pure land strain of Mahayana Buddhism
and Zen Buddhism were the two most common.
Chinese rulers built monasteries and sent ambassadors to
India to bring back Buddhist texts and relics.
Empress Wu even tried to elevate Buddhism to the status of
official state religion. She commissioned paintings and sculptures
(p.263), and constructed monasteries and pagodas.
By the mid-9th century, there were almost 50,000 monasteries
and hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns in China.
Anti-Buddhist Backlash (#11)
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Confucian rivals, threatened by the faith’s growing
power, began an all-out attack on the religion.
Buddhism was targeted as an “alien” faith, since it
came from India, even though the Buddhism practiced in
China was much different from the original religion
taught by the Buddha.
Most importantly, Confucian scholars convinced Tang
rulers that the Buddhist monastic community was an
economic threat to the empire, since the monastic
lands and resources could not be taxed. As a result,
the regime lost tons of revenue. This had to change.
Anti-Buddhist Backlash (#11)
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Under Emperor Wuzong (Tang dynasty), open
persecution of Buddhism began.
Buddhist monasteries and shrines were destroyed
and thousands of monks and nuns had to
abandon their monasteries and return to civilian
life in order to be taxed.
Monastic lands could again be taxed and some
lands were taken away and given to landlords.
Neo-Confucianism
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During the Song dynasty we see a revival of Confucian
thought and principle.
Many of the scholar-gentry class stressed the need for a
return to Confucian morality and personal virtue, thus we
see the birth of neo-Confucianism (new Confucianism).
According to neo-Confucianists, virtue was attained only
through knowledge gained by book learning and through
contact with men of wisdom and high morality.
In this way, the good nature of humans was cultivated and
superior leaders, fit to govern, could be developed.
A huge emphasis was placed on tradition and hostility to
foreign influences, which ultimately stifled innovation
and critical thinking among the Chinese.
Neo-Confucianism
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By the 11th century, the Song dynasty was
weakening due to invasions, costs to protect their
borders and economic waste from the scholar- gentry
class.
Despite the hold that neo-Confucianists had on the
upper levels of government, by 1070, a chief minister
named Wang Anshi tried to reform China through
several techniques (p.266-267) (#16)
By 1085 however, a new emperor has come to the
throne. He was manipulated by the neo-Confucianists
and many of Wang Anshi’s reforms were undone.
Tang and Song Prosperity:
The Basis of a Golden Age (#17)
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During these dynasties, there is a major shift in population
density from the north to the south. In order to improve
communication, transportation, and trade between the
regions, the Grand Canal is constructed.
The canal linked the northern millet growing areas to the
rice producing centers in the south.
The canal made it possible to transport armies to the south
for defense and helped prop up the north with food
production from the south in order to avoid famine.
Naturally, we can see why it was so important to Chinese
rulers. In all, more than one million forced laborers died
during its construction.
Commercial Expansion (#19)
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Tang expansion into
central Asia reopened
many of the Silk Road
routes that had been
neglected for centuries.
The development of
Chinese sea commerce
during this time was
impressive. Spearheaded
by Chinese junks,
massive commerce ships,
Chinese merchants
became the most dominant
force in the Asian seas.
Chinese Junk
Commercial Expansion (#20)
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The expanding market centers of the Tang and
Song era were regulated by the government.
Merchants specializing in products of the same kind
formed guilds.
Credit vouchers, known as “flying money” were
established so that merchants could present them
for reimbursement at the city of their destination. In
this manner, merchants did not have to carry large
sums of money, and the danger of robbery was
greatly reduced.
Family life in the Tang and Song Eras
(#23 and 24)
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The Chinese family continued to resemble that of the
classical Chinese culture, with male domination being
at the center.
Women’s position improved drastically during the
Tang and early Song eras, but then fell off drastically
during the late Song era.
Obedience amongst children was paramount with
beheadings and hard labor prescribed to disobedient
children.
A very elaborate process of arranged marriages
emerged with professional go-betweens who would
negotiate dowries for the families.
Women’s Deteriorating Status (#24)
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With the rise of neo-Confucianism, women’s rights
steadily declined.
The woman’s role as a homemaker and mother was
reasserted. Increased confining of women to the
home rose. Widows were discouraged from
remarrying.
Neo-Confucianists attacked Buddhists for promoting
career alternatives for women like scholarship and the
monastic life.
Women were excluded from education that would
allow them to enter civil service and laws were drafted
that favored men in inheritance and divorce.
Footbinding (OUCH!!) (#25)
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Footbinding is the one
clear example of women’s
decreased status in China.
Grown out of the taste of
one Tang emperor, this
practice is widely
adopted by upper class
Chinese.
It reinforced the women’s
position in the house by
making mobility very
painful and difficult.
Footbinding process
Chapter 13: The Spread of Chinese
Civilization
Sinification – the extensive
adoption of Chinese culture.
 In chapter 13, the text deals with
various ways in which Japan,
Korea, and Vietnam underwent
this process.

•*Taika reforms (646 CE) – Attempts to
remake the Japanese monarch into an
absolutist Chinese-style emperor; included
attempts to create professional bureaucracy &
peasant army
•Taika reforms failed; the aristocracy
returned to Japanese traditions
•*Bushi – regional warrior leaders in Japan; ruled small kingdoms from
fortresses; administered the law, supervised public works projects, and
collected revenues; built up private armies (Samurai)
•Similar to Feudalism in Europe – local nobles carved out estates and
reduced the peasants to serfdom
A Feudal Comparison
•Bakufu – Military government established in Japan. It retained an
emperor for symbolic reasons, BUT the real power resided in military
government and samurai.
•Shoguns – Military leaders of the Bakufu
A Feudalism Comparison
Samurai
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Samurai warriors were the
military elite of Japanese society.
Their lives were governed by
strict codes of conduct (known as
bushido) and loyalty to their
lords was paramount in that
code.
The code was so strictly enforced
that samurai would rather die
than dishonor the code (sepukku).
Korea’s Sinification (#15)

Korea, of all China’s neighbors, was the most open
to sinification.
 1)
They fully embraced Buddhism from the Chinese
missionaries that brought it to the peninsula, building
monasteries and pagodas
 2) Chinese writing was introduced to Korea
 3) A unified law code that was patterned after that of
Han China was imposed
 4) Universities were established to teach Confucian
classics and train youth of Korea in hopes to form a
Chinese-style bureaucracy, though this never caught on.
Korea’s Sinification (#15)
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For the next 700 years, sinification in Korea
expanded greatly.
 1)
Ambassadors were regularly sent to the Chinese
court to collect Chinese texts and the latest fashions of
court dress and etiquette, which would be copied by
the Korean imperial court.
 The tributary system allowed privileged access to
Chinese learning, art, and manufactured goods.
 Korean scholars studied at Chinese academies and
purchased scrolls and literature to fill they libraries
back home.
Korea’s Sinification (#17)

On top of political organization, trade, and
education, sinification of Korea extended heavily
into its culture.
 1)
Korean cities were modeled after the Chinese gridstlye layout with parks, lakes, and markets.
 2) Korean artwork and monasteries were modeled
after Chinese styles, and in case of the former, they
outdid their Chinese counterparts, producing the finest
pottery in Asia.
Vietnam’s Sinification (#19)
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Overall, the people of Nam Viet (“people of the south”),
were fiercly independent. Map on p.294.
As a result, they continually fought against China’s
expanding influence into their region.
Through intermarriage with the Khemers (Cambodians
today) and Tais (Thai peoples), they had created their own
distinct culture that was more alligned with southeast Asian
patterns instead of Chinese.
For example, the Nam Viet had their own distinct language,
they favored the nuclear family instead of the extended
family of the Chinese, and women in this society have had
historically more freedom than their Chinese counterparts.
Vietnam’s Sinification (#20)

By 100 B.C.E., the Han dynasty had conquered Vietnam
and began the process of sinification.
1) Vietnamese elite attended Chinese-style schools and
learned Chinese script and memorized writings of Confucius.
 2) They adopted the examination system to attain high post
positions in government.
 3) Chinese agricultural techniques were introduced, such as
terraced farming, leading to huge agricultural productivity.
 4) Over time, the Nam Viet adopted the Chinese extended
family patterns and took to venerating their ancestors like
the Chinese.

Vietnam’s resistance (#21)
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Over time, the Vietnamese aristocracies disdain for their
Chinese overlords grew into outright revolt. It does not hurt to
mention that the Chinese also viewed the Vietnamese as
backward and barbaric and therefore, treated Vietnamese
rulers in this fashion.
Vietnamese peasantry was never fully exposed to Chinese
ways, and therefore loathed their foreign rulers. They began
calling for their local lords to rebel against Chinese rule. This
call for rebellion was eventually answered by the Trung sisters.
Their role in leading this revolution testifies to the freedom
Vietnamese women exercised in this society. In fact, women
were the main group behind the revolution, fearing the
Confucian codes of subordination and almost sub-human
Vietnamese independence (#22)
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The Vietnamese independence movement was aided by
the great distance they were from major Chinese
imperial centers and the mountain barriers that created
nightmare conditions for the Chinese to supply an army
against them.
Taking advantage of the weakening Tang dynasty, the
Nam Viet peoples launched a massive rebellion shortly
after Tang fall in 907 C.E.
By 939C.E., they had won their independence and
would keep it until conquests by the French in the 19th
century.
Ultracivilized: Japanese Courtly Life
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Without going into too much detail, let us look at the
“ultracivilized” life in the Japanese aristocratic and
imperial courts.
Life in this setting was characterized by:
1) Strict codes of polite behavior
 2) Constant scrutiny from peers and superiors
 3) Rampant gossip
 4) Well-mannered behavior
 5) An obsession with beauty (in both humans and nature)
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Outside of nature and humans, this beauty could be found in
poetry, of which the upper classes of Japan were obsessed.