Chapter 13 Notes: The Spread of
Civilizations in East Asia
The Tang (618 – 907) and The Song (960 – 1279) Dynasties
Achievements:
• civil service
exams to determine
best & brightest
• Grand Canal
connecting Beijing,
the Hwang Ho and
Yangtze Rivers
ship-ping grain
within China
• caravans carried
silk over Silk Road
“If China were a man, the Great Wall would be his backbone, and the Grand Canal would be his main
blood vessel.”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
block printing & movable type
crossbow
gunpowder (1st for fireworks; later for cannons)
abacus (a machine that counts beads for arithmetic)
compass used by traders to navigate at sea
paper currency
paintings with black ink on silk paper
built Buddhist pagodas
fine porcelain (Westerners called “chinaware”)
windmills
Society:
•
•
•
•
followed traditional beliefs of Confucianism
women must obey male family members
women also ran all family affairs including finances
female foot-binding to limit female mobility to keep
close to home
• peasants performed labor for government & paid taxes
• merchants as lowest class b/c they earned their wealth
on labor of others
Achievements by Kublai Khan:
• reunited Northern and Southern China
• Mongols as his military aristocracy but help came from
Chinese officials
• encouraged Mongols to adopt Chinese ways
• adopted Chinese name “Yuan” for his dynasty
• claimed Mandate of Heaven to rule China
• burned coal as a source of heat as witnessed by Marco
Polo, a merchant from Venice (Italy)
Mongol Influence on Russia:
• conquered most of Russia in 13th century; controlled for
200 years
• Russians adopted Mongol words, customs, clothing styles
• Muscovy (Moscow & surrounding territories) rebelled
• Ivan the Great won Muscovy’s independence;
declared self “Czar” or “Tsar” (“Caesar” or Emperor)
•Mongols overthrown in China by a Chinese monk who
established the Ming Dynasty
CONFUCIANISM:
AROUND 600 B.C.
•founded in China by Confucius, a scholar, not a god
•Philosophy:
*system of ideas concerned with worldly goals, esp. to ensure
social order and good government
*5 key relationships stressed
*father to son………………………………….. not all relationships equal –
*elder brother to younger brother…………… older people superior to
younger ones;
*husband to wife……………………………… men superior to women –
*ruler to subject
*friend to friend
•social superiors lead by example
•strengthened respect for ancestors
•filial piety – respect for parents above all duties
•“Do not do to others what you do not wish yourself”
•good leaders are educated leaders
•no sacred text but Confucius’ sayings copied down by his students
into a collection called Analects
•spread to other areas in Asia as the Chinese spread their culture
end Day 1
The Ming Dynasty 1368 - 1644
Achievements:
• added Korea, Burma, Vietnam to empire
• built imperial city, Beijing as capital & home to all later
emperors
• restored civil service exams
•
•
sponsored travel expeditions
• Chinese explorer, Zheng He, sailed to coasts of
India,
Arabia, & Africa claiming to have “unified the
seas &
continents”
China halted expeditions believing further change
would harm culture
Society:
• illiterate peasantry
• scholar-gentry class owned land that peasants worked
• respected education
• children studied to pass civil service exams, focusing
on Confucian teachings
• craftsmen made luxury items like silk & porcelain that
merchants
exported
China’s Influence on Korea
• Chinese influences because of
location of Korean peninsula
• cultural bridge b/t China & Japan
• 1st became a Chinese military colony
based on Confucian traditions as a
younger brother owing respect &
loyalty
to older brother,
China
• Buddhism reached its greatest influence in Korea
• replaced complex system of Chinese writing with
hangul, an alphabet using symbols to represent sounds of
spoken Korean, leading to a high literacy rate
Japan’s Emergence
• geographical influence
on an archipelago (chain of
islands) east of Korean
peninsula
• language related to Korean
but completely different
from Chinese
• Korean missionaries
introduced Buddhism
sparking Japanese
interest in Chinese
• civilization
•revised Chinese system of
writing and added kana,
phonetic symbols
representing syllables
• Zen Buddhists valued peace,
simplicity, & love of beauty,
revering nature
 Japanese social pyramid (feudalism):