Hist 100
World Civilization I
Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer
Upper Iowa University
Lecture 11
Buddhism Spreads to China
 Buddhism reached China before the
Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE)
 Mahayana Buddhism gained a
following there because it appealed
to many different segments of
Chinese society
Most appealing though to middle and
lower rungs
 Provided a simple faith and plan of
devotion promising enlightenment
 Chinese authorities came to accept
Buddhism because it helped
reconcile the common people to their
lot, but there always existed a tension
with Confucianism
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 Chinese Buddhist sects
Tian-tsi
 Pure Land
 True Word
 Chan
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Chinese Buddha of the
Tang Dynasty
(619-907 CE)
Lecture 11
After the Han: The Three Kingdoms
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After the Han, China divided into
three kingdoms reflecting the the
country’s natural divisions
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China also came under renewed
pressure from northern nomads
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Wei (north)
Shu (west)
Wu (south)
The Toba, who originated in
Mongolia, conquered Wei
This group came under the thrall of
Chinese culture, eventually being
absorbed
Southern resurgence

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Southern China actually benefited
from the Toba invasion, as talented
northerners sought refuge there
They helped develop the South
economically and culturally
The Three Kingdoms
(221-580 CE)
Lecture 11
Sui Dynasty (580-618 CE)
 The process of Chinese reunification
began under the Sui

In a sense, their role was similar to
the Qin:
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reuniting the country after a period of
division
but quickly falling because their
authoritarian rule and heavy demands
on the peasantry made them unpopular
Although there were four Sui
emperors rather than one
 Grand Canal
Also like the Qin, the Sui overtaxed
the country with a monumental
building project
 The Sui started a canal to connect the
Yangtze and Yellow rivers
 The canal strengthened ties between
the north and south

Grand
Canal
Lecture 11
Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)
 In 618, Li Yuan, a Sui governor, took
power when Sui power disintegrated
 He instituted reforms to avoid the
extravagance and abuses of the Sui
Land reform to develop a prosperous
peasantry
 Bureaucratic reforms to rationalize
administration and maintain quality of
Mandarins
 New efforts in foreign affairs and
military power to expand China’s
territory and sphere of influence

 These reforms faltered among Li’s
successors and the Tang eventually
fell to a combination of military
rebellions, peasant uprisings, and
nomadic invasions
Li Yuan
Lecture 11
Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE)
 Era of the Five Dynasties (907-960)
After the Tang’s fall, China
experienced a period of the rapid rise
and fall of five military rulers
 At the end of this period, the general
Taizu finally prevailed and established
and new durable dynasty
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 Song accomplishments
China’s population reached 100
million
 Tea became the popular drink of
China
 China invented an early form of
printing by carving characters and
illustrations on to wooden blocks
 Gunpowder, invented under the Tang,
was improved so it could propel
primitive rockets

The territory of the Song Dynasty
Including land lost to the Jurchen
Between 1125 and 1126
Kublai Khan
Lecture 11
Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 CE)
 Mongols
A Central Asian people that conquered the largest land empire ever
 Among their conquests was China
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They first conquered the Jurchens,
capturing Beijing in 1215
In 1279, they conquered Southern
Song, despite fierce resistance
Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis
Khan declared himself Chinese
emperor in 1271, inaugurating the
Yuan Dynasty
 Ethnic Chinese never accepted the
Mongols as legitimate rulers, and the
Mongols ruled them repressively
The Chinese established secret
societies dedicated to overthrow the
Mongols—Red Turbans being most
famous
 Red Turbans launch a revolt in 1351,
that succeeded in 1368
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Lecture 11
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE)
 Established after the Red Turbans
overthrew the Mongols
Their leader, Zhu Yuanzhang,
declared himself emperor
 The Ming were the last dynasty ruled
by ethnic Chinese
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 Ming government
Seeking to implement the lessons of
life under the Mongols, the Ming built
a large army
 They also built a navy
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It was under the Ming that the eunuch,
Zheng He, made his voyages into
Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean
 Decline
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Economic decline and famine left the
Ming vulnerable to the Manchu and
internal revolt
Lecture 11
Japan (1)
 Introduction
The origins of the ethnic Japanese
are yet uncertain, but language
analysis suggests they are more
closely related to the Koreans than to
the Chinese
 Like the Koreans, they were heavily
influenced by the Chinese, importing
both Buddhism and Confucianism,
which took their place alongside the
native civil religion, Shinto
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 Yamato Kingdom
Chinese sources depict early CE
Japan as an agricultural society
dominated by a feudal warrior elite
 In the 3rd century CE, the Yamato
clan subordinated a huge number of
other clans
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The present Japanese royal house
descended from the Yamato rulers
Yamato Kingdom in the
7th century CE
Lecture 11
Japan (2)
 Rise of the Samurai
Over time, the Yamato lost power to
provincial aristocrats
 They kept the emperor, but turned
him into a religious figurehead
 Between the 7th and 12th century, the
soldiers of the aristocrats gradually
developed and melded with them into
a warrior elite—called samurai
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 Other important concepts
Shogun: military warlord ruling in the
emperor’s name
 Daimyo: feudal lords
 Samurai: warriors owing allegiance to
Daimyo
 Bushido: the strict Samurai code
stressing military honor, courage,
stoic acceptance of hardship, and,
above all loyalty
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Violation of the code brought disgrace,
which could only be avoided or
expatiated through “seppuku”—ritual
suicide
Samurai warrior
in battle armor
(c. 1860)
Seppuku
Lecture 11
Japan (3)
 Heian Era (794-1185)
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The Fugiwara family became
powerful, dominating the imperial
family through intermarriage and
regencies
 Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333)
The Minamoto clan emerged on top
from the civil war that erupted at the
end of the Heian Era, declaring their
leader Yorimoto, Shogun
 The Hojo displaced the Minamoto in
1219, letting them remain Shoguns,
but being the real power
 It was during the Hojo’s rule that
Japan fended off two Mongol
invasions in 1274 and 1281, helped
both times by typhoons or kamikaze
(“divine wind”)
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Term adapted to Japanese suicide pilots
during World War II