Chapter 10—The Flowering of Traditional China
ESSAY
1.
What brought on the several centuries of political division following the collapse of
the Han dynasty? What was the appeal of Buddhism and Daoism during the era after the collapse of
the Han dynasty?
2.
Discuss.
"Although of short duration, the Sui dynasty was one of China's most significant."
3.
"Chinese civilization reached its apex during the Tang dynasty." Discuss critically.
4.
"The Yuan dynasty was a brief irrelevance in China's long history." Discuss critically.
5.
How significant was international trade to Chinese society? What was traded? From
where and to where? Who benefited—China? Its neighbors? Within China?
6.
Discuss the significance and impact of the civil service examination on Chinese
society. Who benefited and who did not from the system? Was it actually based upon merit? Why or
why not?
7.
What were the main achievements in Chinese literature and art in the period between
the Tang dynasty and the Ming, and what technological innovations and intellectual developments
contributed to these achievements? With specific examples, discuss the relationship between Daoism
and Chinese landscape painting.
8.
What roles did Buddhism, Daoism, and Neo-Confucianism play in Chinese
intellectual life in the period between the Sui dynasty and the Ming? In the public sphere, what
advantages did Confucianism have over Buddhism and Daoism, and why?
9.
Compare and contrast the status of women in Tang and Song China with the status of
women in two other societies of your choice. What are the similarities and what are the differences,
and why?
10.
Discuss the impact of the northern nomad peoples upon Chinese society in the late
Tang and Song eras. Be specific.
11.
Discuss the possible reasons why China abandoned its seemingly successful naval
accomplishments after the death of the emperor Yongle in 1424. Which do you believe to be most
convincing, and why?
12.
Why were the Mongols able to amass an empire, and what were the main
characteristics of their rule in China? What was the impact of the "Pax Mongolica" on Eurasian
societies in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?
13.
What were the chief initiatives taken by the early rulers of the Ming dynasty to
enhance the role of China in the world? Why did the imperial court order the famous voyages of
Zhenghe, and why were they discontinued?
IDENTIFICATIONS
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Gobi Desert
Liu Ling
Sui Dynasty
Yang Jian/Sui Wendi
Sui Yangdi
Grand Canal
Li Yuan
Tang Dynasty
Tang Taizong
Chang'an
Xuanzong and Yan Guifei
Uighurs, Kirghiz, and Khitan
Song dynasty
Song Taizu
Kaifeng
the Southern Song and Hangzhou
Jurchen
State Confucianism
civil service examination
Grand Council
scholar-gentry
"equal field" system
Wang Anshi
blast furnace and steel, gunpowder, paper currency, and the abacus
the Silk Road(s) and Bactrian camels
compass and the sternpost rudder
"younger brothers" and the tribute system
Wu Zhao/Empress Wu
foot binding
Temuchin/Genghis Khan
fire-lance
Khubilai Khan
the Mongols and the Yuan dynasty
Karakorum
Khanbaliq/Beijing
Marco Polo
Zhu Yuanzhang
Ming Dynasty
The Great Wall
Zhenghe
Chan
Pure Land sect
White Lotus sect
Neo-Confucianism/the "investigation of things" and Zhu Xi
School of the Mind
woodblock printing
Li Bo and Du Fu
Tale of the Marshes and Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Dunhuang caves
landscape painting and Daoism