Introduction to China While Europe was experiencing rapid changes in its society, China was already regarded as one of the greatest civilizations in the world Art, technology, and ways of governing were highly developed in comparison to Europe. Europe was seen as being “backwards and warlike” Despite knowing little of China, and being somewhat opposite to its way of life, Europe benefited immensely from the goods brought home from trade missions Gunpowder, paper, the horse collar, the clock, and the wheelbarrow all made their way to Europe through Islamic trading systems

The Chinese Renaissance & Start of Song China has be regarded as one of the most stable and successful countries of all time, the consistency of its core values and ways of doing things can be attributed to this Some change did occur during the era between the 10th and 13th Centuries – this is where many exciting periods of change and development occurred in Chinese history. Following the 50 years of political turmoil and a broken kingdom (pieces), a common solider by the name of Taisu came to power, this was the start of the Song Dynasty Following a mutiny of palace guards in one of these smaller Chinese kingdoms, Taisu, who was just 32 years old, became the Emperor of China

The “Song Dynasty” The Song Dynasty was an era in which China experienced a great cultural flowering. The Song Dynasty put in motion the end of what had been 50 years of political, social, and economic upheaval; peace and order were restored to the traditional Chinese system. The Song were not as strong militaristically than other dynasties, this left them under threat of attack from the Mongols of Central Asia. 1126, Song Dynasty lost northern China, moved south… 1279, Mongols led by Khubilai Khan overtook all of China Chinese were able to keep their old traditions (more on them later)

Taisu’s first move… Once gaining power, Taisu’s first move was to defeat the rulers of the smaller kingdoms that had appeared He did this to reunite China The next step that Taisu looked to accomplish was protect China’s borders from the Mongols who lived to the north and northwest of China Taisu used many strategies to achieve this; sometimes he went to war and sometimes he used diplomacy By entering into alliances with groups that poised threats to China, Taisu not only ensured that China was protected, but also ensure his rivals would not unite against China

Internal reforms Once China’s borders were secured, Taizu’s next task was to rebuild China’s government The supreme leader of China was the Emperor – in theory, he had absolute power… The emperor had the power of life and death over all of his subjects and the power to make whatever laws he wished The only group that could pose any sort of influence over the emperor were wealthy land owners. Bureaucrats were members of the government who ran and organized the government. Bureaucrats were often conservative and slow to enact change, they could ignore or dawdle over new laws they did not like… they could keep a handle on any outside influences

Song Government Structure The Song government was very centralized – that meaning, it was concentrated into one center China was divided up into provinces, each ruled by a governor in the emperors name Laws were enforced by magistrates (judges), who were also chosen by the emperor The government was divided into three main parts: 1) economy and finance, 2) military affairs, and 3) administration and justice The goal of the government was to keep the majority of power in the capital (Bianjing) so that the provincial governments could not become too strong Government officials were selected by examination Candidates had to take a test based on their ability to remember and understand literature, and on their skills in poetry.

The Arts of the Song As was the case during the Italian Renaissance, the Song dynasty was a time when the arts flourished Artisans produced beautiful porcelain, jade carvings, and other luxury items. Painters and calligraphers made famous masterpieces that are still admire today Artists chose to paint realistic scenes of everyday life or famous people