Bell Ringer What was the Mandate of Heaven? What was the main goal of Confucius? What is a meritocracy?

CH 7: Imperial China & Political Development

China: The Beginning China would become united in 221 BCE by Prince Zheng of the Qin Dynasty. Prince Zheng would become China’s first emperor

Dynasties China’s rule will be marked by Dynasties, or by which family is in charge. Qin: BC Han: 206BC-220 CE Period of Chaos: Sui: Tang: Period of Chaos: ish Song: Yuan (Mongols): Ming:

Mandate of Heaven The Chinese believed that Dynasties ruled by the Mandate of Heaven Floods, drought, famine, earthquakes, plagues, etc were signs Heaven was displeased

Han Dynasty The Han Dynasty will rule China for close to 400 years, but eventually fall. China would be run by a bureaucracy, a complex system of governments. If bureaucracies are honest & hardworking, they are very successful. By 220 CE the Han bureaucracy was corrupt and dishonest. This led to high taxes which upset the people

Taxes drove many into poverty. Workers were forced to labor on public projects. Bandits were common, and led to warlords that fought the emperor. Farmers lost their land, and later rebelled. China would fall into a period of chaos

Return to order A nomadic group would claim control for 29 years, known as the Sui Dynasty. Heavy taxes would cause them to fall to the Tang dynasty. They would strengthen and fix the central government of China, and rule for over 300 years.

The Han dynasty had relied on the aristocracy, ruling class & nobles, to run the government. They used civil service exams which determined who was qualified. (Who?) The Tang would re- introduce these exams. The exams could be taken by anyone, but were extremely difficult people normally needed tutors. The aristocracy were the few who could afford it.

Song Dynasty The unfairness of the system led to peasant rebellions, and the Song Dynasty would take over. The Song kept the exams, but used a meritocracy, rule by officials of proven merit.

The Exams The Exams were based on the teachings of Confucius. A Confucian scholar would create the Four Books in This would become the basis of all civil service exams. The Exams would be opened up to anyone in society, and even lower class people could attend state schools to study for the exams. If you passed the local exam, you could take the national exam.

Participants would be locked into rooms when they took the exams, and someone would re- write all their answers so cheating was next to impossible. Only a small portion passed the exams. After three years on the job you could be promoted.

Mongol Rule Kublai Khan (Genghis’ Grandson) would take over China and form the Yuan dynasty. The Mongols distrust the Chinese, and don’t want them running their government, so they end the exam system. Many Mongols were uneducated or illiterate, so Chinese were still needed. After a period of time the continued shortage of officials would make the Mongols put the exams back in place. They were still selected who could take the exams.

Ming Dynasty The Chinese would rebel against the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty would take over. Though the exam system will benefit China it limited them in some ways. People with science, math, or engineering knowledge were kept out of government. Merchants were also considered the lowest level of society.