1. Lesson One China Rebuilds The Empire
Chapter 8 China
Lesson One
China Rebuilds The Empire

2. China Rebuilds Its Empire
After the Han dynasty* China has no central government (300 yr. period)
The people suffered many hardships
Warlords fought each other
Nomads attacked and captured parts of northern China
Quite separated/divided nation!

3. China faced other challenges:
+ it lost control of the neighboring lands
+ Korea was one of these places
- decided to free themselves from Chinese rule
- wanted to build their own civilization

4. The Sui (SWAY) China was reunified in AD 581
A general named Wendi declared himself emperor
He won many battles and set up a new dynasty* (*family or group remaining in power for a period of time)
It was called the Sui (SWAY) Dynasty

5. Wendi died, his son, Yangdi became emperor
He tried to retake foreign land (Korea) but was unsuccessful
Was successful within the country
- repaired the Great Wall
- rebuilt the Han capital of Changan

6. Yangdi’s Grand canal
Connected the two major of China rivers flowing from west to east – the Huang He (Hwahng Huh) (Yellow River) and the Chang Jiang (Chahng Jyahng) (Yangtze River)
The canal went north and south
Made it easier to ship rice and other products – united China’s economy

8. To rebuild Yangdi required the help of the people
Farmers were forced to work on the canal
They had to pay higher taxes to support the projects
Their taxes also paid for the emperor to live luxuriously

9. This all together made the farmers revolt and Yangdi was killed – this ended the Sui dynasty

10. The Tang Dynasty
A new dynasty was started in AD 618 when a general took over China
He made himself the emperor; it begun the Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was to last 300 years
Tang rulers worked to restore a strong central government

11. One of the emperors (Taizong) brought back the system of civil service examinations
Government officials were selected on how well they did on the exams rather than on family connections
He also gave land to the farmers and brought peace & order to the countryside

12. Empress Wu
late 600’s AD
only woman in Chinese history to rule the country on her own
was a powerful leader
added officials to the government
strengthened the military

13. Tang rulers worked to restore China’s power in Asia
+ extended their rule westward to Tibet
+ took control of the Silk Road
+ took control of northern Viet Nam
+ increased trade with other parts of Asia and forced others to pay tribute (Korea)

14. As trade increased the Chinese became wealthy
Chang’an became the world’s largest city
1,000,000 people lived there
+ visitors were impressed with the city
+ goods from India and SW Asia were sold in the city

15. Challenges to the Tang
Turkish nomads drove the Tang armies out of central Asia and won control of the Silk Road
Chinese traders could not use the road therefore trade and the economy suffered
Farmer revolts weakened the Tang
Continued unrest led to the fall of the Tang dynasty in A.D. 907

16. Song Dynasty After the fall of the Tang, military leaders ruled China
In A.D. 960 one of the generals became emperor and founded the Song (sung) dynasty
During this dynasty the Chinese enjoyed economic prosperity and made many cultural achievements

17. Challenges to the Song
They did not have enough military to protect their entire empire
In the north, nomads took over parts of the country
To protect themselves they moved their capital south to the city of Hangzhou (Hahng-joh)
This city was on the coast near the Chang Jiang delta (see page 181)