1. The Resurgence of
Empire in the East

3. The Sui Dynasty ( )
Regional kingdoms succeed collapse of Han dynasty ( Decentralized/Dark Age)
Buddhist Emperor – Wendi Sui
Wendi Sui consolidates control of China, initiates Sui Dynasty
Wendi won popular support by lowering taxes and establishing a cheap food supply.
Brought back scholar-gentry and imperial exam

4. Sui’s Fall Yangdi, Wendi’s son, succeeded his father to the Throne.
Attempted to conquer Korea (failed)
Defeated by central Asian Nomads (Turkic)
Massive building projects:
Military labor -Grand Canal!!!
Conscripted labor -Great Wall reconstruction
(6 million workers!)

5. The Grand Canal
Intended to promote trade between north and south China
Most Chinese rivers flow west-east
Linked network of earlier canals
1240 miles
Roads on either bank
Succeeded only by railroad traffic in 20th century
Longest canal or artificial river in the world today!

7. The Tang Dynasty ( CE)
Wide discontent over conscripted labor in Sui dynasty
Military failures in Korea prompt rebellion
Emperor assassinated in 618
Tang Dynasty initiated

8. The Sui and Tang dynasties, 589-907 CE.
The Sui and Tang dynasties, CE

9. Tang Taizong Second emperor of Tang dynasty (r. 627-649 CE)
Murdered two brothers, thrust father aside to take throne
Strong ruler
Built capital at Chang’an
Law and order
Taxes, prices low
More effective implementation of earlier Sui policies

10. Major Achievements of Tang Dynasty
Transportation and communications
Extensive postal, courier services
Became the golden age of literature in China
Emperor Xuanzong’s splendor in Chang’an
Welcoming of foreign faiths (not conversion)
Equal-field System
20% of land hereditary ownership
80% redistributed according to formula
Family size, land fertility
Worked well until 8th century
Corruption, loss of land to Buddhist monasteries, aristocratic land accumulation

11. Bureaucracy of Merit Imperial civil service examinations
Confucian educational curriculum
Some bribery, nepotism
But most advance through merit
Built loyalty to the dynasty
System remains strong until early 20th century

12. Tang Military Expansion and Foreign Relations
Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet
One of the largest expansions of China in its history
Paid Central Asian Nomads to defend boarder (repair G.Wall)
Established tributary relationships
Gifts
China as “Middle Kingdom”
The kowtow ritual

13. Tang Decline
Governmental neglect: Emperor obsessed with music, favorite concubine
Anti-Buddhist Backlash (by Conf. & Daoists)
Loss of tax revenues and inability to feed people in times of famine (Gov’t weakness)
Nomadic Turkish Uighur (WEE-goor) mercenaries invited to suppress rebellion, sacked Chang’an and Luoyang as payment
Nomadic raids and invasions continued
Tang decline continues, rebellions in 9th century, last emperor abdicates 907

14. The Song Dynasty, C.E.

15. Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) [Never matched Tang military or political strength]
Emphasis on administration, industry, education, the arts
Military not emphasized
Direction of first emperor, Song Taizu (r CE)
Former military leader
Made emperor by troops
Instituted policy of imperial favor for civil servants, expanded meritocracy

16. Song Strengths Population increase approached 100 mil.
Rice production doubled due to opening new lands to cultivation in the south (Grand Canal)
Improved tool use and fertilizers; new rice strains from Vietnam
Tax relief for farmers and credit to open new farms
Early song Emperors appoint bureaucrats based on merit
Excel at Manufacturing (gunpowder, bombs, moveable type print, water-power mills, iron, steel); more per capita manufacturing than anyone else!

17. Song Weaknesses Lack of military might (“Fight with other means”)
Size of bureaucracy heavy drain on economy
Two peasant rebellions in 12th c.
Internal inertia prevents reform of bureaucracy
Civil service leadership of military
Lacked military training
Unable to contain nomadic attacks
Jurchen (a Tungusic people (Siberian) who inhabited the region of Manchuria) conquer, founding the Jin Empire, forcing Song dynasty to Hangzhou, southern China (Southern Song)

18. The Song Dynasty, C.E.

19. Agricultural Economies of the Tang and Song Dynasties
Developed Vietnamese fast-ripening rice, 2 crops per year
Technology: iron plows, use of draft animals (North - Oxen, South – Water Buffaloes)
Soil fertilization, improved irrigation
Water wheels, canals
Terrace farming

20. Population Growth Result of increased agricultural production
Effective food distribution system
Transportation networks built under Tang and Song dynasties

21. Strict Social Hierarchy
Gentry: Wealthy landowners, focused on Confucian ideals, focus on civil service

22. Urbanization
Chang’an (currently Xi'an) world’s most populous city: 2 million residents
Southern Song capital Hangzhou: over 1 million

23. Patriarchal Social Structures
Increased emphasis on ancestor worship
Elaborate grave rituals
Extended family gatherings in honor of deceased ancestors
Footbinding gains popularity
Increased control by male family members

24. Footbinding

25. The Quest for Beauty and Status
Foot-Binding
The Quest for Beauty and Status

26. The History of Foot-Binding
The practice was popular by the
12th century
There are two stories as to how this tradition began
Foot-Binding was made illegal soon after the Chinese Revolution in 1911

27. The Foot-Binding Ritual
Began between the ages of
3 and 11
Was performed by the girl’s
mother or another female relative
Foot-binding usually took place in the fall and winter so the girl would feel less pain

28. The Foot-Binding Steps
1. The girl’s toenails would be cut
2. Her feet would be soaked in hot water
3. Except for the big toe, all of her toes would be broken and folded under the foot
4. Her feet would be wrapped tightly in silk or cotton bandages
5. Every few days, the bandages would be taken off, the feet cleaned, and the feet wrapped even more tightly

29. Wrapping Bound Feet

30. Bound Feet

31. Bound Feet

32. Wealth
Status
Beauty
Marriage
Why Were Feet Bound?

33. Beauty A three-inch-long foot, called a “golden lotus,”
was considered beautiful
Feet this size would be able to fit into the delicate and beautiful shoes made for bound feet

34. Marriage, Status, and Wealth
Having bound feet made it difficult to walk, and so a man who had a wife with bound feet looked as if he had so much money and status that his wife did not need to work

35. Technology and Industry
A typical junk ship from the Song Dynasty
Porcelain (“Chinaware”)
Increase of iron production due to use of coke, not coal, in furnaces
Agricultural tools, weaponry
Gunpowder invented
Earlier printing techniques refined
Moveable type by mid-11th century
Yet complex Chinese ideographs make wood block technique easier
Naval technology
compass

36. Emergence of a Market Economy
Letters of credit developed to deal with copper coin shortages
Promissory notes, checks also used
Development of independently produced paper money
Not as stable, riots when not honored
Government claims monopoly on money production in 11th century

37. China and the Hemispheric Economy
Increasingly cosmopolitan nature of Chinese cities
Chinese silk opens up trade routes, but increases local demands for imported luxury goods

38. Cultural Change in Tang and Song China
Declining confidence in Confucianism after collapse of Han dynasty
Increasing popularity of Buddhism
Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Islam also appear
Clientele primarily foreign merchant class

39. Dunhuang
Mahayana Buddhism especially popular at Dunhuang in western China (Gansu province), CE
Cave temples
Buddhist temples, libraries
Economic success as converts donate land holdings
Increase popularity through donations of agricultural produce to the poor

40. Conflicts with Chinese Culture
Buddhism:
Text-based (Buddhist teachings)
Emphasis on Metaphysics
Ascetic ideal
Celibacy
Isolation
Confucianism:
Text-based (Confucian teachings)
Daoism not text-based
Emphasis on ethics, politics
Family-centered
Procreation
Filial piety

41. Neo-Confucianism
Song dynasty refrains from persecuting Buddhists, but favors Confucians
Neo-Confucians influenced by Buddhist thought
Syncretic blend of both faiths

42. Chan (Zen) Buddhism Buddhists adapt ideology to Chinese climate
Dharma translated as dao
Nirvana translated as wuwei
Accommodated family lifestyle
“one son in monastery for ten generations of salvation”
Limited emphasis on textual study, meditation instead

43. Persecution of Buddhists
Daoist/Confucian persecution supported in late Tang dynasty
840s begins systematic closure of Buddhist temples, expulsions
Zoroastrians, Christians, Manicheans as well
Economic motive: seizure of large monastic landholdings
Limits growth but does not eradicate faiths