1. Sui -Tang – Song

2. (Han)-Sui-Tang-Song Block printing Porcelain Mechanical clock (water)
Movable Type
Gunpowder
Paper money
Magnetic compass
Rice (champas or wet rice)
bridges

3. Early Dynasties Shang Dynasty1766-1122 Zhou Dynasty1122-221
Last 400yrs - warring states
Qin Dynasty BCE
Shi huangdi (1st emperor)
Legalist philosophy
First coinage, writing system,
Censorship
Lasts 15 years
China- in 2,000 years - 23 dynasties - 9 important ones

4. Han Dynasty Classical period
Confucian based society (five relationships)
Merit system-bureaucrats (meritocracy)
Paper & porcelain invented
For 400 years after fall of Han - time of great troubles…
Buddhism becomes popular in this period – Why?

5. Post-Han China Period of the Six Dynasties (220-589CE)
Bureaucracy collapsed
Buddhism gained strength, replacing Confucianism
Non-Chinese nomads rule much Chinese territory

6. Era of Division vs. Sui-Tang
Small warring states
period of Buddhist dominance
loss of imperial centralization
loss of dominance of scholar-gentry in favor of militarized aristocracy
Sui-Tang:
return to centralized administration
unified empire
reconstruction of bureaucracy
reconstruction of Confucian scholar-gentry at expense of both Buddhists and aristocracy
restoration of Confucianism as central ideology of state

7. Sui Dynasty (589-618CE) Sui dynasty established by Wendi
Lowered taxes
Established granaries – stable, cheap food supply
Yangdi replaced his father, Wendi
Brought scholar-gentry back into the administration
Built the Grand Canal
How do you think the canal impacted life in China? Economically? Politically? Socially? Militarily?

8. Tang Dynasty (618-918) Tang Increased boundaries
Heavy dependence on militarism

9. Tang Dynasty ( CE)
First emperor & minister (Wei Zheng)- model of good rule
Imperial power and moral restraint in theory - in practice hard to maintain
Trade & commerce grow
Printing develops
Arts- focus on landscape/nature
Gun powder
Woodblock printing
Capital city Chang’an (eternal peace) -walled city
Artistic / commercial & invention continues in Song era

11. Empress Wu Ruled for 50 years - 705 Reform of land system
Biggest challenge deal with scholar/gentry and old aristocrats
Economy remained strong!
Reform of land system
Civil exam system
Blow to noble class
Social mobility
Confucianism as official philosophy = cultural literacy uniting China
Buddhism – Wu spreads

12. Tang Xuanzong (The Profound Emperor) and Consort Yang

13. Decline of Tang - Losing the Mandate of Heaven
Xuanzong
(Empress Wu’s grandson)
Patron of arts
Decline due to lack of morality?
Other reasons for decline
- Equal land system breaks down
Poor attention to canal & irrigation systems
Nomadic attacks
Moral: China’s view
(long lasting)
Centralization = unity = peace (stability)
VS.
Decentralization = civil war

14. Song Dynasty (969-1279CE) Taizu reunited China under the Song Politics
Failed to defeat border nomads – sets legacy of weakness
Politics
Not as strong politically or militarily as the Tang
Strong support of Confucian values
Neo-Confucianism – emphasis on high morality, hostility to foreign influence, stress on tradition (stifled innovation), authority of men
CHARACTERISTICS/ACHIEVEMENTS:
Scholar-gentry class dominates
abuses in civil service exam develop
Paper money
Arts & commerce
11C Needle compass (3rd century - South pointer)

15. Song Dynasty 960-1279 CE Northern Song (960-1127)
Based in Kaifeng
Southern Song ( )
Based in Hangzhou
Move South due to barbarian pressure from the North

16. Status of Women Tang Dynasty Song Dynasty
More influence on family affairs
Wives/mothers-in-law = managed homes/servants
BUT – still subordinate in accordance to Confucian tradition
Song Dynasty
-Less active in politics/public
-Footbinding emerges – What impact do you think this had on women’s status?
BUT – retained (kept) property rights

17. Footbinding: indicator of change of role of women

18. Regional and age differences in role of women
The emergence of a new ideal of the "willow-waisted woman," a stronger advocacy against widow remarriage, the presence of some bound feet in Southern Song all suggest a decline in status of women.
However, the control women gained over property, their ability to inherit, their control of family budgets, and of their children's education show that older women were not without authority.

19. Culture Made refinements in the ideal of the universal man
combined the qualities of scholar, poet, painter, and statesman
Song intellectuals sought answers to all philosophical and political questions in the Confucian Classics.
This renewed interest in the Confucianism coincided with the decline of Buddhism
Seen as offering few practical guidelines for the solution of political and other mundane problems.

20. What impact do you think foreign rule might have on China’s society?
End of Song Dynasty/Beginning of Yuan Dynasty: Mongol Empire (1271 – 1368)
Heavy dependence on growth of civilian government at expense of military
By 1127, the Song court could not push back the Northern nomadic invaders
Surrounded by north ‘empires’
Invasion of Mongols from North
What impact do you think foreign rule might have on China’s society?