1. What happened to the Han Dynasty?
Most of the advances from the Qin-Han Era seem to have been lost
Bureaucracy
Importance of the scholars
Reminded many of the time of the Warring States
Non-Chinese nomads ruled
A foreign religion, Buddhism, found many followers
Trade, city life and technology declined

3. Enter the Sui Seemed at first to be just more warring factions
General Yang Jian – who becomes emperor Wen Di – conquers the Northern Wei and the Southern Chen and is able to reunite the core areas of Chinese civilization for the first time in 3+ centuries

4. How did the Sui govern?
Emperors Wen Di and son Yang Di are remembered for their harsh rule
Forced many peasants to fight in the army or to work on public works projects to pay off debts

5. Belief systems under the Sui
Wen Di, although Buddhist, encouraged the practice of Confucianism and Daoism as well.
Erected thousands of stupas across China to encourage Buddhism, yet understood the Chinese importance of Confucianism.
Respect for elders and traditions
Scholarship
Government trained officials

6. How did the Sui affect daily life?
Built the Grand Canal which promoted trade by connecting the Yellow and Yangtze rivers
Helped rebuild the Great Wall that provided security from Northern raiders
Rice will replace millet as the staple food in China
Merchants in the South will use the canal to extent their business and influence into the North

7. How did the Sui unite China?
Undertook extensive public works projects which reinvigorated the populous
Extended military control over large stretches of China
Sense of Nationalism

8. Fall of the Sui Yang Di pretty tyrannical
Murdered his father to take the throne
Overly fond of luxury and had thousands of peasant build palaces and canals
Built and extensive game park, but had to bring in the trees
Unsuccessful wars against Korea that almost defeats against the Turks force revolts against him
Assassinated by his own ministers in 618

9. Enter the Tang Rise to power:
618, Li shi Min captured Changan and Luoyang
Will make himself emperor Dai Zong in 626
Conquers deep into Asia and to Afghanistan; recruited Turkic soldiers; extended west into the Tibet, south to Vietnam, north to Korea

10. How did the Tang govern China?
Under Wu Zhao, China’s only empress, the Tang ruled one of the most geographically extensive empires in Chinese history
Organized the government into departments, each with its own area
The Bureaucrats upheld Confucian ideals by acting as artists and politicians
Under Xuan Zong ( ) Chinese painting and poetry reached a peak, but this will lead to the downfall

11. Belief systems under the Tang
Empress Wu ( ) supported Buddhism to the point of wanting to make it the state religion
Elites tend towards Zen (chan) Buddhism
Confucianism will still be encouraged due to the examination system
Emperor Wu Zong will suppress Buddhism (economic issues) to the point of open persecution.

12. How did the Tang effect daily life?
Created the equal field system which limited the power of the rural aristocracy
Scholar class become the new ruling class
Land reforms gave some peasants a chance to gain wealth

13. How did the Tang help unite China?
Emperors directly controlled the army and extended the boundaries
The equal field system benefited both the government and commoners

14. The decline of the Tang
Xuan Zong became too interested in the arts, especially music.
After the death of his wife, became infatuated with a concubine, Yang Guifei.
She will put many members of her family into powerful positions – angers many of the elite.
Rebellion will occur, and outside forces will become threats.

15. The Song Dynasty Rise to Power:
Tai Zu emerged after 50 years of Civil War to found the Song Dynasty at Kaifeng
Will only rule on China’s provinces south of the Great wall
Will have to contain the many hostile ethnic groups clustered on China’s borders (Mongolians, Jurchens, Khitans)
Power will shift from the north to the south

16. How did the Song govern China?
Mongolians and Manchurians harassed China’s southern border for 200 years
Song royal family was forced by Jurchen to establish a new capital at Hangzhou
Government officials came from southern China because the north was under foreign rule
Bureaucrats were selected according to their scores on the civil service exam despite economic status

17. Belief systems under the Song
Revival of Confucianism ideas and values: Neo-Confucians
Believed that personal morality was the highest goal for humans
Virtue can be attained through book knowledge and observation as well as through wise men
Great emphasis on rank, obligation, deference and traditional rituals
This will reinforce class, age and gender distinctions

19. How did the Song affect daily life?
Power of the merchant class rose as large-scale trade thrived
Cambodian strain of rice allowed farmers to double output
Technological advances produced new products

20. How did the Song help unite China?
Moved the center of Chinese culture south to Kaifeng
Used meritocracy to make government efficient and reliable

21. The Yuan Dynasty Rise to Power:
Dynasty founded by Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan
Fought the Song for 40 years before founding China’s only foreign-ruled dynasty

22. How did the Yuan dynasty govern China?
The Civil service system was maintained and staffed by Turks and Persians
A strict hierarchy of social service classes developed:
1. Tax-free Mongols
2. Non-Chinese civil servants
3. Northern Chinese
4. Southern Chinese

23. Beliefs systems under the Yuan
Kublai Khan retained shamanism
Good and Evil spirits pervade the world and can be summoned and heard only through Shamans
The traditional Chinese belief systems were largely unaffected by Yuan rule
Under Kublai Khan’s encouragement the number of Buddhist monasteries increased

24. How was daily life affected under the Yuan?
Yuan dynasty’s bloody wars of conquest led to the destruction of farmland
Also seized land for pastures – many Chinese starved and died
Kublai Khan maintained China’s roads and canals, but later Yuan emperors let them deteriorate

25. How did the Yuan help unite China?
Retained civil service, but staffed it with foreigners
Allowed Chinese belief system to coexist with Mongol shamanism
Brought in more from the West due to the travels and stories of Marco Polo

26. Homework Read the chapter and add to your chart Answer the following:
How did the examination system change from the Tang to the Song? The economy?
How did trade improve and change over time in China?
Describe the family unit and gender roles.
What can Neo-Confucianism be blamed for?
Describe the different forms of literature throughout the dynasties.
Describe Chinese painting.