TANG & SONG DYNASTY
Eastern Dominance/ Golden Age of China: about
600 – 1450
Sinification:
spread of Chinese culture – trade E & S – Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
-
Confucianism, Taoism, *Buddhism;
art, literature, technology, etc.
Occurs E & S – often using S
China Sea
Japanese
Sinification:
-
capitals Nara & Kyoto modeled
after Changan
-
Buddhism
-
Confucianism (but no scholar gentry)
-
Emperorship
Adopt
– make ideas/goods/etc. your own
Adapt
– conform to present conditions by changing
Adept
– improving the idea so much that it is better than the original
Japan
Archipelago: Honshu (Main Island), Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku
- 4/5 of Japan is too mountainous
for agriculture
- settled in river valleys along
coastal plains
- A LOT of rain in the west
- mild climate & sufficient
rainfall helps make use of arable land
- mountainous land = obstacle for
unity
- surrounding seas protect &
isolate (sometimes chose to isolate themselves)
- close enough to learn from
China &Korea but is too far to be conquered by China - Japanese could
accept/reject Chinese influences
- Seas = trade & diet
- located on Ring of Fire, thus
earthquakes & tsunamis are common
- Early Japanese society was
divided into clans (uji) – each clan had own special gods/goddesses
>>
500 CE Yamato Clan dominates Honshu – set up Japan’s first and only dynasty
Claimed
direct descent from sun goddess Amaterasu; rising sun became their symbol
- Shinto = animism: worship of
forces of nature -Shrines
dedicated to sites of nature
- Kami (clan gods) = nature
spirits
- Kana = phonetics symbols representing syllables
- Korean artisans settled in
Japan & brought new technology (thus cultural diffusion from China
& Korea)
- Korean language is distantly
related to Japanese
- 500 CE missionaries from Korea
brought Buddhism to Japan; knowledge of Chinese culture sparked Japanese’s
interest
Taika
Reforms: code of laws modeled after Chinese’s
-Tried
to set up a bureaucracy - NEVER used civil service exam; maintained inherited
status through family position (officials = nobles)
-710
Nara modeled after Changan
-language,
dress, food, tea
-
800s Tang China declines → Japan modifies learning
Why
was it considered the Golden Age?
-
successful conquest, thus expansion
due to military power
-
elaborate trade network (E & S)
-
Prosperity & Peace
-
New inventions (gunpowder, movable
type, compass, etc.)
-
Cultural advances: neo-Confucianism;
bureaucracy (meritocracy – Confucian scholars)
Events:
220
End of Han Dynasty
220-589
Era of Division – Time of greatest Buddhist influence
420
– 588 Northern & Southern Dynasties: Period of disunity; Buddhism
flourished in N; Confucianism moved S
589-618
Sui Dynasty – Building of the Great Canal; expanded empire; fortified Great
Wall of China
618-907
Tang Dynasty
688
Korean Conquest; vassal state of Silla
690-705
Empress Wu – Buddhist influence peaks
712-756
Emperor Xuanzong
840s
period of Buddhist persecution
960
– 1279 Song Dynasty – Neo-Confucianism revival
Inventions
o
Black printing with movable type
o
Gunpowder – originally used for
fireworks; Song then started to use them
in warfare
o
Compass
o
Abacus
Rise
of Sui Dynasty
o
Wendi (a member of a prominent N.
Chinese noble family) struck a marriage alliance between daughter and ruler of
the N. Zhou Empire. Wendi seized throne of son-in-law and proclaimed self as
emperor. – Success due to winning support of neighboring military commanders by
reconfirming their titles and showed little favor to Confucian scholar-gentry
class.
o
589 Wendi’s army attacked &
conquered weak& divided Chen Kingdom – expanded empire
o
Won widespread support by lowering
taxes & establishing granaries.
o
Yangdi (Wendi’s son) murdered his
father to win the throne. He extended empire even further. However, being extremely fond of luxury, his
spending on many construction projects caused the depletion of wealth. He also
led many unsuccessful wars against Korea to bring it under Chinese control,
thus making his subjects angry. Provincial rulers declared independence,
bandits raided, nomads seized territory, and therefore the empire started to
crumble. Yangdi was assassinated in 618.
o
Grand Canal (built by Yangdi)
Rise of Tang Dynasty
o
Li Yuan (Duke of Tang) emerged as
the victor of struggle for the throne.
o
Empire extended to parts of central
Asia & present-day Afghanistan. Turkic nomadic peoples were part of the
armies that were sent to mend the Great Wall. Their leaders’ sons were sent to
the Tang capital as hostages to ensure good behavior. They were educated in
Chinese ways. There was also expansion into parts of Tibet, the Red River
Valley (Vietnam), and Manchuria.
o
Under emperor Kaozong, Korea was
overrun by Chinese armies. Vassal Kingdom of Silla was established (was loyal
to Tang).
o
Rebuilt bureaucracy: 6 ministries –
war, justice, public works, etc.
o
New Capital= Changan (长安)
o
Importance of Examination System
grew – number if educated scholar-gentry rose; examination system expanded;
pattern of advancement was much more regularized; different kinds of
examinations were administered by Ministry of Rites – Those who passed the more
difficult examinations earned the title of jinshi.
Tang
Dynasty
o
expanded to NW to the Tarim Basin
o
forced Vietnam, Korea, and Tibet to
become tributary states
o
Japan sent missions to China to
study culture
o
revived civil service system &
exam
o
built canals
o
poetry (Li Bo)
Neo- Confucianism
o
“New Confucianism”
o
Confucian scholar – Gentry dominate
the bureaucracy (running) of the Chinese government based on Confucian
principles
o
Family dominates social structure
*Currency requires centralized
government to regulate values that’s standard for the entire community
Tang Dynasty & Buddhism
Mahayana
Buddhism: appealed to people who wanted refuge from war & turmoil of Six
Dynasties era
Chan/Zen
Buddhism appealed to elites/educated classes – Goal: escape cycle of rebirth
& know ultimate wisdom
-
Emperors like Taizong endowed monasteries & sent missionaries
to India to collect texts &relics
-
-Empress Wu 武则天(
r. 690 – 705) tried to elevate Buddhism to the status of state religion
Anti-Buddhist Backlash
-
Since Buddhism’s success aroused
envy of Confucianism & Daoism, they began to attack each other by trying to
make their beliefs more appealing
-
Buddhists had tax exemptions, and
the decreased revenue made the Tang poor
>>Emperor Wuzong ordered
persecution of Buddhism; monasteries & shrines were destroyed
Chinese Buddhism survived, but was
weakened
Tang Decline – Rise of Song
-Empress Wei rose to power by poisoning her
husband (Empress Wu’s son), and placing her young son on the throne, but
Xuanzong (another prince) led a revolt, and he became the emperor.
-Emperor Xuanzong’s reign represented Tang’s
height
-
Xuanzong was originally very
diligent when dealing with political & economic matters; however, his
interest waned, and became more and more devoted to the arts & pleasures in
his palace. He had many concubines. After the death of his second wife, the
aged Xuanzong fell in love with Yang Guifei.
-
Yang Guifei used her power to pack
her greedy relatives into positions in the court. Xuanzong’s neglecting of
political affairs led to military weaknesses, and in 755, general An Lushan led
a revolt that failed, but led to some of Xuanzong’s demoralized troops’ mutiny
killing some members of the Yang family, and forced Xuanzong to have Yang
Guifei executed. Xuanzong lived for a while longer, but his grief led him to be
incapable of being an emperor.
o
907 Last Tang Emperor was forced to
resign
o
960 military leader Zhao Kuangyin
was renamed Emperor Taizu when he established the Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
o
Rival that Taizu couldn’t overcome
was the northern Liao Dynasty (founded in 907 by Khitan peoples from Manchuria.
Defeats led to Song having to sign humiliating treaties (paying heavy tributes
to Liao).
o
Song set policies to aim to avoid
the same conditions that resulted in the fall of the Tang.
>>
Military was subordinated to the civilian administrators of the scholar-gentry
class. Only civil officials were allowed to be governors, therefore removing
temptation of regional military commanders to seize power. Military commanders
were rotated to prevent accumulation of power in a certain base.
o
Song strongly promoted Confucian
scholar-gentry interests. Officials’ salaries increased more servants, more
payments of luxury goods.
o
Civil Service exams given every
three years at three levels: district, provincial, and imperial.
Revival of Confucianism: Neo-Confucianism
o
Zhu Xi (scholar) stressed the
importance of applying philosophical principles to everyday life & action
o
Neo- Confucianism: revival of
Confucianism – believed that cultivating personal morality was the highest goal
for humans – emphasis on rank, obligation, deference, and traditional rituals reinforced class, age, and gender
distinctions
o
believed that historical experience
was the best guide in dealing with matters
Song’s Decline
o
Weakness in Khitan challenge
encouraged other nomadic tribes to attack Song
o
Tangut Tribes originally from Tibet
established Xi Xia kingdom SW of Khitan kingdom of Liao. The tribute the Song
had to pay & money needed for military was staggering, thus weakening the
empire even more.
o
Wang Anshi (chief minister of Song
Shenzong Emperor) tried to delay the collapse of the empire by introducing
sweeping reforms.
-introduced cheap loans &
government-assisted irrigation projects to encourage agricultural expansion
-taxed landlord & scholarly
classes
o
Emperor Shenzong died, his successor
was conservative, thus not accepting of Wang Anshi’s reforms
o
In 1115 Jurchens overthrew Liao
Dynasty of the Khitans – annexed most of the Yellow River basin. These
conquests forced the Song to flee to the south. Southern Song Dynasty was
established
Cities
o
Hangzhou – Song capital
o
Changan – Tang capital
Goals of both Tang & Song Dynasties:
o
break up great estates of the old
aristocracy & distribute land equally to peasants
o
policies aimed to reduce/eliminate
threat of the aristocracy posed for new dynasties
o
intended to bolster position of
ordinary peasants (whose labor had been viewed as essential to stable social
order by Confucian scholars)
>>fortunes of old aristocratic
families declined, thus their power declined also
Family – most important unit in the classical
& post-classical world
Confucianism: 5 relationships
Father
to Son - There should be kindness in the father, and
filial piety in the son.
Elder
Brother to Younger Brother - There should be gentility
(politeness) in the elder brother, and humility in the younger.
Husband
to Wife - The husband should be benevolent, and the
wife should listen.
Elder
to Junior - There should be consideration among the
elders and deference among the juniors.
Ruler
to Subject - There should be benevolence among the rulers
and loyalty among the subjects.
-Tang & Song law allowed divorce by mutual
consent of both husband & wife
o
Confucianism stressed women’s role
as homemaker & mother
Art & Literature
o
art emphasized nature & landscapes
o
Poets like Li Bo usually wrote poems
that had to do with philosophical musings
Japan
o
Buddhists grew so powerful, that a
clever Buddhist prelate attempted to marry the empress Koken to become the
emperor. The scheme was unveiled and foiled. The emperor fled and established
new capital city at Heian (late called Kyoto). Buddhists were forbidden to build
monasteries there. Emperor abandoned the Taika reforms.
o
Lady Murasaki’s The Tale of Genji – reveals social court life of Japan
o
Fujiwara family gained much power
by marrying into imperial family
o
Elite families gradually carved out
little kingdoms each with a local lord & retainers in a fortress. Granaries
for rice provided by peasants, blacksmith forges, stables, wells, and armories
were present inside these sufficient fortresses.
o
Warrior leaders called bushi administered laws, supervised
public works projects, and collected revenue.
o
Failure of building a conscript army
allowed bushi to build up their own armies. Mounted troops were called samurai.
They were loyal to their lords, but they were increasingly called in to protect
the emperor & retainers.
o
Warrior code stressed honor &
death rather than retreat or defeat – beaten/disgraced warriors turned to
ritual suicide (called seppuku)
o
11th & 12th
centuries – feuding families Taira & Minamoto for power
o
Influence of China declined; Gempei
Wars raged for 5 years – Taira house faction was destroyed, Minamoto
established the bakufu (tent) – military government. The capital was located at
Kamakura on the Kanto plain. Feudal Age begins.
o
Ashikaga Shogunate was established,
however, central authority collapsed due to civil war from 1467-1477, and Japan split into 300 little kingdoms
Korea
o
descended from the hunting peoples
of eastern Siberia & Manchuria
o
acquired sedentary farming from
Chinese when they settled in Korean peninsula
o
earliest Korean kingdom of Choson
was conquered by Han emperor Wudi – Chinese influences
o
Korguryo of the north resisted
Chinese rule; Chinese influenced weakened, Korguryo established an independent
state in the north that was at war with the southern Silla & Paeche
o
Korguryo law code was modeled after
Chinese; attempted to set up an bureaucracy
o
Chinese destroyed the Paeche &
allied w/ Silla, then destroyed the Korguryo
o
Dispute over the spoils between
Silla & China led to Silla having to pay tribute to Tang in return for them
to withdraw troops from Korea
o
Under Silla Dynasty, then followed
by Koryo Dynasty, Chinese influences peaked
o
Silla built capital at Kumsong
modeled after Changan
o
Uprisings of the “lower class” led
to the fall of the Silla & Koryo dynasties
o
Mongol invasion 1231 & turmoil
led to establishment of Yi dynasty in 1392 which ruled Korea until 1910
Vietnam
o
Chinese (during Qin dynasty) raided
Vietnam which left some Chinese influence; Viet rulers defeated the feudal
lords that controlled the Red River Valley. Viets intermarried with Mon-Khmer
& tai speaking peoples. They dressed differently from Chinese people.
o
Viets attended Chinese-style schools
, wrote in Chinese script, read & memorized Chinese texts of Confucius
& Mencius
o
Viets won independence from China
939
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