Do Now: What do we know about the Asian world?

1. Do Now: What do we know about the Asian world? Chapter 8: The Asian world

2. China Reunified • The Sui Dynasty: 581 a new empire was set up under the Sui Dynasty – didn’t last long, but unified China under the emperors rule. • Sui Yangdi– cruel ruler, who forced labor to build the Grand Canal, linking the Yellow and Yangtze River, this with high taxes, his extravagant and luxurious lifestyle, and military failures caused rebellion which led to his murder and the end of the dynasty.

3. China Reunified • The Tang Dynasty: • lasted 300 years • Rulers instituted reforms leaning towards a more stable economy, restoring the civil service exam • Restored power of China in East Asia, bringing peace to northwestern China and gained control of parts of Central Asia. • Tang rulers were unable to prevent plotting and government corruption.

4. China Reunified • The Song Dynasty: • Ruled during a period of economic prosperity and cultural achievement. • Experienced problems, especially from their northern neighbors, forcing the Song to move the imperial court further south, loosing control over parts of Central Asia. • During the 1200s, the Mongols – a nomadic people from the Gobi – carried out wars of conquest and built a vast empire. • The Mongols overthrew the Song and created a new Mongol dynasty in China.

5. Chinese Society • Economic changes had an impact on Chinese society. • Life offered many pleasures • Playing cards and chess • Paddlewheel board and horseback riding made travel easier • The invention of block printing in the 8th century provided new ways to communicate. • Most significant was the rise of the landed-gentry – a group which controlled much of the land and at the same time produced the most of the candidates for the civil service. • The scholar – gentry class replaced the old landed aristocracy as the political and economic elite of the Chinese Society.

6. Chinese Women • Few Chinese women had any power. • Wu Zhao, known as Empress Wu, was the concubine of the Second Tang emperor, but then became empress of China and ruled for half a century. • Female children were considered less desirable than male children, and in times of famine were sometimes killed if there was not enough food. • When a daughter married, she was now a member of her husband’s family and her parents were expected to pay a dowry – money, goods, or property, to her husband. • Poor families often sold their daughters to wealthy villagers.

7. Reading Check  • How did the Tang and Sui rulers differ? • In contrast to the Sui rulers, the Tang rulers reinstituted civil service exams, gave land to peasants, broke up the power of the large landowners, and brought peace to northern China. • Why were the Song rulers forced to move the imperial court to Hangzou? • Their northern neighbors – the Mongols – were a threat. • Which group in Chinese society replaced the landed aristocracy? • Scholar-gentry because they controlled much of the land and produced the most candidates for the civil service. • Describe the role of Chinese women? • Had few powers, undesirable as children, arranged marriage, inferior to men

8. The Mongols and China Cause Effect Temujin unifies the Mongols How the Mongols acquired the world’s largest land empire Temujin elected Genghis Khan Genghis Khan devotes himself to Conquest Mongols attack China, encountering gunpowder and the firelance Firelance evolves into more effective handgun and cannon

9. The Mongols • Temujin, born during the 1160s gradually unified the Mongols. • In 1206 he was elected Genghis Khan – strong ruler - at a massive meeting somewhere in the Gobi. • Set up the capital city at Karaskorum. • After the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, the empire began to change. • In 1279 one of Genghis Khan’s grandsons, Kaublai Khan completed the conquest of the Song and established a new Chinese dynasty The Yuan. • Established the capital city at Khanbalik, later known by the Chinese name Beijing.

10. The Mongols • The Mongols has more success in ruling China than other parts of the world. • Adapted Chinese political system and made use of Chinese bureaucrats – highest positions were held by Mongols. • Respected because of the stability and prosperity that the Mongols brought. • The Mongol dynasty eventually fell victim to too much spending on foreign conquests, corruption at court and internal instability. • Zhu Yuanzhang, son of a peasant, set up and army and ended the Mongol Empire, and set up the Ming Dynasty

11. Buddhism and Daoism • Buddhism – a religious doctrine introduced in northern India in the 6th century BC – believed in the “Enlightened One” – goal is to reach Nirvana through the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path • Daoism – a system of ideas, teaching that the will of Heaven is best followed through inaction so that nature is allowed to take its course.

12. Neo-Confucianism • From the Song dynasty to the end of the dynastic system in the 20th century, official support went to a revived Confucianism, which became the heart of the state government. • Neo-Confucianism – served as a Confucian response to Buddhism and Daoism – teaching that the world is real, not an illusion, and that fulfillment comes from participation in the world. • Material World and Spiritual World but linked with the Supreme Ultimate • The goal is to move beyond the material world to reach union with the Supreme Ultimate – do this through a careful examination of the moral principles that rule the universe.

13. Life in Genghis Khan’s Army • Read Pages 276-277 • INDEPENDENTLY: write a letter or journal entry portraying the life of a member of Genghis Khan's army. • FIND A PARTNER: with your partner you will peer edit these assignments! • HOMEWORK: Make corrections to the assignment! Type the assignment and bring into class tomorrow!

14. India after the Guptas Buddhism had retained widespread acceptance among the Indian people, although people did not always agree on the meaning of the Buddha’s teachings causing a split among Buddhists in India

16. The impact of Religions on india • Turn to page 285 in your textbook. • Read the Chart and answer the Chart Skills Questions with a partner!

17. The Impact of Timur Lenk • In the latter half of the 14 century, the sultanate of Delhi began to decline. • Timur Lenk was the ruler of a Mongol state based in Samarqand. • During the 1380s Lenk placed the entire region east of the Caspian Sea under his authority and then occupied Mesopotamia. • The death of Timur Lenk removed a major menace from the various states of the Indian subcontinent, but the calm did not last long. • Two challenges emerged. • One came from the North in the form of the Moguls, a newly emerging nomadic power. • The other came from Europe, from Portuguese traders arriving by sea in search of gold and spices.