The Golden Age of the Tang and Song Era

1. The Golden Age of the Tang and Song Era Chapter 12 (3 of 3)

2. The Grand Canal Along with other canals, the Grand Canal linked north China (plains) and south China (Yangtze River basin), vital to economic growth Huge amount of people move to south China, where most of the food for the empire was grown By the time the Song took over in the 900s, the population of southern China was more than that of north China

3. Silk Roads reopened (China sent silk, porcelain, and paper in exchange for horses and Persian rugs and tapestries Trade Grows Trade with S.E. Asia also increased (China sent manufactured goods in exchange for luxury goods (aromatic woods and spices) Tang army conquered much of central Asia leading to the growth of trade and commerce

4. Junks = Chinese ships that was very advanced with sails, compasses, and even rockets for defense Along with Arab dhows, junks were the best ships in the world during the postclassical period

5. A New Kind of Money System

6. Markets Grow Though controlled by the government, local guilds existed in many cities (similar to western Europe) Government supervised markets spring up in every city in China

7. China Had the Most Big Cities During Tang-Song era, many cities had over 100,000 people (most civilizations had a few at most) Changan, the capital, had over 2 million people, making it the largest city in the world at the time 10% of Chinese lived in cities, by far the largest percentage of any civilization in the world at the time

8. As Cities Grew, So Did Agriculture As Chinese population moved south during the postclassical era (to Yangtze River basin), agricultural expansion occurred Government helped agricultural growth by encouraging settlement of unfarmed land, and creating irrigation systems New types of seeds, better use of animal and human manure, new technology such as wheelbarrow, also helped

9. Aristocracy Further Weakened Tang government broke up aristocratic estates and gave land to peasants As a result, scholar-gentry becomes even more powerful (lived in homes with curved roofs, a status symbol in China) This was done to curb power of aristocrats (remember: scholar-gentry now had power) and to help peasants

10. Family Life Did You Know: The penalty for a child hitting a parents was beheading of the child Confucian teachings (which dominated the later Tang era and the Song era, taught traditional views (men head of family and respect for elders)

11. Women - At 1st Okay But… In early Tang Dynasty, position of women improving (Buddhist ideas had influence over Confucianism) Still had arranged marriages (like India) with bride’s family paying dowry to husband’s family Example of rights women gained in early Tang era: Had some political power (like Empress Wu) Lots of activities open (ex: could play polo) Divorce laws helped women somewhat Women could take lovers with knowledge of husband Difference was in China, the pair getting married were usually same age (Confucian idea of separation of generations), and often the pair were older than those married in India

12. By Late Song Era, Women’s Status Bad Neo-Confucians began taking over (as Buddhists lost power) and subordinate position of women returned Women are confined to the household and had no career opportunities Like in India, women no longer allowed to marry after husband died Women were expected to refrain from sex (especially before marriage), men were not Laws favored men in inheritance, and women were excluded from education

13. Footbinding = Chinese women had toes curled back and bound to create smaller looking foot Bound feet were painful and limited a women’s mobility (a way to confine them to the home) Mothers had daughter’s feet bound b/c only way to find a good husband was with bound feet

14. Tang and Song Era Considered a Golden Age of Chinese Artistic and Scientific Advancement

15. Economy grew for several reasons, including new technology and innovations (irrigation projects, canal system, paper money, etc.)

16. Gunpowder At 1st not for war (only fireworks) Later on it was used in war

17. More New Technology Compasses used for sea travel Kites flown for the first time Movable type = allowed books and written records to be made more easily (big reason why literacy high in China compared to other pre-Industrial societies) Abacus invented for doing mathematical calculations, helped merchants and also helped tax collection

18. This resulted every day life and nature themes replacing religious themes Scholar-gentry replaced Buddhists as the ones creating new art and literature

19. Li Bo Most famous poet of the Tang era, combined images of everyday life with philosophical thoughts (similar to Persian authors)

20. Song era art known for its landscape painting

21. Song Sung Blue – The Song Ends Here Song fled south to avoid nomadic attacks (Jurchens) Could not avoid the Mongols and Chinggis Khan (though for a while, Song able to survive by paying him tribute) By 1279, Kubilai Khan conquered the Song and ended the dynasty Mongols were very powerful, so although the Song defeated, Mongols able to keep China somewhat united, so it did not experience another Era of Division

22. Tang-Song Dynasty Pivotal to China’s History Bureaucracy restored as scholar-gentry gained power over aristocrats, Buddhists, and nomads Chinese civilization grew dramatically as south was united with the north China’s economy became one of the strongest in the world, and would remain that way until the 1700s