Ch. 12 Summary (China)

1. Ch. 12 Summary (China) Important developments took place in tech Political turmoil followed the fall of the Han The empires bureaucratic apparatus collapsed The scholars-gentry class lost ground to landed families Non-Chinese nomads ruled much of China A foreign religion, Buddhism, replaced Confucianism There was economic, tech, intellectual and urban decline New dynasties, Sui and Tang, brought restoration of Chinese civilization Political unity returned as nomads and nobility were brought under state control and the bureaucracy was rebuilt The Song dynasty continued revival; their era restored the scholar-gentry and Confucian order

2. Summarize the effects of the renaissance of Confucianism during the Tang-Song era • The renaissance restored the imperial gov. • Particularly the establishment of a centralized bureaucracy • The bureau was responsible for the maintenance of the examination system and education system • The development of public works • The admin. of all levels of local gov. • The development of neo-Confucianism occurred at the cost of effective military: China became vulnerable to outside attack • Its development also placed an increasing emphasis on traditional Chinese philosophy at the expense of outside influence and innovation • The attack on Buddhism, for one, diminished Chinese willingness to accept foreign ideas • The renaissance had a negative influence on the status of women and also diminished Chinese innovation in commerce with the outside world

3. Generalize the proposition that the Tang-Song era was at the same time both innovative and conservative • Chinese followed tradition by restoring the emphasis on an imperial centralized gov. that relied on a trained scholar-gentry class • The restoration of Confucianism as the central ideology of the state was accomplished by the persecution of Buddhism • There was also a heavy emphasis on a social structure of the interlocking hierarchies associated with Confucianism • Aspects stressed Role of the scholar-gentry, agricultural reform benefitting the peasantry, lack of status for merchants, male-dominated households and the development of art forms dependent on nature and Confucian themes of harmony • Increased sophistication in market organization and commercial practices (paper money, credit), tech sophistication (military use of gunpowder, the compass, movable type, the abacus, new engineering