Tang and Song China

1. Tang and Song China Tang: Expands China Song: Restores China Prosperity and Innovation Chinese Society

2. Tang • Wendi united northern and southern China under the Sui Dynasty • Lasted from only 581 - 618, but built the Grand Canal and rebuilt the Great Wall • Thousands of people died during these builds and the people grew tired of the Sui and assassinated the second Sui emperor. • Built a great foundation for the Tang Dynasty

3. Grand Canal and Great Wall

4. Tang • Ruled for nearly 300 years. • Tang taizong began the great achievements • Reconquered northern and western lands lost after the Han Dynasty • Extended control over Korea, led by empress Wu Zhao • Wu Zhao became the only female to gain the title of emperor on her own.

5. Tang Taizong and Wu Zhao

6. Tang • Strengthened the central government and expanded roads and canals • Promoted foreign trade and improvements in agriculture • Brought back the civil service exam to restore the bureaucracy: Talent and education was more important than noble birth • Many moderately wealthy families were part of China’s government (scholar-officials)

7. Tang • Imposed taxes in the mid 700s to pay for the bureaucracy • Failed to cover cost of military and new building programs • Could not control empire: Lost Central Asia to Muslims • Lost control in 907 after Chinese rebels killed the last emperor

8. Song • Taizu reunites China under the Song Dynasty • Last 3 centuries which saw stability, power, and prosperity • Relied on buying peace from northern enemies: Did not work • Lost the land from the Jurchen (Manchuria) which forced them to retreat to the south • Ruled only southern China

9. Song • New captial at Hangzhou: A costal city on the Chang Jiang • Saw rapid economic growth: grew rich from trade with Chinese in the north, Central Asia, and western Asia and Euope

11. Science and Technology • Moveable Type: Could arrange block of individual characters in a frame to make up a page for printing • Gunpowder: Led to explosive weapons • Porcelain, mechanical clock, paper money, and magnetic compass for sailing (pgs. 328-329) • Mathematics: advances in arithmetic and algebra (negative numbers)

12. Agriculture • Improved the cultivation of rice • In 1000, imported fast-ripening rice from Vietnam: harvest two crops a year • Government distributed it throughout the country so everyone new about the improvement • This allowed more food to feed the increasing population

13. Trade and Foreign Contacts • International trade along the port cities of China • Went from Korea and Japan to India, Middle East, and Africa • Established trading colonies in Southeast Asia • Buddhism was a major culutral export and Islam and Christianity were brought to China

14. Poetry and Art • Li Bo and Tu Fu are two leading poets during the Tang and Song Dynasties • Li Bo wrote about life’s pleasures • Tu Fu wrote about orderliness and Confucious • Painting showed Doaist influence: empahasized the beauty of natural landscapes • Did not use bright colors: Black was favorite paint

15. Changes in Society • New social class: Gentry • Gained status through education and civil service positions • Urban Middle Class: Merchants, shopkeepers, skilled artisans and minor officials • Laborers, soldiers and servants were at the bottom of society • Peasants lived in the country side

16. Status of Women • Status declined during the Tang and Song periods • Upper Class women was less important to the family’s prosperity and status • Peasant women worked in the fields and helped produce food and income • Binding the feet of upper-class girls