Post-classical: tang & Song dynasties of china

1. Post-classical: tang & Song dynasties of china • Like Western Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire, China entered a long period of turmoil and unrest after the collapse of the Han Dynasty in A.D. 220. • As in the west, the advance of the Huns helped plunge China into disunity. • Several warring kingdoms arose, and science, art and culture declined; however, during this same time Buddhism spread through much of China. • It took several hundred years before China re-emerged as one of the world’s leading civilizations under the Tang Dynasty.

2. Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618 – 907): Golden Age of China • Emperor Tang Taizong: second emperor • Military buildup/expansion to Tibet, Vietnam, Manchuria; frontier Turkish forces • Empress Wu Zhao 688: Conquest of Korea • Tang era is the first time gun powder is used as a weapon • Significant engineering achievements: bridges, canals, irrigation • Economic Developments: • First use of paper money/banks; flying money: credit vouchers • Foreign trade on Silk Road grew, tea from SE Asia • Attempt to help the free peasants with redistribution of land • Revival of a strong bureaucracy/Confucianism- Civil Service Examination system expanded • Buddhism flourishes under early Tang leaders like Empress Wu (wants to establish Buddhism as a state religion) Achievements play a greater role than in the Han dynasty, in shaping China today. First use of block printing to make copies of Confucian texts to study for the civil service exams

3. FOOTBINDING – role of women under Tang and Song declines due to traditional beliefs of Confucianism that a woman must obey her father; the practice of footbinding began under the Song Dynasty and shows the desire to limit female mobility – this gave wealthy women small feet which was considered attractive

4. •Political Developments • Rule limited to southern China after Tang losses in Central Asia and Manchuria • Economic Developments • Introduction of a fast-growing rice from Vietnam that led to faster growing population • Moveable type spread to Japan and Korea • Paper money contributed to a large-scale economy • Advances in sailing technology, such as the magnetic compass, led to the growth of ocean trade • Cultural Developments • Reached new heights in Chinese art with natural landscapes and objects drawn with black ink • China’s population was at 100 million with ten cities having at least 1 million people SONG DYNASTY (A. D. 960 – 12 76) Song Dynasty will fall To invaders from the North