REUNIFICATION AND RENAISSANCE IN CHINESE CIVILIZATION

1. REUNIFICATION AND RENAISSANCE IN CHINESE CIVILIZATION Chapter 12 THE ERA OF THE TANG AND SONG DYNASTIES

2. POLITICAL OVERVIEW

3. Timeline • 220 End of Han Dynasty • 220 – 589 Era of Division; time of greatest Buddhist influence • 589-618 Sui Dynasty; building of Grand Canal • 618-907 Tang Dynasty • 690-705 Empress Wu; Buddhist influence in China peaks

4. 712-756 Xuanzong emperor • 840s Period of Buddhist persecution • 907 End of Tang Dynasty • 960-1279 Song Dynasty; Neo-Confucian revival • 1050 Invention of block printing and moveable type

5. 1067-1085 Shenzong emperor; reforms of Wong Anshi • 1100 Invention of gunpowder • 1115 Jurchen (Qin) Kingdom in North China • 1127-1279 Southern Song Dynasty • 1279-1368 Mongol (Yuan) Dynasty rules all of China

6. AFTER THE HAN Called Era of Division or Six Dynasties Period—all est. capitals at Nanjing Period marked by nomadic domination & economic decline Confucianism replaced by Buddhism Trade & cities decline as nation is decentralized

7. Rebuilding the Imperial Office • Sui dynasty 589-618 CE • Wendi, a northern aristocrat, successfully unified N. and S. China through conquest

8. Wendi – from prominent Chinese Noble family • Secured power by winning support of neighboring nomadic military commanders (showed little desire to favor Confucian scholar-gentry class at their expense) • Reunited traditional core areas of Chinese civilization for the first time in three and a half centuries • won support by lowering taxes and establishing granaries throughout domains

9. Sui Excesses and Collapse • Yangdi, murdered his father (Wendi) and seized the throne • Continued the process of political reunification and centralization • Reinstatement of the scholar gentry • Chinese class created by the marital linkage of the local land-holding aristocracy with the office-holding shi; superseded shi as governors of China

10. Sui Excesses and Collapse • Extended father’s conquests • Drove back nomadic intruders who threatened northern frontiers • Milder legal code • Devoted resources to Confucian education • Restore examination system • Promoted scholar-gentry

11. Yangdi was fond of luxury and extravagant construction projects • Forcibly made hundreds and thousands of peasants build palaces, a new capital city (Loyang), and a series of great canals linking various parts of empire

12. 611-615 : Led his exhausted and angry subjects into a series of unsuccessful wars to bring Korea back under Chinese rule • Set in motion widespread revolts • Provincial governors declared themselves independent rulers, bandit gangs raided at will, and nomadic groups seize large sections of north China • 618 - Yangdi assassinated by his own ministers

13. Emergence of the Tang • Li Yuan, est. the Tang dynasty. • Secured the Chinese frontiers from the Turks

14. Li Yuan laid the basis for the golden age of the Tang • Tang armies conquered deep into Central Asia (as far as Afghanistan) • Impact of victories? Many of the nomadic peoples who dominated China in the Six Dynasties era had to submit to Tang rule • Turkish tribes posed greatest threat

15. Tang emperors also completed repairs begun by Sui dynasty on Great Wall • Created frontier armies • 668 – Emperor Kaozong (creates vassal Kingdom called Silla in Korea) • Tang built empire much larger than Han

16. Building A Bigger, Better Empire • Tang exploited trade along the Silk Road, established territories in Central Asia to protect the goods traveling back & forth Turkestan Korea Mongolia Vietnam

17. Rebuilding the Bureaucracy • Monarchs fully restored the imperial bureaucracy, which the Confucian scholar-gentry continued to dominate. • Civil service examination greatly expanded • Highest offices could only be gained by those able to pass exams on philosophical or legal classics • Pass exam – special social status • The role of aristocratic families within the government declined. • The Bureau of Censors constantly evaluated the work of civil servants at all levels of the administration.

18. Still… birth and family connections continued to be important in securing high office • Established bureaucrats not only ensured that their sons and cousins got into the imperial academies but could pull strings to see that even failed candidates from their families received government posts • Corruption anyone?

19. The Growing Importance of the Examination System • The Ministry of Rites administered increasingly regularized examinations to students • Those who passed the most difficult exams were declared jinshi and granted opportunity to achieve high office • Success in the examination procedure granted higher social status to the candidates

20. State and Religion in the Tang-Song Era • Increasing state support for Confucian learning threatens old aristocratic families and Buddhists (had become a major force in Six Dynasties era) • Many Pre-Tang rulers – devout Buddhists (especially the nomadic ones)

21. Mahayana Buddhism – supported by the masses since it provided refuge from an age of war and turmoil • Chan (Zen) – attracted members of elite; stress on meditation and appreciation of natural artistic beauty; goal- come to know ultimate wisdom and find release from cycle of rebirth (through reflective meditation)

22. Buddhism was a strong force (socially, economically, and politically) by the time of Tang unification • Early Tang rulers – support Buddhism; promote education of Confucian classics • Empress Wu (690-705) – major supporter of Buddhism

23. Buddhism Takes A Beating • Daoist & Confucian officials resent the tax & military exemptions for Buddhist monasteries • Wuzong c.845 persecutes Buddhists; monks forced to abandon land and monasticism • Monasteries permanently lost their influence over politics, but the faith would endure • Buddhism left its mark on the arts, Chinese language, and Chinese thinking about things such as heaven, charity, and law

25. Tang empire was immense covering Korea, Manchuria, and parts of Central Asia. Used a census and built public works. A fixed amount of land was given to most male citizens. Known for : • Architecture • Sculpture, painting, literature, art, and porcelain • Unique form of garden designed for peace and contemplation • Key was their development of block printing • Encouraged commercemaking the Silk Road busy

26. TANG DYNASTY Country of Origin: Tan'g China Date of Origin Tang Dynasty late 8th century Use: Funeral figure. These were common in the late 8th century in China. They were used as figures in "Heavenly Horse". tombs. The horse is not a typical horse of 8th century China but is a heavenly horse.

27. Emperor Xuanzong (713-756) – marked the peak of Tang power and high point of Chinese civilization • Initially… strong interest in political and economic reform • But over time… devoted himself to the pleasures available within the confines of the imperial city

28. Xuanzong’s long neglect of state affairs resulted in economic distress, chronic military weakness (all of which left government unable to deal with disorders effectively) • None of the leaders that followed Xuanzong could compare with the able leaders the dynasty had earlier

29. Tang Decline • Tang decline actually began in the eighth century as a result of disruptions within the imperial family. • As central authority weakened, nomads on the frontiers gained control over large portions of China and generals were able to establish regional kingdoms.

31. Founding of the Song Dynasty

32. After Tang, it appeared China was entering another phase of nomadic dominance, political division, and social conflict • 960 – Emperor Taizu defeats all rivals except one (Liao Dynasty – founded in 907 by nomadic Khitan peoples from Manchuria) • Shows weakness of Song rulers

33. 1004 – Song forced to sign treaties with smaller yet more militarily adept northern neighbors (Liao empire) • Forced Song to pay very heavy tribute to Liao Dynasty to keep it from raiding and possible conquering Song domains

34. Song Politics: Settling for Partial Restoration • Song never matched its predecessor (Tang) in political or military strength • Military subordinate to civilian administrators of scholar-gentry class • Song rulers strongly promote interests of Confucian scholar-gentry • Officials within class receive higher salaries, additional servants, payments of luxury goods (silk and wine) • Bureaucracy soon became bloated with well-paid officials who often had little to do

35. Rise of Neo-Confucianism • Revival of Confucian principals during Song • Wary of foreign faiths (i.e. Buddhism) • Emphasized tradition and the pursuit of virtuous morality through ancient texts and the teachings of wise men (eventually hurt innovation and critical thinking among Chinese elite) • Stressed Confucian social stratification! • If men and women kept to their place and performed the tasks of their age and social rank, there would be social harmony and prosperity • The past is man’s best example for future

36. Roots of Decline: Attempts at Reform • Weakness showed in face of Khitan challenge encouraged other nomadic peoples to carve out kingdoms on northern borders of Song domains • Tribute was great drain on resources and growing burden for peasantry • Equally burdensome was cost of army (nearly 1 million soldiers) need to guard against invasion from north

37. Emphasis on civil administration and scholar-gentry class, along with the lack of support for military took a toll • 1070s – Wang Anshi attempts reforms • Legalist • Cheap loans • Government assisted irrigation • Taxed landlord and scholarly classes • Mercenary forces to replace army • Education reform

38. Reaction and Disaster: Flight to the South • 1085 – Emperor Shenzong dies (Wang loses support) and reforms are opposed • Neo-Confucians come to power (reversed many of Wang’s reforms) • Economic conditions deteriorate, peasant unrest grew throughout empire, banditry and rebellion from within, and military no match for increasing threat beyond northern borders of empire

39. 1115 – New nomadic group, the Jurchens, overthrew the Liao dynasty of the Khitans and established the Qin Kingdom north of Song Empire • Conquests forced Song to flee to south • Southern Song (1127-1279) • It’s brief reign was to be one of the most glorious in Chinese history

41. Tang and Song – Golden Age • Grand Canal – designed to link original centers of Chinese civilization on the north China plain with the Yangtze River basin more than 500 miles to south • Made it possible to transport grain from the fertile southern regions and to transfer food from the south to districts threatened by drought and famine in the north • More than 1 million forced laborers had worked on the project, many died • Engineering achievement (on the same level as Great Wall) • 1200 miles long, 40 paces wide

42. The Grand Canal, connecting Beijing, Hwang Ho(Huang He), and Yangtze River, was used to ship grain within China.

44. inventions

45. Tang-Song Commercial Revolution • Tang conquests in central Asia and the building of canal system promoted commercial expansion in Tang and Song eras • Overland silk routes between China and Persia were reopened and protected • Imported – Horses, Persian rugs, tapestries • Exported – silk textiles, porcelain, and paper • Increase in trading ships • Chinese junks were best ships in the world • Equipped with watertight bulkheads, sternpost rudders, oars, sails, compasses, bamboo fenders, and gunpowder rockets

48. Tang-Song Commercial Revolution • Market quarters found in all cities and major towns • Abacus allowed for more complicated accounting practices; bigger business • Renewed government centralization allowed for a greater degree of economic organization • First use of paper money during Tang • Flying money

49. Land Reforms Fuel the Economy • Land reforms would allow • peasants a greater degree • of economic freedom than • before • Equal Field system divided land among peasants in return for taxes in grain, textiles, labor (20 days a year), & military service • Agricultural boom would feed economic innovation in the cities

50. Interregional Trade & the Merchants • Merchants would gain more acceptance as the scholar-gentry became actively involved in commerce • Merchants could even join the gentry class • Merchants would foster regional specialization in goods; took advantage of existing infrastructure (roads, Grand Canal) • No longer limited to govt. marketplaces