Medieval China Study Guide Dynasties, Government/ 220 A.D. – Han Dynasty ends Lots of warlords take over – and split up the country SUI DYNASTY 581 A.D. – General Wendi forms the Sui Empire and proclaims himself emperor *Unifies China again Emperor Yangdi – Wendi’s son *Expands China’s territory, but loses to Koreans *Repaired the Great Wall *Builds the Grand Canal to connect China’s two great rivers (Yellow and Yangtze) *Uses farmer to labor to repair the Great Wall and build Grand Canal/Taxes them to afford it all TANG DYNASTY 618 A.D. – Li Yuan first emperor 690 A.D. Empress Wu – only woman to rule China Important to Tang Dynasty: *They bring back central government and the civil service examination to China Most powerful TANG emperor was: TAIZONG Brought peace and prosperity to the country Mid-‐700’s – Tang face problems with:
Trade/Commerce/Money/Geography Inventions/Science/Literature/Advancements & Religion/Philosophy Geographical Landmarks (be able to either identify on map or describe location and what it is Yangtze River Yellow River Himalayan Mts. Plateau of Tibet Korean Peninsula Gobi Desert Steppes – (Mongolia) flat, dry grasslands good for animal grazing Great Wall of China Capital City of Tang Dynasty – Changan Capital City of Song Dynasty – Hangzhou *Expands westward to Tibet under the Tang’s *And takes northern Vietnam *Took control of the Silk Road – Trade Route is an ancient network of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea (citation -‐ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road) Farming *618 AD – Tang emperor gave farmers more land *Improved irrigation *Developed new rice for better crop yield in
Buddhism: Siddhartha Guatama founder Buddha – means the awakened one Young Prince in India who abandons his riches; sees poverty, goes into the wilderness to meditate under a Bodhi tree to achieve the highest spiritual awakening Beliefs: Four Noble Truths: (dialogueofwisdom.com) The Four Noble Truths comprise the essence of Buddha's teachings, though they leave much left unexplained. They are : the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. Buddhism begins to spread throughout China; monasteries filled with Buddhist monks spread the beliefs (as well as, the Silk Road travelers) Emperors and the government fear Buddhism – Why? *Because its growing as a religious movement *Threatens the Confucian civil service order *Weakens the family because nuns weren’t allowed to marry ***Fear the Buddhist temples and monasteries are growing TOO RICH from donations and they want it to stop
*Turkish Nomads trying to take over the Silk Road * Tang’s hire the Uighurs (Turkish people from the northwest) to fight for control but it was too late. Tang dynasty falls from unrest, etc., in 907 A.D. **Between this time and 960 military generals take over and lead in China SONG DYNASTY 960 A.D. Economic prosperity during this time & stability Capital – Hangzhou MONGOLS – Yuan Dynasty Mongols were nomadic clans who came from Mongolia and were a shepherding people Herded animals in the steppes Excellent horsemen Genghis Khan – (“strong ruler”) n Wants to unify the Mongol clans n Gets an army together and begins to conquer nearby lands n 100,000 strong army n Conquers the people of the steppes n 1211A.D. they invade China and take control of all of northern China n 1227 A.D. – he dies Kublai Khan – his grandson takes over n Invade and conquer Persia, and the
Chang Jiang Valley * More food, better food, bigger population Why DID Trade Grow? n Tang emperors built roads and waterways n Silk Road re-‐opened which increased trade and travel n Porcelain, steel, and tea were primary trade goods Technological Advances n Coal – discovered it could be used as fuel and that led to coal mining industry n Carbon – mixing with iron in coal burning stove created steel for helmets and armor and weapons Inventions Paper – invented during Han Dynasty 600’s A.D. -‐ Woodblock printing – done by Buddhist monks 1000’s A.D. – Chinese printer named Pi Sheng invented a movable type machine – 1024 A.D. -‐ eventually leads to printed paper money in the Tang Dynasty Invented gunpowder first for fireworks, then for wepons Inventions That Helped Trade 1150 A.D. – invented a magnetic compass that helped in trading by sea
CONFUCIOUS Who is Confucious? *famous Chinese philosopher *founder of Confucianism *Confucius's principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives. He also recommended family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-‐known principle "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself", the Golden Rule. (citation -‐ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius) *his philosophy becomes the basis for the civil service exam Tang and Song dynasties considered Neo-‐Confucianism and civil service test to be the best basis for a stable society ***Scholar Officials – government elites n Must memorize all of his teachings n Have to recite them all aloud n Could not perform any physical labor LITERATURE & THE ARTS Tang & Song dynasties are famous for a GOLDEN AGE of culture Tang Dynasty famous for great poetry n Li Bo – one of the most popular poets n “Alone Looking At The Mountain” one of his most famous poems: (excerpt) n “All the birds have flown up and gone; A lonely cloud floats leisurely by. We never tire of looking at each other -‐ Only the mountain and I.”
rest of the Middle East, etc. n Continued conquest of China that his grandfather began and conquered all of southern China Capital in China – Khanbaliq (later known as Bejing) Called the Yuan Regime n China reached the apex of its wealth during this time n Eradicated the civil service bureaucracy, but allowed the Chiese to keep their previous government jobs n Practiced Buddhism, but respected other religions Ming Dynasty 1368 A.D. – The Chinese rose up and defeated the Mongols Zhu Yuanzhang – general who became emperor (took name Emperor Huang Wu or the “Military Emperor) Trusted no one – suspicious of everyone n Re-‐united China and made his capital at Nanjing n Dies 1398 n Son ascends throne – Yong Le Emperor Yong Le n Built the Imperial City n Forbidden City at the center of it n Chinese emperors lived there for 500 yrs n Brought back civil service exams for government n Created a census to count the
MARCO POLO *Italian merchant from Venice *One of the most famous Europeans to reach China *True entrepreneur – how could he maximize trade goods with China back to Europe? *Wrote – The Travels of Marco Polo * Lived in China for about 16 yrs *He and Kublai Khan were good friends * Was allowed to rule the Chinese city of Yangzhou
n Du Fu another famous Tang poet: “Five Hundred Words About my Journey to Fengxian” : (Excerpt) n “Behind the gates of the wealthy food lies rotting from waste Outside it's the poor who lie frozen to death” LANDSCAPE PAINTING *Becomes famous during the Song Dynasty *Daoist beliefs influence this type of paint n What is Daoism? Belief that people should turn to nature and give their worldly concerns *Calligraphy – artistic handwriting – use brush and ink *Porcelain – a ceramic made of fine clay baked at very high temperatures
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population for tax purposes Repaired and expanded the Grand Canal During the Ming Period Chinese novels began Zheng He – great explorer during this period and went on long ocean voyages to India and Africa/ increased Chinese trade but were eventually abolished for costing too much Europeans came against the Chinese wishes and were known as barbarians
In the 1600’s, the Ming finally fell to the Manchu dynasty from Manchuria who defeated their armies. And they, the Manchu, were the last dynasty of Imperial China.
