I. Inner and Eastern Asia

400 – 1200 C.E.

The Sui and Tang Empires

581 – 755 C.E.

Sui Empire

Reunification Under The Sui

• Sui Empire reunified China• Established a government based on

Confucianism, but heavily influenced by Buddhism

• Sui’s rapid decline and fall may have been due to large amounts of resources spent on:– Construction– Canal and irrigation projects– Military

Grand Canal

A. The Tang Empire

618 – 907 C.E.

Tang Empire

1. Tang Empire - Introduction

• Established in 618.• Carried out a program of territorial

expansion• Avoided over-centralization• Combined Turkic influence with

Chinese Confucian traditions

2. Buddhism and the Tang Empire

• Tang legitimized control by using Buddhist idea that kings are spiritual agents who bring subjects into Buddhist realm.

• Buddhist monasteries were important allies of early Tang emperors.– Received tax exemptions, land, and gifts

for cooperation.

3. Mahayana Buddhism

• Most important school of Buddhism in Central and East Asia.

• Beliefs were flexible• Encouraged adoption of local deities

into Mahayana pantheon• Encouraged translation of Buddhist

texts into local languages.

4. Spread of Buddhism

• Spread through trade routes that converged on Chang’an.

• Trade routes brought other peoples and cultural influences to Chang’an– This made it a cosmopolitan city.

5. Chang’an – Capital City

• Destination of ambassadors from other states sent to China under the tributary system.

• City had over 1,000,000 residents– Most lived outside city walls

• Foreigners lived in special compounds

• Residents in walled, gated quarters

6. Land and Sea

• Roads and canals brought people and goods to city.

• Islamic and Jewish merchants from Western Asia came to China via the Indian Ocean trade routes.

• Chinese commercial ships carried goods and the Bubonic Plague.

7. Trade and Cultural Exchange

• Exports– Polo– Grape wine– Tea– Spices

• In trade, China lost monopoly on silk, but began to make its own cotton, tea, and sugar.

B. Rivals for Power inInner Asia and China

600-907

1. Uigur Empire

• Built empire in Central Asia in mid-eighth century.

• Known as merchants and scribes.– Developed own script.

• Strong ties to Islam and China.• Lasted for about 50 years.

Uigur Script

2. Tibetan Empire

• Large empire with access to Southeast Asia, China, South and Central Asia,/

• Open to Indian, Chinese, Islamic, and Greek culture.

• In early Tang, China and Tibet were friendly. – Tibetan king received a Chinese princess

and Mahayana Buddhism brought to Tibet.

3. Discontent

• Late 600s– friendly relations had given way to

military rivalry in which Tibet allied with the southwestern kingdom of Nanchao against the Tang.

• Ninth century– Tibetan king attempted to eliminate

Buddhism, but failed.– Tibet enters a long period of monastic

rule and isolation.

4. Upheavals

• Late ninth century– Tang Empire broke power of Buddhist

monasteries– Confucian ideology was reasserted

• Reason for crackdown:– Buddhism was seen as undermining the

family system and eroding the tax base

5. Women and Buddhism

• Buddhism used to legitimize women’s participation in politics.– Wu Zhao took control of government

and made herself emperor with the backing of Buddhism.

• When Buddhism was suppressed, Confucian scholars were very critical of women with power.– Also destroyed many Buddhist cultural

artifacts.

Wu Zhao

6. End of Tang Empire

• As territory expanded and faced internal rebellions, Tang dynasty depended on powerful military governors to maintain peace.

• 907 – Tang state ended and military governors established own kingdoms.– No kingdoms were able to integrate

territory on the scale of the Tang.– East Asia was cut off from rest of world.

II. The Emergence of East Asia

To 1200 C.E.

A. New States

• After fall of Tang, new states emerge:– Liao– Jin– Chinese Song

• Liao and Jin cut the Chinese off from Central Asia

• Song strengthened contacts with Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

Liao State

• Included nomads and settled agriculturalists.

• Liao kings presented themselves as:– Confucian rulers– Buddhist monarchs– Nomadic leaders

• Liao rulers were of the Kitan ethnic group.

B. Liao Empire

• Lasted from 916-1121.• Liao had strong military.• Forced Song to give annual tribute of

cash and silk in return for peace.

III. The Song Empire

960 To 1129 C.E.

A. The Song Empire

• Song helped Jurchens of northeast Asia to defeat the Liao.

• Jurchens established Jin Empire, turned on Song, and drove them out of north and central Asia in 1127.

• Song reigned in South Asia as the Southern Song Empire (1127-1279).

Song Empire

1. Song Industries

• Made a number of technological inventions.– Mathematics, astronomy, calendar

making.• 1088 – Su Song constructed a

mechanical clock that told time, day of month, and indicated movements of the moon, some stars, and planets.

Recreation of Su Song’s Clock

2. Shipbuilding

• Song introduced:– Sternpost rudder– Watertight bulkheads– Improved compass for seafaring– Made possible for building larger ships

Sternpost Rudder

I have no idea who this chick is.

3. Military

• Had standing professionally trained and paid military.

• Iron and coal were important strategic resource for Song military.

• Song produced large amounts of high-grade iron and steel for:– Weapons– Armor– Defensive works

• Developed gunpowder weapons

Chinese Cannon

4. Society in Song China

• Dominated by civilian officials• Put higher value on civil pursuits

than on military affairs• Song thinkers developed a Neo-

Confucian philosophy.– Zen Buddhism continued to be popular.

5. Civil Service Examination System

• Introduced in the Tang• Broke domination of the hereditary

aristocracy by allowing men to be chosen for service based on merit.– Men from poor families were unlikely to

devote time and resources to studying for the exam.

6. Moveable Type

• Allowed Song government to mass-produce authorized preparation texts for examination-takers.

• Printing also allowed for the spread of new agricultural technology.– Helped to increase agricultural

production.– Spurred population growth.

Earliest Printed Book

7. Population Growth

• During Song period, population rose to 100 million.

• Population and economic growth fed the large, crowded, but well-managed cities like Hangzhou.

8. Money

• Created Interregional Credit System called “flying money.”

• Introduced government-issued paper money.– Caused inflation – Later withdrawn

9. Market Economy

• Song not able to control it as previous governments did.

• Tax collection was privatized• New merchant elite thrived in cities

– Wealth was derived from trade, not land

10. Women in the Song Period

• Entirely subordinated to men• Lost rights to own and manage

property• Remarriage was forbidden• Bound feet became status symbol for

elite women• Working class women and women

from non-Han peoples did not bind feet and had more independence.

Bound Feet

III. New Kingdoms in East China

Chinese Influences

• Korea, Japan, and Vietnam were all rice-cultivating economies.

• Labor needs fit well with Confucian concepts of hierarchy, obedience, and discipline.

• All adapted aspects of Chinese culture, but political ideologies remained different

• Valued literacy in Chinese and read Chinese classics.

Korea

• Hereditary elite absorbed Confucianism and Buddhism from China and passed them to Japan.

• Several small Korean kingdoms were united first by– Silla in 668– Koryo in early 900s

• Korea used woodblock printing as early as the 700s

• Later invented moveable type, which it passed to Song China.

Korean Buddhist Woodblock

Japanese Unification

• Mountainous terrain was home to hundreds of small states that were unified in the fourth or fifth century.

• Unified state established its government at Yamato on Honshu Island.

Political Reforms

• Mid-seventh century – rulers of Japan implemented a series of political reforms to establish:– Centralized government– Legal code– National histories– Architecture and City planning similar to

Tang China

Not the same as Tang…

• Adopted Tang concepts as needed to Japanese life.

• Maintained own concept of emperorship.

• Native religion of Shinto survived alongside imported Buddhist religion.

Heian Period

• 794-1185• Fujiwara clan dominated government• Period known for aesthetic

refinement of its aristocracy and for the elevation of civil officials above warriors.

Heian Temple

Warrior Clans

• Late 1000s – some warrior clans became wealthy and powerful

• After years of fighting, one warrior clan took control of Japan– Established the Kamakura Shogunate

• Had capital at Kamakura in eastern Honshu.

Kamakura Warrior

Northern Vietnam

• Vietnam was suitable for irrigation with Southern China.

• Economic and cultural assimilation took place in Tang and Song times.– Elite of Annam modeled high culture on

that of the Chinese at this time.• When Tang Empire fell, Annam

established itself as an independent state under the name Dai Viet.

Southern Vietnam

• Kingdom of Champa was influenced by Malay and Indian as well as by Chinese culture.

• When Dai Viet was established, Champa cultivated a relationship with the Song state and exported rice to China.

Confucianism

• East Asian countries shared a common Confucian interest in hierarchy, but the status of women varied from country to country.

• Before Confucianism was introduced to Annam, women had a higher status than women in Confucius China.