TANG DYNASTY

• Arose in China around 618 AD– May be the greatest period

in Chinese history

• Founder of the dynasty was Taizong– Considered to be greatest

emperor to rule China– Brilliant general and

government reformer

Divided government

functions between six ministries: state

revenue, public works, defense,

justice, personnel, and religious affairs

Reorganized local administration

Expanded civil service system

started by the Hans

Founded a university to

prepare students for civil service

exams

Implemented flexible new law code and restructured judicial system to include

courts of appeal

Expanded Chinese territory by conquering Tibet—

thereby opening door for trade with the West

Built new capital city at Chang’an and

engaged in many public

works projects

END OF THE TANG DYNASTY• After Taizong’s death in 649, a long

line of good emperors extended his work– But after 760, the Tang Dynasty

would produce no more great rulers• Chinese power steadily

declined as a result• Last Tang ruler and his family

were killed during a civil war and Chang’an was burnt to the ground– 907 AD

CHANG’AN• Planned city– 30 miles square– Held population of nearly one

million people• Another two million lived in

suburbs• Largest city in the world

• Crowded with markets and temples– But was a government center

before all else• Government buildings and

emperor’s palace complex occupied several square miles on the northern side of the city

TANG BUREAUCRACY• Bureaucracy was huge but performed its job

honestly and efficiently• Why?– Board of Censors• Spied on bureaucrats to make sure

everyone did their job correctly• Acted as court of appeals for anyone who

felt they had not been treated fairly– Educational system • Promotion based exclusively on merit• Weeded out the weak and mediocre• Only the best and brightest made it into

the bureaucracy– And only the best and brightest of

them were promoted

Tang bureaucrat

RESPONSIBLITY• Power of government was immense– Every urban neighborhood had its

gates locked at midnight• National urban curfew designed

to reduce crime– Peasants organized into “collective

guarantee groups”• Members had to police

themselves and make sure their neighbors behaved themselves–Or else whole group would

be punished• Responsibility, not freedom, was

keynote of Tang government

SONG DYNASTYSong Dynasty founded in

960 by Zhao Kuangyin

Would last until 1279

Did not accomplish anything noteworthy in the area of politics and military achievements

SONG SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS• During Song Dynasty the Chinese

invented– The compass

• Revolutionized navigation– The printing press

• Used block printing• Not movable type

– Gunpowder• Used primarily for entertainment

purposes– Fireworks

• Chinese doctors took the pulse of patients to aid them in their diagnosis and inoculated patients against smallpox

ACUPUNCTUREChinese doctors developed acupuncture

It is the practice of inserting needles in precise locations of the body to anesthetize patients for surgery

Western doctors are still not sure how it works

it might block transmission of pain signals to the brainit might also cause body to

manufacture its own anesthesia

PROBLEMS• Growing population– Over 100 million under the Songs– Combined with increased taxes

resulted in the impoverishment of peasantry

• Inflation– Provoked by deficit spending by

Songs– Military budget gobbled up 80%

of all revenue every year• Forcing government to

borrow to pay for other things• Used to support one million

man standing army

DECLINE IN THE STATUS OF WOMEN I

• Growth of concubinage among upper class– When married man’s

mistresses live under same roof as his legal wife• And their children

have the same rights as his legitimate children

DECLINE IN THE STATUS OF WOMEN II• Footbinding– Feet of young girls are tightly wrapped

in linen strips• Remained bound in this manner

for ten years– Result is the “lily foot”

– Men liked this• It showed off the fact that they

were so wealthy that their wives did have to work• They also saw the walk produced

by this mutilation as sexually exciting

• Women were mutilated to satisfy the egos and desires of men

GENGHIZ KHAN• Mongols were originally a

nomadic tribe of feuding clans from the Gobi Desert– Who united them was Genghiz

Khan (“Lord of All Men”)• Born Temujin in 1167– Son of a minor clan chieftain– Father was murdered and

Temujin and a few friends forced into the desert on their own

– But they returned after a few years, killed Temujin’s father murderers, and took control of clan

MONGOL EMPIRE

Genghis Khan then united all the Mongol tribes of the

Gobi Desert under his authority

He then forged them into a mighty horseback army and

used them to create an immense empire that stretched

from Chine in the east to Eastern Europe in the west

KEY TO GENGHIZ KHAN’S SUCCESS

• Mongols believed the key to his success was that he had supernatural powers

• More realistically, he had all the qualities common to Mongols and then some extra ones– Tremendous physical

strength, endurance, and courage

– He was also a natural politician, a military genius, and had a remarkable talent for organization

MONGOL ARMY• His army was strange-looking but

very powerful– Mongol warriors literally lived

backs of their shaggy ponies• Could travel for weeks

– Also used version of compound bow• Could kill a man from a

distance of ¼ of a mile• Most common tactic was to

encircle an enemy– Weaken him with volleys of

arrows– Then form into columns and

charge

GENGHIZ KHAN’S CONQUESTS

• First attacked Song China in 1206– Defeated Song’s million man

army and forced them into the south

– Did not follow but instead turned west and conquered everything up to and including Persia• Sent raiding parties into

Russia and Middle East• But died suddenly in 1227

CREATION OF AN EMPIRE

• Mongols returned to Gobi Desert to select new leader– And then continued their

conquests: Russia, Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe (Hungary and Poland)

• In 1279, Genghiz Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, returned to southern China, finished off the Songs, and took over the rest of the country

Kublai Khan

Following example of Genghiz Khan, the Mongols

divided their empire into four units, called khanates

Khanate of the Golden Horde

Khanate of the Great Khan

Chagatai Khanate

Ilkhanate

Largest and most important Khanate was the Khanate of

the Great Khan, which included the Gobi Desert, China and

Korea

First of ten rulers was Kublai Khan. Together, they were known as the Yuan Dynasty

KUBLAI KHAN’S CHINA

• We know quite a bit about the China of Kublai Khan thanks to the journal of Marco Polo– Italian traveler who lived there for

12 years• Mongols kept the Tang administrative

system– But suspended the civil service

exam system and gave top jobs to Mongols, Persians, and Europeans• Caused extreme resentment

among educated ChineseMarco Polo

MONGOLS VS CHINESE• Mongol rule was never popular in

China and the Mongols were never socially accepted by educated Chinese– Did not wear Chinese clothes– Ate mutton and drank mare’s

milk instead of Chinese cuisine– Generally illiterate and put no

value on education– Had no last names– Hated to bathe

• Mongols simply refused to assimilate into Chinese society

END OF THE YUAN DYNASTY• Only shrewd leadership and brute force

could keep the Mongols in power in China– Never lost the knack for brute force

but khans after Kublai Khan were lacking in shrewd leadership

– Mongols therefore fought losing battle to stay in power• Also began to increasingly fight

among themselves• Finally defeated and expelled by revolt

led by Zhu Yuanzhang– Who then founded Ming Dynasty

Zhu Yuanzhang

THE END• Same pattern appeared in other

khanates as well– Mongols gradually lost control– Started fighting among

themselves– Were ultimately defeated and

expelled– Returned to the Gobi Desert

and their old nomadic lifestyle• Did not leave much of a legacy

JAPAN

Japan was never a Chinese possession

but it did have contacts with the

mainland for a long time and it did copy Chinese

cultural models until around 900

AD

Japanese writing system was based on the Chinese

system and the island was

governed by a succession of dynasties, just

like China

AFTER 900 AD

• In the capital city of Kyoto, the aristocratic families who lived there and served at the emperor’s court cultivated a delicate and sensitive lifestyle– Emphasized refined

poetry, art, and graceful manners

BUSHIDO

• Out in the countryside, local strongmen (bushi or samurai) developed a more violent lifestyle known as bushido– Since they were

warriors, bushido stressed military virtues• Such a courage,

pride, and loyalty• And especially

stressed honor

HONOR

• Led hard and simple lives, rejected wealth and comfort, and were prepared for death at any time

• Samurai preferred death to any form of dishonor– Preferred execution on the

battlefield to the dishonor of living with defeat

– Even developed special suicide ritual to cleanse one’s name of dishonor• Called seppuku

SHOGUN• Shogun was expected to perfectly

embody bushido values• Shoguns were originally military

commanders appointed by the emperor from samurai clan leaders– But as the power of the emperor

weakened after 1200, shoguns became the real rulers of Japan• Long civil war erupted as

various samurai clan leaders struggled to seize and hold this powerful position– 1200-1600 AD

TOKUGAWA IEYASU

• Powerful samurai clan leader named Tokugawa Ieyasu seized position of shogun in 1603– Held it for the rest of his

life and then passed the position to his son• Founded the

Tokugawa Dynasty which controlled the position of shogun from 1603 to 1868

TOKUGAWA JAPAN• Tokugawa shoguns generally provided

just and efficient government– But they became increasingly

conservative and hostile to outside influences over time• Expelled all foreign merchants and

missionaries and cut Japan off from the rest of the world

• Distinctive Japanese temperament developed during this period of isolation– Combined artistic sensitivity and

ritualized manners of Kyoto aristocracy with bushido sense of honor and duty