Respuesta :
NOTES
Two Golden Ages
After the Han dynasty (Wudi, Silk Road) collapsed in 220CE, China remained a divided land for about 400 years. During this period of division, China managed to escape the grim world that Western Europe was experiencing (plague, economic failures, etc.). Farm production in China expanded and technology slowly improved. Buddhism spread, while learning and the arts continued. Even Chinese cities survived despite invaders in the North, as the invaders would often adopt Chinese civilization rather than demolish it. Meanwhile, in the South, various Chinese dynasties rose and fell.
THE TANG DYNASTY
The first two Tang emperors were father (Li Yuan) and son (Li Shimin), but the son was the main force behind the dynasty. After time, Li Shimin, compelled his aging father to step down and took the throne himself, taking the name Tang Taizong. He was a brilliant general, government reformer, famous historian, and master of the calligraphy brush. He would eventually become the most admired of all Chinese emperors.
The Tang Dynasty, under the leadership of Tang Taizong, carried empire building to greater heights, conquering territories deep into Central Asia, as far as present-day Afghanistan. Chinese armies forced neighboring lands of Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea to become tributary states. A tributary state is an independent state that has to acknowledge the supremacy of another state and pay tribute to its ruler. Therefore, while these states remained independent, their rulers had to acknowledge Chinese supremacy and send regular tribute to the Tang emperor.
Government & the Economy under the Tang Dynasty
Later Tang rulers, like Empress Wu Zhao, went back to the Han system of uniform government throughout China. They rebuilt the bureaucracy and enlarged the civil service system to recruit talented officials trained in Confucian philosophy. They also set up schools to prepare male students for the exams and developed a flexible law code.
Under a system of land reform, the Tang emperors redistributed land to peasants. This policy weakened the power of large landowners. At the same time, it increased government revenues, since the peasants could now pay taxes.
Decline of the Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty eventually weakened. Eventually, Tang emperors lost China’s northwestern territories in Central Asia to the Arabs. Government corruption, heavy taxes, drought, famine, and rebellions all contributed to the end of the Tang Dynasty.
THE SONG DYNASTY
In 960CE, Zhao Kuangyin reunited much of China and founded the Song Dynasty. The Song ruled for 319 years, a little longer than the Tang. However, the Song controlled less territory than the Tang had. The Song faced the constant threat of invaders in the north. In the 1100’s, the struggling Song retreated south of the Huang He River. There, the Song ruled for another 150 years from their new capital at Hangzhou.
The Song Dynasty was a golden age. Chinese wealth and culture dominated East Asia. The economy expanded. The center of farming shifted from wheat-growing in the north to rice paddies on the Yangzi River in the south. By growing these new strains of rice with improved irrigation methods, peasants were able to produce two rice crops each year. The rise in productivity created surpluses, allowing more people to pursue trade, learning, and the arts.
Under the Song, foreign trade flourished. Merchants arrived by land and by sea from India, Persia, and the Middle East. The Chinese built better ships, and their merchants carried goods to Southeast Asia in exchange for spices and other items. The Song were found to trade porcelain, and eventually the government started using paper money.
Women in Song Dynasty Times
Women had a higher status in Tang times than they did in Song times. At home, women were called upon to run family affairs. Women joined their husband’s family upon marriage, and with their mother-in-law, they managed the family finances, discipline, and servants. Still, within families, boys were valued more highly than girls were. Women’s lower position was reinforced in late Song times with the custom of footbinding. Footbinding is a practice in which the feet of young girls were bound with long strips of cloth, producing a lily-shaped foot about half the size of a foot that was allowed to grow normally. Tiny feet and a stilted walk because a symbol of female nobility and beauty. It was very painful, yet the custom survived because parents feared that a daughter with large feet would be unable to find a husband. Not every girl in China had her feet bound. Peasants who relied on their daughters for field labor did not accept it.
Two Golden Ages
After the Han dynasty (Wudi, Silk Road) collapsed in 220CE, China remained a divided land for about 400 years. During this period of division, China managed to escape the grim world that Western Europe was experiencing (plague, economic failures, etc.). Farm production in China expanded and technology slowly improved. Buddhism spread, while learning and the arts continued. Even Chinese cities survived despite invaders in the North, as the invaders would often adopt Chinese civilization rather than demolish it. Meanwhile, in the South, various Chinese dynasties rose and fell.
THE TANG DYNASTY
The first two Tang emperors were father (Li Yuan) and son (Li Shimin), but the son was the main force behind the dynasty. After time, Li Shimin, compelled his aging father to step down and took the throne himself, taking the name Tang Taizong. He was a brilliant general, government reformer, famous historian, and master of the calligraphy brush. He would eventually become the most admired of all Chinese emperors.
The Tang Dynasty, under the leadership of Tang Taizong, carried empire building to greater heights, conquering territories deep into Central Asia, as far as present-day Afghanistan. Chinese armies forced neighboring lands of Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea to become tributary states. A tributary state is an independent state that has to acknowledge the supremacy of another state and pay tribute to its ruler. Therefore, while these states remained independent, their rulers had to acknowledge Chinese supremacy and send regular tribute to the Tang emperor.
Government & the Economy under the Tang Dynasty
Later Tang rulers, like Empress Wu Zhao, went back to the Han system of uniform government throughout China. They rebuilt the bureaucracy and enlarged the civil service system to recruit talented officials trained in Confucian philosophy. They also set up schools to prepare male students for the exams and developed a flexible law code.
Under a system of land reform, the Tang emperors redistributed land to peasants. This policy weakened the power of large landowners. At the same time, it increased government revenues, since the peasants could now pay taxes.
Decline of the Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty eventually weakened. Eventually, Tang emperors lost China’s northwestern territories in Central Asia to the Arabs. Government corruption, heavy taxes, drought, famine, and rebellions all contributed to the end of the Tang Dynasty.
THE SONG DYNASTY
In 960CE, Zhao Kuangyin reunited much of China and founded the Song Dynasty. The Song ruled for 319 years, a little longer than the Tang. However, the Song controlled less territory than the Tang had. The Song faced the constant threat of invaders in the north. In the 1100’s, the struggling Song retreated south of the Huang He River. There, the Song ruled for another 150 years from their new capital at Hangzhou.
The Song Dynasty was a golden age. Chinese wealth and culture dominated East Asia. The economy expanded. The center of farming shifted from wheat-growing in the north to rice paddies on the Yangzi River in the south. By growing these new strains of rice with improved irrigation methods, peasants were able to produce two rice crops each year. The rise in productivity created surpluses, allowing more people to pursue trade, learning, and the arts.
Under the Song, foreign trade flourished. Merchants arrived by land and by sea from India, Persia, and the Middle East. The Chinese built better ships, and their merchants carried goods to Southeast Asia in exchange for spices and other items. The Song were found to trade porcelain, and eventually the government started using paper money.
Women in Song Dynasty Times
Women had a higher status in Tang times than they did in Song times. At home, women were called upon to run family affairs. Women joined their husband’s family upon marriage, and with their mother-in-law, they managed the family finances, discipline, and servants. Still, within families, boys were valued more highly than girls were. Women’s lower position was reinforced in late Song times with the custom of footbinding. Footbinding is a practice in which the feet of young girls were bound with long strips of cloth, producing a lily-shaped foot about half the size of a foot that was allowed to grow normally. Tiny feet and a stilted walk because a symbol of female nobility and beauty. It was very painful, yet the custom survived because parents feared that a daughter with large feet would be unable to find a husband. Not every girl in China had her feet bound. Peasants who relied on their daughters for field labor did not accept it.
