• Confucians began to adopt it. • “Neo- Confucianism” developed. • A social and ethical philosophy, not a religious belief, that combines rational thought with the metaphysics of
Jan 17, 2016
• Confucians began to adopt it.
• “Neo-Confucianism” developed.
• A social and ethical philosophy, not a religious belief, that combines rational thought with the metaphysics of Daoism and Buddhism.
• Popular in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
• Developed the system of printing in the 7th century. • “wood-block printing”, carved blocks of wood that were inked and
pressed against paper. • The invention of printing was linked with the spread of Buddhism,
through written text.
• Landscape painting flourished during this period. Based on Daoism’s emphasis on nature.
• Masculine identity came to be defined in terms of painting, calligraphy, scholarship, and poetry.
• Expanded good paying bureaucratic job, which made education important in Chinese culture.
• Needed to pass extremely rigorous civil service examination. • Serving in the bureaucracy was highly respected.
• Song China had growing urban centers. • Hangzhou was home to one million people. • The cultural center of southern China. • Trade brought diversity, including a thriving community of
Arabs.
• Developed a process of converting coal to coke.
• Coke has fewer impurities than in coal.
• Chinese could make metal that was stronger, leading to better plows, weapons, and bridges.
• Discovered gunpowder in the 9th century.
• Technology spread along the Silk Road.
• Triggered the development of cannons in Europe.
Tang:• Introduced the “equal-field
system” (8th century).• Ensure that all families had
land to cultivate. • Wanted to take control away
from the landed aristocracy. • The aristocracy bribed
government officials to keep their land.
• Agricultural Improvements:
1. Used manure (human and animal) to enrich the soil.
2. Built irrigation systems; ditches, water wheels, pumps, and terraces.
3. New heavy plows pulled by water buffalo or oxen allowed unusable land to be cultivated.
• Fast-ripening rice (champa rice) added to surpluses. • Native to northern Vietnam.• Allowed farmers to grow two crops a year.• Contributed to the doubling of the Chinese population during
the Tang and Song dynasties
• Did away with government labor tax. • Paid people to work on public projects.• Increased money in circulation, promoting economic
growth.
• Global trade declined after collapse of the Roman and Han Empires.
• Arab merchants from the Abbasid Empire revived the land and sea routes of the Silk Road.
• Technology/trade items from China:1. Compass2. Paper3. Printing4. Gunpowder5. Porcelain6. Tea7. Silk
• Developed a new financial system. • Merchants deposited “paper money” in one location and
withdraw the same amount at another location. • Abacuses were used to calculate transactions. • System became the model for the modern banking system.
• The transformation of southern China from a subsistence economy to an export-oriented economy was due to the Indian Ocean trade.
• Song China went through “proto-industrialization,” meaning a phase that precedes and enables full industrialization.
• Two goods led the way; porcelain and silk.
• Urban areas grew in prominence. • Song Dynasty was the most urban civilization in
the world.
• Expanding the bureaucracy opened up well-paying jobs to lower class men.
• Created new social class, the “scholar gentry.” • Educated in Confucian philosophy, they became the most
influential social class in China.
• Scholar gentry considered merchants the lowest class.
• Didn’t produce anything.
• Simply profited from the exchange of others’ labor.
• Women’s lives were more restricted in the Song dynasty than in the Tang dynasty due to the revival of Confucianism.
• Small feet was a sign of beauty.
• “Foot binding”, a girl had feet tightly wrapped, to deform bones.
• A social status, not prevalent among peasants.
That concludes Song and Tang Dynasties.
Any questions before the quiz on the next slide?