Inner and East Asia 600-1200
Early Tang Empire 618-755• Built by the Sui, Grand Canal
links Yellow and Yangzi rivers.• Li Shimin (Tang) expands
westward = Turkic cultural, religious and military influence
• Inner Asian horses, camels and clothing from the Silk Road
• Horsemanship combined with armored infantry & crossbow.
• Mahayana Buddhism and emphasis on bodhisattva & combining of local gods.
Uighur and Tibetan Empires 600-907
• Turkic-speaking Uighurs and Tibetans built large rival states along the Silk Road (map 10.1).
• Religious art from N. India and mixture of East Asian and Islamic dress.
• Tibetans adopt architectural and artistic styles from India.
• Buddhist pilgrims connect India and China
Fall of the Tang Empire 879-907• Fear of ‘barbarians’ =
attacks on foreign residents.• Oppressive landlords &
dependence on warlords leads to rebellions.
• Destroyed Buddhism as a ‘foreign evil’
• Belief that women in politics = danger to Confucianism
• Neo-Confucianism = new ‘religion’
Neo-Confucian Influence• Challenge to Buddhism• Scholarly and cosmic
emphasis on‘sagehood’.• Civil Service examinations
• Govt ‘Meritocracy’• Evidence in Korea, Japan
and Vietnam.• Role of Women
The Song Empire 960-1279Song achievements:
– Su Song’s Celestial Clock– Gunpowder in explosive
shells– First seafaring compass.– Junks (stern rudder &
watertight bulkheads).– Produced steel of
unprecedented strength by using waterwheel-driven bellows to superheat iron.
– Modern urban planning (waste removal, water diversion, fire prevention, leisure activities).
– Moveable type and the resulting spread of knowledge
– Pioneered paper money and credit (flying money).
Song weaknesses:– They feared foreigners and
barbarians, though most of achievements in technology, observation, math, astronomy & economics came from India & West Asia during the Tang.
– Cut off from Inner & West Asia they relied on sea trade.
– Needed an army four times as large (though they occupied half the area) as the Tang.
– Treatment of women worsened as the loss of Buddhism was replaced by neo-Confucianism.
Trade and Exchange• Chang’an = metropolitan
‘Mecca’ due to tributary system and roads/canals
• Exports (silk & ‘china’) for precious metals and luxury items.
• Sea trade connects China with Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
• Cosmopolitan empire due to ‘breadth and diversity’