Two Golden Ages of China

1
Two Golden Ages of China

• The Tang and the Song (Sung) Dynasties

2
The Tang Reunifies China

• Han Dynasty collapses 220 A.D.
• China broke apart and remained divided for nearly
  400 years
• Yet China escaped decay
• Farm production expanded
• Buddhism spreads
• Learning and the arts flourished
• Outside invaders adopted Chinese culture
• Sui Dynasty (598-618) briefly reunifies China

3
The Tang Build an Empire618 A.D.

• Li Yuan first Tang Emperor
• Son Tan Taizong brilliant general, government
  reformer, historian, master of calligraphy
• Vietnam, Tibet, Korea become tributary states

4
Government and Economy Grow

• Restore Han system of uniform government based on
  the Confucian ideal
• Rebuilt bureaucracy
• enlarged civil service system to recruit talented
  officials trained in Confucian philosophy
• Land Reform wealth redistribution
• Weakened powerful land owners
• Increased revenue (taxes)

5
Tang Empire Declines

• Lost territories to Arab invaders
• Corruption
• High Taxes
• Drought
• Famine
• Rebellions
• 907 Tang Empire falls

6
Song Dynasty

• 960 A.D. Zhao Kuangyin reunited China and
  founded the Song Dynasty
• Fast growing rice two crops of rice per year
• One crop became a cash crop
• Surpluses allowing more people to pursue
  commerce, learning, and the arts (WEN).

7
The Grand Canal

• Through out Chinas history a system of canals
  had been built that encouraged internal trade and
  transportation
• The Grand Canal built during the Sui Dynasty
  linked the Huang to the Chang Rivers
• Food grown in the south could be shipped to the
  capital in the north
• Reached its peak during the Song Dynasty

8
Grand Canal
9
Trade Flourished

• Under both the Tang and the Song trade flourished
• Merchants arrived from India, Persia, and Arabia
• Trade mainly in spices
• Creation of paper money

10
China An Ordered Society

• Emperor
• Aristocratic Families
• Huge Bureaucracy
• Two main social classes
• Gentry wealthy land owning class
• Peasantry

11
Gentry

• Scholar-Gentry valued learning more than
  physical labor
• Social order based on duty, rank, and proper
  behavior
• Virtuous scholar who knew how to ensure harmony
  in society

12
Merchants Lowest on the Social Scale

• Riches came from the labor of others
• An Ambitious merchant might buy land and educate
  one son to enter the ranks of the scholar-gentry

13
Rich Culture

• Artists paint harmony
• Architecture and Porcelain were dominated by
  Buddhist themes
• Chinese writing poetry, scholars produced works
  on philosophy, history, and religion
• Short stories that blended fantasy, adventure,
  and romance
• Tang Poets Li-Po and Du Fu

14

• Gun Powder 850
• Mechanical Clock - 700s
• Block Printing 700s
• Moveable Type- 1040s