Song Dynasty

1
Song Dynasty
Obj. Identify the development and
accomplishments of the Song Dynasty.

1. Please make sure that you have taken the India
   China Test.
2. Test Grades will be given to you on Friday, Oct
   21st because I am still grading the short answer
   portion.
3. The Mongol and Islam Map with Questions are due
   on Friday, Oct 21st.

2

• Emperor Taizu of Song unified China through
  conquering other lands during his reign.

3

• The Northern Song, with its capital at Kaifeng,
  ruled for 170 years. They controlled less
  territory than the Tang.

4

• In 1127, they lost the northern part of China to
  the Chin, and retreated south of the Huang He,
  relocating their capital to Hangchow.

5

• They ruled another 150 years, known as the
  Southern Song, but had constant threat of
  invasion from North.

6

• During the Song, governmental power was
  reoriented around the emperor, who held absolute
  power.

7

• Revived and expanded the bureaucracy, recruiting
  Confucian scholars, largely from commoners, for
  civil service jobs.
• Set up schools to prepare male students for exam.

8
The Agricultural and Commercial Revolution

• A drop in the aristocracy and its movement from
  agricultural to urban areas started an
  agricultural revolution in China.

9

• Individual farmers could buy and sell land and
  pay taxes with money, rather than grain.
• The Song eliminated labor conscription creating
  greater wealth for the general population and for
  the government, and more freedom for farmers.

10

• Developed new strains of rice and improved
  irrigation methods.
• Produced food surpluses, enabling more people to
  pursue commerce, learning, and the arts.

11

• Money in the form of copper and silver coins
  accelerated trade within China.
• Encouraged foreign trade with Africa and the
  Middle East, and all the major trade routes and
  ports were controlled by Chinese merchants.

12
The Confucian Revival

• The Tang Dynasty followed Buddhist and Daoist
  thought, though Confucianism never really died
  out.

13

• During the Song Dynasty, Confucianism was revived
  and reinstalled as the state philosophy.

14

• Hu Yuan was one of the principal forces behind
  the Confucian revival.
• He believed that Confucian thought contained
  universal truths and it was the job of
  scholarship to find those truths.

15

• He also believed the universal truths in
  Confucianism could be used to solve any political
  problem.

16
Assertion of Male Dominance

• Women were excluded from education that would
  enable them to take the civil service exam or
  rise to positions of political power.

17

• Footbinding was the ultimate example of the
  subordination of women.

18
Achievements

• Technology Block printing, the crossbow,
  gunpowder, and the abacus.

19

• Compass The Chinese discovered that a magnetized
  needle floating in a water bowl always points
  north-south.
• Traders at sea used the compass to determine
  their direction when sailing.

20

• The Arts Chinese artists perfected the art of
  making porcelains and painting with black ink on
  silk paper.

21

• Chinese poets and historians wrote important
  works.

22
Collapse of the Song

• The greatest threat the Song faced consisted of
  tribes on Chinas northern border.
• In order to secure their borders, the Song allied
  themselves with a new people in the north, the
  Mongols.

23

• This alliance proved a mistake.
• The Mongols soon overran the Song and established
  a foreign dynasty to rule over Chinathe Yuan
  Dynasty.