Bell Ringer What was the Mandate of Heaven

Bell Ringer • What was the Mandate of Heaven? • What was the main goal of Confucius? • What is a meritocracy?

CH 7: Imperial China & Political Development

China: The Beginning • China would become united in 221 BCE by Prince Zheng of the Qin Dynasty. • Prince Zheng would become China’s first emperor

Dynasties • China’s rule will be • marked by Dynasties, • or by which family is • in charge. • Qin: 221 -206 BC • • Han: 206 BC-220 CE • • Period of Chaos: 220581 • Sui: 589 -618 Tang: 618 -907 Period of Chaos: 907960 ish Song: 960 -1279 Yuan (Mongols): 1297 -1368 Ming: 1398 -1644

Mandate of Heaven • The Chinese believed that Dynasties ruled by the Mandate of Heaven • Floods, drought, famine, earthquakes, plagues, etc were signs Heaven was displeased

Han Dynasty • The Han Dynasty will rule China for close to 400 years, but eventually fall. • China would be run by a bureaucracy, a complex system of governments. • If bureaucracies are honest & hardworking, they are very successful. By 220 CE the Han bureaucracy was corrupt and dishonest. • This led to high taxes which upset the people

• Taxes drove many into poverty. • Workers were forced to labor on public projects. • Bandits were common, and led to warlords that fought the emperor. • Farmers lost their land, and later rebelled. • China would fall into a period of chaos

Return to order • A nomadic group would claim control for 29 years, known as the Sui Dynasty. • Heavy taxes would cause them to fall to the Tang dynasty. • They would strengthen and fix the central government of China, and rule for over 300 years.

• The Han dynasty had relied on the aristocracy, ruling class & nobles, to run the government. • They used civil service exams which determined who was qualified. (Who? ) • The Tang would reintroduce these exams. • The exams could be taken by anyone, but were extremely difficult people normally needed tutors. The aristocracy were the few who could afford it.

Song Dynasty • The unfairness of the system led to peasant rebellions, and the Song Dynasty would take over. • The Song kept the exams, but used a meritocracy, rule by officials of proven merit.

The Exams • The Exams were based on the teachings of Confucius. • A Confucian scholar would create the Four Books in 1190. This would become the basis of all civil service exams. • The Exams would be opened up to anyone in society, and even lower class people could attend state schools to study for the exams. • If you passed the local exam, you could take the national exam.

• Participants would be locked into rooms when they took the exams, and someone would rewrite all their answers so cheating was next to impossible. • Only a small portion passed the exams. • After three years on the job you could be promoted.

Mongol Rule • Kublai Khan (Genghis’ Grandson) would take over China and form the Yuan dynasty. • The Mongols distrust the Chinese, and don’t want them running their government, so they end the exam system. • Many Mongols were uneducated or illiterate, so Chinese were still needed. • After a period of time the continued shortage of officials would make the Mongols put the exams back in place. • They were still selected who could take the exams.

Ming Dynasty • The Chinese would rebel against the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty would take over. • Though the exam system will benefit China it limited them in some ways. • People with science, math, or engineering knowledge were kept out of government. • Merchants were also considered the lowest level of society.