CHINESE DYNASTIES From 581 1644 Sui 581 618

CHINESE DYNASTIES From 581 - 1644

Sui (581 - 618 CE) • Completed Grand Canal • High taxes, forced labor • Made repairs on the Great Wall of China • Rebels assassinated the Emperor

Tang (618 - 907 CE) • Golden Age of China: Richest, most powerful country in the world. • Rebuilt bureaucracy – Examination system – Confucian education – Limited social mobility • Buddhism supported, then oppressed • Invention of movable print, porcelain, gun powder

Tang Dynasty (618 -918) Empress Wu – (649 -705) • Wu Zetian became the first and only woman to be Emperor – supported Buddhism. • Began a campaign to elevate the position of women. Said that the ideal ruler was one who ruled like a mother does over her children. • Meritocracy - Civil Service examsbest people ran the government and were treated fairly. Empress Wu • Reduced the army's size and stopped the influence of aristocratic military men. • Fairness to peasants- lowering

The Golden Age Artistic, Technological and Industrial Developments Gunpowder and Rockets Porcelain Chinaware Moveable Type Chinese junks Landscape art

Tang (618 - 907 CE) Decline • Weak emperors, nomadic incursions, economic difficulties • Warlords take control

Song (969 - 1279 CE) • Large centralized bureaucracy (Neo. Confucian) • Mercantile class grows, increased trade – silk and porcelain are big exports. • Magnetic compass, paper currency, growing sea power • Weak military

Song Dynasty (960 -1279) Economic System: • Rise of the Merchant • The basic unit of payment was copper coins strung on a string, but these were heavy and cumbersome for use in large-scale transactions. The Song solution was to print paper money Agricultural Advancements: • New developments in rice cultivation, especially the introduction of new strains from what is now Central Vietnam, spectacularly increased rice yields. Paper Money

Yuan (1279 - 1368 CE) • Mongol Khubilai Khan conquers China • Economic stability and prosperity • China more open to trade and travel (Marco Polo) • Ignored Chinese traditions, replaced bureaucrats with non-Chinese • Unsuccessful attacks on Japan, corruption weakens dynasty • Peasant rebellion ends Yuan

Ming (1368 - 1644 CE) • Tried to erase all signs of Mongols • Reinstated civil service, Confucian scholars • Eunuchs play growing role - resented by scholar gentry • Rebuilt and extended Great Wall and built the Forbidden City. • Distant overseas exploration…(Zheng He) • Collapsed after famines and riots