The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia Chapter

The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia Chapter 14

I: Imperial Restoration: the Sui Dynasty • Post-Han: regional kingdoms • Late 500 s: one kingdom reunified through military campaigns -> Sui dynasty (589 -618 CE) • High demands on citizens: construction projects (Grand Canal – facilitated trade between north and south), military, taxes • -> hostility and rebellion, assassination of emperor

I: Tang Dynasty • Rebel leader seized Chang’an -> Tang Dynasty (618907 CE) • Stability and prosperity: less banditry, lower prices, lower taxes • 3 policies: – Maintenance of transportation and communication networks: canal, roads (horses and human runners, inns, postal stations, stables – 8 days)

I: Tang Dynasty • 3 policies (cont. ) – Equal-field system: to avoid land accumulation by rich, land allotments based on needs; • worked for 100 years, and then problems (pop. Strain, hoarding, Buddhists) – Merit-based bureaucracy: Confucian education and civil service exams (equal opportunities)

I: Tang Dynasty • Military Expansion: north (Manchuria and Korea), south (Vietnam), west (Tibet, Aral Sea) • Foreign Relations: tributary overlords, required gifts and kowtow, and gave gifts and authority in return; but, not real rule

I: Tang Dynasty • Decline: – Mid-700 s: casual, careless leaders – 755: Chang’an conquered by rebellious military leader – 763: recovered, but weakened – Failed equal-field system + insufficient tax revenue to support gov’t + invasion of Uighur Turks + rebellion + regional military leaders gained power = collapse

I: Song Dynasty • Post-Tang: ruled by warlords until reunification -> Song Dynasty (960 -1279) • Not very powerful, emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and the arts • Paid bureaucrats and officials very well • Expansion of merit-based bureaucracy

I: Song Dynasty • 2 problems: – financial: lots of money required to pay high salaries -> high taxes -> rebellions – Military: scholar-bureaucrats didn’t know how to command military -> nomadic societies on borders flourished, pushing boundaries further south (Southern Song)

II: Economic Development of Tang and Song • China becomes an economic powerhouse through agricultural, technological, industrial, and commercial developments

II: Agricultural Developments • Fast-ripening rice (from Vietnam): 2 crops/year = more food • Technology: heavy iron plows, draft animals (oxen, water buffalo), fertilizer, irrigation systems with pumps (-> more land) • Results: population growth, urbanization (esp. Chang’an), commercial agricultural economy (regional specialization)

II: Agricultural Developments • Results: increasing wealth -> increased patriarchy (ancestor veneration, footbinding) • But, Empress Wu Zhao: factions formed against her because she was un-Confucian -> secret police and brutal punishments, strengthened civil service, legitimized by Buddhists, organized military campaigns

II: Technological and Industrial Developments • More food -> more craftsmen • Porcelain: “fine China, ” long-distance trade item • Metallurgy: iron and steel -> stronger and more useful (weapons, tools, construction) • Gunpowder: accidental; military leaders made flamethrowers and bombs

II: Technological and Industrial Developments • Other inventions/innovations: • Printing: block printing->moveable type->more texts • Naval technology: increased LD trade (esp. for spices); better ships (iron nails, bulkheads, canvas/bamboo sails, rudders, magnetic compass) • Many of these inventions diffused to other areas

II: The Emergence of a Market Economy • Economic growth + regional specialization => goods for sale on the open market • Economic developments: letters of credit, paper money (at first by merchants, latter gov’t) • Trade: revival of silk roads (+ porcelain and lacquerware), merchant communities in port cities, demand foreign goods increased

III: Cultural Change in Tang and Song China • Foreign interactions -> change • Buddhism: Confucianism lost credibility after fall of Han -> foreign religions established communities in China • Mahayana Buddhism spread via silk roads from central Asia • Attraction: moral standards, intellectual sophistication, promise of salvation

III: Buddhism in China • Plus, monasteries provided food, lent money, maintained schools • Very different from Chinese traditions: focus on text, metaphysics, ascetic ideal (celibacy) • So, tailored Buddhism to Chinese: used Daoist terms (dao, wuwei), validated family life • Schools of Buddhism: Chan/Zen (less texts), Pure Land (personal salvation)

III: Buddhism in China • Hostility to Buddhism: – Confucianists: anti-celibacy, foreignness, wasteful monasteries – Daoists: lost adherents • Persecution: Late Tang, closed monasteries, expelled Buddhists, seized property

III: Neo-Confucianism • Song emperors supported native traditions • Buddhism had influence on Confucianism -> Neo. Confucianism (metaphysical) • Still emphasized proper behavior, social harmony, ritual • Influenced future of East Asian thought (phil. , pol. , moral) and spread to other areas

IV: Chinese Influence in East Asia • Influenced neighbors politically and culturally through military invasion, economic ties • Korea: Tang invasion, Silla Kingdom fought back: compromise –> Tang vassal state, owing tribute and kowtow in exchange for gifts and trade – Political influence: court, bureaucracy, capital city, scholars to China, but, not merit-based

IV: Chinese Influence in Vietnam • Conquered in Tang invasion • Tributary relationship, but resentment -> revolts and independence • Influences: agricultural methods, Confucian schools, administrative techniques (bureaucracy), Buddhism • But, retained religion, not as patriarchal

IV: Early Japan • 35, 000 ya: settled by NE Asian nomads • Migrants from Koreas brought rice, bronze and iron, and horses • Politically: small states ruled by aristocrats • Nara Japan (710 -794): tried to centralize (Chinese influence), court with bureaucracy, equal-field system, Buddhism (but, Shinto, too), capital = Nara

IV: Early Japan • Heian Japan (794 -1185): ceremonial emperor (symbolic, not powerful) – Fujiwara family really held power • Chinese language became important: literature (e. g. , The Tale of Genji), records, even in Japanese writing • Decline: equal-field system fell apart, aristocrats accumulated lots of land in estates – Minimoto: powerful clan, whose leader -> shogun (but did not overthrow the emperor)

IV: Early Japan • Medieval Japan: between Nara/Heian and modern times (c. 1500) • Decentralized with provincial lords (daimyo) ruling local regions through control of land economy -> less Chinese influence – Daimyo divided land among lesser samurai who gave land to peasants – Value of military talent and discipline -> importance of the samurai (served provincial lords; followed Code of Bushido)