The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia

Chapter 14

I: Imperial Restoration: the Sui Dynasty• Post-Han: regional kingdoms• Late 500s: 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

(618-907 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-700s: 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 for 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 and 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)