Chapter 13: Sui, Tang, Song Dynasties

Define the Golden Age of the Tang and Song.

A period of major shifts in the population balance, trade, commerce, expansion, art, and technology. i.e., the Grand Canal, crop and population increase, Silk Routes reopening, etc.

What did the emergence of the Sui dynasty in China signal?

A return to strong dynastic control in China.

Who was the central administration dominated by?

A small number of established families.

Beset by internal rebellions and nomadic incursions, the Tang gave way to the Song. What was unique about this dynasty?

Although smaller than the Tang, the Song Confucian revival flourished.

Efforts were made to recreate what kind of governmental system?

An imperial bureaucracy.

How were traders and artisans able to prosper through the sale of goods and the manufacturing of products?

Being located near the Yangtze River helped this a lot; as did overseas as well as trans-continental trade.

What artisan was responsible for the development of the movable type?

Bi Sheng

What was the result of the imperial attempt by the Tang to suppress Buddhism within the Chinese empire?

Buddhism survived the repression, but in a reduced state without the political influence of the early Tang years.

Which was more popular, Confucianism or Buddhism; and why?

Buddhism, because Confucianism acted as a threat to aristocratic families and Buddhist monastic orders.

What kind of art became heavily patronized by the court, prosperous merchants, and wealthy monasteries?

Buddhist art.

The capital was moved to what great learning center later on?

Chang'an.

What was the ship that dominated the seas of Asia made distinctly by the Chinese?

Chinese junks.

Which of the following statements concerning urbanization in China during the Tang-Song era is most accurate?

Chinese urbanization mushroomed during the Tang-Song era with a higher proportion of the population living in cities.

Which of the following intellectual schools was responsible for the production of most literary and artistic works during the Tang-Song era?

Confucian

The Anti-Buddhist Backlash was brought by what other two religions?

Confucianism and Daoism.

What was the impact on Confucianism of the Tang repression of the Buddhists?

Confucianism emerged as the central ideology of Chinese civilization until the 20th century.

The sinified khitans saw the Song empire as what?

Culturally superior- an area from which they could learn much from in statecraft, the arts, and economic organization.

Members of the elite class of China were more attracted to what variant of Buddhism?

Daoism

Which of the following was NOT an eventual impact of the development of neo-Confucian schools of thought?

Destruction of the mandarins

What Tang ruler actually attempted to have Buddhism recognized as a state religion?

Empress Wu

What was a primary difference between marriages, families, and households of the upper and lower classes in Tang-Song China?

Extended family households were more common in upper-class households than in lower-class ones.

To what extent were the Tang and Song dynasties one period of cultural development? (pp. 299-306)

Grand canal: - linked centers of chinese civil. on north China plain to Yangtze River - essential to agrarian base - movement of people/goods easier - intended to facilitate control - possible to transport to capital revenue collected in grain from south and districts threatened by famine/drought in north Geography: - no major geographic barriers separated millet-growing areas - overland travel was slow/difficult - transport of millet/rice was expensive - Yangzi basin/other rice-growing areas became major food-producing areas of empire Economy: - merchants specializing in products banded in guilds to promote interests w/ local officials/to regulate competition - growing sophistication in commercial organization - innovations in instruments transformed domestic marketing/international commerce - first use of paper money in Tang - merchants deposited profits in hometowns - "Flying Money" - credit vouchers to merchants - reduced danger of robbery

What was the capital of the southern Song dynasty?

Hangzhou

What was the capital of the Xong rulers and what was it known for?

Hangzhou; was renowned for its beauty and sophistication.

What impact did Yangdi have on China?

He restored the Confucian examination system; was responsible for the construction of a Chinese canal system, assassinated in 618.

What impact did Emperor Wendi have on China?

He reunited the traditional core areas of Chinese civilization for the first time in over three hundred and a half centuries.

Large landholders and peasants were taxed. Why?

In order to keep the granaries filled in case of crisis.

What were the most important innovations of the Tang and Song periods in the area of artistic and technological developments? Why do you consider these innovations important? (pp. 302-306)

Innovation: - wheelbarrow - banks - paper money - Grand Canal - built dikes/dams to regulate flow of water in complex irrigation systems - devised ingenious ways to build bridges - invented explosive powder - used for fireworks but then used by imperial armies in variety of grenades/bobs - naphtha flamethrowers, poisonous gases, rocket launchers - drinking tea - coal used for fuel - first its - compasses used by military commanders/magicians applied to sea navigation - abacus, modern calculator, to help merchants count profits/tax collectors to keep track of revenues - painting w/ movable type - advance in written records/scholarly books

What was the significance of Xi Xia?

It was a kingdom of Tangut people north of the Song. In the 11th century, it collected tribute that drained Song resources and burdened the Chinese peasantry.

While the Tang had beautiful poetry and short stories, the Song had what?

Landscape paintings.

The outstanding poet of the Tang era was...

Li Bo

Who was the founder of the Tang dynasty?

Li Yuan

The first Song emperor restored the unity of China EXCEPT for what northern dynasty?

Liao

What group was responsible for the fall of the southern Song dynasty in 1279?

Mongols

What were the most effective weapons against nomadic invaders?

Napatha flamethrowers, poisonous gases, and rocket launchers.

Who was allowed to become governor in Song society?

Only civil officials.

What ministry of the central imperial government was responsible for the administration of the examination system?

Rites

Describe the decline of the Sui, Tang, and Song

Sui: - heavily taxed people - short lived Tang: - problems w/ succession - regional lords to independent armies - Buddhist persecution not focusing on army - scholar-gentry b/c no strong leadership - bureaucratic corruption - outside invasions - overtaxing Song:

Who was Yiang Jian?

The "Literary Emperor" later called Wendi, extended his rule across north China.

Who was Li Yuan?

The Duke of Tang after the assassination of Yangdi in 618. He is considered the founder of the Tang dynasty.

What was a large factor in the slowing of intellectual activity in China during this time?

The Neo-Confucian emphasis on tradition and hostility to foreign influences.

Which of the following statements concerning the extent of the Tang empire is most accurate?

The Tang built an empire that was far larger than the Han, an empire whose boundaries in many directions extended beyond the borders of modern China.

What was the attitude of the Tang emperors toward the Confucian scholar-gentry?

The Tang supported the rebirth of the Confucian scholar-gentry, often at the expense of the aristocracy

What were some technological innovations of the Tang and Song?

The compass, movable type, and paper.

BOTH the Tang and the Song promoted what?

The expansion of Chinese settlement and agricultural production.

What was the most damaging factor to Buddhism?

The growing campaign of Confucian scholar-gentry administrators to convince the Tang rulers that the large Buddhist monastic establishments acted as an economic threat to the imperial order.

The great influence of the scholar-gentry in the Song era was mirrored in what?

The revival of Confucian ideas and values that dominated intellectual life.

What social class was responsible for much of the artistic and creative aspects of the Tang and Song eras?

The scholar-gentry class.

Who was higher in the social hierarchy, the military or the scholar-gentry?

The scholar-gentry.

What made the reunification of China under the first Sui emperor possible?

The support of the nomadic warrior elite

Why did the Tang regime lose huge amounts of revenue as a result of imperial grants?

This happened as a result of monastic lands and resources were not taxed.

What did the Tang victories in central Asia and Afghanistan mean for nomadic peoples?

This meant that the nomadic people had to submit to Tang rule.

The man responsible for the creation of the Sui dynasty was...

Wendi

Which emperor's reign marked the high point of the Tang power?

Xuanzong

What do you consider the most important achievement of the Sui dynasty? (Pp. 288-290)

Yangdi - restored examination system for regulating entry into bureaucracy - part of promoting the scholar-gentry in the imperial admin. - good to reunite gov. and politics -Grand Canal

Who was the founder of the Song dynasty?

Zhao Kuangyin

Who was the most prominent of the neo-Confucians during the Song era?

Zhu Xi

Which of the following was NOT a problem during the last years of the Tang dynasty?

a Buddhist rebellion in southern China

Which of the following statements concerning entry into the Chinese bureaucracy is most accurate?

birth and family connections continued to be important in securing high office

Which kingdom was conquered by Wendi in 589?

chen

In what was did foot-binding serve to diminish the independence of Chinese women by the end of the Song era?

foot-binding sufficiently crippled women to effectively confine their mobility to their household

Which of the following descriptions of Pure Land Buddhism is NOT accurate?

it appealed to upper class Chinese

During the Song dynasty, the interest of Confucian intellectuals in nature was most apparent in their production of ...

landscape paintings

Which of the following statements about Chinese landscape painting is most accurate?

members of the ruling political elite in China produced many of the paintings in the Song era

Which of the following was NOT an economic development during the period of commercial expansion during the Tang and Song dynasties?

military domination of the seas

Which of the following was NOT a technological innovation of the Tang-Song era?

paper

The title of jinshi was reserved for those who...

passed the most difficult exams on Chinese literature

Unlike his father, the second Sui emperor favored...

the Confucian scholar-gentry class

What proved to be the most damaging attack on Buddhism's popularity with the people during the early Tang dynasty?

the Confucian's successful campaign to convince the emperor that the Buddhist monastic establishment represented an economic threat

The period of political disorder and chaotic warfare that followed the Qin-Han era is referred to as

the Era of Division

How did the Song empire compare to the Tang?

the Song empire was smaller in territorial extent than the Tang empire

The dynasty that ended the period of political chaos after the fall of the Qin-Han was...

the Sui

Why was the construction of the Grand Canal necessary?

the Yangtze River valley was becoming the major food-producing region of China by the late Tang era

Which of the following statements concerning the status of women in the Tang-Song era is most accurate?

the assertion of male dominance within the family was especially pronounced in the thinking of the neo-Confucian philosophers

What was the primary reform enacted during the reign of the first Sui emperor?

the creation of granaries to relieve the threat of famine

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the position of the scholar-gentry under the Song dynasty?

the domination of the scholar-gentry over its aristocratic and Buddhist rivals was fully secured in the Song era

Which of the following was NOT one of the reforms introduced by Wang Anshi in the face of conservative opposition?

the end of tribute payments to nomadic dynasties on the northern border

What caused the flight of the Song dynasty from its capital in northern China?

the invasions of the Jurchens who had formed the Qin kingdom

What made possible the rapid revival of empire under the Tang?

the rebuilding of the imperial bureaucracy using Confucian ideology

Which of the following was NOT a result of the agricultural policies of the Sui and Tang emperors?

the scholar-gentry were removed as landlords

What led to the downfall of the Sui dynasty?

unsuccessful military campaigns

Was the Tang dynasty a new version of Han rule? Were there any important differences? (Pp. 290-295)

yes, both had bureaucracies - revived scholar-gentry elite - reworked Confucian ideology Tang: - education prospered - examination system expanded - academies to train state officials/educate them in Confucian classics - jinshi - tried to counter Buddhism's appeals by stressing own magical/predictive powers - large Buddhist monastic land posed economic challenge to imperial order - denied labor power b/c could not tax/conscript peasants working on monastic states