Early China

1. Early China

2. Terms to Know Confucius Tao Legalism Dynasty Footbinding Chinese Society • The Silk Road • Mongols • Isolationism

3. Confucius (Kung Fu-Tzu)*(551-479 BC) “Never kiss a fool, or be fooled by a kiss.” *Family name = Kung (Kong) Personal name = Zhong-ni Kung Fu-Tzu (Kong Fu-zi) = “Master Kung” “Confucius” = Latinization of “Kung Fu-Tzu”

4. The Life and Legacy of Confucius • Born in 551B.C. . • Confucius was a teacher, philosopher and government official. He wanted people to be responsible for the state of their society. • He felt people should stop complaining and blaming and do something about society.

5. Confucianism originated in China, but its influence spread to Korea & Japan over the centuries.

6. Central concepts in Confucian thought • TAO (“Way”) - the Ultimate; the One; the Absolute; the underlying Power; the Source • Yin/Yang - the dual expression of TAO; neither is superior to the other

7. China Dynasties • Chinese history is rarely as neat as it is portrayed, it was rare for one dynasty to end calmly and give way quickly and smoothly to a new one. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they had been defeated. • In addition, China was divided for long periods of its history, with different regions being ruled over by different groups. At times there was no dynasty ruling a unified China.

8. The Post-Han Interim • 220 Han Dynasty Collapsed • Regional Kingdoms 400 years • Farm Production Expanded Technology Improved • Buddhism spread • Nomads invaded but Adopted Chinese Culture

9. The Tang Dynasty • Li Yuan Sui Dynasty General • Li Shimin (Tang Taizong) • Forced his father to Abdicate • Murdered 2 Brothers • Brilliant General, Government Reformer • Historian, Master Calligrapher • China’s Most Admired Emperor

10. Expansion under the Tang • New Territories • Largest China Ever • Manchuria • Korea • Vietnam • Aral Sea • Tibet • Tributary States

11. Tang Government • Empress Wu Zhao • Only Female Chinese emperor in History • Centralized Government • Merit System • Civil Service Exams • Confucian Philosophy

12. Tang Decline • Lost Central Asia to Arabia • Corruption • Rising Taxes • Drought • Famine • 907 Rebellion • Huang Chao

13. Chinese Society • Emperor & His Family • Gentry • Wealthy Land-Owning Class • Government Workers, Business Owners • Peasants • Majority • Farmers

14. Status of Women • Ran Family Affairs in the Home • Managing Servants • Family Finances • Boys were Favored • Wives joined Husband’s family @ Marriage • Dowry went to her Father • Never able to Remarry

15. Footbinding • Emerged in Song Dynasty • Tiny Feet & Stilted Walk became a sign of nobility and beauty • Extremely Painful • Spread to Lower Classes

16. Arts & Literature • Essential Gentry Education • Poetry • Painting • Calligraphy • Chinese Landscape Painting • Misty Mountains • Delicate Bamboo Forests

17. Architecture • Buddhist Themes • Indian Stupa – Chinese Pagoda • Multishaped Temple with Eaves curving up • Porcelain • Glazes, Vases, Tea Service • Figures of Camels • Bearded foreigners from the Silk Road

18. The Silk Road

19. The region separating China from Europe and Western Asia is not the most hospitable in the world. Much of it is taken up by the Taklimakan desert, one of the most hostile environments on our planet. There is very little vegetation, and almost no rainfall; sandstorms are very common, and have claimed the lives of countless people. The locals have a very great respect for this `Land of Death'; few travelers in the past have had anything good to say about it. It covers a vast area, through which few roads pass; caravans throughout history have skirted its edges, from one isolated oasis to the next. The climate is harsh; in the summer the daytime temperatures are very dry and hot. In winter the temperatures dip below minus 0. Temperatures soar in the sun, but drop very rapidly at dusk. Sand storms here are very common, and particularly dangerous due to the strength of the winds and the nature of the surface. Unlike the Gobi desert, where there are a relatively large number of oases, and water can be found not too far below the surface, the Taklimakan has much sparser resources.

20. By the third century B.C., the area had already become a crossroads of Asia, where Persian, Indian and Greek ideas met. Even at this stage small quantities of Chinese goods, including silk, were reaching the west. This probably arrived with individual traders, who made the journey in search of new markets despite the dangers.

21. The description of this route to the west as the `Silk Road' is somewhat misleading. No single route was taken; several different branches developed, passing through different oasis settlements along the way from East to West. Secondly, the Silk Road was not a trade route that existed solely for the purpose of trading in silk; many other commodities were also traded, from gold and ivory to exotic animals and plants. Of all the precious goods crossing this area, silk was perhaps the most remarkable for the people of the West. It is often thought that the Romans had first encountered silk in one of their campaigns against the Parthians in 53 B.C, and realized that it could not have been produced by this relatively unsophisticated people. They learned from Parthian prisoners that it came from a mysterious tribe in the east, who they came to refer to as the silk people. The Romans obtained samples of this new material, and it quickly became very popular in Rome, for its soft texture and attractiveness. The Parthians quickly realized that there was money to be made from trading the material, and sent trade missions towards the east. The Romans also sent their own agents out to explore the route, and to try to obtain silk at a lower price than that set by the Parthians. For this reason, the trade route to the East was seen by the Romans as a route for silk rather than the other goods that were traded.

22. The creation of “Middlemen” In addition to silk, the route carried many other precious commodities. Caravans heading towards China carried gold and other precious metals, ivory, precious stones, and glass, which was not manufactured in China until the fifth century. In the opposite direction furs, ceramics, jade, bronze objects, lacquer and iron were carried. Many of these goods were bartered for others along the way, and objects often changed hands several times. There are no records of Roman traders being seen in China, nor Chinese merchants in Rome, though their goods were appreciated in both places. This would obviously have been in the interests of the Parthians and other middlemen, who took as large a profit from the change of hands as they could.

23. Bandits soon learned of the precious goods traveling the route and took advantage of the terrain to plunder these caravans. Caravans of goods needed their own defense forces, and this was an added cost for the merchants making the trip. This was partially overcome by building forts and defensive walls along part of the route. Sections of `Great Wall' were built along the route to try to prevent the bandits from harming the trade. However, these fortifications were not all as effective as intended, as the Chinese lost control of sections of the route at regular intervals. Many settlements were set up along the way, mostly in the oasis areas, and profited from the passing trade. Very few merchants traversed the full length of the road; most simply made part of the journey, selling their wares a little further from home, and then returning with the money. Goods tended to moved slowly across Asia, changing hands many times. The most significant commodity carried along this route was not silk, but religion. Buddhism came to China from India this way. The Buddhist faith gave birth to a number of different sects in Central Asia. Of these, the `Pure Land' and `Chan' (Zen) sects were particularly strong, and were even taken beyond China; they are both still flourishing in Japan.

24. Decline of the Silk Road From the point of view of those in the far west, China was still an unknown territory, and silk production was not understood. Since the days of Alexander the Great, there had been some knowledge of India, but there was no real knowledge of, or contact with China until about the 7th century, when information started to filter along the Road. It was at this time that the rise of Islam started to affect Asia. Trade resumed with the Muslims playing the part of middlemen. The sea route to China was explored at this time, and the `Sea Silk Route' was opened, eventually holding a more important place than the land route itself, as the land route became less profitable. But the final shake-up that occurred was to come from a different direction; the hoards from the grasslands of Mongolia

25. Mongols • Nomadic People of Central Asia • Constantly Fighting Internally • Genghis Khan “World Emperor” • Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe

26. Genghiz Khan • Strict Military Discipline • Often destroyed entire Cities • Demanded Absolute Loyalty • Rewarded the Most Loyal • Highly Trained, Mobile Army • Most Skilled Horsemen in the World

27. Mongol Invasion of China • Walled Cities • Cannons & New Weapons • Metal Tubes filled with Gunpowder • Khan Descendants continued Conquest • 150 Years • Devastated Sichuan • Annihilated Chengdu, the Chinese Capital

28. Mongol China • Administrative Toleration • Heavy Taxes • Pax Mongolica (1200s-1300s) • Economic Growth • Controlled the Silk Road • Inventions • Windmills, Gunpowder, Papermaking

29. Khan Konquest • Genghiz Khan – North • Kublai Khan – South • 70 Years Later 1279 • Defeated the Song Dynasty • Capital: Cambulac (Beijing) • Added Korea, Tibet, Vietnam

30. Kublai Khan • Resisted Sinicization “becoming Chinese” • Only Mongols in the Military • Only Mongols in highest Govt. Jobs • Allowed Chinese to rule in the Provinces • There were not enough Mongols • Adopted a Chinese name: Yuan (yoo ahn) • Hired Arabs to build his Palace

31. Kublai Khan • Capable but Demanding • Repaired & Improved the Grand Canal • Many human lives • Welcome foreigners • African Muslim • Marco Polo

32. Marco Polo • The first Europeans to arrive in China were Northern European traders, who arrived in 1261. However, the most well known and best documented visitor was the Italian Marco Polo. As a member of a merchant family from Venice, he was a good businessman and a keen observer. Starting in 1271, at the age of only seventeen, his travels with his father and uncle took him across Persia, and then along the southern branch of the Silk Road, finally ending at the site of present-day Beijing. He traveled quite extensively in China, before returning to Italy by ship. • He describes the way of life in the cities and small kingdoms through which he passed. His classification of other races centre mainly on their religion, and he looks at things with through eyes of the Catholic Church. He judges towns and countryside in terms of productivity; he appears to be have been quick to observe available sources of food and water along the way, and to size up the products and manufacture techniques of the places they passed through. His description of exotic plants and beasts are sufficiently accurate to be quite easily recognizable, and better than most of the textbooks of the period. • Sparked European interest in Asia

34. The Ming Dynasty • Most Chinese despised the Mongols • Heavy Taxes • Corruption • Natural Disasters • Restored the Civil Service System • Exams were made more Difficult • Instituted a Board of Censors

35. Ming Economics • 100 Million People • Increased Rice Production • Improved Fertilization • New Crops: Corn & Sweet Potatoes • Growing Industries • Porcelain • Paper • Printing

36. Zheng He • Chinese Admiral • 1405 – First of Seven Expeditions • 62 Large Ships (400’) • More Small Ships • 25,000 Sailors • Promote Trade • Collect Tribute

37. Zheng He • 1405-1433 • Southeast Asia • India • Persian Gulf • Red Sea • East Africa

38. Isolationism • 1433 Zheng He died • Ming banned Ship Building • China turned inward • After the Zheng He voyages in the 15th century, the foreign policy of the Ming Dynasty in China became increasingly isolationist. One reason China decided on this was to keep out as much foreign influence on religious beliefs as possible, especially from European traders who came into China with Christian missionaries. The first missionary said to have an impact on Chinese religious beliefs was an Italian Jesuit called Matteo Ricci. Many of the educated Chinese opposed this Christianity introduced by missionaries, but Ricci's scientific knowledge gained him prestige in these circles, first introducing the concepts of trigonometry, and predicting an eclipse of the sun more accurately than Chinese astronomers of the day.

39. Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist in military matters and a political policy of economic protection. In other words, it asserts both of the following: • Non-interventionism - Political rulers should avoid entangling alliances with other nations and avoid all wars not related directly to their country’s self-defense. • Protectionism - There should be legal barriers to control trade and cultural exchange with people in other states. • The policy or doctrine of trying to isolate one's country from other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, and generally attempting to make one's economy entirely self-reliant; seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement, both diplomatically and economically, while remaining in a state of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements and responsibilities.

40. Learning Log-Early China(Left Side) • Essay (1st-5th periods) • Write a 5 paragraph essay describing the government and economy of Early China and what life was like for Chinese citizens.

41. Bibliography • MSN. Encarta. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573937/Isolationism.html January 14, 2008 • Wild, O. The Silk Road. http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/silk.html. December 4, 2007 • ChangAn. xy2.youxizhu.com February 22, 2008 • The Silk Road. lib.blcu.edu.cn February 22, 2008