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Chapter 8

Chapter 8. The Unification of China. Qin dynasty develops, 4 th -3 rd centuries BCE Generous land grants under Shang Yang Private farmers decrease power of large landholders Increasing centralization of power Improved military technology. Unification of China.

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Chapter 8

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  1. Chapter 8 The Unification of China

  2. Qin dynasty develops, 4th-3rd centuries BCE • Generous land grants under Shang Yang • Private farmers decrease power of large landholders • Increasing centralization of power • Improved military technology Unification of China

  3. Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 BCE) founds new dynasty as “First Emperor” • Dynasty ends in 207, but sets dramatic precedent • Basis of rule: centralized bureaucracy • Massive public works begun • Precursor to Great Wall The First Emperor

  4. China under the Qin dynasty, 221 – 207 BCE

  5. Emperor orders execution of all critics • Orders burning of all ideological works • Some 460 scholars buried alive • Others exiled • Massive cultural losses Resistance to Qin Policies

  6. Standardized: • Laws • Currencies • Weights and measures • Script • Previously: single language written in distinct scripts • Building of roads, bridges Qin Centralization

  7. Built by 700,000 workers • Slaves, concubines, and craftsmen sacrificed and buried • Excavated in 1974, 15,000 terra cotta sculptures of soldiers, horses, and weapons unearthed Massive Tomb Projects

  8. Tomb of the First Emperor

  9. Civil disorder brings down Qin dynasty 207 BCE • Liu Bang forms new dynasty: the Han (206 BCE-220 CE) • Former Han (206 BCE-9 CE) • Interruption 9-23 CE • Later Han (25-220 CE) The Han Dynasty

  10. Relaxed Qin tyranny without returning to Zhou anarchy • Created large landholdings • But maintained control over administrative regions • After failed rebellion, took more central control Early Han Policies

  11. The Martial Emperor: Han Wudi (141-87 BCE) • Increased taxes to fund more public works • But huge demand for government officials, decline since Qin persecution Han Centralization

  12. Han Wudi establishes an Imperial University in 124 BCE • Not a lover of scholarship, but demanded educated class for bureaucracy • Adopted Confucianism as official course of study • 3000 students by end of Former Han, 30,000 by end of Later Han Confucian Educational System

  13. Invasions of Vietnam, Korea • Constant attacks from Xiongnu • Nomads from Central Asia • Horsemen • Brutal: Maodun (210-174 BCE), had soldiers murder his wife, father • Han Wudi briefly dominates Xiongnu Han Imperial Expansion

  14. East Asia and central Asia at the time of Han Wudi, ca. 87 BCE

  15. Classic of Filial Piety • Subordination to elder males • Admonitions for Women • Female virtues: • Humility, obedience, subservience, loyalty Patriarchal Social Order

  16. Expansion of iron manufacture • Iron tips on tools abandoned as tools entirely made from iron • Increased food production • Superior weaponry Iron Metallurgy

  17. Cultivation of silkworms • Breeding • Diet control • Other silk-producing lands relied on wild worms • Development of paper • Bamboo, fabric abandoned in favor of wood and textile-based paper Other technological Developments

  18. Population Growth in the Han Dynasty • 220 BCE 20 million people • By 9 CE 60 million people • General prosperity • Increased agricultural productivity • Taxes small part of overall income • Produce occasionally spoiling in state granaries

  19. Expenses of military expeditions, esp. vs. Xiongnu • Taxes increasing • Arbitrary property confiscations rise • Increasing gap between rich and poor • Slavery, tenant farming increase • Banditry, rebellion Economic and Social Difficulties

  20. Wang Mang regent for 2-year old Emperor, 6 CE • Takes power himself 9 CE • Introduces massive reforms • The “socialist emperor” • Land redistribution, but poorly handled • Social chaos ends in his assassination 23 CE Reign of Wang Mang (9-23 CE)

  21. Han Dynasty emperors manage, with difficulty, to reassert control • Yellow Turban uprising challenges land distribution problems • Internal court intrigue • Weakened Han Dynasty collapses by 220 CE Later Han Dynasty

  22. Chapter 9 State, Society, and the Quest for Salvation in India

  23. The Mauryan and Gupta empires321 B.C.E.-550 C.E.

  24. 520 BCE Persian Emperor Darius conquers north-west India • Introduces Persian ruling pattern • 327 Alexander of Macedon destroys Persian Empire in India • Troops mutiny, departs after 2 years • Political power vacuum India Before the Mauryan Dynasty

  25. Most significant remaining kingdom after Alexander’s departure • Central Ganges plain • Economic strength • Agriculture • Trade in Ganges valley, Bay of Bengal • Dominated surrounding regions in north-eastern India Kingdom of Magadha

  26. Took advantage of power vacuum left by Alexander • Overthrew Magadha rulers • Expanded kingdom to create 1st unified Indian empire • Mauryan Dynasty Chandragupta Maurya

  27. Advisor Kautalya • Recorded in Arthashastra, manual of political statecraft • Foreign policies, economics • Domestic policies • Network of spies • Legend: Chandragupta retires to become a monk, starves himself to death Chandragupta’s Government

  28. AshokaMaurya • Grandson of Chandragupta • Represents high point of Mauryan Empire, r. 268-232 BCE • Expanded empire to include all of Indian subcontinent except for south • Positive ruler ship integrated Indian society • Much better known as a ruler than conqueror

  29. Economic crisis follows death of Ashoka • High costs of bureaucracy, military not supported by tax revenue • Frequent devaluations of currency to pay salaries • Regions begin to abandon Mauryan Empire • Disappears by 185 BCE Decline of the Mauryan Empire

  30. Northwestern India • Ruled by Greek-speaking descendants of Alexander’s campaigns • Intense cultural activity accompanies active trade Regional Kingdom: Bactria

  31. Northern India/Central Asia • C. 1-300 CE • Maintained silk road trade network Regional Kingdom: Kush

  32. Based in Magadha • Founded by Chandra Gupta (no relation to Chandragupta Maurya), c. 320 CE • Slightly smaller than Mauryan Empire • Highly decentralized leadership • Foundations for studies in natural sciences and mathematics The Gupta Dynasty

  33. Frequent invasions of White Huns, 5th c. CE • Gupta Dynasty disintegrates along regional fault lines • Smaller local kingdoms dominate until Mughal Empire founded in 16th c. Gupta Decline

  34. Manufactured goods in big demand • Developed in dense network of small workshops • Trade intense, capitalizes on trade routes across India Economy: Towns and Manufacturing

  35. Persian connection since Cyrus, Darius • Massive road-building projects under Persian rule • Alexander extends trade west to Macedon • Trade routes through Kush mountains, the silk roads Long-Distance Trade

  36. Seasonal sea trade expands • Spring/winter winds blow from south-west, fall/winter winds blow from north-west • Trade from Asia to Persian Gulf and Red Sea, Mediterranean Trade in the Indian Ocean Basin

  37. Patriarchy entrenched • Child marriage common (8 year old girls married to men in 20s) • Women encouraged to remain in private sphere Society: Gender Relations

  38. Social Order • Caste system from Aryan times • Brahmins (priests) • Kshatriyas (warriors, aristocrats) • Vaishyas (Peasants, merchants) • Shudras (serfs)

  39. Increasing economic diversification challenges simplistic caste system • Jatis formed: guilds that acted as sub-castes • Enforced social order • “outcastes” forced into low-status employment Castes and Guilds

  40. Upward social mobility possible for Vaishyas, Shudras • Wealth challenges varna for status Wealth and the Social Order

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