Postclassical Asia – China and Her Impact

1. Postclassical Asia – China and Her Impact

2. Early Postclassical China • Period of disorder after the fall of the Han (approx. 200s – 500s) • Buddhism spread to China by way of the Silk Road during the Han & gained momentum after Xuanzang’s journey to India (Buddhism had changed over time as it spread) • Sui & Tang dynasties restored order – agricultural & technological advancements • China interacted w/ the eastern hemisphere through trade and spread influence to Korea, Vietnam & Japan

4. Sui Dynasty(589-618) • 580 - Yang Jian claimed the Mandate of Heaven in state of Sui & by 589 ruled all of China • Strong, centralized gov’t – built palaces, granaries, walls, milt. forces to central Asia & Korea, high taxes & mandatory labor services • GRAND CANAL – enabled trade between North & South (rivers flowed east) – linked Beijing in north w/ Chang’an in west & Yangtze River in south • Revolts broke out when additional resources for Korean campaign were demanded

5. Grand Canal

6. Tang Dynasty (618-907) • Tang Taizong (r.627-649) • Capital at Chang’an • Maintained transportation & communication network – roads, horses & even human runners • Equal-field system (based on needs – not heredity) – it worked during the 1st half of the dynasty, but fell to corruption and Buddhist monasteries later • Bureaucracy based on merit – civil service exams • Military Expansion – Manchuria, Korea, Vietnam became tributary states • In decline for 150 years – rival forces, corruption, etc.

7. Song Dynasty (960-1279) • Song Taizu - mistrusted military leaders, expanded civil service & rewarded loyalty • Financially weak – large bureaucracy drained treasury & peasants revolted at raising taxes • Militarily weak – military decisions were being made by scholar-bureaucracy instead of milt. leaders – therefore, nomads took over in the north (1st Jin pushed Song south of Huang He Rvr., then Mongols took over entire empire)

9. Tang & Song Economic Developments • Agriculture • Fast-Ripening Rice from Vietnam enabled two crops per year • New Techniques – iron plow, harnessed oxen (in north) & water buffalo (in south), used manure for fertilizer, extended irrigation systems (pumps & waterwheels) → artificial irrigation methods enable terraced mtns • Results • Increased population (115 million by 1200) • Urbanization (Chang’an had about 2 million residents, Hangzhou about 1 million & many others over 100,000) • Market-oriented cultivation (southern province of Fujian was growing cash crops of lychees, oranges & sugarcane for export to the north & importing its rice → gov’t unhappy) • Increased patriarchy – veneration of ancestors & footbinding

10. Chinese Footbinding

11. T & S Technological Developments • Porcelain - lighter, thinner & more adaptable (glaze) => Chinaware & led to increased trade • Iron & steel metallurgy for weaponry, agricultural tools & structures (bridges & pagodas) & coke for heating • Gunpowder – Daoist alchemists – used by mid-tenth century in warfare (spread to Europe by late 1200s) • Printing – Block-printing (stamp whole pages) & then moveable-type (individual, moveable symbols that could be rearranged to create pages) – Confucian & Buddhist texts, calendars & agricultural pamphlets • Naval technology – sailed further using various ship techniques & the magnetic compass

12. Chinese Inventions 700-1000

13. T & S Market Economy • Chinese regions specialized in their production of goods w/ increased internal & foreign trade • Copper coins (currency unique to China) became scarce → letters of credit, promissory notes & checks (borrowers lost life & fortune if tried to deny debt) → ultimately led to invention of paper money – used first by merchants & then by gov’t (1024) • Trade came by land (from Abbasid & Central Asia) & sea (Arab, Persian, Indian & Malay mariners) • Imports → spices from SE Asia, feathers & tortoise shells from Vietnam, pearls & incense from India, and horses & melons from central Asia • Exports→ silk, porcelain & lacquerware

15. Cultural Change in Tang & Song • New religions introduced at a time when it seemed Confucianism had failed • Nestorian & Manichaean Christianity (from SW Asia) and Islam present in cities, but little impact with the majority • Mahayana Buddhism gained popularity w/ Silk Road • Monasteries important in the local economies (agriculture) • Introduced chairs & refined sugar • Chan/Zen Buddhism became very popular • Syncretism of Buddhism & Daoism because of conflict w/ traditional Chinese thought – used Daoist terms to explain Buddhism & encouraged one son for monastic life instead of celibacy for all (explains Xuanzang’s pilgrimage to India)

16. Cultural Change in Tang & Song (cont) • Late Tang rulers tried to rid China of foreign faiths, but it was really an attempt to seize property • Neo-Confucianism – Song attempt to encourage traditional Chinese traditions while still valuing Buddhist thought • Zhu Xi (12th century) – Family Rituals – provided instructions for various affairs • * Illustrates deep influence of Buddhism in China & influenced east Asian thought long-term (Korea, Vietnam & Japan)

19. Angkor Wat, Cambodia

20. Schwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar

22. Vietnam • Viet people settled near the Red River • During the Qin & Han dynasty, became subjugated under feudal warlord control • Viets traded w/ China (silk in exchange for ivory, tortoise shells, pearls, peacock feathers, etc.) • Intermarried w/ other SE Asian ethnic groups (Khmers – Cambodia & Tais – Thailand) → separate spoken language, village autonomy, grassroots Buddhism, art & literature, nuclear family life, women greater freedoms (& cultural aspects → wore long skirts, watched chicken-fights, & blackened their teeth)

23. Vietnam (cont.) • Sinification • Agricultural methods & irrigation systems • Schools & administrative techniques (& Confucian exams) • Gradually adopted extended family model & ancestor veneration • Revolt • Trung sisters (39 CE ) – children of a deposed local leader • By 939, won independence from China • Expansion • Moved south & west once independent

24. Hue Palace (Vietnam)

25. Early Korea (worksheet)

26. Early Japan

27. Japanese Geography • Archipelago formed by volcanoes in the “Ring of Fire”: Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu & Shikoku • 4/5 of the land is too mountainous to farm • Close to Korea (cultural diffusion from China through Korea) • Sea offered plentiful food resources & thriving fishing industry • Forces of Nature: volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis → fear & respect for nature

28. Terraced Farming

29. Early Traditions • Clans known as “uji” had their own chief and a special diety • Yamato clan came to dominate a corner of Honshu • Yamato claimed direct descent from the sun goddess (Amaterasu) & early emperors were revered as living gods

30. Shintoism • Worship of the forces of nature • “the way of kami” – spirit powers that are natural or divine • Shrines are located in beautiful, natural surroundings (mountains, waterfalls & ancient gnarled trees)

31. Cultural Diffusion w/ China • Prince Shotoku (Yamato) sent young nobles to study in China during the 600s • Borrowed Confucian ideas & law codes • Set-up bureaucracy (but never adopted civil service system) • Tea drinking became popular • Used Chinese characters to write official histories • Buddhism spread (w/ pagoda architecture)

32. Heian Period794-1185

33. Heian Period • 794 – the Japanese established a new capital at Heian (later called Kyoto) • Court life was the pursuit of beauty • Wrote poetry • Calligraphy valued • 1010 – The Tale of Genji (Lady Shikibu Murasaki) – world’s first novel • Due to search for beauty, neglected tasks of government