CHAPTER 12
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: The political disorder following the collapse of the Han dynasty was reversed by the establishment of centralized government under the Sui dynasty (589 to 618 CE). The brief period of Sui rule was followed by the powerful Tang (618 to 907 CE) and Song (960 to 1279 CE) dynasties. Although the era of the Tang was characterized by trade and agricultural expansion, that of the Song produced significant technological advances. At the same time, the Song emphasized Chinese tradition, including the patriarchal family and Confucian teachings.
Key Terms
abacus *
bakufu *
bushi *
bushido *
celadon
daimyo *
flying money
footbinding*
Gempei Wars
Grand Canal
junks*
kowtow*
Neo-Confucianism*
samurai *
scholar-gentry*
seppuku
serf*
Shinto*
shogun *
shogunate*
tea ceremony*
tribute*
Tang Dynasty
Internal disorder preceded the rise of the Tang dynasty in 618 CE. The Tang conquered Central Asia to the eastern border of Bactria (present-day Afghanistan), including portions of Tibet, Manchuria, and South Vietnam. In order to solidify control of their vast empire, the Tang used diplomacy and also strengthened the Great Wall to ward off the advances of nomadic peoples. The expanding Tang empire centered on a bureaucracy influenced by the scholar-gentry and by Confucian perceptions of effective government. During both the Tang and Song eras, the Chinese civil service examination was strengthened.
In spite of the emphasis placed by the Tang government on Confucian principles, Buddhism gained acceptance in China during the Tang period. Buddhism’s popularity among both elite and peasant groups resulted in an initial acceptance of the faith by Tang rulers. Thousands of monasteries populated by Buddhist monks and nuns dotted the Chinese landscape under early Tang rule. Especially supportive of Buddhism was Empress Wu (ruled 690 to 705 CE), who supported Buddhist art and sculpture and attempted to promote the faith as a state religion. As imperial tax exemptions and private gifts of property to Buddhist monasteries increased their wealth, the Tang began to fear the increasing power of Buddhism. Consequently, later Tang rulers placed restrictions on gifts of land and money to Buddhist monasteries, a policy that weakened the influence of the Buddhist faith in China. As Buddhism declined in power and wealth, Confucianism gained in popularity as an expression of Chinese tradition.
Decline of the Tang
Following the pattern of earlier Chinese dynasties, the Tang dynasty weakened as internal rebellion spread through the empire. At the same time, the Tang were plagued by invasions of nomadic peoples along their northern borders. By the ninth century, these nomads had placed themselves in control of large portions of northern China. Civil disorder reigned between the fall of the Tang in 907 CE and the accession of the Song in 960 CE.
Achievements of the Tang
Under Tang rule:
• Trade and travel along the Silk Roads was protected.
• Contacts with Islamic peoples increased.
• Ocean-going ships were improved, increasing interest in ocean trade.
• Chinese junks were among the world’s best ships and Chinese merchants dominated trade in the Indian Ocean.
• Paper money was introduced to China.
• Letters of credit, or flying money , facilitated long-distance trade.
• Urban areas grew in size.
• Canals and irrigation systems increased agricultural productivity. The Tang extended the Chinese canal system to supplement the Grand Canal , a 1,100-mile waterway constructed under the Sui to ease trade by connecting northern and southern China.
• Large estates were broken up and land redistributed.
• Gunpowder was invented.
• Short stories and poetry were popular.
• Tea and fast-growing rice were imported from Vietnam.
• Population growth in the rice-growing south surpassed that of the millet-growing north.
Song Dynasty
In 960 CE, China was overtaken by the Song dynasty. From its beginnings, the Song dynasty was unable to completely control the Khitan, a nomadic people to the north of the empire that had already assimilated much of Chinese culture. Throughout its 300-year rule of China, the Song had to pay tribute to the Khitan to keep them from conquering additional Song territory.
Under the Song dynasty many Chinese traditions were strengthened. For example:
• Civil service exams were emphasized as a prerequisite for government posts.
• Greater prestige was granted to the scholar-gentry.
• Neo-Confucianism arose as a blend of Confucian and Buddhist values. The new philosophy promoted the application of Confucian respect for authority and family to the everyday life of all levels of Chinese society, a feature that made it attractive to Chinese rulers. At the same time, the traditional aspect of Neo-Confucianism heightened the tendency of the Chinese elite classes to withdraw from contact with other peoples. Neo-Confucianism also reinforced gender and class distinctions.
The Song emphasis on the importance of the scholar-gentry over the military weakened its ability to withstand the threat of Khitan conquests of its northern borders. The cost of tribute paid to the Khitan burdened the Song economy as a whole, and especially the peasant class. Efforts at reform ended in the late eleventh century when Neo-Confucians reestablished Chinese tradition.
The faltering Song Empire now faced another threat: invasion by the Jurchens, another nomadic group. The Jurchens had overthrown the Khitan and settled in the region north of the Song Empire. They continued their conquest by dominating most of the basin of the Huang He (Yellow) River and causing the Song to retreat southward. The Song continued to thrive in the basin of the Yangtze River until 1279, during this time achieving noteworthy cultural and technological advances.
Achievements of the Song
During the rule of the Song dynasty:
• Overseas trade begun under the Tang continued.
• Artists expressed themselves through landscape paintings.
• Warfare saw the use of catapults to hurl bombs and grenades. Armies and ships used flamethrowers and rocket launchers.
• Printing with movable type was developed.
• Compasses were used in ocean navigation.
• The abacus was developed to aid counting and the recording of taxes.
• The practice of footbinding spread among the elite classes. Later, lower classes would often adopt the custom as well.
• The concept of the patriarchal family intensified.
Extension of China’s Influence
The reestablishment of tradition among the Chinese during the Tang and Song dynasties did not prevent Chinese culture from expanding to other regions in the East. Throughout the period, Japan built on its previous contacts with Chinese culture, while Vietnam and Korea forged new ones.
Japan
During the seventh century CE, Chinese culture reached Japan. Attempts by the Japanese emperor to mimic the form of Chinese bureaucracy resulted in Japan’s adoption of both Confucian thought and Chinese written characters. Buddhism mixed with Shinto , the traditional Japanese belief system that revered spirits of nature and of ancestors.
Aristocratic rebellion against the complete adoption of Chinese ways led to the restoration of the elite classes and the establishment of large estates in Japan. Local aristocrats began to acquire their own military. As the power of the Japanese emperor steadily gave way to that of aristocrats in the capital at Kyoto, the power of local lords in the countryside increased. Rather than providing land and labor for the imperial court, local lords ran their own tiny kingdoms. The Japanese countryside saw the construction of fortresses protected by earthen walks and ditches similar to the moats used by European fortresses (Chapter 13 ).
The small states into which Japan was divided by the eleventh century were led by bushi, who not only administered their territories but also maintained their own military. Armed military troops called samuraiserved the bushi. Periodically, the samurai also were expected to serve in the capital to protect the emperor from bandits. Armed with curved swords, they engaged in battles in which they shouted out the details of their family heritage before engaging in conflicts.
The rise of the samurai gradually moved Japan toward a style of feudalism with some similarities to that of Western Europe during the same period. A samurai code of honor called bushidodeveloped. This code included the practice of seppuku , or disembowelment, a form of suicide used by defeated or disgraced warriors to maintain family and personal honor. Japanese peasants gradually became serfs bound to the land and considered property of the local lord.
By the twelfth century, powerful families such as the Fujiwara allied themselves with local lords. During the late twelfth century, a series of conflicts called the Gempei Wars placed peasants against the samurai . The Japanese countryside was destroyed. As a result of the Gempei Wars, in 1185 a powerful family, the Minamoto, established the bakufu, or military government. Although the emperor and his court remained, real power now resided in the Minamoto family and their samurai . As imperial government broke down, the Japanese increasingly distanced themselves from Chinese Confucian ways.
The Shogunate
During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, real Japanese authority lay in the hands of prominent families who, in turn, controlled military leaders called shoguns . A period of civil disorder in the fourteenth century lessened the power of both the emperor and the shogunate . The resulting power vacuum allowed the bushi vassals to acquire lands that they then divided among their samurai . The samurai were required to pledge loyalty to their lord and provide him with military assistance when needed. Further court rebellions from 1467 to 1477 culminated in the division of Japan into approximately 300 tiny kingdoms, each ruled by a warlord called a daimyo.
Japanese warrior culture changed as the code of bushido lost its dominance in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Large castles of stone and wood began to dot the Japanese landscape. Poorly trained peasant armies armed with pikes became a major fighting force of daimyo armies.
Gradually, some daimyo began to impose a degree of centralization upon their vassals and peasants. Taxes were collected to fund public projects such as the improvement of irrigation systems. Trade between villages arose and blossomed into long-distance trade, including trade with China. Merchant and artisan guilds arose; both men and women participated in these organizations. The strengthening of trade in Japan promoted the use of a common currency that assisted the centralization of the Japanese state.
Although trade revived in Japan, Japanese art also was developing its characteristic traditions. Although much Japanese art was an imitation of Chinese models, Japanese artists created their own style in sketches done in ink. Both Shintoism and Buddhism were reflected in two additional examples of Japanese artistry: the tea ceremony and decorative gardens.
Korea
Chinese influences in Korea can be traced back as far as the fourth century BCE, when the knowledge of metallurgy and agriculture spread from China to the Korean peninsula. In the latter part of the Han dynasty, Chinese settlers moved into Korea. Through these contacts Chinese culture, especially Buddhism, found a path into Korea. Chinese writing, which was later modified and made more suitable to the Korean language, was introduced. Confucian classics were read by Korean scholars.
Tang rulers defeated Korean peoples who resisted Chinese rule. The Silla kingdom of Korea, however, routed Tang forces. In 668 CE, the Chinese withdrew from Korea in exchange for an arrangement that made the Silla vassals of the Tang and required them to pay tribute. After the Tang withdrew, the Silla united Korea.
The Silla studied Chinese customs and willingly performed the kowtow (a ritual bow) to the Chinese emperor. They introduced the Chinese civil service exam to Korea. The Silla made tribute payments that allowed them to participate in the Chinese trade network and in educational systems with Vietnamese, Japanese, and other Eastern peoples. Korean cultural and commercial opportunities, therefore, expanded. Buddhism became popular, especially with the Korean elite classes. Techniques of porcelain manufacture made their way from China to Korea; the Koreans modified Chinese porcelain to produce celadon bowls with a characteristic pale green color.
The Mongol invasion of Korea in the thirteenth century interfered with cultural contacts between Korea and China. When the Mongols were cast from Korea in 1392, Korea once again established contacts with the Chinese.
Vietnam
Southeast Asians displayed a somewhat different response to the introduction of Chinese culture than the peoples of East Asia had. While the Viets admired the technological advances and political ideals of the Chinese, at the same time they highly valued their own independence. Before the time of the Qin dynasty, the Viets carried on an active trade with the people of southern China. The Viets gradually brought the lands of the Red River valley under their control and began intermarrying with the peoples of present-day Cambodia and others in Southeast Asia. In contrast to the Chinese, the Viets had a different spoken language, lived in villages rather than establishing large urban areas, and based their society on the nuclear family. Vietnamese women enjoyed more privileges than women in China. Additionally, Buddhism gained greater popularity in Vietnam than in China.
When Han rulers attempted to annex South China into their empire, they encountered opposition from the Viets. Initially requiring the payment of tribute from the Viets, the Han conquered them in 111 BCE. Under Han rule the Viets adopted Chinese agricultural and irrigation techniques, the Confucian concept of veneration of ancestors, and the extended family structure. In spite of their admiration of some aspects of Chinese culture, however, the Viets periodically staged rebellions against Chinese rule. After the fall of the Tang in 907 CE, they staged a major protest, which in 939 CE resulted in Vietnamese independence. After their independence was secured, the Viets continued the Confucian civil service examinations, which had earlier been disbanded. Vietnamese conquests of neighboring peoples succeeded largely because of the military organization and technology they had adopted from the Chinese.
Rapid Review
The Tang and Song dynasties proved to be an era of active long-distance trade contacts and unprecedented technological innovation in China. During this era, China extended its borders to intensify the diffusion of its culture to regions such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. At the same time that China was broadening its influence, it was repeatedly plagued by nomadic invaders from the north such as the Khitan and the Jurchens. The necessity of addressing the problem of nomadic invasions became China’s next great challenge.
Review Questions
1 . Confucianism
(A) became more popular in Vietnam than in Korea
(B) combined with Buddhism to create a cultural bridge between China and Korea
(C) brought greater freedom to Vietnamese women
(D) blended well with Shintoism to forge Japanese artistic traditions
2 . Which was NOT an achievement of the Tang dynasty?
(A) The solution to the problem of nomadic peoples along China’s border
(B) The adoption of products from Vietnam
(C) An emphasis on long-distance trade
(D) Irrigation
3 . The position of Chinese women
(A) resulted in greater freedoms under Neo-Confucianism
(B) changed markedly between the seventh and thirteenth centuries
(C) was defined by Confucianism
(D) was more restrictive under the Tang than under the Song
4 . Japanese feudalism
(A) brought a temporary end to internal conflicts
(B) revolved around the power of the samurai as warlords
(C) saw the beginnings of a centralized Japan
(D) united peasant and elite classes
5 . Compared to the Viets, the Chinese were more
(A) agrarian
(B) ethnically diverse
(C) interested in trade
(D) urbanized
6 . Compared to Korean attitudes toward the Chinese, the Japanese
(A) were more devoted to Confucianism
(B) were more favorable to the civil service examination
(C) demonstrated a desire to show respect to the Chinese emperor
(D) were similar in their desire to become part of the Chinese trading system
7 . The position of the Chinese scholar-gentry
(A) was mimicked by the Japanese
(B) was admired by the Vietnamese
(C) weakened efforts to curb nomadic invasions
(D) declined during the Song dynasty
8 . Buddhism became more popular among China’s neighbors than in China itself because
(A) Buddhism reinforced Confucian gender roles
(B) Buddhism weakened the power of the Chinese emperor
(C) Buddhism reinforced a stratified society
(D) Buddhism did not originate in China
Answers and Explanations
1 . B The Confucian civil service exam was adopted by the Koreans and Confucian classics were studied by Korean scholars. Also, Buddhist thought gained popularity among Koreans. Confucian thought was accepted more readily in Korea than in Vietnam, which strongly preferred Buddhism (A). Buddhism gained acceptance among the Japanese blending with traditional Japanese Shinto beliefs to influence Japanese gardens and tea ceremonies (D). Among the distinct differences between the Vietnamese and Chinese were the restrictions placed on Chinese women (C).
2 . A The Tang were unable to permanently resolve the problem of nomadic peoples along their northern borders. Tea and fast-growing rice were adopted from Vietnam (B). Long-distance trade increased contacts with other peoples in the East (C). China became increasingly urbanized under the Tang (D).
3 . C Confucianism strengthened the concept of the patriarchal family, which placed women in a position subordinate to men. Neo-Confucianism, which applied Confucian principles to everyday life, did nothing to elevate the status of women (A). Although Chinese women enjoyed a few opportunities to participate in business ventures during Tang rule (D), the basic position of women as inferior to men changed little over the centuries in this patriarchal society (B).
4 . C Efforts of the daimyo in the later years of feudalism to adopt a common currency and fund public works led to the beginnings of a centralized Japanese state. Internal conflicts between warlords and also between peasants and warlords (D) marked Japanese feudalism (A).
5 . D Especially by the Song era, urbanization became a trademark of Chinese civilization. The Viets lived almost entirely in villages. Although agriculture was common to both societies, Chinese urban life made its culture less agrarian than that of the Viets (A). The Vietnamese custom of intermarrying with the peoples of other societies in Southeast Asia made their society more ethnically diverse than that of the Chinese (B). Both societies traded widely, often with each other (C).
6 . D Both Japan and Korea benefited by participation in the Chinese trading system. The Japanese rejected the centralization of the Chinese government as unsuitable for their society. Of the two belief systems borrowed from China, Buddhism became more accepted in Japan (A). The Chinese civil service exam was used in Korea rather than in Japan (B). The Koreans, not the Japanese, performed the kowtow to the Chinese emperor (C).
7 . C Under the Song, the relative importance placed on the scholar-gentry over that of the military weakened efforts to curb the threat of nomads along China’s northern border. Neither the Japanese (A) nor the Vietnamese (B) developed a class of scholar-gentry. The position of the scholar-gentry strengthened under the Song (D).
8 . D Originating in India, Buddhism was not so strongly associated with Chinese culture as Confucianism. Buddhism was more accepting of women than Confucianism with its defined gender roles (A). Buddhism favored a more egalitarian society (C). Buddhist belief did not strive to undermine the power of the emperor (B) and supported the political system of the country, whether centralized or decentralized.