MEDIEVAL CHINA

DYNASTIES

• All dynasties were believed to have gone through the Dynastic Cycle.
• Steps of Dynastic Cycle:
• 1. A new dynasty is given the Mandate of Heaven.
• 2. The dynasty becomes weak and corrupt.
• 3. Natural disasters occur.

DYNASTIC CYCLE

• 4. Old dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven.
• 5. The dynasty is overthrown and a new dynasty gains power.

THE HAN DYNASTY

• Began: 206 BCE, Ended: 220 CE
• The Han Dynasty ended mainly because of political struggles and social problems.
• After the fall of the Han Dynasty, everything was chaos.
• The Han Dynasty had supported Confucianism.

SUI DYNASTY

• Sui Dynasty (pronounced Sway)
• Began: 581 Ended: 618
• Yang Jian was the founder of the Sui Dynasty.
• Renamed himself Wendi and unified China during his reign.
• For example, he restored old political traditions from their past.

YANG JIAN (WENDI)

• Yang Jian was a general in the army of Zhou (joh).
• In 581, he killed his grandson, who was to be the heir to the Zhou throne.
• During his reign, he built the Grand Canal, and rebuilt parts of the Great Wall.
• Many peasants died while digging the Grand Canal
• He made the government follow Confucianism.

SUI DYNASTY

• The Sui Dynasty ended because of Wendi's successor, Emperor Yang.
• Both Wendi and Yang raised taxes to pay for all the public work projects.
• After Yang was murdered, Liyuan, one of his generals took over.
• Liyuan declared himself the first Tang emperor.

TANG DYNASTY

• Began: 618, Ended: 907
• Liyuan founded the Tang Dynasty. He was formerly a general.
• The Tang government had a pyramid structure.
• An emperor was at the top, then chief advisers, and then a bureaucracy.
• All of the parts of the bureaucracy had a different job.

TANG DYNASTY

• The Sui Dynasty influenced the Tang Dynasty.
• Some of the people that stand out are: Taizong, Wu Zhong, and Xuazong.
• Taizong: Helped his father create the Tang Dynasty, and was generous to peasants.
• Wu Zhong(Empress Wu): Only woman to rule China. She was not a nice person, but was a leader.
• Xuazong: During his reign, art and literature were very successful. Ruled for more than 40 years.

SONG DYNASTY

• 2 Parts: Northern and Southern Song
• North: 960-1125, Southern: 1127-1279
• Improved exam system and set up more schools.
• Under the Tang and Song, China had a great period of time.

TANG and SONG ADVANCES

• Built a transportation system of roads and waterways.
• Easy transportation meant more access to trade.
• Grain, tea, and other goods were traded. Inns were available for traders along roads.
• Chinese farmers started to plant a new type of rice, which ripened faster.
• Farmers used rice paddies, or fields to give their crops more room to grow.

TANG and SONG ADVANCES

• A surplus of food meant that fewer people had to work as farmers.
• As trade grew, it lead to an expansion in the use of money.
• Large amounts of coins could get heavy and difficult to carry.
• To help solve the problem, the government introduced printed money.
• Merchants gathered and lived in towns, where more private trading occurred allowing the city to grow.

TANG AND SONG TECHNOLOGY

• Silk, paper, woodblock printing, compass, gunpowder and boat rudder were invented.
• Silk: Was desired by the wealthy, and gave the name to the Silk Road.
• Paper: Made from rags, used for writing on, money, and playing cards.
• Woodblock Printing: Blocks of wood carved with characters to print entire pages.
• Compass: Made sailing much easier, and for mapmaking as well.

TANG AND SONG TECHNOLOGY

• Gunpowder: Invented by chemists in 9th century.
• Bombs, guns, mines, rockets, and fireworks all,used gunpowder.
• Boat Rudder: Were used to easily steer large boats.
• Since large boats were easy to steer, the Chinese built more, larger boats.
• Movable Type: A small block with a single raised characters for text.

INFLUENCING THE REST OF THE WORLD

• Paper-making spread to the Arabs and Europe.
• Compasses helped the European Age of Exploration.
• New weapons were made because of gunpowder.
• The Chinese also exported porcelain, which was desired by many.
• Tea was first used as medicine, and then became a popular drink in Europe.

THE MONGOLS

• The Mongols were an aggressive nomadic tribe.
• They were organized into clans, which were unified by Temujin.
• The empire was split into four parts called khanates.
• Genghis Khan(Temujin) was a powerful leader that united all the clans together.
• With all of the Mongol tribes united, Genghis was able to take over China.

THE MONGOLS

• Kublai Khan took power in China, the Khanate of the Great Khan.
• He was the first ruler in 300 years to have control over all, of China.
• Kublai made sure that Chinese politicians did not gain too much power.
• Marco Polo was a trader from Venice that traveled the Silk Roads in 1275.
• Became an assistant to Kublai Khan and went on government missions. He wrote a book of his travels.

THE MONGOLS

• Kublai kept many of the aspects of Chinese government.
• He did this because the Mongols did not have experience with having a government.
• Meanwhile, the Chinese had lots of experience with having a government.
• The Mongols made trade routes much safer.
• People from India, Persia, and Arabia often visited the Mongol Empire.

MING DYNASTY

• Zhu Yuanzhang led a rebel army against the Mongols, and overthrew them.
• Began: 1368 Ended: 1644
• Zhu Yuanzhang renamed himself Hongwu. Hongwu increased his personal power.
• The Ming government was run by civil service. Applicants had to take a difficult exam to get a job in civil service.
• Hongwu created a secret service to spy on the people. He arrested and killed many people for treason.

MING DYNASTY

• Hongwu chose his grandson to succeed him. However, not everyone agreed with the decision.
• After 5 years of fighting, Yongle, Hongwu's son, was victorious, and declared himself emperor.
• Yongle enlarged Beijing with large structures and palaces. This became known as the Forbidden City.
• Yongle wanted not just China, but the whole world to know about his greatness, which motivated him.
• Trade expanded in China because of maritime, which means "related to the seas."

MING DYNASTY AND QING DYNASTY

• Zheng He was an admiral that led many long voyages.
• He led voyages to Southeast Asia, Arabia, India, and Africa.
• Weak rulers, high taxes, and poor harvests led to the fall of the Ming.
• The Manchus overthrew the Ming and established the Qing Dynasty.
• The final dynasty ended in 1912. Four thousand years of imperial rule in China had ended.

CONFUCIANISM

• A belief system based on the ideas of Confucius.
• Confucianism was founded in China, around the year 500 B.C.
• Confucianism stressed: Produce social order by right relationships and being respectful.
• It also stressed: Educating people and society and to act morally correct.
• Confucianism influenced Chinese government and society. As the Han a Dynasty lost power, it lost influence.

BUDDHISM

• Founded by Siddhartha Gautama. It started in India int the 500s B.C.
• The main principles are: Suffering is part of someone's life, and people suffer because they are selfish.
• Buddhism also taught: People can escape suffering by eventually living in a wise, moral way.
• The Chinese turned to Buddhism after Confucianism lost influence.
• Buddhism influence spread to Korea and Japan. Buddhism became a major religion after the Han fell.

DAOISM

• A belief system that seeks harmony with nature and inner feelings.
• Founded by Lao Tsu in about 600 B.C. in China.
• Confucius scholars blended Buddhism and Daoism with Confucianism.
• This resulted in Confucianism broadening its outlook.