Download Chapter 7: China

Fracture and Unification: The Qin, Han,
Sui, and Tang Dynasties
200 BCE-900 CE
Let’s Review…
 Shang Dynasty – China’s first Dynasty
 All based around Huang He River (Yellow River) – China’s Sorrow
 King’s – regional administration to family members
 Early Writing (Oracle Bones)
 Government – flood control/irrigation channels
 Zhou Dynasty- 1122BCE
 Mandate of Heaven (Legitimize switch of dynastic family)
 Longest lasting dynasty (600 Years)
 Transformed Warfare (Archery, Horseback)
 Decentralized – local rulers run empire (feudal system)
 The constant competition would undo the Dynasty and lead to the…
 Era of Warring States 480BCE-220BCE (Almost two centuries of turmoil)
Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE)
 Qin (pron. Chin) = 1 of Warring States of period c. 481-
221 BCE
 Conquered others, declaring creation of empire 221
BCE
 Qin Shi Huandi (r. 221-210 BCE) = first emperor
 Built Great Wall of China
 Enormous tomb complex
 Economic power of state: goal = increase
productivity
 Centralization of administration
 “Bureaucratization”
Ideologies of the Empire
 Confucius (551-479 BCE)
 Moral order
 Emphasis on hierarchy, ritual, arts
 Ideal = the moral leader (Gentleman), shaped by
education
 Legalism
 Strict laws and enforcement
 Daoism
 Mystical philosophy
 Emphasis on simplicity
 Legalist effort to suppress
Confucianism
Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
 Brief civil war accompanied the fall of the Qin dynasty
 Liu Bang established a new dynasty through warfare
 Social/political hierarchy established by privileged scholars
 Emperor Wu (156 B.C.E.–29 March, 87 B.C.E.)
 Centralized Confucianism

A basis for promotion in civil service
 Established as absolute in Tang dynasty

How do we know? The Court Historians
Military Power
“Militarism” - Large-scale expansion of
army
 Men 20-50 were conscripted into
military
 Standing army 300,000-1,000,000
 Mandatory one year training & service
 Could be called back during war
 Constant battles w/ Xiongnu (Huns)
 Demanded tribute from enemies
 Technology included the Crossbow and horses from Mongolia
Economics
 New technology = economic prosperity
 Paper
 Compass
 Breast strap harness for horses
 Tapping of Natural Gas pockets
 Iron industry and production of steel
 Tight government control over business
 Parthian traders (Intermediaries between Rome/China) c.57
B.C.E. –
 Silk Reaches Rome
Changes in the Han Empire
 Population shift from
north to south
 Population of South
grows by 50%


Natural Disasters –
Yellow River breaks
banks twice
Violence (massacres
and warfare)
Fall of Han Dynasty - 9 C.E.
Temporary fall– No succession followed by 20 yrs of turmoil
Later Han dynasty (23-220 CE)
 Not as powerful as former empire
 Alliances w/ barbarians – Sinicization – absorption by foreign
peoples (like Rome)
 Oppression of peasants
 Increased Taxation – many move under landlords (European
Fedualism)
 Government has difficulty controlling these landlords.
Fall of Han Dynasty - 184 C.E.
Fall of Han- New Era in China
 Yellow Turban (Scarves) Revolt




Led by Zhang Jue - Doaist
Onset of more revolts afterwards
Internal political problems - factions (emperor, bureaucrats,
advisors, palace guards, eunuchs, court women)
Empire broken up among warlords
 Feudal life ensues.
Society and Culture
 North-South division upon the fall
Variety of ecological reasons
2. Mix with nomadic peoples
 Several nomadic groups
conquered parts of the north
1.
Tradition of unity remained
 Disintegration period: arts flourished
 Chinese language = unifying
force
 Buddhism appeared in China
during 1st CE
Reunification
Sui (581- 618 C.E.) and Tang dynasty (618 - 907 C.E.)
 New centralization
 Grand Canal (1,104 mi)
 Massive economic undertaking
 Connected North & South
 Art/Technology advances
 Block printing
 Porcelain
 Poetry
 Flourishing of Buddhism
Imperial China
1. Assimilation = major theme
2. Great expansion into central Asia
3. Political control short but influence longstanding
 Examples:
Vietnam
1.
Periodic revolts against Chinese domination
a.
Annam = province for 1000 years
2.
Adopted various Chinese customs
ii. Korea
1.
Vassal state
2.
Deep cultural influence
iii. Japan
1.
Cultural influence
a.
Waves of Korean and Chinese immigration
2.
Japanese emperor as figurehead – struggle for
separation
i.