Chapter 10 Postclassical East Asia Chinese civilization and Confucianism survived in the Chinese states established after the fall of the Han Dynasty. Buddhism entered China after the fall of the Han, in a time of war and instability, thanks to monks coming through the Silk Road. Sui Dynasty (581 618). The Sui managed to reunify China under centralized imperial rule. The Grand Canal, which connected the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, was begun during this time. Tang Dynasty (618 907) Tang emperors were descended from earlier Turkish invaders from Central Asia. They restored China to cultural brilliance through military strength and expansion, participation in trade networks, and technological innovation. China expanded into Central Asia until it reached the borders of the caliphate. This allowed China to control part of the Silk Road. China manufactured silk and other luxury goods on a large scale. These goods were exported along the Silk Road, and by sea through the Indian Ocean trading network. Porcelain was invented at this time and became another export. 1
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Buddhism played a major role in early Tang history, and enjoyed state support. Buddhist monks supported Tang emperors, and their monasteries grew large, politically influential, and rich in land. Their property was tax exempt. Under Buddhist influence, China even had its only reigning empress. There were major Confucian grievances against Buddhism, however. After 200 years, in 840, the Confucians were able to prevail and the monasteries were suppressed. Monks had to work, and monastic lands were subject to taxation again. gender equality social equality Buddhism patriarchy social hierarchy Confucianism religion philosophy filial piety, work, duty, monasticism (no family, no work) obedience foreign Chinese 4
After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, northern China was divided into various states controlled by northern nomads who had converted to Buddhism. Southern China was ruled by the Song Dynasty. The Song ruled China in the traditional manner, with Confucian values, a bureaucracy, and the emperor as Son of Heaven. Song Dynasty (960 1279) S The status of women declined as Confucianism enjoyed a revival in a reaction against Buddhism. Women were increasingly confined to the home. Footbinding became widespread, especially among upper class women. The Song capital of Hangzhou was the largest city in the world. 5
P Song China was governed by bureaucrats who passed exams on Confucianism. Song China maintained a large military because of the constant threat from the northern states. I Neoconfucianism: Confucianism was revived as China's official philosophy as part of the backlash against Buddhism. The ideal person was a wise man, or sage, who devoted his life to developing his mind and is engaged socially and politically. This is in contrast to Buddhists, who are not attached to worldly matters. T The Chinese were the best in the world at metal working, clock making, medicine, and astronomy. Inventions include the compass, gunpowder, and printing with woodblocks. The Chinese built the largest and best ships in the world at the time, the junk. E Song China was a major participant in the Indian Ocean trading network. The Song government issued the world's first paper money. 6
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APWH chapter 10.notebook 9
China and its neighbors: Japan, Korea, and Vietnam Japan, Korea, and Vietnam all developed civilizations and organized states under strong Chinese influence during the postclassical period. They copied the cultivation of rice, drinking tea, writing using Chinese characters, Confucian values, Buddhism, and the imperial system of government from China. These states had a tributary relationship with China, beginning in the Tang Dynasty. They had to acknowledge the Chinese emperor as their overlord and pay tribute to China in money and goods. In return, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam were allowed to trade with China and to send people to study there, and they were allowed to govern themselves. China did not have diplomatic relations with any other state, because it did not recognize any other state as being fully independent and as an equal. China was the Middle Kingdom, the center of the world. Of China's neighbors, Japan enjoyed the most independence, because it is geographically separated from the Asian mainland. Japan was freer to pick and choose what it wanted to copy from China. How did these states differ from China? 1) They remained officially Buddhist even after Buddhism lost its privileges late in the Tang Dynasty. 2) They adopted Confucian values of harmony and hierarchy, but they never created an examination system for bureaucrats. In these states status was hereditary, and all government officials were nobles. 3) Women did not have such a low status, and they never practiced footbinding. Noble Japanese women could be educated, and some even wrote works of literature. 10
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Japan Japan had a native religion known as Shinto. Shinto is animistic, that is, it involves the worship of nature spirits. Shintoism has temples and priests. It coexisted easily with Buddhism. Japan copied the title of emperor from China, but the emperor's role was more religious than political for most of Japanese history. The monarchy was really a hereditary Shinto high priesthood. The mythical first emperor was the son of the sun goddess. Japan had no dynastic cycle and no concept of a mandate of heaven. The Yamato dynasty has never changed, and is the world's oldest ruling family. Since the emperors rarely wielded power, they never had rivals for the throne. Japan was feudal and therefore decentralized. Real political power was wielded by local landlords known as daimyos. The daimyos formed a hereditary nobility. Occasionally members of an individual family were able to dominate the other daimyos and impose their hereditary rule over all of Japan. These military chieftains were known as shoguns, and were the equivalent of European kings. The daimyos had a warrior class at their command, the samurai. They were a knightly class: they wore armor, fought with swords, rode on horseback, and fought for duty and honor rather than money. The samurai chivalric code is known as bushido. Those who were dishonorable, cowardly, traitorous, or disobedient violated this code and were expected to commit ritual suicide. Their steel swords were considered the best in the world. Ordinary peasants paid a share of their crops to their landlords. 14
How did Japanese and European feudalism differ? Japan had no equivalent to European Catholicism, with its hierarchy, power, wealth, and intellectual prominence. The papacy was not hereditary, unlike the Japanese monarchy. Popes had more power than Japanese emperors, but emperors were revered as a god. Also, Europeans were often subject to attack from outside invaders during the early medieval period, unlike Japan. There were only two attempted invasions of Japan during the postclassical period, both times by Mongols. Both invading fleets were scattered or sunk by typhoons called kamikaze (divine wind). 15
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