Postclassical Asia – China and Her Impact

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

Early Postclassical China

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

Sui Dynasty(589-618)

Grand Canal

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.

Tang Dynasty (618-907)

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)

Song Dynasty (960-1279)

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

Tang & Song Economic Developments

Chinese Footbinding

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

T & S Technological Developments

Chinese Inventions 700-1000

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

T & S Market Economy

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)

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)

Theravada Buddhism Mahayana Buddhism

Reaching Nirvana is the ultimate goal of the Theravada Buddhist.

Vow to be reborn in order to help all other sentient (aware of feelings) beings reach Nirvana first.

Strives for wisdom first . Compassion is the highest virtue.

Centers on meditation, and requires major personal dedication such as being a monk or nun.

Encourages practice in the world and among the general community.

Followed as a teaching or Philosophy.

Followed with reference to higher beings, more like a religion.

Moved primarily South and West covering Indochina and Ceylon (Sri-Lanka).

Moved Primarily North and West, covering China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet.

Early work written in Pali (e.g. kamma, dhamma).

Early texts are in Sanskrit (e.g. karma, dharma)

Emphasizes rules and education

Emphasizes intuition and practice

Politically conservative Politically liberal

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Schwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar

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)

Vietnam

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

Vietnam (cont.)

Hue Palace (Vietnam)

Early Korea

(worksheet)

Early Japan

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

Terraced Farming

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

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)

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)

Heian Period

794-1185

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

Heian Period