Confucians began to adopt it. “Neo-Confucianism” developed. A social and ethical philosophy, not...

• Confucians began to adopt it.

• “Neo-Confucianism” developed.

• A social and ethical philosophy, not a religious belief, that combines rational thought with the metaphysics of Daoism and Buddhism.

• Popular in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

• Developed the system of printing in the 7th century. • “wood-block printing”, carved blocks of wood that were inked and

pressed against paper. • The invention of printing was linked with the spread of Buddhism,

through written text.

• Landscape painting flourished during this period. Based on Daoism’s emphasis on nature.

• Masculine identity came to be defined in terms of painting, calligraphy, scholarship, and poetry.

• Expanded good paying bureaucratic job, which made education important in Chinese culture.

• Needed to pass extremely rigorous civil service examination. • Serving in the bureaucracy was highly respected.

• Song China had growing urban centers. • Hangzhou was home to one million people. • The cultural center of southern China. • Trade brought diversity, including a thriving community of

Arabs.

• Developed a process of converting coal to coke.

• Coke has fewer impurities than in coal.

• Chinese could make metal that was stronger, leading to better plows, weapons, and bridges.

• Discovered gunpowder in the 9th century.

• Technology spread along the Silk Road.

• Triggered the development of cannons in Europe.

Tang:• Introduced the “equal-field

system” (8th century).• Ensure that all families had

land to cultivate. • Wanted to take control away

from the landed aristocracy. • The aristocracy bribed

government officials to keep their land.

• Agricultural Improvements:

1. Used manure (human and animal) to enrich the soil.

2. Built irrigation systems; ditches, water wheels, pumps, and terraces.

3. New heavy plows pulled by water buffalo or oxen allowed unusable land to be cultivated.

• Fast-ripening rice (champa rice) added to surpluses. • Native to northern Vietnam.• Allowed farmers to grow two crops a year.• Contributed to the doubling of the Chinese population during

the Tang and Song dynasties

• Did away with government labor tax. • Paid people to work on public projects.• Increased money in circulation, promoting economic

growth.

• Global trade declined after collapse of the Roman and Han Empires.

• Arab merchants from the Abbasid Empire revived the land and sea routes of the Silk Road.

• Technology/trade items from China:1. Compass2. Paper3. Printing4. Gunpowder5. Porcelain6. Tea7. Silk

• Developed a new financial system. • Merchants deposited “paper money” in one location and

withdraw the same amount at another location. • Abacuses were used to calculate transactions. • System became the model for the modern banking system.

• The transformation of southern China from a subsistence economy to an export-oriented economy was due to the Indian Ocean trade.

• Song China went through “proto-industrialization,” meaning a phase that precedes and enables full industrialization.

• Two goods led the way; porcelain and silk.

• Urban areas grew in prominence. • Song Dynasty was the most urban civilization in

the world.

• Expanding the bureaucracy opened up well-paying jobs to lower class men.

• Created new social class, the “scholar gentry.” • Educated in Confucian philosophy, they became the most

influential social class in China.

• Scholar gentry considered merchants the lowest class.

• Didn’t produce anything.

• Simply profited from the exchange of others’ labor.

• Women’s lives were more restricted in the Song dynasty than in the Tang dynasty due to the revival of Confucianism.

• Small feet was a sign of beauty.

• “Foot binding”, a girl had feet tightly wrapped, to deform bones.

• A social status, not prevalent among peasants.

That concludes Song and Tang Dynasties.

Any questions before the quiz on the next slide?