Chapter 8-The Asian World

1. Chapter 8-The Asian World Section 1-China Reunified

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3. Key Events As you read this chapter, look for the key events in the development of the Asian world.  • Innovations in agricultural production, the reemergence of trade routes, and a unified central government allowed China to prosper under the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties.  • Japan’s geography isolated it from other countries and caused the island nation to develop its own unique culture. Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

4. Key Events As you read this chapter, look for the key events in the development of the Asian world. • The Muslim expansion made both Islam and Hinduism powerful religions in the Indian subcontinent.  • Because of the geography of the region, Southeast Asian countries developed into a series of separate states with their own culture, religion, and language. Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

5. The Impact Today The events that occurred during this time period still impact our lives today.  • Gunpowder and printing were invented during the Tang dynasty in China.  • The expansion of Islam into northwestern India is reflected in the current division of the Indian subcontinent into India, which is mostly Hindu, and the two Islamic states of Bangladesh and Pakistan. Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

6. Chapter Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to:  • explain differences and similarities among the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties.  • describe the accomplishments of the Mongol dynasty and the growth of Chinese culture.  • describe the emergence of Japan and Korea.  • explain the influence of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam on the development of India. Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

7. Chapter Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to: • describe the geography and peoples of Southeast Asia.

8. China Reunified Main Ideas • The Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties restored peace to China in between periods of chaos and disorder.  • Innovations and reforms in government, agriculture, and technology brought periods of growth and prosperity to China.  Key Terms • scholar-gentry  • dowry Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

9. China Reunified People to Identify • Sui Yangdi • Marco Polo  • Wu Zhao  • Tang Xuanzang  • Uighurs  Places to Locate • Tibet  • Changan • Hangzhou Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

10. China Reunified Preview Questions • What contributions did the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties make to Chinese civilization?  • What economic changes occurred under the Tang and Song rulers? Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

11. China Reunified Preview of Events

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13. The Tang was the only dynasty that allowed a female to become “emperor.” Empress Wu, a woman who had clawed her way out of her position as a concubine by murdering her own daughter and then framing the childless empress for the crime, was known as a harsh ruler. She also lowered taxes, supported the arts, and put civil service examination graduates in the highest government positions, however.

14. The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty • China fell into chaos after the Han dynasty ended in 220.  • In 581, the Sui dynasty was set up.  • It was short-lived, but the Sui dynasty did unify China under the emperor’s authority. (pages 247–249) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

15. The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty (cont.) • Emperor Sui Yangdibuilt the Grand Canal that linked the Huang He(Yellow River) and the Chang Jiang(Yangtze River), making it easier to ship rice from the south to the north.  • He used forced labor to build the canal.  • This practice, extravagant living, high taxes, and military failures caused a rebellion and the dynasty ended. (pages 247–249) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

16. The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty (cont.) • The Tang dynasty lasted from 618 to 907.  • Tang rulers began by instituting reforms, restoring the civil service examination for recruiting civilian bureaucrats, and trying to stabilize the economy by giving land to peasants and breaking up the power of large landowners. (pages 247–249) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

17. The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty (cont.) • They extended their control to the borders of Tibet, an area north of the Himalaya.  • Neighboring states like Korea offered tribute to powerful China, and China’s court had diplomatic relations with the states of Southeast Asia. (pages 247–249) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

18. The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty (cont.) • Like the Han, the Tang dynasty brought about its own destruction.  • Tang rulers were not able to prevent plotting and government corruption.  • Tang Xuanzangwas a particularly unfortunate emperor.  • He was in love with a commoner’s daughter. (pages 247–249) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

19. The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty (cont.) • When a general rebelled and demanded someone pay for the war and strife in his country, the emperor invited his beloved to hang herself, which she did.  • It is said that for the rest of his life, the emperor “washed his face every day with a fountain of tears.” (pages 247–249) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

20. The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty (cont.) • During the eighth century, the Tang dynasty weakened.  • Tang rulers hired Uighurs,a northern tribal group of Turkic-speaking people, to fight for the dynasty.  • Continued unrest led to the collapse of Tang rule in 907. (pages 247–249) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

21. The Song Dynasty • The Song ruled from 960 to 1279, during a period of economic and cultural achievement.  • China’s northern neighbors were a problem, however. Their threat caused Song rulers to move the imperial court toHangzhou. (pages 249–250) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

22. The Song Dynasty (cont.) • During the 1200s, the Mongols– a nomadic people from the Gobi–built a vast empire.  • Within 70 years, the Mongols overthrew the Song dynasty and created a Mongol dynasty in China. (pages 249–250) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

23. The Song Dynasty (cont.) • Using the civil service exam to pick civil servants by merit undermined the power of the aristocrats and created a new class of scholar-gentry.  • Passing the exam was crucial for a government career.  • Preparation for it began at a young age.  • For years, students memorized many Confucian classics.  • A text’s meaning was explained only after it was completely memorized. (pages 249–250) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

24. The Song Dynasty (cont.) • Manual labor was forbidden to these students.  • The Song introduced the practice of “name covering.”  • Test graders did not know the name of the students whose exams they were grading. (pages 249–250) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

25. Government and the Economy • It was seven hundred years from the beginning of the Sui to the end of the Song dynasties.  • China was a monarchy that had a large bureaucracy.  • Outside the capital, government had a structure of provinces, districts, and villages.  • Agriculture, manufacturing, and trade grew dramatically during these seven hundred years. (pages 250–251) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

26. Government and the Economy (cont.) • China was still primarily a farming society. • The majority of the peasants had become serfs or slaves for wealthy, large landowners.  • The Song tried to weaken their power and help the poor peasants get their own land.  • These reform efforts and advances in farming techniques created an abundance of food. (pages 250–251) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

27. Government and the Economy (cont.) • Technological advances added products and stimulated trade.  • The Chinese began to make steel, which was used to make swords and sickles.  • The introduction of cotton made new kinds of clothes.  • Gunpowder was invented during the Tang dynasty.  • It was used to make explosives and a weapon called a fire-lance, which shot out flame and projectiles up to 40 yards. (pages 250–251) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

28. Government and the Economy (cont.) • Woodblock printing was developed during the Tang dynasty.  • Books could be mass produced.  • The first complete book to be printed was a Buddhist work, printed in 868.  • In the eleventh century, the Chinese invented movable type. (pages 250–251) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

29. Government and the Economy (cont.) • Long-distance trade revived with the Tang dynasty and unification of much of Southwest Asia.  • The Silk Road was renewed and thrived, and caravans carried goods back and forth from China to the countries of South Asia and Southwest Asia.  • This and domestic trade made Changan, estimated population of two million, the richest city in the world during the Tang period. (pages 250–251) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

30. Chinese Society • In the thirteenth century, Marco Polodescribed the Song capital of Hangzhou, saying that “So many pleasures may be found that one fancies himself to be in Paradise.”  • Life was good in these cities for the wealthy. (page 252) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

31. Chinese Society(cont.) • People found new ways to communicate with the invention of block printing in the eighth century.  • The vast majority of Chinese lived off the land in villages.  • Most hardly left their villages during their lifetimes.  • The gulf between rich and poor was reduced a bit, however, and a more complex mixture of landowners, free peasants, sharecroppers, and landless laborers emerged. (page 252) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

32. Chinese Society(cont.) • The most significant change was the rise of the landed gentry.  • They controlled much of the land and produced most of the civil service candidates.  • These scholar-gentry replaced the landed aristocracy as the political and economic elite of Chinese society. (page 252) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

33. Chinese Society(cont.) • The status of women in Chinese society was low.  • As elsewhere in the world, female children were considered less desirable than male children.  • Female infants might even be killed if there was not enough food for all.  • Wives became part of their husbands’ families.  • When a woman married, her parents provided a dowry (money or goods) to her husband. (page 252) Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.

34. Chinese Society(cont.) • Poor families often sold their daughters to wealthy villagers. (page 252)