Civilizations of Asia

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Civilizations of Asia

• Civilizations that thrived during the medieval
  period.

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China...
China covers much of East Asia Varied landscape-
East, lowland and coastal regions
Fertile valleys lie along the Chang and Huang
Rivers -North, deserts (Gobi Desert) -West,
Plateau of Tibet China split into Kingdoms
before the Medieval period but the Chinese
culture survived. During the Medieval period,
North and South China were reunited and China
experienced a Golden Age.
Long Life
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Dynasties Rule China
China has been ruled by many different
dynasties Dynasty-a series of rulers from the
same family
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Before the Medieval Period

• Shang Dynasty 1st Chinese Civilization that was
  recorded
• Zhou Dynasty
• Mandate of Heaven established
• Qin Dynasty
• Great wall of China
• Han Dynasty (202 BCE220 CE) growth and
  expansion
• Confucianism
• The Silk Road
• Strong regional states replaced the Han dynasty
• Period of the Three Kingdoms

Zhang Qian, explorer during the Han dynasty,
travels west
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Medieval China

• The Rise and Fall of the Sui, Tang, and Song
  Dynasties

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• Medieval Chinas three dynasties
• Sui Dynasty (580618)
• Tang Dynasty (618906)
• Song Dynasty (9601127)

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The Sui (swee) Dynasty (581 618)

• After the fall of the Han, warlords ruled China
• In 581, Yang Jian seized power and changed name
  to Emperor Wendi (Wundi)
• Reunited north and south to restore the empire
• Began Constructing the Grand Canal
• Reestablished Confucianism

Emperor Wendi
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The Collapse of the Sui

• Peasant rebellions
• Failed military campaigns
• Financial problems

Yang Di, the last major Sui emperor
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The Tang Dynasty comes to Power
618, the Sui dynasty was overthrown by the
Tang The Tang came to power and ruled China for
almost 300 years Was the Golden Age of political
and cultural achievement China grew both in area
and population The capital, Changan was the
worlds largest city at the time with about one
million people Changan was shaped like a
rectangle surrounded by tall walls for protection
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Tang Dynasty
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The Tang Dynasty
Tang dynasty controlled the westward land into
Central Asia They were introduced to foreign
goods from the Silk Road Chinese traded their
tea, jade, ivory and silk. The Silk Road helped
China become and important center of trade and
culture.
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Golden Ages of China
The Silk Road crossed Chinas Gobi Desert into
Western Asia and eventually into the Eastern
Mediterranean Region, this series of trade routes
(not a single Road) introduced China to the rest
of the World. China was reaching a period of
greatness known as the Golden Age
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The Silk Road!!!
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The Silk Road!!!
Rough terrain deserts and rocky
mountains Camels, horses and donkeys carried
traders along the Silk Road A valuable good was
the fabric silk
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The Grand Canal
Started by the Sui Dynasty and completed by the
Tang A waterway that linked the Huang He
(Yellow)River and the Chang (Yangtze
River) Covers 1,000 miles and is still the
longest canal ever built The Grand Canal helped
to join the Northern and Southern China Helped
to supply the capital with large amounts of grain
grown in the South
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The Grand Canal!!!
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A Great Ruler
The greatest ruler of the Tang dynasty was Tang
Taizong He started his military career at the
age of 16 He ruled from 626 to 649, he was a
general scholar and historian He was a master of
calligraphy, the art of handwriting Tang Taizong
was tired of war and began to study the teaching
of Confucius
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Tang Taizong
Tang Taizong began to reform the government
around Confucius Teachings.
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Confucius
Confucius (551 BC 479 BC) was an ancient
Chinese teacher who had taught that all people
had duties and responsibilities Confucius wanted
to bring peace and stability to China. To create
this kind of society, all people must treat one
another with respect Tang government officials
were trained in Confucian philosophy
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Fast Facts...
Confucius came from a noble, but poor
family. Confuciuss education was
self-taught. Many historians believe that
Confucius was Chinas first professional
teacher. Confucius taught both the rich and the
poor so long as they truly wanted to learn.
Confuciuss goal was order in society, at all
levels. He believed that people behaving properly
would bring order to society. The teachings of
Confucius are the most widely studied Chinese
philosophies.
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Confucius Quotes...
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to
work a day in your life.
He who learns but does not think, is lost! He
who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.
Life is really simple, but we insist on making
it complicated.
I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I
understand.
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A Women Leader

• Empress Wu Hou (675 705)
• Only women to rule China on her own.
• Strengthened the Military
• Added more officials to the government
• Took over Korea

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The Fall begins

• In the Mid 700s problems occur for the Tang.
• Turks took control of the Silk Road and drove the
  Tang out.
• Economy is severely damaged

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The Song Dynasty
After 850, Chinas control of the westernmost
land was weakened by fighting among different
groups Order was restored about 50 years later
by the Song dynasty The Song dynasty ruled China
from 960 to 1279.
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Cultural Achievements

• Compass
• Gunpowder
• Smallpox vaccine

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Changes in Government
The Chinese capital was located in Kaifenge,
along the Grand Canal. But after the Song lost
control of the regions to the North they moved
the capital to Hangzhou near the coast.
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Changes in Government
Song rulers made many advances in the
government They expanded the merit system of
hiring government officials Under this system,
official had to a pass test and prove their
ability to do the work Hiring people based on
their ability rather than on their wealth or
social position improved the Chinese government
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Improvements in Agriculture
New strains of rice and better irrigation methods
helped peasants to grow more rice Allowed
farmers to produce two crops a year instead of
one
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The Arts and Trade
During the Song dynasty, artists created the
earliest known Chinese landscape paintings
They painted on silk and featured peaceful
scenes of water, rocks and plants
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Chinese Art
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The Arts and Trade
Rulers also prized graceful art objects like
porcelain, a white and hard type of
ceramic often called China
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The Arts and Trade
Silk, called the queen of fibers Silk comes from
the cocoons of caterpillars called silkworms The
Chineses silk was the highest quality in the
world
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Printing, Books, and Learning
Song inventions included a new way to print
books. The Chinese had carved the characters of
each page onto a wood block. They would brush ink
over the carving and lay a piece of paper on it
to print the page. Printers could make many
copies of a book using these blocks, but carving
the block for each page took a long time.
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Can you read this...
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More Books...
1045, Bi Sheng, developed a printing method that
used movable type. He made many separate
characters out of clay and rearranged them to
make each page. During the Song dynasty books
became less expensive and more people including
women learned how to read and write.
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The Mongols Conquer China
Mongols were nomads from the plains of Central
Asia, North China. They were warriors and spent
much time on horseback By 1200s under the
leadership of Genghis Khan they were a tough
military force The Mongols started an empire
that included China and Korea in the east, Russia
and Eastern Europe in the west and then extended
to the southwest as far as the Persian gulf.
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The Mongol Take Over
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The Mongol Invasion
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Genghis Khan
Kublai Khan
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Kublai Khan, Mongol ruler of China
Genghis Khan had conquered all of Northern China
by 1215. But there was still the southern Song
Empire which would continue to resist. Genghis
Khan left it to his grandson Kublai Khan to
complete the conquest of China and to rule it
all. Kublai Khan came to power in 1259, within
20 years he had defeated the last Song
emperor. Kublai Khan declared himself Emperor of
China and named the new dynasty Yuan -which
means beginning, because Kublai Khan intended
that the Mongol rule of China would last for
centuries.
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Kublai Khan
Mongol settlements
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China Under Mongol Rule
The Mongols were able to centralize the
government in China They did not allow the old
Chinese ruling class to govern/rule High
government positions were reserved for Mongols
and were even given to foreigners rather than to
Chinese. The Mongols also kept their own
language and customs rather than adopting the
Chinese culture, but they did allow for the
practice of many religions
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Welcome to the Court
Visitors from all lands were welcome to Kublai
Khans court. A Christian from Europe, Marco
Polo came from Venice Marco Polos writings
helped to increase trade with Europe and China
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Italy, Home to Marco Polo
Marco Polo
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Marco...Polo...
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Reaching China
At Khans Court
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The End of Medieval China
China prospered only under Kublai Khan, but not
under the later Khans, or emperors who followed
him. In 1368, a Chinese peasant led an uprising
that overthrew the foreign rulers and ended the
Mongol rule of China