Medieval Asia

1
Medieval Asia
Northern Song, 960-1127
Tang Dynasty, 618-907
Southern Song, 1127-1279
2
Concepts

• Main Idea Tang and Song Dynasties were known
  for their technological innovations which changed
  history

3
Setting the Stage for Tang

• The Han dynasty collapsed in 220, and nomadic
  peoples from the northern steppe conquered much
  of northern China
• More than 30 local dynasties rose and fell
• By 589, a strong emperor named Sui (sway) Wendi
  united northern and southern China, but this
  dynasty lasted through only two emperors
• Although short-lived, the Sui dynasty did lay a
  strong foundation for the great achievements of
  the next dynasty The Tang

4
Tang Dynasty618 - 907

• One of the greatest emperors was Tang Taizong
• Under Taizong, the empire expanded. His armies
  reconquered the northern and western lands lost
  since the Han fell.
• Empress Wu Zhao held real power from 660-705, She
  is the only woman to ever take the title of
  Emperor for herself in Chinese history.

5
Tang Dynasty, Continued

• Tang rulers expanded the central government,
  roads and canals to help pull the empire
  together.
• They initially lowered taxes to gain the loyalty
  of the peasants
• They promoted foreign trade and improvements in
  agriculture

6
Scholar-Officials

• Civil Service Examination System was begun by
  the Han Dynasty, but was in disarray.
• It was revised and used to recruit good
  officials. They opened schools to train young
  scholars in Confucianism, poetry, and other
  subjects
• Those few who passed the exams became part of an
  elite group called scholar-officials
• The system created a remarkably intelligent and
  capable governing class of China

7
Decline and Fall of the Tang

• The dynasty was weakening by the mid-700s. The
  rulers imposed harsh taxes. There was chaos as
  peasants left their farms and villages and turned
  to banditry.
• In 751, Arab armies beat the Chinese at the
  Battle of Talas on the western frontier.
• Finally in 907, Chinese rebels destroyed the Tang
  capital and murdered the last Tang emperor

8
Song Dynasty960-1279

• After 53 years of confusion and rivalry among
  warlords, a strong general was able to reunite
  China and proclaim himself emperor Song Taizu
• The empire was smaller now, but it was stable,
  powerful and prosperous under the Song

9
Northern Song (960-1127)

• The Song never regained the western lands lost
  after 751.
• They never regained lands lost after the Tang
  decline.
• They tried to keep the peace by paying hefty
  tribute to their northern enemies.
• This failed to stop the threat and they were
  forced south by the Jurchen, who took the
  northern part of China and established the Jin
  empire

10
Southern Song (1127-1279)

• The Jin forced the Song to retreat to the
• south.
• They established a new capital, Hangzhou
• Despite military troubles, it saw rapid economic
  growth
• South became the economic heartland of China
• Merchants grew rich from trade with the Jin,
  western Asia and Europe

11
Impact of Tang and Song

• Intense growth Chinas population doubled,
  soaring to 100 million
• By the Song era, there were 10 cities in China
  with a million plus residents
• It was the most populous country in the world and
  the most advanced

12
Chinese Inventions

• Block printing (700s) the whole page was carved
  onto one block - time consuming and more
  expensive
• Movable type (1040) An alchemist named Pi Sheng
  appears to have conceived of movable type. Each
  piece of movable type had on it one Chinese
  character which was carved in relief on a small
  block of an amalgam of clay and glue. The portion
  that formed the character was as thin as the edge
  of a small coin. After the block had been
  hardened by fire, the type became durable.

13
More inventions

• Porcelain (700s) Bone hard white ceramic made
  of a special clay and a mineral found only in
  China
• This is why the good set of dishes your mom or
  grandma has is called CHINA!

14
Still more inventions

• Mechanical Clock- (700s) Clock in which machinery
  driven by running water regulated the movements

15
Again with the inventions!

• Gunpowder ( 800s) explosive powder made from a
  mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal
• How did this invention affect the history of
  warfare in this world?
• You can also thank them for fireworks

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Even more inventions
Early paper money

• Paper money (1020s) -Paper currency issued - why
  would they replace metal coins with paper?
• Magnetic Compass (1100s) floating magnetized
  needle that always points north how did this
  invention affect China?

Early float compass
Later box compass
17
Other innovations

• Advances in farming They had to feed 100
  million people
• Trade flourished armies guarded the Silk Roads
  which linked China to the West. (they lost
  control over these during the Tang decline)
• China developed into the greatest sea power in
  the world with their inventions of navigational
  devices.
• Golden Age of Art -the wealth of these dynasties
  stimulated a high level of artistic creativity
  and brilliance

18
Changes in Society

• Power of the old aristocratic families faded
• A much larger upper class emerged, made up of
  scholar-officials and their families the Gentry
• Status of women was never high, but it declined
  even further for upper class women during this
  period one sign of this was the new practice of
  footbinding
• This created a much smaller, useless foot called
  a lily-foot.

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• What belief did the practice of footbinding
  reflect?
• It was impractical and rendered the woman unable
  to walk normally she hobbled or was carried
• In Chinese society this reflected the husbands
  wealth and prestige that he could afford a
  beautiful but impractical wife

20
Mongol Conquests
21
Nomads of the Asian Steppe

• Steppe a vast, dry grassland that stretches
  across Europe and Asia from Hungary to Manchuria
• Little rain, lots of wind. It supports short,
  hardy grasses.
• Extreme temperature variations from
• -57F in winter to 96F in summer
• The western steppe has more rainfall and is
  milder than the eastern steppe

22

• Nomadic people were pastoralists they herded
  domesticated animals (present day Mongolians
  still live much like this)
• They lived and traveled together in kinship
  groups called clans.
• The differing ways of life between settled
  peoples and nomads led to constant interaction
  they traded peacefully many times, but the nomads
  were often tempted by the wealth of settled
  communities and raided the towns
• Occasionally, a powerful group like the Mongols
  were able to conquer a large area and become its
  rulers. Often, they would adapt to the
  civilization they conquered.

23
The Rise of the Mongols

• Around 1200, a Mongol khan, or clan leader, named
  Temujin unified the clans under his leadership
• In 1206, he accepted the title Genghis Khan, or
  universal ruler (could also mean Lord of the
  Ocean)
• Over the next 21 years, Genghis Khan and his
  Mongols conquered much of Asia.
• First goal was China, but after invading the Jin
  empire (Northern China), his attention turned
  toward the Muslim region west of Mongolia
• By 1221, central Asia was under Mongol control

24
Genghis the Conqueror

• He was a brilliant organizer
• He was a gifted strategist
• He adopted new weapons and technology
• Used cruelty as a weapon if a city refused to
  open its gates to him, he might kill everyone
  after capturing it. This led to many cities
  surrendering without a fight

25
The Mongol Empire

• Genghis Khan died from illness in 1227
• His son Ogedei became the Great Khan
• His successors continued to expand the empire
  in less than 50 years, they conquered land from
  China to Poland
• Ogedei died in 1241 and the westward campaign
  ended they had to elect his successor
• Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, named himself
  the Great Khan in 1260

26
Mongols as rulers

• Many areas conquered never recovered
• Populations of some cities were wiped out
• The Mongols destroyed ancient irrigation systems
  in areas like the Tigris and Euphrates river
  valleys
• Some adopted the culture of the areas they
  conquered the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate
  became Muslims
• The Great Khan adopted Chinese institutions
• The growing cultural differences led to the
  splitting up of the empire

27

• Mongol Peace From the 1200s to the 1300s, the
  Mongols imposed stability, law and order across
  much of Eurasia
• They guaranteed safe passage of trade caravans,
  travelers and missionaries across the empire
• Goods and ideas spread between Europe and Asia
  like never before
• Some historians speculate that this openness led
  to the spread of the bubonic plague that
  devastated Europe in the 1300s.

28
Empire of the Great Khan
Kublai Khan
Marco Polo at the Court of Kublai Khan
29
Kublai Khan Conquers China

• Kublai Khan completed the conquest of China begun
  by his grandfather, Genghis Khan
• The Southern Song dynasty was overwhelmed by the
  Mongol armies in 1279
• The new emperor, Kublai Khan, founded a new
  dynasty called the Yuan dynasty
• Although it lasted less than a century, it was
  very important
• 1. Kublai united China for the 1st time in 300
  years
• 2. China was opened to greater foreign contacts
  and trade
• 3. He tolerated Chinese culture and made few
  changes to the government system

30
Kublai Tries to Conquer Japan

• In 1274 and 1281, Kublai sent fleets to try to
  conquer Japan they were turned back both times
• A typhoon helped the Japanese defeat the second
  fleet for centuries they referred to the
  kamikaze, or divine wind that saved Japan

31
Marco Polo

• Marco Polo a Venetian trader who traveled by
  caravan on the Silk Roads to China
• He spoke several Asian languages and was welcomed
  by Kublai Khan, who used him as a government
  emissary for 17 years
• Two years before Kublai Khan died, Marco Polo and
  his family went back to Europe

Marco Polo
32
End of Mongol Rule

• Problems began in the late years of Kublais
  reign
• Suffered many defeats as he tried to expand
  empire into Southeast Asia
• Differences between the luxuries at court and the
  overtaxed peasants were a problem
• Yuan dynasty remained for 74 years after Kublai
  died but it was a power struggle among family
  members

33
Mongol Empire Falls Apart

• Rebellion broke out in the 1300s
• 1. Chinese resented Mongol rule
• 2. Years of famine, flood and disease, growing
  economic problems and corruption
• In 1368, Chinese rebels overthrew the Mongols
  start of the Ming Dynasty
• Many Mongols returned to their homeland
• Ilkhanate of Persia fell apart in the 1330s
• Chagatai Khans ruled to 1370s
• Only the Golden Horde in Russia stayed in power

34
Main Idea

• Although the empire was short-lived, it was
  important
• Chinese influence on Western ideas and culture
  began under Mongol rule with the advancement of
  trade

35
Japan
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• Japan is an archipelago a chain of islands
• The majority of the people live on four main
  islands Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu
• Mild climate with good rainfall
• Very mountainous, though so not much land can be
  farmed!
• Violent weather, earthquakes and volcanoes.

37
Early Japan

• Early religion was Shinto (way of the gods)
• It was based on respect for forces of nature and
  ancestor worship
• Early Japan was not unified hundreds of clans
  controlled their own territory
• By 5th century A.D., the Yamato clan was the
  leading clan
• By 7th century they called themselves emperors
  and claimed descent from sun goddess Amaterasu

38
Japanese adapt Chinese ideas

• By 500, there was more contact with mainland Asia
• Koreans migrated to Japan bringing Chinese
  influences
• Buddhism was brought in they ended up combining
  Shinto rituals with Buddhist ceremonies and art
• Adopted Chinese style of writing
• Followed Chinese styles in other matters
  drinking tea, gardening, cooking, hairdressing
• Retained their own traditions while adapting
  Chinese ways to suit their needs

39
Feudalism erodes Imperial Authority

• Decline of Central power court families lost
  interest in governing and more interested in
  luxury and artistic pursuits
• Large landowners outside of capital set up
  private armies
• Countryside was dangerous, pirates took control
  of seas
• Small landowners and farmers traded parts of
  their lands for protection by local lords
• Local lords grew stronger
• Created a system similar to feudalism in ancient
  China and medieval Europe

40
Samurai

• Each lord surrounded himself with loyal warriors
  called samurai
• Samurai lived according to Bushido the way of
  the warrior
• Bushido is reckless courage, reverence for the
  gods, fairness and generosity toward the weak

41
Shogun

• In the late 1100s, a war between two powerful
  families ended with the Minamoto family winning
• The emperor gave the leader of the Minamoto the
  title of Shogun supreme general of the
  emperors army
• Everything was under his control
• The emperor still reigned from Kyoto (built on
  ruins of Heian, destroyed in the war)
• Real power in Japan was at the shoguns
  headquarters in Kamakura

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Main Ideas/Importance

• 1. Japanese civilization was shaped by the
  cultural borrowing from China, and the rise of
  feudalism and military rulers