THE ERA OF THE TANG/SONG DYNASTIES READING GUIDE

(CHAPTER 12-STEARNS)

Answer Key

1)What were the basic political characteristics of the Tang dynasty? Song dynasty?

TANG

  • Take care of the nomad problem to the west.
  • The Great Wall was repaired.
  • Rebuilt and expanded the imperial bureaucracy.

-reestablish the civil service exams

-emphasize the importance of the scholar-gentry.

** Used to help the run the empire….gain more and more influence.

SONG

  • Military subordinate to the scholar-gentry.
  • Only civilian officials allowed to be governors, no military leaders!
  • Promote the interests of the scholar-gentry:

** pay increases

**more servants

**given more luxury goods-wine and silk

2)What facilitated the growing popularity of Buddhism during the early Tang period? How did the popularity of Buddhism influence Confucianism?

a)Pre-Tang(6 Dynasties Era): Buddhism seen as a refuge from an age of war and turmoil.

1)Tang Emperor Taizong- endowed monasteries, sent emissaries to India to collect texts and relics, and commissioned Buddhist paintings and statues.

2)Tang Empress Wu- Tries to elevate it to a “state” religion

*** By the 9th century there are 50,000 monasteries and hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns.

b)Confucians become envious. Argued to imperial leaders that the large Buddhist monastic establishment was an economic liability/threat.

1) monastic lands and resources were not taxed.

2) imperial grants and gifts from the wealthy hurt state revenue.

3) monastic estate workers did not have to perform public service.

*** Eventually leads to a change in policies and persecution of Buddhists!

3)What were the causes of commercial expansion during the Tang-Song era? How did the commercial expansion affect China?

I. Causes

a)Conquests into central Asia = Opens up Silk Road

b)Building of the Canal System linking north and south.

c)Improvement of trading ships=Indian Ocean Trade and Triangle Trade.

II. Effects

a)Markets: specialty shops sell local and foreign goods.

b)“flying money”=credit, paper money, and deposit shops=banks.

c)Urban growth

-Changan=2 million people

-Hangzhou=Great marketplaces, very active nightlife, numerous restaurants.

4)Analyze the changes to China’s social structure and gender status during the Tang-Song era?

a)Patriarchal society intensifies. Males/elders dominate.

b)Scholar-Gentry move up in status as well as merchants and artisans.

c)Aristocrats lose status.

d)Pre-arranged marriages.

e)Divorce only by mutual consent.

  • Status of women improve during the Tang=Empress Wu, Empress Wei.
  • Status of women decline during the late Song dynasty thanks to the neo-confucians beliefs in a male-dominated society.
  • Women should be mothers and homemakers.
  • Women denied education
  • Footbinding-Confines women

5)What were the major artistic and scientific accomplishments of the Tang-Song era? (MAIN ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!!)

ARTISTIC

a)Poetry-Li Bo(Tang): celebrates the natural world.

b)Art-Landscapes(Song): “created a highly personal vision of natural beauty”.

-Put them on scrolls that could be read as they were unrolled.

***Scholar-Gentry create a lot of this art.

SCIENTIFIC

a)Bridge design: arched/segmented, trussed, and suspension

b)Gunpowder

c)Grenades/bombs/flamethrowers/rocket launchers

d)Coal as fuel

e)Compasses for sea travel

f)abacus

g)block printing/movable type