TOPICS FOR REVIEW: CHAPTERS 12 & 13

Chapter 12: Sui, Tang, Song China

  • Order of classical Chinese dynasties: Zhou, Qin, Han
  • Order of post-classical Chinese dynasties: Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming (Ming dynasty continued into Early Modern era)
  • Reforms enacted by each of the Sui Emperors: Wendi & Yangdi
  • Grand Canal: Motivations for construction + Who built it
  • Causes of Sui dynasty’s collapse
  • Buddhism in Tang & Song China: Reasons for Buddhist growth from Han-early Tang (including role of Empress Wu) + Reasons for anti-Buddhist backlash by late-Tang gov’t + Effects of anti-Buddhist feelings by Confucianists
  • Buddhism continued to be a central faith for most Chinese, however it never again received the political support to the level that it had under the early Tang.
  • Changes & continuities in impacts of Confucianism on Sui, Tang, & Song political structures (+Ministry of Rites, Bureau of Censors, jinshi, expansion of # & diversity of exams, bloated & expensive bureaucracy by Song, Song gave bureaucrats responsibility for armies )
  • For what reasons was the Song dynasty weaker than the Tang dynasty in terms of relationships with northern nomadic peoples?
  • Origins of neo-Confucianism + key beliefs of neo-Confucianism + Zhu Xi was leading founder of neo-Confucianism
  • Neo-Confucianism is a syncretized philosophical system that blends Confucian, Buddhist, & Daoist thought.
  • Effects of neo-Confucianist philosophy on women during the Song?
  • How did the Tang-Song limit the power of the landed aristocracy?
  • What was the “tributary system” + “peripheral states” + “kowtowing” + examples of tributary states for China + how did tributary states & China benefit from their relationship with one another?
  • Factors that contributed to population boom during the Tang-Song period (effects of agricultural technology: iron plow, ox-collar, wheelbarrow/equal-field system/introduction of Champa rice from Vietnam/gov’t construction of granaries & Grand Canal)
  • Urbanization trends for Tang-Song period + reasons for these trends?
  • Trade links to other regions + major luxury good exports of Tang-Song China + balance of interregional trade?
  • Inventions/Innovations of Tang-Song China + Which ones would diffuse to Western Europe by c1450 CE?
  • Contributions of: Bi Sheng + Li Bo
  • Reasons for the collapse of the Tang dynasty? + Reasons for the collapse of the Song dynasty?
  • REVIEW MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL BELIEFS OF CONFUCIANISM & BUDDHISM!
  • PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCES TO ANALYZE!

CHAPTER 13: POST-CLASSICAL JAPAN, KOREA, & VIETNAM

  • What is “sinification”?
  • Which civilization was most open to sinification: Japan, Korea, or Vietnam? + what evidence is there of this?
  • China, Korea, & Japan are in East Asia! Vietnam is in Southeast Asia!
  • Features of traditional Japan: religious beliefs, political organization
  • What was the intended purpose of Japan’s Taika Reforms, 646 CE? + For what reasons were they canceled?
  • Examples of ways by which Japan successfully sinified?
  • Life in the imperial court at Heian + life of aristocratic women + Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki (significance?)
  • The Japanese Emperor: degree of political power? + religious roles? + beliefs of Shintoists toward the emperor?
  • Due to Japan’s failure to adopt a Chinese-style, all-powerful emperor with a bureaucracy and single military force, Japan slipped into a feudal system similar to Western Europe’s at the same time.
  • Japanese Feudal System: ranks + reciprocity between feudal ranks (what was exchanged?)
  • What is a “bakufu”? + two feudal bakufus/shogunates = Kamakura & Ashikaga
  • Shogun: what is it?
  • Samurai: role + bushido + to what degree was bushido far more severe than Western chivalry?
  • Relationship between Japanese peasants and their vassal lords (daimyo & samurai)?
  • The Japanese government remained decentralized/disunited until 1600 CE when the Tokugawa Shogunate was established.
  • The Japanese feudal system wasn’t abolished until 1868 CE.
  • The Japanese emperor has NEVER gained true political power.
  • What kingdom was successful in establishing a unified and independent government in Korea that was also a tributary state of Tang China?
  • Examples of sinification in Korea + limits of Korea’s sinification?
  • Examples of sinification in Vietnam + limits of Vietnam’s sinification?