 The reunification of china took place under the Sui dynasty.

 Father and son rulers, son was defeated by Turks; he was assassinated and Tang filled
political vacuum.

Sui and Tang Reunification

 Reestablished the Confucian system of examining candidates.

 Buddhism had gained many adherents. Was a strong political influence
 Sui- new capital was Chang’an in honor of the old Han capital nearby the Wei river
valley.
 Population centered on Yangzi River.
 Sui built 1,100 mile Grand Canal linking the yellow River and the Yangzi, also
constructed irrigation systems in the Yangzi valley.
 Sui also improved the Great Wall
 Li family took advantage of Sui disorder to carve out an empire of similar scale and
ambition, Tang Empire.
 Emperor Li Shimin extended his power westward into Inner Asia.
 Tang retained many Sui governing practices, avoided over centralization by allowing
nobles, gentry, officials, and religious establishments to exercise power.
 Appreciated pastoral nomadic culture, as well as Chinese tradition.
 Pottery (horses and camels). Weapons- the crossbow and armored infantrymen.
Horsemanship and the use of stirrups.

Tang Empire and Buddhism

 Political use of Buddhism

 Some interpretations of Buddhist doctrine
 Mahayana encouraged translating Buddhist scripture into local languages, accepted
religious practices not based on written texts.
 Princes competed for political influence, enlisted monastic leaders to pray for them,
preach on their behalf, counsel aristocrats to support them, contribute monastic wealth
to their war chests, in return monasteries received tax exemptions, land privileges and
gifts.
 As they expanded, communication increased, so did complexity of Buddhism throughout
China.
 Chang’an became center of continentwide system of communication
 Textiles reflected Persian, Korean and Vietnamese style, while influences from every
other part of Asia appeared in sports, music and paintings.
 Chang’an became center of the tributary system- political relationship, acknowledging
the Chinese emperor’s supremacy.
 Chinese mariners excelled in making vessels.
 The sea route linking the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf with Canton also brought East
Asia the bubonic plague
 Trade and culture

 Clothing styles changed in North China; working people switched from robes to the
pants favored by horse riding Turks.
 Inexpensive cotton imported from Central Asia.
 Tang court promoted Polo, pastime from the steppes.
 Grape wine from West Asia and tea, sugar and spices from India and Southeast Asia
transformed the Chinese diet.
 Changes reflected economic and trade relationships.
 Silk dominated the caravan trade
 Western Asia lost its monopoly on cotton, by the end of the Tang, China had begun to
produce its own.
 China also became sole supplier of porcelain.

Rivals for Power

 Tibetans and Tang experiences political decay and military decline.

 Centralization and integration being most extensively developed in Tang territory, the
impact fell most hard there.
 The flexibility and self-sufficiency of nomadic lifestyle enabled the peoples of the steppe
to survive the social disorder and agricultural losses better than the farming populations.
 Tibet excelled at war. Rival of the Tang
 India and china both contributed to Tibetan knowledge on astronomy, farming, and
milling of grain.
 Tibetans derived their alphabet from India.
 Tibetan royal family favored Greek medicine and transmitted through Iran.
 Under Li Shimin, cautious friendliness had prevailed between china and Tibet.
 Tang princess married Tibetan king to set an alliance.

Repression

 Buddhism was attacked for encouraging women in politics.

 Wu Zhao was a woman who married into the imperial family and seized control of the
government and declared herself emperor.
 Confucian elites heaped every possible charge in prominent women who offended them,
accusing emperor Wu of murder and torture.

Stuff.

 Junk- seaworthy compass coincided with new techniques in building china’s main ocean-
going ship
 Neo- Confucianism is used for Song and later versions of Confucian thought.
 Zhu-Xi wrote in reaction to the many centuries during which Buddhism and Daoism had
often overshadowed the precepts of Confucius.
 Human ideal was the sage, a person who could preserve mental stability and serenity.
  Neo Confucianism- a state that could be achieved through proper study of new
Confucian principles and cosmology.
 Chan Buddhism (Zen) asserted the mental discipline alone could win salvation.
 Meditation, a key Chan practice.
 Changes in printing, from woodblock to an early form of movable type allowed cheaper
printing.

Song

 Women entered a long period of cultural subordination, legal disenfranchisement, and

social restriction.
 A women’s property was automatically passed to their husband.