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The Song Modernity in East Asia & the Legendary Admiral Zheng

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The Song Modernity in East Asia & the Legendary Admiral Zheng The Song Modernity in East Asia & The legendary Admiral Zheng Upcoming lectures 1. Today: Song and Ming 2. Thursday: Afro-Eurasia and Americas: Expanding Horizons of Cross-Cultural Interaction(The Case of Hemispheric Pandemics) Traditions & Encounters, pp. 435- 458. Kevin Reilly, Worlds of History, vol. 1. pp.447-481. Thursday May 8 1. Early Modern Interconnected Global (1500-1800 C.E.) 2. The Americas and Oceania New Worlds: Americas and Oceania The Americas and Oceania 1) Traditions & Encounters, pp. 415-433. ● Early Modern Interconnected Global (1500- 1800 C.E.) Traditions & Encounters, pp. 462-491. Kevin Reilly, Worlds of History, vol.2, Ma Huan, “On Calicut, India, 1433,” pp. 573- 580; “Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1498,” pp. 580-588. 1.India 2.Song 1279 the Song lost the last battle with the Mongols near Pearl River Delta 1. Emphasis on scholar- officials rather than the military (fear of coup) Imperial civil service exam (ke ju kao shi) 2. Economic prosperity led to booming urban life and popular culture Lantern Festival, the Qingming Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival Strengthening of the patriarchal social structure As the agricultural productivity increased, the ideology of family preservation increased. (possibly to preserve family unity amid rapid economy change) ● Not merely remember but actively seeking ancestors assistance Strengthened the sense of family ties. Commemoration of family rituals: Women under the Song While women were able to participate in the expanding market, their experiences were more restricted. Men took concubines. Foot Binding Privileged classes. 5 to six-year-old girls Keeping women under tight supervision of their Male guardians. --not a practice for Peasants. ● An aspect of Urban patriarchy Market Economy Rapid expansion of Song economies: ●Shortage of copper coin. ●Letters of credit: “Flying cash”: merchants to deposit cash and pick them up somewhere else. ● Letters of credit: a promise to pay, promissory notes. ECONOMY FUTURE BASED!!! Long-term practice. ● Helped expand Song economy even more. First paper money 1024 Credit system for commercial transaction. Issued by the state but Pioneered the use of printed Paper. Stimulated the economy and facilitated transaction. Match Cash reserve Printing First developed under the Tang Block-printing technique wooden block (11th century). ● Produced texts quickly, Cheaply and in huge quantities. First book as printed using woodblocks Among the First books: Buddhist canon Dazangjing Impact of Print culture 1) Fostered the spread of education 1) Spread of elite culture. 2) Spread of religious texts. Buddhism Tang & Song Confucianism, Daosim, and family cults. Nestorian Christians. Manichaeans. Zoroastrians Muslims (western China). Buddhism declined in India, but thrived in northeast Buddhism became the dominant religion in Tibet (Lamasim), and many Indian Buddhist monks escaped to Tibet from Muslim persecution Mahayana Buddhism (“Great Vehicle”) Gautama Buddha (563-483 B.C.E.) Universal liberation of all from suffering. Devotional dimensions. ---------------------------------------------------------------- -Gradually became popular in Tang and Song China. -silk road. -impact: on Chinese literary culture; accumulation of large lands for building monasteries and therefore important in local economies. Established Monasteries Missionaries 600 and 1000 Buddhist built hundreds of cave temples Monasteries had an impact on Chinese economy: large lands and harvest (help the poor) • Southern China: Religious tensions Buddhism: Individualism, asceticism, metaphysics Scripturalist tradition. (Foreign) Confucianism & Daoism More interested in the family, ritual, practice. Ritualistic traditions. (Native) Buddhism appeals to the Chinese Dharma (Buddhist doctrine: natural Law) as dao “the way” in Daoism. -- encouraged both celibacy and family. Rise of Chinese Buddhism Chan Buddhism: Syncratic Buddhism Xuanzang (602-664) a) Emphasized on intuitive sacred experiences. b) Meditation not rational observation Resembled Daoism Under the Tang and Song, Chan Buddhism became v. popular. Zen Buddhism Neo-Confucianism Official Religion of Song Song dynasty supported Chinese traditions, sponsoring scholarly activities and subsidized the dissemination of Confucian writings. Incorporated Daoist and Buddhist metaphysics, but remained a rationalist ethical philosophy. Zhu Xi [Joo shee] (1130-1200 C.E.) a) Original ideas of Confucius had become rigid and corrupt over the years. A return to his true thoughts! b) Stressed “unity of the three creeds” c) The nature of reality in terms of Daoism. Material world and the energy world. li (forms or ideas) and qi [chi] (material) Zhu Xi [Joo shee] “For everyone person the most important thing is the cultivation of himself as an ethical being”. What did the Song NOT do? 1. Major economic and technological advancements did not revolutionize Chinese society. Because it was already self-sufficient. Technology to sail the seas: lacked incentive to sail the world. 2) Despite commercial expansion, kept merchants out of major industries. 3) Peaceful relations with neighboring nomadic societies: big mistake! Mongols… 4) Confucian disdain of merchants Tang-Song China Legacy 1) Revival of centralized imperial order. 2) Spread of religions and ideas. 3) Expansive market-based economy (not agricultural) 4) Major technological and industrial advancements. Post-Song China Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) founded by Kublai Khan; nomadic Mongol warriors. Ming dynasty (1368-1644) Zhu Yuanzhang (Joo yu-wen-JAHNG) Founder (1328-1398) Former Buddhist monk who rose from poverty to power. Ming Government 1. Authoritarian state: More despotic; placed the bureaucracy under close scrutiny. a) Reaction to the Mongol experience b) Ming emperors exercised more centralization of power and placed the bureaucracy under strict control. c) Eliminated the office of prime minister d) Economy more prosperous; population expanded from 80 to 160 million Kotow: the tribute- bearers’ act of prostrating themselves before the emperor. a) Chinese opera (spoken dialogue) b) First Novels :The Water Margin (Robin Hood tale) c) Expansion of encyclopedia: 52 volume study of Chinese Parmacology Ming and the Afro-Eurasian contact zones Attempt to (re)colonize Vietnam. Maritime expansion (not military expansion into Central Asia). Grand maritime expeditions to southern Asia and beyond Eurasia. Merchants low status in the Confucian social system Zheng He (jung huh) (1371-1435 .
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