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Tang Decline and Rise of the Song

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Tang Decline and Rise of the Song Tang Decline and Rise of the Song By Sydney Hancock Tang Decline: Empress Wu and Empress Wei – A.ack on Buddhist monas5c order by the Tang was caused by the general weakening of the imperial control that had begun a century earlier – 690-705 The Tang Dynasty was ruled by Empress Wu who had tried to establish a new dynasty – Second aempt to control the throne was made by a woman who married into the imperial family – Empress Wei poisoned her husband (the son of Empress Wu) with the encouragement and support of her relaves – Empress Wei then placed her own child on the throne – Her aempt to seize power was stopped by another prince Tang Decline: Xuanzong – Xuanzong, the prince that had led a palace revolt that ended with the destruc5on of Wei, ruled from 713-756 – His rule marked the peak of Tang power and the high point of Chinese civilizaon under the dynasty – Xuanzong had a strong interest in poli5cal and economic reforms – These reforms were enforced by the officials he appointed to high posi5ons – He devoted himself to patronizing the arts – He was interested in music and would play himself, but would also have performers play for him Tang Decline: Yang Guifei – AQer the death of his second wife, Xuanzong became involved with Yang Guifei – This relaonship was one of the most famous in all of Chinese history – Yang was raised to the status of royal concubine – She used her new power to pack the upper levels of the government with her greedy relaves – The arrogance and ambi5on of Yang and her family angered members of rival cliques at court – Xuansong’s neglect of state affairs resulted in economic distress which led to the decline and also led to military weakness, leaving the government unable to deal with disorders effecvely – A revolt led to the killing of members of the Yang family and forced the emperor to have Yang Guifei executed – Xuanzong’s grief and disillusionment leQ him unable to con5nue as emperor Tang Decline – None of the Tang monarchs following could compare with the previous leaders – To defeat the rebels, the Tang had created alliances with nomadic people living on the northern borders of the empire – The dynasty distributed resources and poli5cal power to regional commanders who were loyal to the dynasty – Nomads used poli5cal divisions within China to gain entry into and gain control over large areas of the north China plain – Many allied provincial governors became independent rulers that collected their own taxes and passed li.le on to the imperial treasury – These regional lords raised their own armies and passed on the rule to their sons without permission from the Tang court – Declining economic condi5ons led to a succession of revolts mostly led by peasants Rise of the Song Rise of the Song: Emperor Taizu – By the end of the 9th century, li.le remained of the Tang Empire – In 907 the last emperor of the Tang was forced to resign – China began entering a phase of nomadic dominance, poli5cal division, and social strife – Zhao Kuangyin was a military commander who set out to reunite China under a single dynasty – He was known as one of the most honest and able of the generals from the last of the Five Dynas5es – His troops insisted that he proclaim himself emperor – He became emperor Taizu – Taizu founded the Song dynasty that would later rule most of China for the next three centuries Rise of the Song – The Liao dynasty was a rival of Taizu – The Liao dynasty was founded in 907 by the nomadic Khitan people – Dealing with these nomadic people from the north was a weakness of the Song dynasty – The Song people were forced by the Khitans to sign a series of demeaning treaes with their northern neighbors – These treaes had Song paying a very large tribute to the Liao dynasty to keep them from invading and controlling the Song territories – Weakness of the Song was due to imperial policies that were designed to keep the condi5ons that had destroyed the Tang Empire from reoccuring Rise of the Song – Only civil officials were allowed to be governors – This kept military commanders from trying to seize power – Military commanders were rotated to prevent them from building up a power base in the areas where they were staoned – Early Song rulers strongly encouraged interests of the Confucian scholar-gentry – Officials’ salaries were increased and many perks were offered like addi5onal servants and payments of high quality goods such as silk and wine – Civil service exams were given rou5nely – These exams were given every three years at district, provincial, and imperial levels – Song examiners passed a far higher percentage of those taking the exams than the Tang examiners had – As a result, the bureaucracy became full with well-paid officials – The dominance of the scholar-gentry class over its aristocrac and Buddhist rivals was fully secured in the Song era Revival of Confucian Thought; Neo- Confucianism Revival of Confucian Thought – Influence of the scholar-gentry in the Song era was mirrored in the revival of Confucian ideas and values that dominated intellectual life – Scholars tried to recover old texts and decipher ancient wri5ngs – New academics were devoted to the study of classical texts – Impressive libraries were built – New schools of philosophy advocated rival interpretaons of the teachings of Confucius and other ancient thinkers – Wanted to prove the superiority of nave thought systems, such as Confucianism and Daoism, over Buddhism Revival of Confucian Thought – Prominent thinker of the era: Zhu Xi – Zhu Xi emphasized the importance of applying philosophical principles to everyday life – Neo-Confucians, or revivers of ancient Confucian teachings, believed that cul5vang personal morality was the highest goal for humans – Also believed that virtue could be achieved through knowledge gained by book learning and personal observaon as well as through contact with men of wisdom – In these ways basically good nature of humans could be refined, and superior men, fit to govern and teach others, could be developed Revival of Confucian Thought – Neo-confucian thinking had a large influence on Chinese intellectual life during all the dynas5es aer the Song – Its hos5lity to foreign philosophical systems, such as Buddhism, made Chinese rulers and bureaucrats less open to outside ideas and influences – The neo-confucian stress on tradi5on and hos5lity to foreign influences was one of a number of forces that eventually muffled innovaon and cri5cal thinking among the Chinese elite – Neo-Confucian displayed an importance on rank, obligaon, deference, and tradi5onal rituals reinforced class, age, and gender dis5nc5ons, especially in occupaonal roles – Great importance was given to maintaining the authority of the patriarch of the Chinese household – If men and women kept to their place and performed the tasks of their age and social rank, the Neo-confucians thought there would be social harmony and fortune – If problems occurred, the best solu5ons could be found in examples from the past – They believed that historical experience was the best leader for direc5ng the undefined terrain of the future Movement from the Northern Song to the Southern Song By Angelica Narvaez Northern song – Northern Song – Lasted from 960-1126 – Established capital at Kaifeng – The first era of the Song Dynasty Jin Kingdom and Southern Song – Jin KIngdom – Jurchens invaded the Liao Dynasty and established the Jin Kingdom – Jurchens invaded the Northern Song which forced the Song Dynasty to move the capital from Kaifeng to Hangzhou – Southern Song – Lasted from 1127-1279 – Lasted for 150 years – 2nd era of the Song Dynasty – Song Dynasty moved their capital to the south in order to flee from the Jurchens – Established capital at Hangzhou – Culturally, one of the most glorious reign in Chinese history known as their Golden Age. Tang and Song Prosperity: The Golden Age Grand Canal – Built in the 7th century under the reign of Yangdi in the Sui dynasty. – Designed to link the original centers of Chinese civilizaon the north China plain with the Yangtze River basin more 500 than miles to the south. – Intended to facilitate control over southern regions by courts, bureaucrats, and armies in ancient imperial centers in the north. – The increase of populaon required the creaon of be.er communicaons between the north and the south. – The south had surpassed the north in crop produc5on and populaon. Therefore, the canal made it possible to transfer grains from the south to the north. – More than a million forced laborers were required to finish building the canal. A New Phase of Commercial Expansion – The Grand Canal promoted commercial expansion in the Tang and Song eras. – Expansion of the Silk Road strengthened internaonal contacts. – Chinese junks (ships) increased trade ac5vity – Tang and Song governments supervised the hours and marke5ng methods in trade centers – Merchants banded together in guilds to promote their interests and maintain compe55on – Expansion of economic exchanges, establishment of deposit shops, and the use of paper money reduced danger of robbery and strengthened the economy – Led to urban growth; nearly 2 million people in the imperial city of Chang’an Expanding Agrarian Production and Life in the Country – Officials ac5vely encouraged peasant groups to migrate to uncul5vated lands – State supported military garrisons to protect the new se.lements and to subdue to non-Chinese people – State regulated irrigaon and embankment systems advanced agrarian expansion – The introduc5on of Champa rice from Vietnam, be.er use of manure and soil preparaon, and improved irrigaon techniques increased the yields of peasant holdings. – New inven5ons like the wheelbarrow improved farming – Rulers created policies that broke up great estates of the old aristocracy and distributed land equally amongst the free peasants.
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