Empires in East Asia, 600–1350
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284-285-0312co 10/11/02 3:54 PM Page 284 Empires in East Asia, 600–1350 Connect History and Geography Various kingdoms ruled different parts of East Asia between the 10th and 13th centuries. The map at the right shows the main regions and ruling states. Although China’s Song Dynasty controlled the largest empire, other states also emerged as regional powers. A network of trade routes connected the different kingdoms and encouraged the exchange of goods and ideas. Use the map to answer the following questions. 1. What ruling states are shown on the map? 2. Where was Heian located? Angkor? Palembang? 3. What was significant about Srivijaya’s location? 4. Why would China tend to exert a strong influence over other parts of East Asia? For more information about East Asian empires . CLASSZONE.COM Led by Genghis Khan, the fearsome Mongol cavalry swept out of Mongolia in 1209 and began a bloody conquest of Asia. 618 Tang Dynasty begins 300-year 794 rule in China. Scholar-officials Heian period manage the Tang government. begins in Japan. 284 284-285-0312co 10/11/02 3:55 PM Page 285 East and Southeast Asia, 900–1200 ASIA GOBI DESERT TAKLIMAKAN R DESERT e us iv H d e Huang n I I I Yellow Heian (Kyoto) I r I I I Kaifeng I I I I I I I I Sea I I I I I I I I I H I I Yangzhou I I I I I I M River I ze I t I A TIBET ng I Hangzhou LA Ya 30°N YA East M S G OUNTAIN China a n g Sea e s River Tropic of Cancer Guangzhou Pagan INDIA Hanoi Hainan PACIFIC OCEAN Bay of Bengal Angkor South Philipine China Islands Sea N Japan 1100 Khmer 1100 Koryu Dynasty 1100 Pagan 1100 Equator Sumatra 0° Borneo 0° Song 1100 Srivijaya 1200 Palembang Celebes Vietnam 1200 Great Wall I I I I I Grand Canal INDIAN Borobudur 0 300 600 Miles OCEAN Java 0 300 600 Kilometers Robinson Projection 90°E 120°E 935 960 1185 1279 Koryu Dynasty Song Dynasty Kamakura Shogunate Kublai Khan controls Korea. established in China. rules Japan. conquers China. 286-0312s1 10/11/02 3:55 PM Page 286 Interact with History magine it is the year 1292. You have spent the last 17 years Itraveling around the most advanced country in the world— China. The civilization you come from is on the other side of The magnetic compass can help sailors navigate the open sea. the world. It, too, is very sophisticated, but it lacks many of the innovations you have seen on your travels. During your stay in China, you were of great assistance to the emperor. As a going-away present, he wants you to choose one of the inventions shown here to take back to your own society. After choosing one, you will receive the knowledge of how to create it. Which one Chinese invention would you take back to your society? Why? Paper is a relatively inexpensive and easy-to- produce EXAMINING the ISSUES surface for writing and Use these questions to help you choose printing. an invention: Gunpowder • Which item would be most useful to can be used a society that currently has none of for fireworks the items? or made into explosive • Which would most improve the quality weapons. of life? • Which might be the most profitable? Silk makes a luxurious • What benefits and drawbacks might cloth—soft there be to introducing the item into to the touch your society? but also amazingly Discuss these questions with your classmates. strong and In your discussion, remember what you’ve warm. learned about the spread of new ideas. As you read about China in this chapter, see how its ideas spread from the East to the West. 286 Chapter 12 287-293-0312s1 10/11/02 3:56 PM Page 287 TERMS & NAMES 1 •Tang Taizong Two Great Dynasties •Wu Zhao • movable type in China • gentry MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW During the Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese inventions from this period, such China experienced an era of prosperity as printing, gunpowder, and the compass, and technological innovation. changed history. SETTING THE STAGE After the Han Dynasty collapsed in A.D. 220, nomadic peoples from the northern steppe and Tibet conquered much of northern China. For 350 years, no emperor was strong enough to hold China together. More than 30 local dynasties rose and fell. By 589, an emperor named Sui Wendi had united northern and southern China once again. He restored a strong central government. Under the next two dynasties, the Tang and the Song, China experienced a golden age. It became the richest, most powerful, and most advanced country in the world. The Tang Dynasty Expands China Sui Wendi declared himself the first emperor of the Sui (sway) Dynasty. The dynasty lasted through only two emperors from 589 to 618. The Sui emperors’ greatest accom- plishment was the completion of the Grand Canal. This waterway connected the Huang He (Yellow River) and the Yangtze River. The canal provided a vital route for trade between the northern cities and the southern rice-producing region of the Yangtze delta. To dig the 1,000-mile waterway, tens of thousands of peasant men and women toiled five years. Perhaps as many as half of the workers died on the job. Thousands more toiled and died to rebuild the Great Wall. The endless labor on state projects turned the people against the Sui Dynasty. Overworked and overtaxed, they finally revolted. In 618, a member of the imperial court strangled the second Sui emperor. THINK THROUGH HISTORY A. Synthesizing Tang Rulers Create a Powerful Empire While short-lived, the Sui Dynasty built a Horses symbolized What Sui accomplish- strong foundation for the great achievements of the next dynasty, the Tang (tahng). The the power of the ments helped the Tang Dynasty. Tang Tang Dynasty become Tang Dynasty ruled for nearly 300 years (618–907). The Tang emperor who began artists were famous powerful? these achievements was Tang Taizong, whose brilliant reign lasted from 627 to 649. for their glazed A. Answer United Under the Tang rulers, the empire expanded. Taizong’s armies pottery horses such China, restored cen- reconquered the northern and western lands that China had as this one, which tral government, built was created in the Grand Canal, rebuilt lost since the decline of the Han Dynasty. By 668, China had early 700s. Great Wall. extended its influence over Korea as well. The ruler during the campaign in Korea was the empress Wu Zhao (woo jow). From about 660 on, she held the real power while weak emperors sat on the throne. Finally, in 690, Empress Wu assumed the title of emperor for herself—the only woman ever to do so in China. Tang rulers further strengthened the central government of China. They expanded the network of roads and canals begun by the Sui. This helped to pull the empire together. However, Tang Taizong also remem- bered the Sui emperors’ mistake of overtaxing peasants. Therefore, he low- ered taxes and took some lands from the wealthy to give to peasants. He and his successors also promoted foreign trade and improvements in agriculture. Tang China prospered. Empires in East Asia 287 287-293-0312s1 10/11/02 3:56 PM Page 288 ■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Scholar-Officials To manage their ■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■HISTORYMAKERS ■ large empire, the Tang rulers needed to restore China’s vast bureaucracy. The civil service examination system begun by the Han Dynasty had fallen into disor- der. The Tang rulers revived and expanded the system to recruit good officials. They opened schools around the country to train young scholars in Confucianism, poetry, and other subjects covered in the exams. The few who passed the tough exams became part of an Tang Taizong Wu Zhao elite group of scholar-officials. 600–649 625–705 In theory, the exams were open to The man who restored the Middle At the age of 13, the beautiful Wu Kingdom to its glory was a Zhao arrived at the court of Tang all men, even commoners. However, distinguished general named Li Taizong to become one of the only the wealthy could afford the Shimin. He seized the imperial emperor’s secondary wives. After necessary years of education. Also, throne in 626 after killing off his Taizong’s death, she became a men with political connections could brothers as rivals and forcing his favored wife of his son and succes- father, the first Tang emperor, to sor. Wu Zhao soon rose above rival obtain high positions without taking step aside. As emperor, Li Shimin wives and became the emperor’s the exams. took the title Taizong, meaning chief wife, or empress. Despite these flaws, the system B. Possible Answer “Great Ancestor.” For many years, Empress Wu created a remarkably intelligent and Created intelligent and capable governing Taizong’s military campaigns virtually ruled China on behalf of the capable governing class in China. extended China’s borders north to sickly emperor. After his death, two class, reduced power Manchuria, south to Vietnam, and of their sons briefly held the throne. Before the Tang Dynasty, a few of noble families, west to the Aral Sea. China’s Frustrated by their lack of ability, noble families dominated the coun- raised prestige of edu- power and influence reached she took the throne herself at the cation, spread power try. As the examination system grew across wider group. much farther. At home, aided by his age of 65.