Unit: Spread of Civilizations in East Asia

1. Spread of civilizations in
east Asia
500 AD – 1603 AD

3. Two golden ages of china
• Li Yuan had been the leading
general during the previous Sui
Dynasty and led a revolt against
the crumbling government.
• Li Yuan became the first
emperor of the Tang Dynasty,
later followed by his son Li
Shimin
• Li Shimin took the name Tang
Taizong and became the most
• In 618, the Tang Dynasty united China for the first
time in nearly 400 years

4. Two golden ages of china
• The Tang conquered parts of central
Asia and forced Vietnam, Korea, and
Tibet to become tributary states
• Tributary states remain independent,
but had to recognize China’s power and
send tribute to the emperor
• Later Tang emperors redistributed land
to peasants which weakened the power
of wealthy land owners but increased
government revenue, since peasants
could now pay taxes.
• Rebuilt bureaucracy and developed
civil service examinations to recruit
officials trained in Confucianism

5. Two golden ages of china
Decline:
• Tang eventually weakened and emperors lost
China’s north western territories to the Arabs
• Government corruption, crushing taxes, drought,
famine, and rebellions all contributed to their
downward spiral.

6. Two golden ages of china
• In 960, the Song Dynasty came to power, founded by Zhao
Kuangyin
• The Song period was a golden age for China
• The Chinese economy grew
• China dominated East Asia
• Merchants traded with Persia, India and the Middle
East

7. Two golden ages of china
Three levels of Chinese society:
Gentry:
• Wealthy land owners who valued scholarships over physical
labor
• Supported the revival of Confucian thought
Peasants:
• Majority of Chinese were peasants who worked the land, living
on what they produce
• It was possible to move up in Chinese society through education
and government service
Merchants:
• Some acquired a vast amount of wealth
• According to Confucian tradition, merchants had an even lower
social status than peasants because their riches came from the
labor of others

8. Two golden ages of china
• Women seemed to have had a higher status in Tang and
early Song Dynasties
• Within the home, women were often called upon to run family
affairs; managed family finances, discipline, and servants
• When a woman married she became a part of her husbands
family and could no longer keep her dowry and could never
remarry

9. Two golden ages of china
Footbinding
• Women’s subordinate position was
reinforced in late Song times
• Feet of young girls would be bound
with long strips of cloth, producing a
lily-shaped foot about one-half the size
of a normal foot
• Tiny feet became a symbol of female
nobility and beauty
• Intensely painful, yet the custom
survived because parents feared that a
daughter with large feet would be
unable to find a good husband

10. Two golden ages of china
Literature and Achievements in the Arts
• Poetry became the most respected form of literature
Li Bo
• Known as the greatest poet of the Tang
• dynasty
• Said to have written over 2,000 that
• celebrated harmony with nature

11. Two golden ages of china
• Chinese landscape painting became
popular during the Song period
• Artist sought a balance and harmony
through simple strokes and lines

12. Two golden ages of china
• During the Song dynasty the Chinese became
experts at making porcelain, a kind of pottery
• Chinese porcelain was the finest in the world

13. Two golden ages of china
The Chinese
created the
pagoda, a
temple that the
roof curved up
at the corners

14. Two golden ages of china
SongYang

15. Helped restore uniform
government
Recruited Confucian scholars
for civil service jobs
Developed new code of law
Instituted land reform, which
helped to strengthen central
government by weakening
large landowners
Built a system of canals,
which encouraged internal
trade and transportation
Encouraged foreign trade
Expanded the Chinese
economy
Developed new strains of rice
and improved irrigation
methods
Produced food surpluses,
enabling more people to
pursue commerce, learning,
and the arts
Encouraged foreign trade
Transformed cities into centers
of trade
SongYang

16. The Mongol and ming
empires
• In the 1200s, Genghiz Khan united Mongol tribes
and conquered a vast empire that stretched from the
Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe.
• Genghiz Khan imposed strict military discipline
and demanded absolute loyalty. His highly trained
armies contained some of the most skilled horsemen
in the world.
• In their conquest of China, the Mongol armies
faced the problem of attacking walled cities. Mongol
and Chinese armies used missile weapons against
each other. The use of cannon warfare would soon
spread westward to Europe
• It took 150 years for the Mongols to complete their
conquest of China

17. The Mongol and ming
empires

18. The Mongol and ming
empires
• Once a conquest was
complete, the Mongols were not
oppressive rulers. They often
allowed conquered peoples to live
much as they had — as long as
they paid tribute to the Mongols.
• The trade flowing along the
Silk Road, allowed people from
different cultures to mix within the
Mongol Empire
• The heirs of Genghiz Khan
established peace and order
within their domain.

19. Silk road

20. The Mongol and ming
empires
The Yuan Dynasty
• Kublai , grandson of Genghiz Khan,
was able to topple the last Song emperor
in 1279
• From the capital at Cambulac, Kublai
Khan ruled all China, as well as Korea,
Tibet, and Vietnam.
• Only Mongols could serve in the military
or hold the highest government jobs.
• The Chinese despised their foreign
conquerors.
• A mix of Chinese and foreign customs
developed.
• Foreigners were welcomed into China
and a number of Chinese products, such
as gunpowder and porcelain, were

21. The Mongol and ming
empires
Marco Polo
• Italian merchant was one of the many visitors to china
during the Yuan dynasty
• Spend 17 years in Kublai’s service before returning to
Venice.
• In his book; A Description of the World, Marco Polo left a
vivid account of the wealth and splendor of china

22. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ53WqklIo8

23. The Mongol and ming
empires
• The Ming Dynasty
• After the death of Kublai Khan
most Chinese despised Mongol
rulers
• Heavy taxes, corruption and
natural disasters led to frequent
uprisings
• Zhu Yanzhang, a peasant leader,
led a rebel army that overthrew
the Mongol and pushed them back
behind the great wall
• 1368 Yanzhang founded the Ming
dynasty

24. The Mongol and ming
empires
• Economic revival
• Restored the civil service system and made the exams more
rigorous than ever
• Revived Confucian learning
• Repaired the canal system that linked regions and made trade
easier
• Made Chinese cities home to many industries, including porcelain,
paper, and tools
• Developed new technologies, which increased output in
manufacturing
• Supported a revival of arts and literature

25. Voyages of Zheng He

26. The Mongol and ming
empires
• The most important result of Ming rule was the
Emperor’s decision to forbid the Chinese people
from having contact with the rest of the world

27. Korea and Its traditions
Seventy percent of Korea is
mountainous. Because farming
is difficult in the mountains, most
Koreans live along the western
coastal plain, Korea’s major
farming area.
Korea has a 5,400 mile coastline
with hundreds of good harbors.
Since earliest times, Koreans
have depended on seafood for
protein in their diet.
Korea’s location on China’s
doorstep has played a key role
in its development.

28. Korea and Its traditions
• 300 – 600 BC Korea was 3
separate kingdoms
1. Koguryol
2. Peakche
3. Shilla
• Often warred with one
another
• 668 BC Shillia, with the help
of the Tang empress Wu
Zhao, united the peninsula
and ruled until 918

29. Korea and Its traditions
• The Korryo Dynasty 918 –
1392
• Capital at Kaesong
• Buddhism reached its greatest
influence
Korea came to see their relationship
with china in Confucian terms, as
that of a younger brother who owed
respect and loyalty to an older
brother

30. Korea and Its traditions
Adopted and modified Chinese ideas:
• Koreans used the Chinese civil service examination,
but adapted it to fit their own system of inherited ranks
• Koreans learned to make porcelain from China, but
then perfected techniques of making celadon—a
porcelain with an unusual blue-green glaze.
•Replaced Chinese writing system, adopted by
Emperor Sejong, this new alphabet used symbols to
represent the sounds of spoken Korean, known as
Hangul.

31. Korea and Its traditions
Buddhism
Confucian Ideas
Chinese System of Writing
Chinese Art Styles
Porcelain making
Printing
 Chinese civilization has always influenced
Korea
China Korea

32. The emergence of japan
• Japan is located on an
archipelago, or chain of islands,
about 100 miles off the Asian
mainland.
• Because four-fifths of Japan is
mountainous, most people settled in
narrow river valleys and along
coastal plains.
• The surrounding seas have both
protected and isolated Japan. Japan
was close enough to the mainland
to learn from Korea and China, but
too far away for the Chinese to
conquer.
• The seas also served as trade

34. The emergence of japan
• The first period of deliberate cultural
borrowing and adaptation.
• The Japanese studied and borrowed from
Chinese culture, introduced to them by the
Koreans.
• Among the cultural imports were
Buddhism, Confucianism social and
political values, and the Chinese written
and spoken languages.
• In time, enthusiasm for everything Chinese
died down. The Japanese kept some
Chinese ways but discarded or modified
others. This process is known as selective
borrowing.
Example: Japan never accepted the Chinese
civil service exam to choose officials based
on merit. Instead, they maintained their

35. The Emergence of japan
Shinto
• Buddhism co-existed alongside the native Japanese religion,
Shinto.
• Shinto is a religion based on the worship of deities called
Kami, who are considered benign and helpful to humans.
• Shinto recognizes many sacred places: mountains, lakes,
springs, etc.
• 84% of modern Japanese practice both Shinto and Buddhism

36. The emergence of japan
• Japan’s Classical (Heian) Period ca 550-1185
• Japan adopted a Confucius style government, with an
Emperor and an examination system for the bureaucracy in
the Capital, Hei-an (modern Kyoto).
• Japanese literature, particularly poetry, flourished in this
period.

37. The emergence of japan
• Women made many literary
contributions during the classical period.
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, ca
996 written by Sei Shonagon was a
lady of the court of the Japanese
imperial family.
• This book was filled with personal
observations, vivid details of court
manner, décor, and dress
The Tale of Genji, by the Lady Murasaki
Shikibu ca 973-1025
• Often called the first novel, the story is
centered on the life and adventures of
Hikaru Genji, born to a Heian Emperor

38. Japan’s feudal age
• As the emperor presided over the splendid
courts of Heian, rival clans battled for control
of the countryside. Local warlords formed
armed bands loyal to them rather than to the
emperor. In this way, Japan evolved a feudal
system.
• In theory, the emperor stood at the head of
Japanese feudal society. In fact, he was
powerless. Real power lay in the hands of
the shogun, or supreme military
commander.
• The shogun distributed land to vassal lords
who agreed to protect them. These great
warrior lords were called daimyo. They, in
turn, granted land to lesser warriors called
samurai.

39. Japan’s feudal age
Emperor
Shogun
Daimyo
Samurai
Pheasants
Artisans
Merchants

40. Japan’s feudal age
• Feudalism: A political, economic, and social system
based on loyalty, the holding of land and military
service
Shogun
Daimyo
Land
Land
Samurai Samurai
Peasant PeasantPeasantPeasant
Samurai
Daimyo
SamuraiSamurai
Food
Loyalty
Loyalty
Protection

41. Feudalism SImulation

42. Japan’s feudal age
Bushido
• Samurai developed their own code of values known as
bushido, or the way of the warrior.
• Code emphasized honor, bravery, and absolute loyalty to
one’s lord
• A samurai who betrayed the code of bushido was expected
to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide, rather than live without
honor

43. Japan’s feudal age
Tokugawa Shogunate 1603 - 1868
• Imposed central government control on all
Japan
• Created a unified, orderly society
• Required the daimyo to live in the shogun’s
capital every other year
• Created new laws that fixed the social order
rigidly in place and upheld a strict moral code
• Imposed restrictions on women
• Oversaw economic growth, the flourishing of
trade, and the emergence of a middle class

44. Japan’s feudal age
Zen Buddhism
• Zen emphasizes meditation and
devotion to duty
• Zen Buddhism teaches that all human
beings have the Buddha-nature, or the
potential to attain enlightenment
• Stressed compassion for all and
harmony with nature and respect for all
living things
• Influenced the development of fine
landscape paintings

45. Japan’s feudal age
Changing artistic traditions
Theater:
• 1600’s gave rise to a new form of
drama, Kabuki. Kabuki is known for
the stylization of its drama and for the
elaborate make-up worn by some of its
performers
Literature:
• The Japanese adapted Chinese poetry
models, creating miniature poems,
called Haiku