CENTRAL ASIAN and CHINESE
DYNASTIES/CIVILIZATIONS
Rise and Fall
By Charlotte
Sui
The Sui Dynasty started in 581 a.d. The very first emperor was Emepror Wendi. During thsi period, Emperor Wendi rebuilt the The Great Wall, which helped protect themselves from invaders. The Grand Canal was also built. This system provided a trade route and it helped cultivate rice. The Sui was also know as "The Golden Age". It became the richest, authoritive, and advanced country in the world. What led to the downfall, was the fact that the people were being over taxed and forced to work on city projects (The Great Wall and Grand Canal). This led to a series of rebellions.
Emperor Wendi
Tang
The Tang dynasty was ruled by Emperor Tang Taizong (reigned from 626a.d.-649a.d.) He further strengthened the network of roads and canals that were started by the people of the Sui dynasty. This helped pull the the empire together, yet they still had trouble controlling the empire they built (which contributed to their downfall). By 668 a.d. China extended its influence to Korea. Another big part of the culture was the Civil Service Examination System. This particular system was an exam that was open to everyone (nobles and peasants) that you would take that could potentially help you get a political position. It was appealling that it was open to everyone, but the only way you could pass these exams was if you were highly educated, which only wealthy familys could afford. With these exams in mind, talent and education became more important than noble birth and power. The Tang succeeded in restoring China's bureacracy. They highly promoted foreign trade which helped restore the bureaucracy. Another factor that helped strengthen the Tang empire was the re-conquering of the northen and western lands that were lost to the Hans. Unfortunately, there were a lot of border attacks and rebellions, due to breaking taxes and forced labor on building projects. Even though there were very high taxes, the rulers still failed to pay for the costs of the military. All of these greatly factored to the downfall of the Tang Dynasty.
Song
In 960 a.d. General Taizu reunited China and named himself first emperor of the Song dynasty. He ruled a smaller, but very powerful empire. There was a lot of trading with nomads of Central Asia, Western Europe and Asia. Even though it wasn't a major dynasty, during the Tang and Song the population doubled, which helped the empire rise. During this time, China had become the most advanced and densly populated country. The major inventions helped this. For example: Gunpowder, Porcelain, mechanical clock, magnetic compass, mathematics (negative numbers). Cultivation of rice also improved by a lot. Fast-ripening rice was imported so farmers could produce two crops of rice each year instead of one. This was much needed due to the rapidly increasing population. The Chinese culture spread through East Asia due trade and traveling. Buddhism also spread around Asia. The Song Dynasty was known as the "Golden Age" for poetry and art. The paintings showed a Daoist influence and mostly was pictures of natural scenes. Avery big part of the culture then and even now, was foot binding. This was the act of bindinga woman's foot tighting in cloth cauasing the bridge to break and all the bones to curl besides her big toe. This was a sign of upperclass and grace, but it left the woman permanently crippled for life. While trade flourished, especially with Korea and Japan, the Song tried to buy peace with their enemies by offering silver, silk, and tea. These actions still didn't stop the threats from coming from the north. Another unfortunate factor was the loss of access to the Silk Roads. This did hurt trading, but it also helped. From that loss, they started to trade by sea, which opened a whole new world. During this period, they never regained western or northern land they lost to Nomadic tribes in 751 a.d. In the 1100s the Jurchen conquered Northern China and built the Jin Empire. The Jurchen forced the Song to move across the Haung He river.