Imperial China
Fall of the Han Dynasty
• The once powerful Han Dynasty falls for several reasons:
1. Corruption: Emperors grew interested to amuse themselves as local leaders grew
distaste for them.
2. Taxation: Noble classes were exempt and peasants would evade the tax men, so
government did not collect enough money.
3. Nomads: Threatened the Silk Road unless paid but Han Dynasty didn’t have enough
money.
4. Rebellions: Yellow Turbans were a political religion group against Han.
• A general by the name of Dong Zhuo captured Luoyang (the capital) and burnt it to the ground
and kidnapped the 13 year old emperor.
• After his death the Han Dynasty fell and caused the Period of Disunion.
Period of Disunion
• This period of time lasted from 220 to 589 CE.
• Mix of peace and warfare: Romance of the Three Kingdoms
occurred during this period.
• Northern Chinese people adopted nomadic ways of life and
vice versa.
• Some northerners fled and mixed in with the southern Chinese
people.
Buddhism Spreads
• Buddhism originated in India at 500 BCE.
• During the Period of Disunion Buddhism spread because of the chaos
occurring and people wanted to find a way out by achieving a state of
peace.
• Missionaries spread to Japan, Korea, and other parts of Asia.
• Age of Buddhism was from 400 to 845. It ended when a Tang emperor
destroyed Buddhism temples, and converted some buildings into
schools.
Sui Dynasty
• Northern ruler Yang Jian united China and ended the
Period of Disunion in 589.
• Brought order back to China and started building the
Grand Canal, a canal linking between northern and
southern China.
• Lasted from 589 to 618
Tang Dynasty
• Overthrew the Sui Dynasty and ruled for 300 years.
• This dynasty is known as the ‘Golden Age’ of Chinese civilization.
• Emperor Taizong expanded territory and created many law codes.
• Xuanzong’s reign expanded China’s culture, especially poetry.
• Empress Wu was the only woman who ruled China. She ruled ruthlessly
against her opponents with a secret police force. Though she rose to power
by brute force, she was a benign ruler by treating everyone fairly, replaced
military leaders with scholars and lowered tax.
Tang Dynasty’s achievements
• Built biggest capital known as Chang’an. It was a religions and philosophical
center.
• Developed gunpowder
• Gunpowder: Mixture of powders used in guns and explosives.
• Developed woodblock printing
• Woodblock printing: Form of printing in which an entire page is carved into a
block of wood.
• Developed compass
• Compass: Instrument that used earth’s magnetic filed to show direction.
Song Dynasty
• Reunified China at 960 and ruled for another 300 years.
• They developed China’s first permanent navy.
• First government to use banknotes
• They also produced porcelain.
• Porcelain: Thin, beautiful type of pottery.
• Developed a vast amount of farmland in Chang Jiang. These fields produced mainly rice and
some new resources such as cotton and tea. Food was in abundance and fed about 100 million
people.
Confucianism and Influence
in Government
Review on Confucianism
• Confucius focused on ethics.
• Ethics: Proper Behavior
• He focused on two principles, li and ren.
• Li: Appropriate behavior
• Ren: Concern for others
• Order was important and key to both philosophy and government.
• Confucianism was influential during the Han Dynasty until the Period of Disunion.
Buddhism kept Confucianism in the shadows and stayed that way during the Sui
and Tang dynasties.
Neo-Confucianism under Song Dynasty
• This philosophy occurred during the Song Dynasty.
• Their focus is based more on spiritual matters.
• Song Dynasty developed bureaucracies.
• Bureaucracy: Body of unelected government officials
• In order to work for a bureaucracy people had to pass the civil service examinations.
• Civil Service: Service as a government official.
• Those who passed the civil service exams became scholar-official. These people were
elites.
• Scholar-official: Educated member of the government.
Yuan & Ming Dynasties
The Mongols
• Nomadic peoples who attacked the Chinese from the north.
• A powerful leader named Temujin gave himself a new title Genghis Khan in 1206.
• Genghis Khan: “Universal Ruler”
• Brutal tactics used to cause terror to all peoples through Asia and Eastern Europe.
• By the time Genghis Khan died, the Mongols controlled northern China.
• In 1260 his grandson Kublai Khan took over. By 1279 he conquered all of China.
Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, also known as the Mongol Ascendency. This
is the first time foreigners ruled China.
Kublai Khan and Yuan Dynasty
• Never forced the Chinese to adopt Mongol way of life but never allowed
Chinese scholars from getting to powerful.
• Chinese had to pay heavy taxation. Tax money was used to fund public
projects such as the Grand Canal’s extension, palaces, postal system.
• Mongol soldiers traveled to keep the peace.
• Between 1271 and 1295 an Italian merchant named Marco Polo respected
Kublai Khan to the point of serving at his court. He wrote many books about
China that caused other European countries to have interest.
Fall of Yuan Dynasty
• Mongols attempted to attack Japan in 1274 an 1281.
Both campaigns ended in failure because violent storms
destroyed most ships and the Japanese held their
ground.
• Public works projects crashed the economy.
• Chinese resentment led to rebellion. Zhu Yuanzhang, a
former monk, led it and reclaimed the land under
Chinese rule.
Ming Dynasty
• Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor and founded the Ming
dynasty from 1368 to 1644.
• Sailing drastically improved under Ming rule. Zheng He led
seven voyages across the Indian Ocean and went as far as the
Persian Gulf from 1405 to 1433.
• He gave great gifts to various leaders and boasted China’s
influence. His voyages showcased China’s power.
Ming Dynasty’s Projects
• Known for impressive projects such as the Forbidden City in Beijing.
• The name was coined because common people were not allowed into
it.
• The palace contains hundreds of homes, temples, and other
government buildings. There are around 9,000 rooms.
• Ming Dynasty restored the Great Wall of China. Compared to the
United States, both ends would comes from New York to San Diego.
Ming Dynasty’s Government and Foreign Policy
• Ming emperors eliminated offices of powerful officials and gave that power to
themselves.
• Bureaucracy was allowed but limited enough to keep order.
• Ming dynasty had examinations for those who wanted to be a censor.
• Censor: Officials sent out through China to oversee local leaders behavior and judge
quality of schools and other public establishments.
• Zheng He was forced to return from traveling and the emperor of the time banned
foreign trade. His foreign policy was based on isolationism
• Isolationism: Policy in avoiding contact with other countries.
• This new policy caused the Ming Dynasty’s downfall. In 1800s European powers easily
took over China due to their technological advances as China’s advancement remained
in silence…
