Restoration of Centralized Imperial Rule in China: Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties

These flashcards cover the restoration of centralized imperial rule in China under the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties, highlighting key rulers, policies, infrastructure projects, military expansions, diplomatic practices, and the causes of each dynasty’s decline.

Who reunified China after centuries of division following the Han dynasty?

Yang Jian, founder of the Sui dynasty.

Which short-lived dynasty (581-618 CE) re-established centralized imperial rule?

The Sui dynasty.

What massive waterworks did the Sui construct to link northern and southern China?

The Grand Canal.

Primary economic goal of the Grand Canal?

To move rice and other food crops from the Yangtze River valley to northern China economically.

Approximate length of the completed Grand Canal under Sui Yangdi?

Nearly 2,000 km (about 1,200 mi).

Two main reasons Sui public works generated hostility?

High taxes and compulsory labor service involving millions of conscripted workers.

Immediate cause of the Sui dynasty’s fall in 618 CE?

Rebellions sparked by heavy demands for the failed Korean campaigns and the assassination of Emperor Sui Yangdi.

Which dynasty (618-907 CE) followed the Sui and created one of China’s golden ages?

The Tang dynasty.

Name the capable second Tang emperor whose policies set the tone for early Tang success.

Tang Taizong (reigned 626-649 CE).

According to contemporary reports, what was the peasant tax rate under Tang Taizong?

About 2.5 % of the annual harvest (1⁄40).

List the three policies that explain early Tang success.

1) Well-maintained transportation & communications network, 2) Equal-field land-distribution system, 3) Bureaucracy of merit based on civil-service exams.

Purpose of the Tang equal-field system?

To ensure equitable land distribution and prevent concentration of estates.

What eventually strained the equal-field system?

Population growth, aristocratic manipulation, and land accumulation by Buddhist monasteries.

How did the Tang dynasty staff its government positions?

Through a merit-based civil service examination grounded in Confucian education.

Which regions did Tang armies bring under control or influence?

Manchuria, Korea (Silla acknowledgment), northern Vietnam, parts of Tibet, and territory to the Aral Sea.

What ritual gesture did tributary envoys perform at the Tang court?

The kowtow—kneeling and touching the forehead to the ground before the emperor.

Major mid-8th-century rebellion that weakened the Tang dynasty?

The An Lushan Rebellion (755-763 CE).

Which nomadic group was invited to suppress An Lushan’s revolt and later sacked Chang’an and Luoyang?

The Uighurs.

Popular rebellion (875-884 CE) that further damaged Tang authority?

The Huang Chao uprising.

In what year did the last Tang emperor abdicate, ending the dynasty?

907 CE.

Which dynasty (960-1279 CE) restored centralized rule but emphasized civil administration over the military?

The Song dynasty.

Who founded the Song dynasty and curtailed warlord power?

Song Taizu (Zhao Kuangyin).

Key administrative practice introduced by Song Taizu to secure loyalty of officials?

Greatly expanding and lavishly paying the civilian bureaucracy.

Two principal weaknesses that plagued the Song state.

1) Financial strain from an oversized, well-paid bureaucracy; 2) Military weakness due to scholar-official leadership and distrust of generals.

Semi-nomadic people who extracted tribute from the early Song and ruled from Manchuria to Mongolia.

The Khitan (Liao) people.

Which nomads defeated the Khitan, captured Kaifeng in 1127, and established the Jin empire?

The Jurchen.

After losing northern China, where did the Southern Song establish their capital?

Hangzhou.

Final foreign conquest that ended the Southern Song in 1279 CE?

The Mongol conquest.

What concept justified Yang Jian’s seizure of the throne from a child heir?

The Mandate of Heaven.

Which earlier dynasty’s heavy labor policies did the Sui emulate?

The Qin dynasty.

How quickly could Tang couriers on horseback reach the empire’s most distant cities?

In roughly eight days.

What infrastructure supported Tang transportation besides the Grand Canal?

Extensive road networks with inns, postal stations, and stables.

Why is the Grand Canal historically significant beyond the Sui era?

It unified northern and southern economies and remained China’s main internal trade route until railroads arrived in the 20th century.

Which dynasty’s examination-bureaucracy model persisted (with interruptions) for about 1,300 years?

The Sui-Tang model, continued through later dynasties until the fall of the Qing in 1912.

Define ‘Middle Kingdom’ in Chinese diplomacy.

China’s self-perception as the central, superior realm charged with ordering subordinate tributary states.