1. Ancient China

Chinese Dynasties - Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han,

- Yang Jian impose tight political discipline on his state - extended his rule

- 589 C.E., house of Sui ruled all of China - 589 C.E.-618 C.E.

- Grand Canal - large water project - connected north and south

- establish economic foundation - unity

- helped trade between the north and south

- depended on taxes and forced labor

- made by second emperor - Siu Yangchi

- Late 610s - religions broke out in China - Tang Dynasty takes over

- Tang Taizong - wanted to provide a good and strong government

- stopped a lot of stealing

- low taxes - supplemented by rent payments and compulsory labor

- A lot of development

- had good transportation and communications

- Distribution of land - 1/5 of the land for inheritance, some remained for redistribution

- Confucian education system - used to make sure people weren't corrupt

- Maintained tributary relationships with neighboring lands

- Korea, Vietnam, Japan, etc.

- Population boom

- Carelessness began to decline the Dynasty - rebellion in 755 C.E.

- rebellion surpressed, but it weakened the Dynasty

- Eventually ended in 907 C.E.

- Warlord rule China - Song Dynasty takes over in 960

- population is massive - 50 million

- put emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and the arts

- invented wooden block printing system (immovable)

- expanded bureaucracy based on merit, put civil bureaucrats in charge of forces

- Iron, helped further expand the population

- Massive producer of luxury goods

- invented paper money

- Taken over - Bureaucrats were not good at utilizing troops

- Yuan Dynasty

- benefit from a series of agricultural, technological, industrial, and commercial developments

- Became an economic powerhouse

- agricultural production - Fast-ripening rice, animal pulled plows, manure and compost, and extensive irrigation

- rapid expansion of population - towns with hundreds of thousands of people

- Also had extensive transportation networks

- Patriarchal social structure - foot binding - sign of delicacy

- rare female ruler - Wu Zhao - married the emperor, then claimed the title for herself

- Developed porcelain - chinaware

- production of iron and steel went up

- developed gunpowder

- Printing became common

- Naval technology - Magnetic compass

- Trade developed - experienced a shortage of copper coins, made paper money and checks

- Issue of counterfeit notes

- Turned China into a prosperous, cosmopolitan society - promoted trade and growth

- Creates a new belief system - Malayan Buddhism

- Religion

- Fall of Han Dynasty - Confucianism declined

- Many new religions established communities

- Mahayana Buddhism, Nestorian Christians, Manichaeans, Muslims, and Zoroastrians

- Buddhism - attracted people with its high morality and intellectuality

- tailored messages to the Chinese - dao, wuwei

- Benefit to the extended family - one person in the monastery would bring salvation for his kin

- distinctive schools emerge in China - Chan Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism

- Got resistance from Daoists and Confucians - formed allies, eventually shut down Buddhism

- Neo Confucianism - fusion of Buddhism and Confucianism

- Zhu Xi - important philospher

- influenced a majority of east Asia

- Koreans - take examples from the Chinese

- Recognized the Tang Dynasty as their overlord

- mostly independent, pay the Chinese tributaries

- Vietnam - tributary relationship with China

- pushback against China - gained independence when the Tang dynasty falls

- Japan - deeply influenced by China

- had Buddhism, Confucianism, but also had Shinto

- Shinto - Veneration of ancestors and a host of nature spirits and dieties

- Heian period - emperor moved his court from Nara to Heian (modern kyoto)

- emperors were mostly figureheads

- literature mainly written in Chinese

- Heian court ends due to major countryside changes

- had a shogun - ruled over the emperor - military governor

- had a decentralized political order

- provincial lands held power, had samurai, supported by food from their lords