East Asia in the Post-Classical Period
1. Sui Dynasty (581–618 C.E.)
Reunification: Followed nearly 400 years of post-Han chaos.
Sui Yangdi (Emperor):
Unified China through expansion (south, Korea, Central Asia).
Ruled with harsh, dictatorial methods.
Grand Canal:
Major public works project for transporting rice from Yangtze valley to northern capital (Luoyang).
Linked food production to political centers, supported northern stability.
Built by thousands of conscripted peasants.
Urbanization & Defense:
Hangzhou expanded due to trade; defense lines (city wall) built.
Long Wall (part of Great Wall) reinforced.
End of Dynasty:
Collapsed after ~40 years due to excessive taxes, conscription, and autocratic rule.
Emperor assassinated in 618.
2. Tang Dynasty (618–907 C.E.)
Prosperity and Expansion:
Period of prosperity, political stability, and territorial expansion (west to Central Asia, north to Manchuria, south into modern Vietnam).
Tributary System:
“Middle Kingdom” worldview with non-Chinese states paying tribute and performing kowtow rituals.
Example: Silla Kingdom in Korea paid tribute.
Achievements:
More developed transportation (roads, canals), postal/messenger services.
Reduction of banditry.
Strengthened bureaucracy; civil service examinations central for merit-based recruitment, coexisting with aristocratic advantages.
Xuanzang (629–646 C.E.):
Buddhist monk who traveled to India via Silk Roads, studied at Nalanda University.
Returned with texts, greatly advancing Buddhist scholarship in China.
An Lushan Rebellion (755–763 C.E.):
Devastated Tang China, involving ~100,000 soldiers; crushed with Uighur help.
Caused millions of deaths, leading to long-term weakening.
Dynasty collapsed in 907.
3. Song Dynasty (960–1279)
Overview:
Followed Tang, saw continued prosperity and cultural flourishing.
Faced significant pressure from northern nomads (Jin, Mongols).
Capital Relocations:
Began in Chang’an (Xian); moved to Kaifeng (early Song) due to nomadic threats.
Moved to Hangzhou (Southern Song) after 1127 following loss of northern control to Jin.
Divided China:
Northern Song (before 1127) and Southern Song (1127–1279).
Southern Song survived until Mongol conquest.
Economic & Agricultural Developments:
Accelerated prosperity and population growth.
State promoted land reform and agriculture, expanded bureaucratic opportunities.
Equal-field system (reintroduced during Tang, continued in Song):
Aimed to distribute land more evenly, weaken aristocracy, provide cultivation parcels.
Effective for ~100 years but eroded by aristocratic bribery.
Agricultural Innovations:
Manure fertilization; elaborate irrigation (ditches, water wheels, pumps, terraces).
Heavy plows by water buffalo/oxen.
Champa rice (fast-ripening from Vietnam) allowed two crops/year in warmer southern regions.
Grand Canal amplified southern production’s reach to northern markets.
Proto-industrialization:
More non-agricultural, commercially oriented production than earlier civilizations.
Notably porcelain and silk; rise in manufacturing and crafts.
Urbanization:
Highly urbanized with Hangzhou, Chang’an, and Guangzhou as major cosmopolitan hubs.
Described by Marco Polo as advanced (silk, paper money, diverse populations).
Paper Money & Finance:
Flying cash (paper money system) facilitated long-distance commerce.
Abacuses used by merchants/tax collectors.
Private paper money restricted by state; laid groundwork for modern banking.
Foreign Trade:
Revived Silk Roads under Abbasids.
Tang offered advanced technologies (compass, paper, gunpowder) and high-value goods (porcelain, tea, silk) for imports (cotton, precious stones, horses).
Naval innovations and better navigation supported maritime trade.
Maritime Technology:
Magnetic compass, improved rudder, jun ships (large with multiple sails, compartmentalized hulls).
Jun ships reached lengths around 400 feet.
Innovations in Commerce:
Coin: minted precious metals (c. 500 ext{ B.C.E.}, Lydia, Turkey).
Caravanserai: inns for trade, rest (c. 500 ext{ B.C.E.}, Persian Empire).
Paper Money: currency in paper form (c. 800 ext{ C.E.}, China).
Hanseatic League: post-classical market/merchant guild confederation (c. 1296 ext{ C.E.}, Germany).
Banking House: precursor to modern banks (c. 200 ext{ B.C.E.}, China).
Bill of Exchange: written order to pay sum to party (c. 700 ext{ C.E.}, China).
Social Structure & Urbanization:
Rise of scholar-gentry (educated in Confucian classics, gained government influence).
Literacy/education rose, but bureaucracy costs strained state finances.
Roles of Women:
Patriarchy intensified; foot binding emerged as a sign of elite status/beauty.
Restricted women’s mobility; rural women faced less constraint.
Intellectual & Cultural Flourishing:
Paper and wood-block printing enabled broader access to literature and Buddhist scriptures.
Li Bo (701–762) & Du Fu (712–770s): major Tang poets; Li Bo (light, love, friendship, wine), Du Fu (somber, hardships).
Painting & Daoism: landscape painting (shan shui) celebrated nature, Daoist influence prominent.
Buddhism & Daoism in China:
Buddhism arrived via Silk Roads, syncretized with Daoist concepts.
Chan Buddhism (Zen) emphasized direct experience/meditation.
Monasteries became powerful landholders; faced state pushback (closures, land seizures) during Tang.
Song improved attitudes but favored Neo-Confucianism.
Neo-Confucianism (c. 770–840):
Synthesis of Confucian ethics with Daoist/Buddhist metaphysics.
Became influential in Song China, spread to Japan, Korea, Vietnam.
Shaped social ethics, education, state ideology.
4. Japan
Overview:
Contacts with China formed crucial axis, but Japan retained distinct institutions.
Taika Reforms (646 onward):
Aimed to centralize power, adapt Chinese-style governance.
Promoted centralized state, direct taxation, reduced aristocratic control.
Nara Period (710–794):
Chinese-style capital at Nara; shift toward centralized administration.
Fujiwara clan later dominated government.
Heian Period (794–1185):
Imperial court in Heian (Kyoto); power gradually decentralized.
Equal-field system undermined by noble power; civil service exams not open to peasants.
The Tale of Genji (early 11th century): written by Murasaki Shikibu, insights into court life.
Military Rule & Rise of Samurai:
Decline of centralized court power; rise of Minamoto clan established shogunate (military government).
Kamakura (1185–1333) and Muromachi (1336–1573) periods: shogun held real power, emperor as figurehead.
Samurai became dominant warrior class, recruited by landlords.
5. Korea and Vietnam in Relation to China
Korea:
Maintained tribute-based relationship, adopted Chinese political/cultural practices.
Aristocracy resisted Chinese reforms; civil service exam not open to peasants.
Vietnam:
Characterized by sinification but strong resistance to full cultural assimilation.
Vietnamese language distinct; village-based governance persisted.
Traded tortoise shells, ivory, pearls for Chinese silk.
Scholars studied Chinese but maintained own spoken language; periods of Buddhist/Confucian influence.
Gender and Social Structure:
Confucian social norms dominated.
Vietnamese culture offered relatively greater female autonomy.
Polygyny and restrictions on women were issues in both regions.
6. Critical Takeaways & Cross-Regional Relevance
Centralization & Meritocracy:
Long-term effects on administration and state capacity.
Infrastructure & Agricultural Innovations:
Role of Grand Canal, Champa rice, irrigation in sustaining population growth and fiscal capacity.
Interplay of Religious Traditions:
Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism and their social-ethical implications (monastic land holdings, education, gender norms).
Diffusion of Technology & Finance:
Gunpowder, compass, paper money, flying cash and global commerce/military power.
Pattern of Regional Influence:
How China shaped Korea, Vietnam, Japan, while each retained distinctive political systems.
7. Key Terms and Definitions (Glossary)
kowtow: Ritual bow to the Chinese emperor indicating superior status; sign of tribute relations.
Champa rice: Fast-ripening rice from Vietnam; allowed two harvests/year in southern China.
equal-field system: Land distribution policy to prevent land monopolies; effective for ~100 years.
jun: Large Chinese sailing vessel with multiple sails and compartmentalized hulls (up to ~400 ext{ ft} long).
flying cash: Early paper-money transfer system; foundational for later banking.
Chan Buddhism: Chinese form of Zen; emphasized meditation and direct experience.
Neo-Confucianism: Synthesis of Confucian ethics with Daoist/Buddhist metaphysical ideas; influential across East Asia.