Varieties of Civilizations, 1200-1450 — China and East Asia Notes

By 1200, East Asia featured Song China at the core, with Korea, Vietnam, and Japan forming distinct East Asian civilizations shaped by proximity to China; all borrowed elements from Chinese culture but remained politically separate.
Proximity to a powerful neighbor led these states to interact through trade, culture, and political ties without full political incorporation into China.

Song dynasty period: 960-1279; stable rule and cultural florescence.
Bureaucratic state: Six major ministries; Censorate for official oversight; revival and expansion of the examination system; schools and colleges proliferated to prepare candidates; rise of the scholar-official class.
Social mobility: merit-based recruitment existed but aristocratic families still held many offices; many exam graduates remained outside officialdom and combined landownership with scholarly prestige.
Economic revolution: rapid population growth and commercialization; population grew from 50-60\ ext{million} in the early periods to 120\ ext{million} by 1200; Champa rice boosted yields; urbanization with many cities over 10^5 inhabitants and Hangzhou exceeding 1{,}000{,}000 residents.
Industrial growth: large-scale and household production increasing; metallurgy expansion—armor, arrowheads, coins, tools, and Buddhist temple bells; energy from coal.
Technological innovations: woodblock and movable-type printing; world’s first printed books; advances in navigation and shipbuilding; gunpowder development created a global military impact.
Economic institutions: widespread use of cash and early financial instruments (letters of credit, promissory notes); cash taxes required selling goods or labor to pay obligations.

Internal waterways network: roughly 30{,}000\ ext{miles}, including the Grand Canal of over 1{,}000\ ext{miles}, enabling cheap movement of goods.
Market-driven agriculture: peasants specialized in cash crops for sale; households sold goods to meet cash tax requirements.
Commercialization: output, skills, and inventive activity intensified; Song China became the wealthiest and most populous economy of its time.

Printing: woodblock and movable type expanded the availability of books and literacy.
Gunpowder: early adoption in military affairs; contributed to a shift in warfare beyond China’s borders over time.
Navigation and shipbuilding: advanced technologies supported long-distance trade and exploration.
Paper money and finance: development of cash currencies and credit instruments facilitated a broader market economy.

Patriarchal norms intensified: Confucian views stressed male authority and female subordination; the saying "The boy leads the girl" reflects gender ideology.
Foot binding: painful practice begun among dancers and courtesans in earlier periods and widespread among elites; linked to beauty ideals of small feet and femininity, reinforcing women’s confinement to the inner quarters.
Women’s property rights and education: property rights expanded for women; some dowries and inheritance passed through female hands; educated women could contribute to family fortunes; officials urged female education to raise sons.
Mixed impact: tightening patriarchy coexisted with modest gains in women’s property control and family education efforts.

Korea, Vietnam, and Japan adopted many elements of Chinese culture (bureaucracy, Confucianism, Buddhism) but retained distinctive political structures.
Relationships with China involved exchange and influence without permanent political absorption.
East Asian civilizations remained culturally connected yet politically diverse.

AP EXAM TIP: Know that China had the world’s highest population and the greatest number of urban areas by 1200.
AP EXAM TIP: Understand the uses and spread of gunpowder after 1200.
AP EXAM TIP: China had the world’s leading economy around 1200; features include paper money and a large, commercialization-driven economy.
AP Contextualization: Foot binding illustrates the tightening of patriarchy and the social dynamics within Song China.