Unit 1:1 Modern Global History

Cultural traditions: 

  • Filial piety in East Asia

  • Influence of Neo-Confucianism (Daoism/Buddhism focusing on ethics) and Buddhism in East Asia

  • Confucian traditions of both respect for and expected deference from women

  • Chinese literary and scholarly traditions and their spread to Heian Japan and Korea



Buddhism and its core beliefs continued to shape societies in Asia and included a variety of branches, schools, and practices. 



Branches of Buddhism: 

  • Theravada - focused on spiritual growth through silent meditation

  • Mahayana - focused on spiritual growth for all beings and on service

  • Tibetan - focused on chanting


The economy of Song China became increasingly commercialized while continuing to depend on free peasant and artisanal (skilled craft workers) labor. 



The economy of Song China flourished as a result of increased productive capacity, expanding trade networks, and innovations in agriculture and manufacturing. 

Technological innovations: 

  • Champa rice - drought resistant and 2 crops per year

  • Transportation innovations like the Grand Canal expansion

  • Steel and iron production

  • Textiles and porcelains for export

  • Gunpowder for weapons






  • HAN  (ended 220 CE)

  • SUI (589-618) - reunited China

  • TANG (618-907) - “golden age” 

  • SONG (960-1279) - economic revolution

  • YUAN (1271-1368) - Mongol rule

  • MING (1368-1644) - Chinese rule resumed

  • QING (1644-1912) - Manchu rule, final dynasty




  • Centralized, autocratic government under an emperor with a large bureaucracy

    • Emperor was “Son of Heaven” and ruled under Heaven’s Mandate 

    • Six major ministries: personnel, finance, rites, army, justice, and public works

  • Local governments were staffed with officials from the central government to maintain control over the provinces

  • Advanced spy network  

  • Revived Civil Service Exam

    • central feature of upper-class life, replaced the aristocracy

    • more elaborate thanks to ability to print books for the first time

    • Tested over Confucian texts like the Analects

    • Emperor controlled test subject matter, decided who passed, and set quotas for successful candidates

  • Officials selected based on merit (and sometimes sons of the privileged) 

  • Represented a challenge to established aristocrat families’ hold on public office 

    • This essentially weakened the power of aristocrats



Song dynasty culture

  • Continuities in use of Neo Confucianism

    • Use of the five relationships

    • Filial piety 

    • Patriarchal society 

      • Women should be good wives and mothers, preferably of sons 

    • Harmonious family = harmonious state 

  • Value of education 

  • Promoted art, music, poetry, and literature 

    • Many of these spread to East Asian states like Korea and Japan and had a profound effect on the cultures there

  • Taoist values evident in art, poetry, architecture, and gardening 

  • Continued spread of Buddhism (mostly Mahayana) and building of Buddhist temples and monasteries



Song Dynasty achievements

  • Rapid population growth thanks to champa rice

    • champa rice = fast-ripening, drought-resistant rice from Vietnam

  • Most urbanized country in the world

    • dozens of Chinese cities numbered over 100,000

    • Song dynasty capital of Hangzhou had more than a million residents

  • Network of internal waterways (canals, rivers, lakes) - more than 300,000 miles - provided cheap transportation that unified the country



  • Song Dynasty = return of Confucianism = tightening of patriarchal restrictions on women

    • returned Han images of female submission & passivity



  • Tribute system = set of practices that required non-Chinese authorities to acknowledge Chinese superiority and their own subordinate place in a Chinese-centered world order 

  • Foreigners seeking access to China had to send delegation to Chinese court -- would perform rituals of bowing and prostrations - and present tribute



Kowtow, also spelled kotow, the act of supplication made by an inferior to his superior by kneeling and knocking his head to the floor.


Korea and China

  • Temporary Chinese conquest of northern Korea during Han dynasty & colonization by Chinese settlers = channel for Chinese culture = Buddhism

  • Bitter rivals

  • Generally maintained political independence 

  • Tribute system with China

  • Wanted to copy Chinese administrative techniques

  • Korean students studied Confucianism in China

  • Negative impact on Korean women (who had more rights before Chinese Confucian influences arrived) esp. after 1300

  • Examination system never caught on



Vietnam and China

  • Also borrowed heavily from China

  • Adopted Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, administrative techniques, examination system, artistic & literary styles

  • Achieved political independence through tribute system

  • Unlike Korea, they were ruled by Chinese officials for 1,000 years

    • 111 BCE - 939 CE

  • Regarded by the Chinese as “southern barbarians”

  • China expected Vietnam to fully assimilate into China politically and culturally 




China and Japan

  • Japanese never succeeded in creating effective centralized & bureaucratic state to match China

  • Court & emperor remained an important ceremonial & cultural role - real political authority in the country was with aristocratic families (at court & in provinces)

  • Decentralization = local authorities developed their own military power = samurai (warrior class of Japanese society)

  • Buddhism never completely replaced original Japanese beliefs (Shintoism)