What is this about?
Developments in China and other places in East Asia during 1200-1400
Song Dynasty in power from mid 900s to late 1200s
- China flourished in the arts, enjoyed great wealth, and was politically stable
🇨🇳 China
🗳️ Political Developments
Civil Service Exams
- Initially was a major factor contributing to the success of the Song Dynasty in China
- This is because it was very efficient in managing affairs
- By the end of the Song Dynasty the bureaucracy was also a cause of the dynasty’s demise as it was expensive and sucked up wealth desperately needed
- How exams worked:
- Based on meritocracy, meaning as long as you passed the exam, no matter your economic status you got in the bureaucracy
- Exams based on knowledge of Confucian texts
- Rich still had advantage though as they had more resources to prep for the difficult exams
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💸 Economic Developments
Grand Canal
- Man-made waterway in China
- Connected northern and southern parts of China and was used to transport goods and people between the two regions
- Helped to boost trade and commerce in China and made China much more economically powerful
- Also helped transport agricultural products from the fertile south to the arid north
Gunpowder
- Although it was invented before this time period, innovators in the Song Dynasty made the first guns
- Later gunpowder and guns spread from China to other parts of Eurasia through the Silk Road
Champa Rice
- Is a fast-ripening and drought-resistant strain of rice from Vietnam
- When introduced in China during the Song Dynasty, it led to a dramatic increase in food supply
- This further led to an increase in population which led to an increase in urbanization, commerce, and trade, supported by the surplus of food
Steel
- Used to strengthen agricultural equipment
- You can say that it helped contribute to ⬆️ food and ⬆️ population as it helped to make agriculture more efficient
Commonly Produced Goods
- Silk and porcelain!
- Very highly desired commodities that were transported by sea and by land through the Silk Road to distant places
Compass
- Was invented in the 200s but was used for navigation purposes for the first time in the Song Dynasty
- Thanks to the compass, maritime trade and exploration became easier during the Song Dynasty
- Also gave them a military advantage as they could navigate through unfamiliar territory more efficiently
- Allowed the Song Dynasty to establish itself as a major military power and exert its power on other places in Asia
Tribute System
- System in which other states sent gifts and envoys to China to show respect and recognize China as the superior and dominant power
- In exchange China promised protection and trade rights
- By Song Dynasty, Japan, Korea, and other states in southeast Asia were tributary states
- Chinese emperor expected tributary envoys to perform kowtow, in which one bowed their head till it reached to the floor to show respect
- Cemented China’s economic and political power over states outside its boundaries
đź‘Ą Social Structures in China
Urbanization
- Before Song Dynasty most Chinese lived in rural areas
- This changed during the Song Dynasty: urbanization ⬆️
- Example of cities included Chang’an, Hangzhou, Guangzhou
- These cities were active centers of commerce
China’s Class Structure
- Emperor at the top (obviously)
- Next is the scholar gentry, who passed the rigorous civil service exams and became part of the bureaucracy
- Farmers and peasants
- Made up the majority of the population
- Although low status, they were respected and seen as the backbone of the economy as they provided food for the population
- Artisans were craftsmen who made goods like silk and porcelain, were respected as well
- Merchants
- Lowest class, were looked down upon/not respected
- Song dynasty is heavily based on Confucian values based on hard work, and people saw merchants as people who merely profit off other people’s stuff and people who didn’t actually contribute anything to society
- They did grow wealthy and played an important role in the Song dynasty’s economy, but nevertheless they were generally not respected
Role of Women
- Confucian traditions emphasized patriarchy
- Women expected to obey men
- Foot binding:
- Done primarily by wealthy families as it was seen as a symbol of beauty and social status
- Also limited the ability for women to move, making them more dependent on husbands
- Represents gender inequality and belief that women were inferior to men
đź’ľ Technological Developments
🙏 Cultural Developments
Religious Diversity
- Buddhism starts to gain more widespread popularity
- Chan Buddhism in particular gained widespread popularity during Song Dynasty
- Example of syncretism: Buddhist ideas combined with Daoist traditions to form this
- Emphasized direct spiritual connection and meditation instead of studying scriptures and formal learning
- Also known as Zen Buddhism
- Song Dynasty didn’t really care much about Buddhism: they didn’t hate it but they didn’t go out of their way to promote it either
- Neo-Confucianism also became popular during the Song Dynasty
- Syncretic religion combining Confucianism with Buddhism and Daoism
- Incorporated Confucian ideal of filial piety
- Belief that one should show respect and obedience to their parents, elders and rulers
- Confucian ideals were more realistic while Buddhist/Daoist ideals were more abstract
Comparing China with its Tributary States
🇯🇵 Japan
Impact of Chinese Culture
- Buddhism and Confucianism gained ground in Japan alongside Japan’s native Shinto religion
- During Heian Period (794-1185) Japan emulated Chinese traditions in politics, art, and literature
- Tale of Genji is example of Japan taking unique direction away from Chinese influence
- Gave new ground for Japanese literature to separate itself and become its own thing apart from Chinese literature
Feudalism
- Japan during this time did not have a central government and was instead a feudal society
- Daimyo = landowning aristocrats who fought among each other for land
- Basically feudal lords
- Majority of people were peasants (known as serfs) who worked as rice farmers
- Samurai were the warriors who protected the lands of the daimyo and were part of a prestigious social class
- Followed bushido, which was the code samurai were expected to follow
- Emphasized loyalty, honor even at death
- Connection to European feudalism
- Similar as in both peasants and serfs were confined to the daimyo’s land and were forced to work for them
- Also similar as warriors were expected to follow chivalry, Japanese samurai expected to follow bushido
- Different as in Japan, the daimyo were more powerful than even the emperor and shogun while in Europe the emperor had control over the lords
- While China had a strong central government where the emperor had effective control over the country, Japan had a shogun ruled by the Minamato clan while the emperor had little power
🇰🇷 Korea
Similarity to China
- Koreans adopted Buddhism and Confucianism
- Confucianism more popular among elites, Buddhism more popular among peasants
- Adopted Chinese writing system
- Centralized its government based on the way the Chinese did
- Note that one factor contributing to a lot of the similarities was how geographically close Korea was to China
Differences with China
- Biggest one was Korea’s powerful aristocracy
- Only elite could take civil service exams, not peasants
- Meaning Korea’s civil service exams were not merit based
🇻🇳 Vietnam
- Had a much more hostile relationship with China compared to the other tributary states
Gender and Social Structure
- Vietnamese women had much more freedom compared to Chinese women who followed Confucian traditions
- Vietnamese rejected Chinese traditions of foot binding and polygamy
- Chinese households also included extended family, but Vietnamese households only held the nuclear family
- Nuclear family = just wife, husband, children
- Political centralization was nonexistent in Vietnam: villages operated on their own
- Vietnamese scholar-officials maintained loyalty to their village peasants, not to the emperor
- Due to these differences many were hostile to Chinese assimilation