Compare And Contrast Tang And Song Dynasties

Ch 12: Reunification and Renaissance in Chinese Civilization: The Era of the Tang and Song Dynasties
Introduction
-Postclassical period saw a vital unification of Chinese civilization • Less fundamental changes occurred than in other places • Established orbit of influence; though isolated, was able to contribute to other areas
-Era of political division and civil strife after breakdown of Han dynasty • Most advances of the Qin-Han era (221 BCE-220 CE) lost • Era of Division (220-589)-Nomadic invasions+endless wars fought by regional kingdoms
-Similar to Era of Warring States before Qin dynasty • Bureaucracy collapsed; non-Chinese nomads ruled much of China • Scholar-gentry declined as aristocrats gained more power; intellectuality
ones of nomadic origin, were Buddhist -Pure land strain of Mahayana Buddhism-Peasants, Chan/Zen Buddhism-Elites • Royal patronage+widespread conversion(Strong force by the Tang Dynasty -Early Tang rulers promoted Buddhism and Confucianism -Built temples, commissioned art, collected texts+relics from India, etc. -Empress Wu matchless in supporting Buddhism; almost made it a state religion -Influence on arts, language, and thinking • Revival of Confucianism threatened Buddhism
-The Anti-Buddhist Backlash • Daoists and Confucians attacked Buddhism as foreign -Daoist monks tried to counter Buddhism by stressing Daoism’s magic -Confucians pointed out that untaxed Buddhist monasteries were an economic liability • By 8th century, emperors began taking measures to stop the growth of
• Condition of women worsened in general during Tang-Song era -Small minority of women had independence and legal rights -Neo-Confucians stressed subordination; women confined to household+had many sexual restrictions -Men had much greater sexual freedom, favored in inheritance, divorce, and familial interaction -Neo-Confucians attacked Buddhism for promoting career alternatives for women -Women excluded from education that would allow civil service and political power • Footbinding exemplified the degree of subordination of Chinese women -Developed from upper-class preference for women w/ small feet that later spread to the lower-class -Girls’ feet bound early so that their feet would be the preferred shapes by maturity -Constant source of pain+limited mobility; limited mobility (easier to confine women to house -Lower class slow to adopt b/c it depended on labor of women, but eventually all classes adopted it
-A Glorious Age: Invention and Artistic Creativity • Tang-Song eras known for accomplishments in science, tech., lit., and fine arts -New tools, production techniques, and weapons spread to other civilizations -Arts and literature not well known beyond borders, but were some of the