Thomas Kierski

AP World History Notes

T’ang Dynasty

• 618-907 CE

• Expanded rapidly under Emperor Xuanzong, but became so large that

warlords gained increasing amount of power, causing collapse of the dynasty.

• Poetry made the T’ang truly unique (tells historians about daily life during
that time)

• Kept CSE based on Confucian principles which created a large core of

educated, talented, and loyal government workers.

• T’ang power was based largely on military garrisons along the central Asian
trade routes

• The T’ang Dynasty’s capital was located at Chang’an.

o It was multinational and multi-religious.

o Center of the tribute system through which independent countries

including Vietnam and Korea acknowledged the supremacy of the
Chinese emperor and sent ambassadors to the city with gifts.

Song Dynasty

• 960-1279 CE

• China was reunified under Emperor Taizu after a brief period of restlessness.

• Developed encyclopedias and history books, along with the printing process.

• New technologies appeared such as gunpowder in primitive weapons.

• Ships known as junks during this time period were highly superior because of
the magnetic compass, watertight bulkheads, and sternpost rudders.

• Improved agricultural production led to a rise in population from 45 million to

115 million from 600 to 1200 CE.

Both Dynasties

• One of the reasons for stability in both dynasties was the use of the civil
service examination.
 o Stressed Meritocracy (earned) rather than Aristocracy (inherited).

o Regardless of who was in charge, the leaders generally depended on

the bureaucracy to carry out the functions of the government.

• Built an extensive transportation and communication network, including

canals.

• Introduced credit and paper money into the banking system.

Women in China

• In the T’ang Dynasty, Wu Zhao became the only Chinese Empress to date.
She was a very able ruler, ruthless to her enemies and compassionate
towards her peasants.

• Most women never gained that kind of power.

o They were considered inferior by men and a woman’s beauty and

femininity were virtues worth protecting.

o During the Song Dynasty, foot binding became popular.

Chinese Religion

• There were many religions that had influence in China including Nestorians,
Manicheans, Zoroastrians, and Islam.

• However, Buddhism had the most influence by far.

• The two types of Buddhism were Mahayana and Chan.

o Mahayana Buddhism appealed to many because of its emphasis on a

peaceful and quiet existence.

o Chen (or Zen) Buddhism won converts in the educated classes, who
generally followed the tenants of Confucianism.

• Both the Confucians and the Daoists reacted strongly to the spread of
Buddhism.

o Confucians saw Buddhism as a drain on both the treasury and the

labor pool, because Buddhism dismissed the pursuit of material
accumulation.

o Daoists saw Buddhism as a rival religion that was winning over many
of its adherants.
 o In the mid-800s Emperor Wuzong destroyed thousands of Buddhist
temples in an attempt to reduce the influence of Buddhism on China.

Neo-Confucianism

• During the late T’ang and early Song Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism

developed.

o The followers of this philosophy borrowed Buddhist ideas about the

soul and the individual.

o This new tradition became the guiding doctrine of the Song Dynasty
and the basis for civil service.

• Familial devotion, the maintenance of proper roles, and loyalty to one’s

superiors were again emphasized.

Japan

• The first important ruling family in Japan was the Yamoto Clan, who emerged
as leaders in the fifth century.

• Early on, Shinto religion took hold in Japan.

o Under Shinto, the Japanese worshiped kami, which refers to nature and
all of the forces of nature, both the seen and unseen.

o The religion encouraged obedience and proper behavior.

o The Yamoto claimed that the emperor was a direct descendant of the
sun goddess, which helped to keep him in power.

• In 522, Buddhist missionaries went to Japan and brought with them Chinese
culture.

o Buddhism spread rapidly, but didn’t replace Shinto.

o Most Japanese adopted Buddhism while hanging on to their Shinto

beliefs.

• Prince Shotoku borrowed bureaucratic and legal reforms, which were

modeled on the success of the T’ang Dynasty in China. (These reforms were
enacted after his death as the Taika Reforms.)

• In Japan, unlike China, the noble classes were hereditary, not earned.

• In 794, the Japanese capital was moved to Heian, and Chinese influence
abated.
 • The Fujiwara family intermarried over several generations with the emperor’s
family and soon ran the affairs of the country. (The emperor remained as a
figurehead but the real power had shifted to members of the Fujiwara family.)

Feudal Japan

• By the twelfth century, power in Japan had spread across a larger and larger
pool of noble families which fought over control of small territories. Japan had
developed into a feudal system similar to the one in Europe.

• Feudalism in Europe and Japan developed at around the same time.

• The shogun (or chief general) was appointed by the emperor. The shogun
held all the power while the emperor remained as a figurehead.

o Below the shogun were daimyo, owners of large tracts of land, similar
to lords in Europe.

o The daimyo were powerful samurai, which were like the European
knights.

o They, in turn, divided up their land to lesser samurai (vassals), who

split their land again.

o Peasants and artisans worked the fields and shops to support the
samurai class.

• The samurai followed a strict code of conduct known as the Code of Bushido
(similar to the code of chivalry).

o This code stressed loyalty, honor, and courage.

o If a samurai failed to meet his obligations under this code, he was

expected to commit suicide.

• Unlike European feudalism, women in Japan were not held in high esteem.

Vietnam and Korea

• Large scale military campaigns of the T’ang resulted in cultural exchange in

Vietnam and Korea.

• Though Korea had its own powerful dynasty, it became a vassal-state of

China to maintain the appearance of cordial relations with the powerful
country.

o This resulted in Korean schools and the imperial court being organized
much like those of the Chinese.
 o The power of the royal houses and nobility in Korea prevented the
development of a true bureaucracy based on merit.

o The tribute relationship was also responsible for the spread of

Confucianism and Chan Buddhism to Korea.

• The Vietnamese were much less willing to accept even the appearance of a
tribute relationship with China, and actively resisted the T’ang armies.

India

• Islamic invaders settled in Delhi under their leader, the sultan.

• Because of this, the kingdom is referred to as the Delhi Sultanate.

• For over 200 years, beginning in 1206, Islam spread throughout much of
northern India.

o While many Hindus held on to their religious beliefs, the sultans were
highly offended by the Hinduism’s polytheistic ways and did their best
to convert them.

o Non-Muslims under the sultans in India had to pay a tax.

o Hindu temples were sometimes destroyed, and occasionally violence

erupted in communities.

• An amazing amount of progress was made in India despite the differences

between the Islamic and Hindu cultures.

o Colleges were founded, irrigation systems were improved, and

amazing architecture was built.

The Rise and Fall of the Mongols

• The Mongols were superb horsemen and archers and probably could have
been a world power early on in the development of major civilizations.
(However feuding clans and tribes kept them from unifying, so for centuries
they fought with each other and remained fairly isolated.)

• Genghis Khan (or Chingiss Khan) unified the Mongol tribes and set them on a
path of expansion that would lead to the largest empire the world had ever
seen.

• Genghis Khan led the Mongol invasion of China in 1234, which was the
beginning of the enormous Mongolian conquests.
 • The Mongol Empire eventually spanned from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern
Europe.

o The empire was split into hordes, or small, independent empires.

o The Golden Horde conquered the region of modern-day Russia.

o In China, Kublai Khan ruled.

• The Mongols were ruthless fighters, but once their domain was established,
the empire was relatively peaceful.

o The continuous empire allowed for the exchange of goods, ideas, and
culture from one distant region to another.

o Mongols eventually became assimilated into the cultures of the people

they defeated.

• Because the Mongol Empire was so enormous, and conquered so many

different kinds of civilizations, it did not attempt to force a unified religion or
way of life on its people.

• The Mongols made many advances in the arts and sciences. However, the
Mongol Empire stifled cultural growth in the areas it conquered.

• The Mongols conquered parts of India under their leader Timur Lang.

o He destroyed everything in sight and massacred thousands and then

quickly swept out.

o The sultanate was destroyed, but after Timur Lang pulled out, the rest
of the Mongols followed.

o The Sultanate was restored a few years later.

The Mongol Impact

• The Mongols were often assimilated by those that they conquered.

o In Persia, for example, most Mongols became Muslim.

• Elsewhere, Mongols either couldn’t absorb those they conquered or

intentionally didn’t.

o In China, for example, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis, dismissed

the Confucian scholars, forbade marriage between Mongols and
Chinese, and wouldn’t allow the Chinese to learn the Mongol language.
• There were two major consequences of the Mongol rule.

o The first is Russia, which was conquered by the Golden Horde and
treated as a vassal-state. It didn’t unify or culturally develop as quickly
as its European neighbors to the west.

o The second, and globally more important impact was that world trade,
cultural diffusion, and awareness grew.

• By 1450, as the Mongol Empire was well into its decline, the world would
never again be disconnected.