Chinese Society During The Tang Dynasties

The governmental structure was great in the Tang dynasty and included: the Secretariat created and wrote bills, the Chancellery reviewed and changed bills, and the Department of State Affairs put the bills into place.  The Department of State was the head of the government and in it there were six ministries: one for personnel, military, finance, rites, justice, and public works.  Many other

The Tang and Song dynasties in China existed between 618 to 1279 CE. Throughout this period, there were many developments in art, poetry, and technology. China was highly influential all around the world. It became known as the Golden Age of China. With advances in technology and ideas that could improve the everyday life, a unified government, and a strong economic system, the Tang and Song dynasties became the Golden Age of China.

Starting in 468 BCE during the Zhou dynasty, the Grand Canal took about 6 million peasants about a millennium to build. The construction of this canal finally finished in 610 CE under Emperor Yangdi of the Sui dynasty. Changing China’s staple from millet and wheat to rice was the main reason of the building of the canal, but it also helped Chinese economy by connecting the more productive southern China to the capitals in northern china. It increased interdependence between the north and the south. One section of the Grand Canal was also intended to supply Chinese armies which led to better defense and administration in China. Also, in building the canal, officials were required to work together, so the Grand Canal brought better authority and unity to political officials. The downside of this canal, though, was the number of peasants killed in constructing it. Over half of the 6 million peasants employed to build the canal died in building it, which was a reason the Sui dynasty fell. The great Grand Canal set the foundation for the great Tang dynasty.

While China culturally remained the same from the 600s to the late 1400s, the country hardly changed politically either. A monarchy completely dominated China’s government during these years. Under the Tang dynasty, the rulers constantly changed and new policies were thought of, but the overall government did not change. The Tang Code, the criminal or penal code, was established in 624. It synthesised Legalist and Confucian of law, and it has constantly been considered one of the greatest achievemnts of traditional Chinese law. This code became the basis of later codes in both China and other parts of Asia. During the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhanged began the draft of a new Confucian law code, the Daming Lu, which repeated various clauses that were found in the Tang Code years ago. Specific aspects in the Tang dynasty were revived during the Ming dynasty, resulting in a very slight amount of change for the lives of Chinese citizens for almost 800 years. Women’s status remained lower than that of

China was divided for almost four centuries. It became unified in 581 with the founding of the new dynasties, Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. During the time of these dynasties, many changes took place. There were changes in the political, social, and economic structures. The first changes took place during the Sui dynasty in 581. Additional changes took place during the Tang dynasty in 618, and the Song dynasty in 960.

With the adaptation of Legalism, the Qin Dynasty began to reach its peak. Legalism was founded by Hanfeizi, and was brought to the Qin Dynasty by Li Ssu and Chao Kao. The idea of Legalism was that the state came first and people would be harshly punished for any wrongdoing. Many argue that the harshness of Legalism caused the downfall of the Qin Dynasty. However, it was one of the main reasons why the Qin stood as the strongest in China and possibly in the world (Upshur OL). This happened because harsh punishments encouraged good conduct and discipline. Legalism was similar to Hammurabi’s code because it discouraged criminal activity. When this is brought upon, there will be more room to contribute to society. Also under Legalism, the state would gain complete control over the people and land (Upshur OL). This way, everyone was equal and nobility was taken away. Without this proper discipline, the empire would have just shattered into pieces. This has also helped to carve a disciplined military (Upshur OL). Under strict conditions, the Qin definitely gained the upper hand and was successful in fulfilling their goals.

The Great Wall probably remains his most famous contribution to Chinese civilization. The wall scaled off walls originally built for defense against nomads and served as protection as well as a punishment for those who broke Qin laws. Due to the strict nature of the law code and the efficiency of the Qin government, many Chinese were sentenced to construction labor. The new infrastructure, including highways, canals, and irrigation systems, connected distant regions together and allowed the central government to more effectively carry out duties (53). The new routes undoubtedly facilitated travel and

A. One of the most important public works projects taken on by the Sui dynasty was the grand canal. This canal was so important due to it facilitating trade between north and south China which then allowed rice and other crops to be available in the north.

During the years 600-900 A.D. of the Chinese Empire, the Tang Dynasty was in power, and was considered the Golden age of Chinese civilization. The dynasty's second emperor, Taizong, started campaigns to deal with threats from the Nomadic Tribes. Due to these campaigns in the Tarim Basin, the Silk Road was able to stay open, allowing for trade in the Middle East and Europe. This trading society encouraged people from distant countries to come and settle in China. Another advancement affecting trade was the “equal-field system” which not only saw that everyone received proper care, but that all land was being farmed. This was possible by making it that people given land did not have to give it up to the military service, called the “Fubing System”,

New agricultural techniques, porcelain, metallurgy, printing, and naval technology were few of the technological elements that reinforced the established features of social order. New agricultural techniques helped in the expand of their agricultural potential, the dynasties gained reputation from porcelain technology which moderately diffused to other societies producing porcelain in large quantities, metallurgical techniques as well diffused to lands beyond China, printing produced texts quickly and popular works appeared in huge quantities, and naval technology included of the magnetic compass which soon became common for mariners to use. Population growth, patriarchal social structures, and gunpowder were technological elements reinforcing established features of political order. Population growth reflected the capacity of economy and distribution of food, patriarchal social structures included of concern to preserve family fortunes and foot binding, and gunpowder was an element used for military effectiveness. These aspects provided a fundamental change in traditions because they changed their whole concepts of how to use goods as in previous Chinese eras.

Even though the Qin dynasty was seen as barbaric and brutal, the Han did implement some of the old Qin institutions into their new government. One of these institutions were the Commanderies. These were administrative divisions of land in which a governor would be appointed by the government and run it as the government or emperor wants it to be ran. This is institution is very useful for knowing how many people you have. When war comes and you need to draft able bodied men to go fight, you will know just how many you will be able to get. Another reason would be for tax purposes. It is also very useful to regulate the trade and growing of certain crops. Even more in depth than that the government can control what the children in the commanderies are taught and what propaganda they are seeing. Qin law is another thing that the Han used from the former dynasty. One example of this practice was the fact that women could bring up cases against men even though the women did not have the same rights as men. Punishments were also

“The future depends on what we do in the present” - Gandhi. Have you ever wondered what life would be like if Karl Benzin hadn’t created the first car, or Thomas Edison hadn’t invented the light bulb? Things that we take for granted now, were once a dream, an idea, a plan. The inventors probably had little idea about the impact it would have on the future. 4,000 years ago people wouldn’t have even dreamed of things that we take for granted now. But many of the people back then had ideas and made decisions that affected the future of the world. Around 3,000 years ago in China, the 3rd of China’s dynasties occurred. This dynasty is called the Tang Dynasty and is often referred to as the Golden Age because of its great advancements. The Tang dynasty was the most impactful of China’s Dynasty because of the cultural advancements, economic growth, useful inventions, important studies, and government code changes that took place.

Chinese Dynasties: 1. Shang: Also called Yin, dynasty that was China's earliest historically verifiable state 1766 B.C. to 1122 B.C. A. Reason's for Rise: Unlike the early accounts of history by the Chinese, there is archaeological evidence of the Shang, who built their cities in northern China around the eastern parts of the Yellow River. For this reason they are called the Yellow River civilization. They were a bronze age people; bronze-working seems to have entered China around 2000 BC (about one thousand years after its invention in Mesopotamia). B. Territorial Location & size at height of power (map): The Shang ruled the area from the North China Plain northward into present-day Shantung Province and westward to the tip of Honan

Social hierarchy has occurred since the beginning of time. Yet, the inner workings of the overabundance of classes that social hierarchy produces have often been disregarded. However, the culture of ancient China is exceptionally rich in custom and is well acclaimed by its citizens who are established throughout the world. The development of such a different and reputable civilization has made China the role model for other countries around the world. The history of China can be seen a more documented and remembered than may other civilizations. The country was ruled by dynasties form at least 1766 B.C. to the modern twentieth century. The definition of a dynasty is a ruling family that then passes the power down through the generations of

Rhoads Murphey describes the history of China history is on the succession of dynasties that ruled it over a period of time until around 1912 when Republic of china was formed before rising to the current People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949. In China, a dynasty was made up of Kings or emperors that came from the same family. They ruled in succession where a king could be inherited by his son or his immediate relatives. Although china’s history is majorly regarded on the basis of dynastic ruling, other small kingdoms were established that ruled different part of china. For example, in 200AD, the fall of great Han dynasty triggered formation of smaller kingdoms all over the china which were later united by a short lived Sui Dynasty that reigned between 580 and 618 AD.