Song Dynasty Research Paper

China has had lots of inventions and contributions to the world and just about all of them are still used today. The compass was one of the inventions created by the Chinese to help build their buildings in the right direction. Also Chinese Medicine was introduced in the ancient times and it shed some light on acupuncture and massage therapy. Printing and the umbrella were also other inventions developed by the Chinese. There are several more inventions and contributions that the Ancient Chinese developed but the main four that I believe to be the most important are silk, paper, porcelain, and good old gun powder.

The common people of China are anything but common, they just knew how to flourish in an era where the upper class usually lead the way, however, the Chinese during the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties figured out how to outwit the upper class in a distinguished way.

The Song Dynasty was an important time in Chinese history. It was a time in which people started to move to commercial cities and survive of the cultivation of rice. People during this time period started to become more and more educated due to greater availability of books. Confucian thought was important to the people of China during this period. People were tested on Confucian ideals in order to serve in positions of civil service. The requirement of passing a test in order to hold a position in civil service allowed for a more fair selection process for these leadership positions.

The center of life in the Shang culture was family and it is not only your immediate family that you have to provide for, but also your extended family. This is true for whatever class you belonged to be it slave, peasant, artisan, elite, warrior, priest, or even the emperor status. One must preform their job well on a daily basics and support the military, which was modeled much like the Aryans in a nomadic warlike fashion.

Out of all the major Chinese inventions, which could possibly be the most important? There was paper, printing press, kites, gunpowder, and compasses and one has affected us the most. Compasses were made to help sailors go farther from land which lead to the discovery of different countries and helped trade develop. In the third century scientists studied magnetism and learned magnetite aligned itself it the North/South position. The compass is still used today, but we also have other ways to know where we are going.

nters of China during the rule of East Wu.[16] This city would soon play a vital role in the following centuries.

During the Period of Prosperity, the Song dynasty accomplished many things. Many new discoveries and inventions were made, such as fireworks, the abacus, improved maps, books, glow in the dark paint, and scientific ideas on how to solve illnesses. Poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were also improved due to the fact that one of the things the Song were known for are these things. China’s political and economic system also flourished under the Song rule. The Song began to appoint their government leaders through civil service. This meant that they would pick only

The Shang Dynasty in China was located in an incredibly fertile area bordered by the Himalaya Mountains to the west, the Yellow and East China Seas to the east, and the Gobi Desert to the north. Shang China is the fertile ground located between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, centered around the Yangtze. Without the continuous threats of attack from other tribes and dynasties, the Shang Dynasty could concentrate more on improving their homes and themselves. The Shang people began as a nomadic tribe, hunting and searching for their food everyday, and settled in the Henan province where they adopted an agricultural lifestyle. Floods were common. Each year, the floods would demolish the towns and homes, but the floods also brought fertile soil

The reign of the Tang dynasty was an extremely successful one. For this reason if given the opportunity to pick one asian dynasty to live in the Tang dynasty should be one’s choice. The dynasty lasted from 618-907 and rose from the ruins of the Sui dynasty. In this 289 year span this dynasty achieved many great accomplishments. First off, being a female it would have been very empowering having a female leader. The Tang dynasty was the only dynasty with a female leader and a great one at that. Wu Zetian rose to power through extreme intelligence and ruthlessness. Yet, when Wu finally achieved the emperor's yellow robe she helped the dynasty in many ways. Economically she developed the civilizations

The Ming dynasty ruled China for 276 years after the fall of the Yuan dynasty. This empire was based in China. During the final years of the Yuan dynasty, it was a time of disaster. There were famines, drought, flooding of the Yellow River, a plague pandemic and other natural disasters; millions of people died. With all the chaos that was going on at the time, people were seeing these disasters as signs that the Yuan Dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven and with that people were starting to rebel. The rebellion lasted for almost 20 years because as much as the Yuan troops tried to end the rebellions, the rebel armies grew in size. They were becoming larger and more powerful.

Most nomadic pre-Tang rulers = Buddhist; after Han fall  Buddhist divisions grew in China w/ Chinese qualities, esp. in Tang dynasty: strong socially, economically, & politically

In china there has been no central rule in China for 70 years until the Song Dynasty created in 960. Things started to change in China, for example, the government started to aid the poor a lot more than what they have in the past. They were getting this money from the newly introduced income tax. This made a lot of people happy and everyone started to have more patriotism and pride. This pride gave the government a feel of legitimacy. Some of the major things the government is paying for is the roads, food, and education. Pottery at this time helps out the economy in China, because the pottery is so advanced that it was being exported for good money and it also led more people to come to China. Even though China was number one in the world for many things like technology and a sophisticated culture they were weak military wise (Holcombe p.127).

One reason the Song Dynasty moved the capital to the south was because rice grew very well in the humid South. Rice yielded more food per acre than other grains. With more food available, the population soared. Advances in farming included irrigation systems, pumps and water control devices, and the development of new strains of fast-ripening

The earliest recorded history of the great civilisation dates back to 5000 BC which thrived along the shores of Huang He valley, North China. It is referred to as a continuous civilisation due to the preserved and well documented texts of those times and the people's constant strife towards the development of an administrative system and evolution of a singular ideographic script as well as a continuous growth in art and culture which rivalled other contemporary world civilisations.

The Song dynasty was the first in world history to nationally issue banknotes or true paper money. It was the first Chinese regime to establish a permanent navy and the first to use gunpowder. It was during