Spice Chart Tang vs. Song

In 690, Empress Wu assumed the title of emperor for herself –the lone woman to act as emperor in Chinese imperial history – thereby finally facilitating the great improvement in China that Wu’s legacy left for women, the Buddhist clergy and the classes less fortunate than the aristocracy. Despite her despotism in ascending to

Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule China, ruled during the Tang dynasty, but exerted cruel and malicious methods to gain power. She was born with the name Wu Zhao into a wealthy family and learned to write, read, and play music. Because of her beauty and intelligence, Wu became Emperor Tsung’s fifth favorite concubine, or

The Song dynasty, also called the Sung dynasty, was the Chinese reign during the late 10th-13th centuries that, like the Tang, had a far-reaching impact economically, culturally, and socially. The period is divided into two parts: the Northern Song and the Southern Song. Economically, commerce, trade, and manufacturing grew exponentially. Culturally, Confucianism witnessed new life as it undergirded the growth of the Chinese middle class, and socially, a revision of the Chinese civil service examination widened government representation. The Song dynasty could easily be argued as the renaissance of China.

In Ancient China the father of the woman decided who that his daughter would marry. There was no agreement between the two fathers. The father would talk with an astrologer who had a birth chart on every child. By looking at the time and date of their births he would then decide whether or not they would be compatible for one another. The father when then make the decision whether they would marry, the daughter’s thoughts and opinion’s did not count.(9) The woman was required to be completely devoted to her husband. After the marriage a Chinese women was expected to bow to her new in-laws and offer them tea. This showed them that she now belonged to her husband’s family. It was required of her to obey her new

Many aspects of the political reign throughout the Tang and Song Dynasty are fairly similar, yet there are some key differences. During the Tang Dynasty, emperors established a new system of land reform. This meant that land was taken from the rich and evenly distributed to peasants. The peasants owning land could now

Within chinese society, this meant that the ideals for a women were strictly tied to their role within the family home, and specifically the inner chamber. The prevalence of this model of feminine behavior is backed by the many writings directed toward the instruction of women. One of these is written by Song Ruozhao, and her Analectics for Women became a text of rules to aspire to within the Tang dynasty (SEAT, 415). This writing emphasises the role of women in maintaining the family, and the shame associated with “the ways of lazy women” (p. 419). In actuality, it is unlikely that this perfect female ideal could ever be achieved. This did not mean that women did not try, but it can be assumed that this would have been more common for those of the elite classes. For those women who were of lesser birth, it is probable that they would have had more flexibility with the gender roles, as their labor would have been needed to supplement with tasks that were seen as traditionally masculine, such as in

• Class system, those that were upper class or a minister received better land and status in community.

During the 18th Century women in China continued to be subordinated and subjected to men. Their status was maintained by laws, official policies, cultural traditions, as well as philosophical concepts. The Confucian ideology of 'Thrice Following'; identified to whom a women must show allegiance and loyalty as she progressed throughout her life-cycle: as a daughter she was to follow her father, as a wife she was to follow her husband, and as a widow she was to follow her sons. Moreover, in the Confucian perception of the distinction between inner and outer, women were consigned to the inner domestic realm and excluded from the outer realm of examinations, politics and public life. For

Entry# 1: Good day journal, I have ventured further into my research on the Song Dynasty, I have learned very much about the landscape, geographical features, and much more like some major epochs of their time and even some quotes directly from some of the people living there. To start the song dynasty lasted from 960 to 1279 A.D. they lasted 319 years “Their climate had a very diverse range, ranges from tropical in south and subtropical in the north. The terrain is mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in the west, plains, deltas, and hills in the east.”(Embry 4). This is what I observed and mentally noted while I was touring the Song Dynasty. “Emperor Taizu began reigning in the year 960. His capital was in Kaifeng. During his 16 years of rule, he instituted successful policies and won his wars of expansion” (Wu 7). This was something that a local had told me about emperor Taizu. He further on explained to me about his resilience and how he expanded his land with intelligent war tactics.The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279. It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and was followed by the Yuan dynasty (Benn 0).

The Tang was a very aristocratic society that is known for being the “Golden Age” in Chinese history, with some of the greatest developments in the society occurring, (CD Benn, 2002). The dynasty made the unheard-of move of allowing women to sit for the Imperial examination and serve as government officials, with women enjoying the unprecedented power in politics (CD Benn, 2002). Charles Benn’s book, “China’s Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang dynasty”, is a secondary source in the form of a book, published in 2002. He is a professor studying Chinese history, in particular, the Tang dynasty, and in his publication, details the lives of Chinese people in this dynasty. Women had much more freedom than seen in any dynasty before it and it gave women a voice and saw women with almost as equal rights in society, with women finally being able to enjoy the privilege of education and marriage

3. How did the Chinese and their nomadic neighbors to the north view each other?

-With the idea of passing down positions through family ties, the rulers/ families in power were so strong and powerful that there was much wealth and success in the armies. The absolute power stayed with families who knew how to use it, so it made it very strong.

Wu Zhao belonged to the Tang Empire, which according to the author which “…was a true empire, encompassing many lands, many peoples, and many ideologies. Multi ethnic and cosmopolitan, Tang China was perfectly suited for the ascent of a historical anomaly like Wu Zhao…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 11) In a sense, there was a conflict of traditional Confucian values which promoted a patriarchal society and the liberal Steppe culture which gave women more freedom and rights. China at that time was a cocktail of these cultures which led to a significant impact on the lifestyle and values of peoples in that era. Women were bold and tough, and unlike earlier societies, were no longer confined socially and sexually (Rothschild, 2008, p. 12). While did not exist a perfect equality between men and women, women of that era were allowed to live without hiding under the dominance of the male Yang. As the author talks of the Silk Road, it is mentioned that,”…In this free-wheeling milieu, women donned men’s attire and rode horses…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 15) .This “cosmopolitan” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 16) society was the foundation for the Tang Empire. Another important factor was the prevalence of Buddhism as a religion of the masses. Buddhism, in itself, helped united much of Asia, and was a common platform for men and women, unlike in Confucianism where

Women in Ancient China during the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty lived in oppressed lives. Society perceived them as inferior to their husbands and parents-in-law. Their role in the family were to be housewives taking care of their family and maintaining the household chores. They were always under the instructions of their husbands and parents-in-law in they were treated like servants. They also had no control in their personal decisions because they were not allowed to decide who they were going to marry and what they wanted to do in their careers. Parents of daughters would also force their daughters to foot-binding because it would attract potential wealthy husbands. This paper argues that although the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty were known as the golden periods for China, nevertheless, it was overlooked by historians that women during the time were victims of gender inequality because they lived with no control over their personal lives and were expected to be submissive to their husbands.

I chose this topic because I view women as the backbone to the development or a nation, therefore the Chinese woman is paramount in one of the world’s great civilizations. The role of women in Chinese culture has changed over the years. When we consider the position that women held in ancient Chinese society we find that they have come a long way to be where they are today.