Tang Song And Song Dynasty Analysis

The Song dynasty was powerful has possessed much of the country's wealth This dynasty helped feed the population through its rich technological advances which helped them advance with cultivation. The Song dynasty excelled in agriculture, artisan, iron, and gunpowder production. The most important aspect of these advances was their ability to

The Tang Dynasty is an important aspect of Chinese history.  Lasting from 618 AD to 907 AD, it received the nickname “The Golden Age of Ancient China” because it was a very prosperous time.  This powerful empire came into control when the reign of the Sui Dynasty before it ended.

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.

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.

Following the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220, China declined into an elongated term of division. China was divided and in a time of war, with a lack of leadership. It was only in the Sui Dynasty (589-618) reunited North and South China as one. The Tang (618-906) and Song (960 - 1279) Dynasties that followed created the “Golden Ages of China”. Although the Tang and Song Dynasties existed in a similar time and had a similar economy, there are also many differences between the influential dynasties such as certain aspects of their society and politics.

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.

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).

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”,

At first, Buddhism received positive responses (Documents 2 and 3) and indifferent responses (Documents 1 and 5), with the Chinese encouraging and defending its customs/beliefs during times of political and social unrest because it offered relief towards the Chinese people and prevented further chaos. Later, Buddhism received negative and unfavorable scrutiny (Documents 4 and 6) after the Tang dynasty was established since it blamed Buddhism for social/political problems because Buddhism rejected the social hierarchy favored by government officials.

In the Dynastic Cycle the Tang and Song Dynasties were very different although they had very close founding dates, one after the other, their period of decline/warfare were very different. First, the Tang dynasty was founded in the year 618 CE and ended in the year 907 CE. The Song was founded in about 960 CE right after the Tang ended. The Song Dynasty ended in 1279. Next, the Song and Tang Dynasties ended in very different ways. First, the way that the Song Dynasty ended was that they were attacked by the Khitans in the Northern part of the empire. They were very easy to attack because they believed in an educated person over a strong military. Then the rest of the Song dynasty was destroyed because of more attacks from invaders.

Today we can look around ourselves and see thousands of technical innovations that make life easier; But if we take a step back and ask ourselves “How?” we will soon realize that most often, these technological advancements did not just “poof” into existence, but are usually the outcome of building upon yesterday’s technology. If we follow this cycle back into time, we can attribute almost any modern day invention to an ancient civilization during its golden age. China was no exception. China’s Song and Tang dynasties fostered scientific advances comparable to Rome’s during its Pax Romana. The most significant and impacting of these were the

Timothy Brook’s book, The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China is a detailed account of the three centuries of the Ming Dynasty in China. The book allows an opportunity to view this prominent time period of Chinese history. Confusions of Pleasure not only chronicles the economic development during the Ming dynasty, but also the resulting cultural and social changes that transform the gentry and merchant class. Brook’s insights highlight the divide between the Ming dynasty’s idealized beliefs, and the realities of its economic expansion and its effects. Brook describes this gap through the use of several first hand accounts of individuals with various social statuses.

The first reason why the Tang dynasty is the most impactful is that many cultural advancements occurred which affected the future culture of China. For example, a form of novel was created called Chuan Qi. This type of novel had a complex storyline and often reflected real life. These novels later became the basis for future stories (“Tang Dynasty”). In other words, the novels created in the Tang dynasty influenced the structure of future stories. Another example of the Tang dynasty’s cultural impact is through poems and

During the Tang Dynasty, the population base of the Chinese were roughly 80 million people, enabling them to rule over their surrounding countries. In this time, China extended north-east and south. They took over a large amount of Manchuria and Vietnam as well. Because the Tang Dynasty was so economically powerful, Japan, Tibet and Korea also decided to undergo their rule to maintain peace between the Asian Countries. Otherwise, Japan, Tibet and Korea may undergo war with China. Although the Tang dynasty was not able to completely rule over Tibet, the Tang dynasty was the first Chinese Dynasty to have a lot of influence over the countries on the south-east.

Neo-Confucianism was also created in the Song Dynasty. Neo-Confucianism was Confucianism put together with Taoism, which was the ying and the yang, which was also put with Buddhism. This new patriotism also led to xenophobia in the country which leads to irrational decisions in the future. As time when on the Song Dynasty would lose some land to smaller dynasties who took over smaller parts to China in the south. Despite this the economy amazingly boomed during this time where the Chinese call the “medieval economic revolution” (Holcombe p. 130). Trading had a big role in this economic revolution. Archeologists have uncovered