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You say Tang, I say Song: A look into Two Chinese Dynasties Essay example

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Over 99% of human history occurred during prehistoric cultures, who had no system of writing or method or chronicling events. This left very little written record or accounts of what transpired that might be studied today. This lack of evidence made it very difficult to learn about previous civilizations and cultures and how they came to be, thrive, and eventually fall. With no written record, we had to rely on archaeology to investigate the whole of human history. While many of our species’ milestones occurred in prehistoric times, it became more and more important for the field of archaeology to advance and be taken seriously. All of this is interesting, but let’s take a look into a specific place and time to expand upon what …show more content…

They had conflicts which caused the central government to begin to fail, while the arts continued to flourish. It would be another 50 years before China would find some sort of stability again.
The Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) was crucial in providing China with some of its most important technological advances in its history. Mechanical engineering has had a long and storied tradition in China. Su Song, a Song Dynasty engineer, is said to have admitted that he and his colleagues were expanding upon the work of previous Chinese inventors. The Song Dynasty was able to improve moveable type printing which helped to strengthen the continued use of woodblock printing. This helped to get printed text to a multitude of students and the general masses alike. The Song also invented new weapons that could use gunpowder, forever changing warfare and how the world would view itself. These weapons were not enough, however, to defeat off all of the invading forces. The Mongols and their leader Kublai Khan were able to defeat the Chinese in the latter half of the 13th century.
The Song also made enormous strides in metallurgy, nautical endeavors, and civil engineering projects. Clockwork, odometers, mechanized compass vehicles and hydraulic spheres are just a few technological advances made during the Song Dynasty. The Song improved upon the lock system that had already been in place with the creation of the pound lock. It was first invented in 984 by

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