Emperor K’ang-hsi was one of the greatest Chinese emperors of all time. Ruling from 1662 to 1722 he was also one of the longest ruling emperors in Chinese history and for that matter the world. K’ang-hsi brought China to long-term stability and relative wealth after years of war and chaos. Jonathan Spence writes from the eyes of K’ang-hsi getting his information from K’ang-hsi’s own writings. Though a little biased towards himself this book still provides important insight into his mind. Emperor of China is divided into six parts; In Motion, Ruling, Thinking, Growing Old, Sons, and Valedictory.
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 golden age is a specific time where peace, happiness and prosperity flourishes within a civilization. In China. This period was known as the Song Dynasty, which lasted from (920-1279). China’s Golden Age was followed by the Yuan Dynasty, which dated from the years (1271-1368). During this period the Song Dynasty was exciting to people. Agriculture flourished leading to the inventions of the moveable typewriter and magnetic compass, paper money, and even gunpowder. The Song Dynasty led to China’s most significant achievement, Neo-Confucianism. Despite the influential importance art and creativity had on the Chinese people, it did not perform as much of an important, helpful part to the Chinese people as Agriculture and Neo-Confucianism did.
In the Dynastic Cycle, the Song and Ming Dynasties of Ancient China demonstrated/displayed similar Periods of Decline. To begin, both dynasties were meeting the common good which helped them gain the mandate of heaven, but it didn’t last forever. Over time both dynasties started to ignore the needs of poor. For this reason, the community didn’t have public services provided by the government or the things they needed. For example, public transportation or water fountains are supposed to be provided by the government. In fact, they weren’t. Transportation is important because people need it to get to one place to another. In other words from their home to work and back of course. Also, water fountains provide people with an important
In the Dynastic Cycle, the Song and Ming Dynasties of Ancient China demonstrated/displayed similar Periods of Decline. To begin, both dynasties were meeting the common good which helped them gain the mandate of heaven, but it didn’t last forever. Over time both dynasties started to ignore the needs of the poor. For this reason, the community didn’t have public services provided by the government or the things they needed. For example, public transportation or water fountains are supposed to be provided by the government. In fact, they weren’t. Transportation is important because people need it to get to one place to another. In other words from their home to work and back of course. Also, water fountains provides people with an important source,
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.
There were many Chinese dynasties that rose and fell throughout China’s history. The history of China, in a way, is a history of battles and wars. These wars were so important that they changed the structure of Chinese culture both then and now. Three dynasties that rose and fell during ancient China were the Han, the Tang, and the Song. The rise and fall of these great dynasties form a link that runs through Chinese history.
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.
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.
This chapter begins with the Muhammad and the message he brings. It all began in the Arabian Peninsula, which was mostly desert. The people who lived there were called Nomadic Bedouin, and they are organized in family and clan groups. The importance of long-distance trade networks became important again between China, India, and Persia, Byzantium. The section starts talking about the early life Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born in to a Mecca merchant family in 570 C.E. He had a difficult life growing up, but in 595 C.E, he married a wealthy widow. By the time, he was thirty he became a merchant and exposed too many faiths. He had a spiritual transformation at the age of forty, and declared that there was only one true god, whose name was Allah, “the god.” His believe that Allah would soon bring judgment on the world, and the divine messenger, Gabriel, delivered these revelations to Muhammad. The Quran, also known as the “recitation,” is the holy book of Islam. Muhammad followers complied with his revelations. They had works of poetry and definitive authority on Islam;
Song Dynasty: during the Song Dynasty, there were several reformations and the Keju System became more and more mature and consummate. It had reached its summit. The government expanded admission quota and established Provincial Examination, Metropolitan Examination, and Final Imperial Examination. Those exams would be hold triennially. Song Dynasty changed the situation that merchant were discriminated in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Thanks to this policy, many people who were born miserably could have a fair access to higher level of bureaucracy.
During the 1300’s each empire during this time had a religion that was significant to their state and impacted them, this includes the Ottomans and the Ming. During the time period of the Ming dynasty, they based their states’ religion of Neo-Confucianism or “new-Confucianism”. Neo-Confucianism incorporates aspects of Buddhism and Taoism into tradition Confucian beliefs. Their religion had a significant impact on their State. After the Mongols conquered and ruled China, as a result China disunited. One of the main reasons the Ming Dynasty lasted long as an empire, was for the reason the restored and recenter China after the destruction of the Mongols. And their religion benefited them, for it helped unite china. Having one common religion upon an empire, would eventually cause the areas within the empire to unite. In addition the religion of the Ottoman Empire had a similar impact on its society. The ottomans were a Muslim based empire, but unlike other empires they didn’t force people within their empire to convert
The Song dynasty came in to power in 960 and ended in 1279. It consisted of the Northern Song and Southern Song. Northern Song was founded by Zhao Kaungyin, a military
The Tang and Song Empires were two very powerful empires that ruled China after the Han and Sui Dynasties. The Han Dynasty left China fragmented for centuries, and the Sui Dynasty reunified China until the Turks from Inner Asia assassinated the son who ruled. The Tang filled the political vacuum in 618 with emperor Li Shimin (r. 626-649) who extended his power into westward Inner Asia. The Tang kept many Sui governing practices but avoided overcentralization with giving nobles, gentry, and religious establishments power. The Tang Empire fell after the An Lushan and Huang Chao rebellions that left the society homeless, a refugee, or a migrant worker. The empire fell in 907 after a warlord terminated their line. However, the Song Empire had arisen in 960 and paid tribute to the Liao, who controlled the north. The Song Empire aligned with the Jurchens, who ended up creating the Jin Empire, to destroy the Liao capital. The Song Empire was betrayed by the Jurchens and ended up having to pay tribute to them, which some historians refer to as the “Southern Song” period (1127-1279). The Song Empire declined in the year 1126. The Tang and the Song had a variety of economic, political, and social accomplishments, some that they shared, and some that they didn’t. Both the Tang and the Song increased the use of trade, had a change of size of their empires, and had major advancements in technology. Although, the Tang and the Song differed with the growth of Song’s population and its
In the article, “A Silk Road Legacy: The Spread of Buddhism and Islam” by Xinru Liu, the author discusses the dominance of Buddhism in Central Asia and how the religion made its way from Central Asia into China, India, and other parts of Asia. Xinru Liu also discusses how the regions in Central Asia were divided into many city-states that never unified. Because of this, no region in Central Asia ever had an official religion and there was a variety of religions practiced by the people, such as Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism. Xinru Liu also points out the Arab conquest to Central Asia and the important Silk Road trading stations that were located there that they wanted control of. Xinru Liu discusses the introduction of Islam to Central Asia during this conquest and how it was established there and then later spread to other parts of Asia, such as India. Finally, Xinru Liu discusses the influence on Central Asians from many different outsiders and what life was like for the people before, during, and after the rise of the Islamic Empire and how Central Asians have survived and thrived under the constant changing environment.