Whap Chapter 15

Chapter 15 1. The economy of the Song Dynasty was one of the most prosperous and advanced economies in the medieval world. Monetary gain was assured from the vigorous overseas trade and indigenous trade along the Grand Canal and Yangzi River 2. The Tang Dynasty focused on education and foreign policy while the Song Dynasty focused on economic growth and the arts. 3. Under Emperor Taizong Li Shimin’s wise governing, the national strength and social development of the Tang Dynasty reached an unparalleled prosperity – economy and commerce flourished, the social order was stable,corruption never existed. . Zhngguo translates traditionally as the “Middle Kingdom. ” Only in the nineteenth century, Zhongguo became the common name for the country. During this time China expelled and Christians and outlawed the religion. They also started to become more internal and did not try to expand. 5. The Song eventually fell to the Mongols in 1279, who moved against the Southern Song years after the forces of Genghis Khan had defeated the Jin.
The Mongols had superior military organization and a better grasp of the advances in military technology 6. During the Sung dynasty the monumental detail began to emerge. A single bamboo shoot, flower,or bird provided the subject for a painting. Among those who excelled in flower painting was the Emperor Hui-tsung,who founded the imperial academy. 7. The most important technological innovation of the Ancient Period was the creation of the wheel. The wheel allowed humans to transport goods over long distances.
People could also travel longer. 8. From the fifth century AD Confucian orthodoxy retreated before the popularity of Buddhism and Daoism. But a renaissance came during the Song dynasty when Confucianism responded to the challenge and developed its own metaphysics. This new trend is known as Neo-confucianism, and its main exponent was Zhu Xi (1130-1200). It subsequently became the main orthodoxy of the scholar officials until the demise of the imperial system in 1912. 9.

Because of the remarkable durability of Chinese civilization as well as its marvelous technological and economic innovations, other cultures began to imitate China. Japan, Korea, and Vietnam were all drawn into China’s cultural and political orbit in the post classical period. Each country interacted with China differently 10. It indicated that this person was of such high social status that she didn’t have to do any work – that she could be carried from place to place by servants, that her every need would be catered to by others.