Transcript Imperial China -- Qin to Ming Dynasties

Start here
Emperor is
defeated !!
Rebel bands find
strong leader who
unites them.
Attack the emperor.
Poor lose
respect for govt.
They join rebels
& attack landlords.
A new
dynasty
comes to power.
The emperor
reforms the govt.
& makes it more
efficient.
The
Dynastic
Cycle
Droughts,
floods,
famines occur.
Lives of common
people improved;
taxes reduced;
farming encouraged.
Problems begin
(extensive wars,
invasions, etc.)
Taxes increase;
men forced to
work for army.
Farming neglected.
Govt. increases
spending;
corruption.
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221-206 B.C.E.
 Established China’s first empire

 Shi Huangdi (221-206 B.C.E)
 Legalist rule 
 Bureaucratic administration
 Centralized control
 Military expansion
 Book burnings  targeted
Confucianists
 Buried protestors alive!
 Built large section of the Great Wall
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Soldiers
& Cavalrymen
Cavalry
Individual Soldiers
The Details of an Individual Soldier
Individual “Tombs”
The Great Wall with Towers
The Eastern terminus of the Great Wall, Shanhai Pass
Han Dynasty, 206
B.C.E.-220 C.E.
 “People of the Han”  original Chinese
 Paper invented [105 B.C.E.]

 Silk Road trade develops; improves life for many
 Buddhism introduced into China
 Expanded into Central Asia
Han – Roman Empire Connection
Chang’an
The Han Capital
Liu Sheng Tomb (d. 113 BCE)
His jade suit has 2498 pieces!
Emperor Wudi, 141-87 B.C.E.
 Started public schools.
 Colonized Manchuria,
Korea, & Vietnam.
 Civil service system 
 bureaucrats
 Confucian scholar-gentry
 Revival of Chinese
landscape painting.
Han Artifacts
Imperial
Seal
Han Ceramic
House
Ceramics, Later Han Period
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
Multi-Cultural Faces -- People Along the Silk Road
Ruins of Jiaohe, Turphan depression.
Han dynasty outpost in Central Asia
Sui Dynasty, 581-618 C.E.
 “Land Equalization” System  land
redistribution.
 Unified coinage.
 Grand Canal constructed.
 Established an army of professional
soldiers.

People were overworked and
overtaxed!
The Grand Canal
The Grand Canal Today
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.
 Imperial examination system perfected.
 Liberal attitude towards all religions.
 Spread of Buddhism in China
 Golden Age of foreign relations with
other countries.


Japan, Korea, Persia
Tang Government Organization
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.
 New technologies:

Printing  moveable print

Porcelain
 Gunpowder
 Mechanical clocks

 More cosmopolitan culture.
 Reestablished the safety of the
Silk Road.
 Tea comes into China from Southeast Asia.

Empress Wu Zetian, 624-705
 The only female Empress in China’s




history who ruled alone. 
Searched for outstanding individuals
to attract to her court.
Construction of new irrigation
systems.
Buddhism was the favored state
religion.
 Financed the building of many
Buddhist temples.
BUT… She appointed cruel and sadistic
ministers to seek out her enemies.
Foot-Binding in Tang China
 Broken toes by 3 years of age.
 Size 5 ½ shoe
on the right
Foot-Binding in Tang China
Mothers bound their daughters’ feet.
Foot-Binding in Tang China
 For upper-class girls,
it became a new
custom.
The Results of Foot-Binding
Song [Sung] Dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.
 Creation of an urban, merchant, middle class.
 Increased emphasis on education & cheaper
availability of printed books.
 Magnetic compass
makes China a great
sea power! 
Song Peasant Family
Rice Cultivation Began Under the Song
Song Rice Cultivation
Mongolian Steppes
Xinjiang Region – Typical Uygher [Mongol] “Yurt”
Mongol Invasions
Mongol Warriors
Mongol Archer
Gold Saddle Arch – Mongols, 13c
Gold Saddle, Front View –
Mongols, 13c
The MONGOLS [“Golden Horde”]
 Temujin --> Genghis Khan [“Universal Ruler”]
1162 - 1227
 from the steppe [dry, grass-covered plains
of Central Asia]

The MONGOLS [“Golden Horde”]
 Genghis Khan’s Tax Laws:
 If you do not pay homage,
we will take your prosperity.
 If you do not have prosperity,
we will take your children.
 If you do not have children,
we will take your wife.
 If you do not have a wife,
we will take your head.
 Used cruelty as a weapon  some areas never
recovered from Mongol destruction!
Mongol Nobleman, late 13c
Robe of a Mongol
Nobleman, early 14c
Yuan Golden Bowl, 13c
The Extent of the Mongol Empire
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.
 Kublai Khan [r. 1260-1294]

Pax Mongolica [“Mongol Peace”]
 Tolerated Chinese culture
but lived apart from them. 
 No Chinese in top govt. posts.
 Believed foreigner were more
trustworthy.
 Encouraged foreign trade &
foreign merchants to live and work
in China.
 Marco Polo
Marco Polo (1254-1324)
 A Venetian merchant.
 Traveled through Yuan
China: 1271-1295
 “Black Stones” [coal]
 Gunpowder.
 Noodles.
Marco Polo’s Travels
Yuan Porcelains & Ceramics
Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.
 The Black Plague was spread by the
Mongols in the mid-14c.
 Sent fleets against Japan.
 1281  150,000 warriors

Defeated by kamikazi [“winds of the gods”] 
 Kublai Khan experienced several
humiliating defeats in Southeast Asia
late in his life.
China’s last native imperial dynasty!
The Forbidden City: China’s New Capital
Revived the Civil Service Exam
Ming Cultural Revolution
 Printing & Literacy
 Culture & Art
 Cheap, popular books:
 Increased literacy
leads to increased
 woodblock printing.
interest in cultural
 cheap paper.
expressions, ideas,
 Examination system.
and things:
 Leads to explosion in
 Literature.
literacy. 
 Painting.
 Leads to further
 Ceramics.
popularization of the
 Opera.
commercial market.
Ming Silver Market
 Spanish Silver Convoys


Triangle route:
 Philippines to China to Japan.
Silver floods Chinese Market:
 Causes devaluation of currency & recession
 Adds to reasons for Chinese immigration
overseas.
 Reduces price of Chinese goods in Europe
 Increases interest in Chinese culture & ideas in
Europe.


Helps fund conquest of New World

Encourages Europeans in conquest & trade.
Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 C.E.
 Golden Age of Chinese Art
 Moderation
 Softness
 Gracefulness
 Three different schools of
painting developed.
 Hundreds of thousands of
workers constructed the
Forbidden City.
Ming Emperor Tai Zu (r. 1368-1398)
The Tribute System
Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho)
 Ming “Treasure Fleet”
 Each ship 400’ long & 160’ wide
1371-1435
Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho)
 China’s “Columbus?”

Admiral Zheng He’s Voyages
 First Voyage: 1405-1407 [62 ships; 27,800 men].
 Second Voyage: 1407-1409 [Ho didn’t go on this trip].
 Third Voyage: 1409-1411 [48 ships; 30,000 men].
 Fourth Voyage: 1413-1415 [63 ships; 28,500 men].
 Fifth Voyage: 1417-1419
 Sixth Voyage: 1421-1422
 Emperor Zhu Gaozhi cancelled future trips and ordered ship
builders and sailors to stop work.
 Seventh Voyage: 1431-1433
 Emperor Zhu Zhanji resumed the voyages in 1430 to restore
peaceful relations with Malacca & Siam
 100 ships and 27,500 men; Cheng Ho died on the return
trip.
 1498 --> Da Gama reached Calcutta, China’s favorite port.
Ming Porcelain / Ceramics, 17c–18c
Ming Vases, 18c
Ming Carved Lacquer Dish 15c
Ming Scroll Painting
“Travelers in Autumn Mountains”
Ming Painting – “Taoist
Scholar”
Ming Painting – “Birds and
Flowers”, 16c
Ming Painting and Calligraphy,
early 16c
Imperial China’s Impact on History
 Removed religion from morality.
 Beginnings of political philosophy
through which a ruler must prove
he/she is legitimate.

Mandate of Heaven
 Secular law.
 Valued history  The Dynastic Cycle