RTI - The Asian World in the Not So Dark or Middle Ages (Lesson)

The Asian World in the Not So Dark or Middle Ages

China

When we last discussed China, the country was in a transitional phase of splintered kingdoms with people that were adopting Buddhism in the early 6^th Century. At the end of the 6^th Century CE, a new dynasty rose up in China known as the Sui. Their big claim to fame during their four decades of rule was the construction of the Grand Canal. For centuries, the Chinese built canals to link cities by water; but during the Sui Dynasty, engineers connected the canals to form the Grand Canal which runs lazily along over 1,000 miles.

When the Sui Dynasty ended in 618 CE, the Tang Dynasty began. The Tang Dynasty reunified China and reestablished its dominance over Asia at a level not seen since the Han Dynasty of hundreds of years before. With a population, at its height, of roughly 80 million people, the Tang Dynasty established a government based on merit (a meritocracy) rather than family ties and created a professional military to help keep their nearly four million square miles of nation under control. As part of the meritocracy they established, the Tang Dynasty reinstated the written civil service exams based on Confucian and Daoist classics. They set their capital in Chang'an—a city with more than a million people.

Unlike the preceding Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty accomplished a lot...

However, a couple of these accomplishments later backfired. For one, the use of eunuchs. By the late 8^th Century CE, the Tang Dynasty employed over 4000 eunuchs. The idea behind their use was that if a eunuch gained power in the Tang's meritocracy, he wouldn't be a threat to the dynasty as he would have no children to make claims against the dynasty for power later. While that theory held true, it didn't keep the eunuchs themselves from getting restless and wanting more power. With so many eunuchs employed within the bureaucracy, when they started to organize amongst themselves they became a serious threat to the stability of the government.

Another accomplishment that backfired was the increase in popularity of Buddhism. Confucians, at the time, considered Buddhism to be a huge waste of resources since Buddhists chose to pursue other virtues over material gain. (And keep in mind, you can't tax virtues the same way you can tax material gain.) Daoists saw Buddhism as competition. In the mid-9^th Century CE, Daoists and Confucians grew alarmed by the increasing political strength of Buddhist monks. To halt this rising influence, Emperor Wuzong introduced a wave of persecution against the Buddhist monks that resulted in the destruction of thousands of Buddhist monasteries.

Near the end of the Tang Dynasty, Confucianism evolved to absorb some of the Buddhist principles. Rather than solely focusing on practical political and moral tenets on daily living, Confucianism expanded to include concepts that pondered the individual soul as Buddhism did. Confucianism still emphasized earlier ideals on family, roles and loyalty within a hierarchy but it made room for discussions on individuality.

By 907 CE, the Tang Dynasty's China was so large it was unmanageable again. Local warlords throughout the realm rose up thus bringing an end to the Tang Dynasty's almost three hundred years of rule. China then entered a period of restlessness referred to as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era.

Less than sixty years later, though, another person ascended from out of the chaos to claim the Mandate of Heaven—Taizu. Emperor Taizu brought the separate kingdoms back under one dynasty—the Song Dynasty—in 960 CE. The Song Dynasty spanned three centuries of peace and prosperity, from 960 to 1279 CE, and included a number of the world's "firsts."

With all of these innovations, along with the accompanying successes, China attracted a lot of attention—especially from nomads living to the north. Despite all of its accomplishments, the Song Dynasty was not sufficient militarily to defend itself when those nomads of the north decided to migrate south into China. This led to another "first" for China, albeit not one they were thrilled about—the first foreigner emperor.

Korea

As you can see in the map above, the Korean Peninsula experienced the same fate as China as it was absorbed into the empire of the nomads from the North (don't worry, we'll give them a name and story in the next lesson.) But what happened there before those nomads stormed in?

In the 1^st Century CE, various tribal civilizations formed on the Korean Peninsula eventually becoming the kingdoms of Koguryŏ, Paekche, and Silla. In 668 CE, these kingdoms united as Silla. Silla was the peninsula's first true dynasty and lasted until 935 CE. During this period, however, Korea operated as something like a vassal state to China. Since the days of the Chinese Han Dynasty, Korea had been occupied (more or less) by some amount of the Chinese military—especially during those periods when China experienced a strong dynasty on the throne. As part of this relationship, Korea paid tributes (or gifts) to China in return for certain perks—like keeping its own dynasty in place. The Silla Dynasty ended in 935 CE to be succeeded by the Koryŏ Dynasty. If you look closely at the name of this new dynasty, you can see where Korea got its name. Throughout the Sill and Koryŏ Dynasties, Korea incorporated many elements of Chinese religious and political life—Confucianism and Buddhism, educational systems, and court systems. The one thing that Korea did not adopt from the Chinese was a meritocracy. The noble families of Korea refused to give up their superior positions within the Korean social hierarchy. The Koryŏ Dynasty lasted until 1392- however, during its last decades they were occupied by the Mongol Empire (those nomads of the North mentioned earlier.) The Mongols allowed the Koreans to keep their dynasty though; and in that way, Korea's experience under Mongol rule differed from China's.

 

Vietnam

The ancient Vietnamese people were first known as Lac and then Viet. In 111 BCE, the Chinese conquered the Viet people and ruled them on and off for the next 1,000 years. The Viet people adopted the Chinese language, architecture, and social organization. Unlike most of its neighbors, Vietnam's early culture was more influenced by the Chinese than the Indians. However, the Viet people actively resisted the Chinese presence on their lands through all of those years. Despite this resistance, the Viet people eventually were forced to participate in the same tribute system to China that the Koreans had adopted. Even then, they continued to resist. Finally, in 939 CE, the Viet people overthrew their Chinese rulers and 100 years later established an independent nation centered on Buddhism. Over the next 400 years, the Viet people repelled several attempted invasions by Mongols and Chinese. In the 1400s CE, the Viet people reformed their government. Modeling this new government after the Chinese form of government, the Viet people adopted Confucianism.

 

Japan

So far, this course has been noticeably silent about Japan. You might have asked why that was? Of the time periods covered so far, not much is known as to what was going on in Japan. As a region, it consists of four main islands with thousands of smaller ones that were isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. In fact, prior to 400 CE, little is known for a fact about what was happening there except that there were periods of interaction with the Chinese and Koreans. Then in the 5th Century CE, a family rises up to create the first (and only) dynasty to guide Japan—the Yamato Clan. Flip through the timeline below for a quick spin through Japan's history.

 

India

The last time we looked at the Indian Subcontinent, it was the 6^th Century CE, the Gupta Empire was over and the subcontinent returned to separate Hindu kingdoms with rival chiefs (or rajas) leading and competing amongst themselves. Via trade routes, Islam arrived on the subcontinent around the 10^th Century. But not until the 13^th Century did it take off as a popular religion. This was due to the arrival of Turkish invaders who co-opted the loose system of kingdoms in the north to their advantage. There, they set up the Delhi Sultanate—which grew and shrank over the centuries but never conquered the southern tip of the Indian Subcontinent.

The fact that the southern tip of the Indian Subcontinent resisted absorption into the Delhi Sultanate was fortuitous for Indians due to the prosperous Indian Ocean trade routes that continued to fill the pockets of the native Indians—especially the Chola Dynasty that ran that part of the subcontinent from the days of Emperor Asóka to the 13^th Century CE.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Indian subcontinent experienced the most diverse and tolerant region in Afro-Eurasia (which might not be saying a lot by today's standards, but was quite an accomplishment nevertheless.) This is not to say that the new Muslim regime did not have clashes with the locals. After all, there were some very fundamental differences between the Hinduism practiced on the subcontinent for thousands of years and the young religion of Islam that just arrived onto the scene.

Despite these profound differences, though, Islam spread throughout the North as sultans founded colleges, improved agriculture and brought innovations from the Dar al-Islam. They also brought the system of taxing non-Muslims who refused to convert. As a result, a considerable number of Hindus converted to Islam in the northern part of the subcontinent.

 

 

 

Recap Section

Review what you've learned in the activity below.

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.