Tang and Song China and the Spread of Chinese Influence
in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam (1000-1450) Lesson

Basic themes of Chinese civilization underwent vital consolidation during the postclassical period. Less fundamental innovation occurred than in the Americas and Europe. Important developments took place in technology. Political turmoil followed the fall of the Han during the Period of the Six Dynasties (220-589 C.E.), and the empire's bureaucratic apparatus collapsed. The scholar-gentry class lost ground to landed families. Non-Chinese nomads ruled much of China, and a foreign religion, Buddhism, replaced Confucianism as a primary force in cultural life. There was economic, technological, intellectual, and urban decline. New dynasties, the Sui and Tang, from the end of the sixth century brought a restoration of Chinese civilization. Political unity returned as nomads and nobility were brought under state control and the bureaucracy was rebuilt. Major changes occurred in economic and social life as the focus of a revived civilization shifted from the north to the Yangtze valley and southern and eastern coastal areas. The Song dynasty continued the revival; their era saw the restoration of the scholar-gentry and the Confucian order. It was a time of artistic, literary, and technological flourishing. Male dominance reached new heights. The people on China's borders naturally emulated their great neighbor. Japan borrowed heavily from China during the fifth and sixth centuries when it began forming its own civilization. To the north and west of China, nomadic people and Tibet were also influenced. Vietnam and Korea were part of the Chinese sphere by the last centuries B.C.E. The agrarian societies of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam blended Chinese influences with their indigenous cultures to produce distinctive patterns of civilized development. In all three regions, Buddhism was a key force in transmitting Chinese civilization.

Geography

Take a look at these maps to get a geographical understanding of the Tang and Song dynasties.

Tang Dynasty Map

Song Dynasty Map

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