China and Japan

Unit Review

aristocracy

civil service examinations

meritocracy

Han dynasty

Tang dynasty

Song dynasty

Yuan dynasty

Ming dynasty

Mongols

Mandate of Heaven

bureaucracy

Kublai Khan

urbanization

currency

junk

barge

navigation

canals

paddies

terraces

compass

canal lock

segmental arch bridge

paper making

woodblocks moveable type

porcelain

steel

alchemy

gunpowder

rockets

paper money

playing cards

mechanical clock

inoculation

vaccine

Xuan Zang

Buddhism

Silk Road

Marco Polo

tributaries

kowtow

Zheng He

Barbarians

cultural diffusion

Shinto

kanji

kana

tanka

pagoda

Heian period

corruption

Heian-kyo

Fujiwara family

courtiers

samurai

shogun

· What is an imperial government?

Þ A government run by an emperor/empress.

· How did Imperial Chinese dynasties justify their power and how is it similar to other peoples we’ve learned about this year?

Þ The Chinese believed the emperor had the Mandate of Heaven which was the right to rule.

Þ The Japanese believed that the emperor’s family was descended from the sun goddess, giving them a unique right to rule over everyone.

Þ The West African kings (before and after the introduction of Islam), the Egyptian pharaohs, and the Roman emperors, all believed in a divine right to rule, that the god(s) gave them special powers, sometimes even making them part god. They were all religious as well as political leaders.

· Why did the introduction of civil service examinations under the Tang dynasty improve the bureaucracy?

Þ Before the civil service examinations, the emperors just chose wealthy and powerful aristocrats in general to help them run the government. The people chosen weren’t necessarily capable. Corruption and incompetence was a problem. By requiring an exam, it helped make sure that it was the wiser nobles helping with the government.

· The Tang and the Song dynasty both had civil service exams, but their dynasties were significantly different. How were they different and how did that difference come about?

Þ During the Song dynasty, the lower classes were permitted to take the civil service exams. The state even offered schools and opportunity for the scholarly poor to go to university. This meant that civil service officials were chosen on the basis of ability, not just because they were wealthy. The government changed from an aristocracy to a meritocracy.

· How did Confucianism influence Song emperors?

Þ Based on his ideas, the Song emperors opened up the civil service exams to more people. Even the poor (if they were smart enough) could get a job in the government now. This created a meritocracy rather than a aristocracy.

Þ Many of the questions on the exams were about Confucian ideas.

· Why did agricultural changes occur during the Song dynasty? What were the main agricultural changes? What impact did those changes have?

Þ A move south to better climate (forced by Mongol invasions), a new improved type of rice, new technology, and the use of fertilizer caused an increase in rice production.

Þ An increase in rice production meant that people were growing surplus crops and they could sell some to make money.

Þ With extra money in their pockets, people wanted to buy things, which spawned an increase in commerce and the economy in general.

· How did the use and importance of tea change in China over time?

Þ It started out as a medicinal drink, but by the 9th century, it was a major social custom. Tea houses became popular and farmers had to grow more tea.

· What was one of the biggest economic changes during the Song dynasty? How did it come about?

Þ The development of paper money which wouldn’t have been possible without the invention of printing.

Þ Increased commerce created a need for more currency and it wasn’t possible to mint enough copper coins, so they turned to paper money. The availability and ease of paper money then made it possible for the economy to grow even larger.

· Why did urbanization occur during the Song dynasty? What were Chinese cities like compared to other cities of the time around the world? What were some of the effects of urbanization?

Þ Commerce grew (due to increased agriculture and new inventions like printing and paper money). As commerce grew, cities grew because more people were in the city to participate in business or just to have more fun.

Þ Chinese cities had as many as 2 million people, compared to European cities of no more than 50,000. They were the biggest in the world.

Þ The growth of cities changed the way most Chinese lived. An urban culture developed with all the activities, games, and arts of the wealthy. It also caused a decline in the status of women, because women in the city weren’t needed for work like they were in the countryside. Without work, women had less value.

· What influence did Confucianism have on the lives of women during the Song dynasty? What practice became common during that period?

Þ The renewed interest in Confucianism (neo-Confucianism) in the Song dynasty, put an emphasis on proper relationships, which included the relationship between husband and wife (with husbands being superior). Superiors should be kind to inferiors, inferiors should respect and obey those above.

Þ As the rise in a wealthy, urban class was combined with Neo-Confucian ideals, women lost status. This is when the practice of foot binding began.

· What inventions made exploration and travel safer and faster?

Þ Compass, canal locks, junks and barges, watertight ships

Þ Gunpowder perhaps

· Explain how each of these early Chinese inventions and discoveries are connected to the rest of the world and today: paper, printing, porcelain, and steel.

Þ Paper and printing: our world depend on these everyday. Furthermore, culture as we know it in most of the world wouldn’t be the same today if we didn’t have the opportunity to record ideas and information as we do with paper and printing. Science, math, technology, literature, art, and other fields wouldn’t have developed as they have without paper and printing to share and keep ideas.

Þ Porcelain: regardless of where fine dishes are made today, they are still called “china” because the Chinese first invented porcelain.

Þ Steel, modern buildings and transportation wouldn’t be the same without it.

· Explain how woodblock printing make possible the invention of such things as playing cards and paper money.

Þ Before woodblock printing, everything had to be written by hand. It wouldn’t be possible to make uniform things like money or cards.

· How did Buddhism come to China and who was responsible for its biggest introduction?

Þ Although Buddhism had come to China hundreds of years earlier, many Chinese became Buddhist during the early part of the Tang dynasty as Buddhists came, settled, and converted others during this period of religious tolerance.

Þ Xuan Zang brought back thousands of Buddhist scriptures from his trip to India in the 600s. This introduced many Chinese to Buddhism.

· What types of cultural exchanges resulted from the silk road during the Tang dynasty?

Þ Examples going in both directions include new foods, science, technology, music, furniture, luxury items, medical knowledge (be specific)

· What are tributaries? How did Zheng He’s overseas journeys help expand China’s foreign contacts?

Þ Countries that pay tribute and give resources of all types to the imperial power that conquered them.

Þ Z.H. was searching for new tributaries for China when he took 7 trips between 1405 and 1433. He went as far as the east coast of Africa. 30+ places he visited became tributaries

· What caused the Han, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties to collapse?

Þ Han: lost the Mandate of Heaven because the bureaucracy became corrupt. Peasants finally rebelled.

Þ Song: Mongols invaded.

Þ Yuan: Chinese rebelled against foreign control

Þ Ming: was too rigid, feared change and outside influence, had to fight off Mongol invasions with little money… finally peasants rebelled.

· Describe Japan’s geography? How are all the ways that geography impacted its development. (Consider the islands, neighboring cultures, and mountains.)

Þ Protected/isolated

Þ Hard to unify

Þ Limited agricultural land > marine resources important and rice was a good crop

Þ Learned from neighbors, China, Korea, etc.

· How did the government of Japan during the time of Prince Shotoku’s reign compare with that of China? Which Chinese ideas about government did Japanese rulers adopt, which did they not?

Þ Borrowed Confucian ideas about how to organized government

Þ Created a bureaucracy of government workers.

Þ China’s emperor had sole power, Japan’s emperor had only loose control over semi-independent clans.

Þ China became a meritocracy, but Japan stayed an aristocracy

· How was Japan’s capital city, Nara, similar and different to the Chinese capital city, Chang’an?

Þ Grid design, but smaller (200,000 not 2 million), and no wall

· How did Buddhism spread to Japan and how did the Japanese make it unique for their culture?

Þ India > China and Korea > Japan.

Þ Combined with Shinto

· Describe how the Japanese adopted aspects of language, poetry, sculpture and other elements of culture from their neighbors

Þ Language : Chinese writing

Þ Poetry: Chinese interest in landscape and nature

Þ Sculpture: Buddhist sculptures from India via China and Korea

Þ Architecture: pagoda shrines from India via China

Þ Government organization: the Chinese bureaucratic model, but an aristocracy, not a meritocracy.

Þ City design: capital like China’s

Þ Music: like China

Þ Religion: Buddhism from India, via China and Korea.

· Why is the Heian period called Japan’s Golden Age?

Þ Focus on beauty, arts, literature

Þ It was when Japan’s culture flourished and the developments of that period are still present in Japanese culture today.

· Describe life within Heian-kyo. How was the city designed? How did people live?

Þ Grid pattern like Chang’an and Nara

Þ Palaces and government offices

Þ Wealthy estates

Þ Formal manners (like screens in homes)

· How did the Fujiwara family of Japan exercise their power?

Þ Married into the imperial family

Þ Advised the emperor

· What determined social rank during the Heian period? How did rank affect people’s daily experiences?

Þ One’s family

Þ Your wardrobe, fan, carriage, punishment, home, how you would bow, etc.

· What value did Heian society place on beauty and fashion? How did men and women groom themselves?

Þ The appreciation of beauty was central to upper class society. A person was judged by how good their taste was.

Þ Women painted their faces white and their teeth black, plucked their eyebrows and drew them high up on their foreheads and painted on red cheeks and little red lips. They grew their hair longer than they were tall

Þ Men grew small pointy beards and also painted their teeth black

Þ They concocted perfumes.

Þ They had special rules for robes and fans.

· What factors contributed to the end of the Heian period? In what ways can Heian influences be seen in modern Japan?

Þ Although the wealthy were dependent on the peasants for their lifestyles, they ignored the problems of the poor.

Þ The wealthy didn’t pay enough taxes and the government lost a lot of money.

Þ Without money, the government couldn’t support the emperor. The imperial court was central to the ‘Golden Age.’

Þ Local lords began rivaling until the Era of the Samurai began.

· How was military rule established in Japan during the 12th century?

Þ The government lost power and the nobility established their own police force and personal defense squads.

Þ They began to fight against each other and some gained a lot of power, until Minamoto Yoritomo established military rule.

· Explain the role of shoguns, daimyos, and samurai in the military government of Japan?

Þ Shogun (king) (didn’t replace emperor but actually had more power)

Þ Daimyos

Þ Samurais

· In what areas did the samurai receive training?

Þ Cultural (calligraphy, tea ceremonies, poetry)

Þ spiritual (Buddhist teachings that allowed them to practice self control as well as realize the unimportance of self)

Þ weapons/fighting technique

· How do samurai values and traditions influence modern Japanese society?

Þ Respect, rank, honor of family are very important

· In what ways was medieval Japan similar to medieval Europe?

Þ Both had feudal lords/daimyos and knights/samurai

Þ Both had peasants who worked for the lords/daimyos to maintain big estates