Imperial China II

PRS101
Rhodalyn C. Wani
Song Dynasty, AD 960-1279

Figure 1. Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127 Figure 2. Southern Song Dynasty, 1127-1279

•Emperor Taizu reunified China in AD 960, established capital at

the northern city of Bianjing.
•By 1127, the Song lost control of Northern China to the Jin
Dynasty and moved their capital southwards in Lin’an.
• Cities no longer administrative; centers of trade, industry, and
maritime commerce.
• Song Dynasty ended with Mongol invasion in 1279.
Song Dynasty, AD 960-1279
• Imperial Examinations
• paper (1st - 2nd c. AD)
•books, printing
• Yin privelege
• Neo-Confucianism
• Fan Zhong-yan (called for
reforms in the education
system)
• Wang Anshi (attacked basis
of local family wealth; curb
corruption in government)
• Zhu Xi (emphasis on the
duality of li and qi; education Figure 3. Song Imperial Examination
• Scholar-gentry class
Song Dynasty, AD 960-1279
•Contributions:
• Highly centralized
bureaucracy
• Printing and education
spread leading to a rise in
wealthy commoners
• Bolstered naval strength as Figure 4. Song
well as maritime trade Dynasty Junk.
• Revolutionized technology
in using gunpowder
• Rise of Neo-Confucianism Figure 5.
and other refinements of Trebuchet
catapult used in
previous philosophies launching
explosives.
Yuan Dynasty, AD 1279-1368

Figure 6. Yuan Dynasty

•Founded by Kublai Khan under his grandfather’s name.

• Fair amount of cultural exchange; but discriminations between
groups continued to exist.
• Rivalry amongst heirs, natural disasters, and peasant uprisings
led to its collapse in 1368.
Yuan Dynasty, AD 1279-1368
• Contributions: Figure 7.
Kublai
• increased use of the written Khan
vernacular: rise of drama and novel
• Western influences in music and
performing arts
• Tolerance for different religions:
Islam, Roman Catholicism
• Advances in travel literature
Figure 8. Yuan
(Marco Polo), cartography, dynasty armor
geography, scientific education used during
• Beijing became the terminus of Mongol
invasions.
the Grand Canal – completely
renovated
• improved maritime commerce and
first contact with Europeans
Ming Dynasty, AD 1368-1644

Figure 9. Ming Dynasty

•Established by Zhu Yuanzhan (Hongwu – “vast military”, a

peasant and Buddhist monk – capital: Nanjing (“S. capital”) and
Beijing (“N. capital”)
• Last native imperial dynasty in Chinese history
• First quarter of the 15th century: peak; 1600s: decline
Ming Dynasty, AD 1368-1644
•Contributions:
• introduced terrace farming
•construction of a vast navy –
contributing during times of war
and trade
• construction projects: Grand
Canal, Great Wall, and the
Figure 10.
establishment of the Forbidden The
City Forbidden
City.
• attempt to restore classical
Chinese works in literature Figure 11.
Ming
• heightened maritime trade Dynasty
with the Europeans: Portuguese, painting of
the
Spanish, and Dutch at the port Forbidden
of Guangzhou (Canton) City.