Section Two:
Two Great
Dynasties
Background Information
●
By 202 BCE, the Qin Dynasty gave way to the Han
Dynasty. After almost 400 years, the Han Dynasty
collapsed, and nomads conquered much of northern
China. For 350 years, no emperor was strong enough to
hold China together. More than 30 local dynasties rose
and fell. By 589, an emperor named Sui Wendi had united
northern and southern China once again, and built the
Grand Canal. He restored a strong central government.
Throughout the next two dynastic periods, the Tang and
the Song, China experienced a golden age. It became the
richest, most powerful, and most advanced country in the
world.
China’s Golden Age
● Under the Tang and Song dynasties, China
experienced a Golden Age
*What does the phrase “Golden Age” mean?
The Tang Dynasty
(618-907 CE)
Important Rulers During the Tang
Dynasty
● Tang Taizong
● Empress Wu
Tang Taizong
● Killed his brothers and forces his father to
step aside for the throne
● Reformed gov’t organization and law code
Taizong’s Armies
● Reconquered northern and western lands
Combining Cultures
●
Due to expansion, Chinese culture started
mixing with other cultures:
○ India, Korea, Japan
Chang-an
● The Tang capital
○ Largest city in the world at that time
○ 2 million people
● Arabs, Persians, Greeks, Jews, and native
Chinese all lived there
Chang-an
Empress Wu
● Tang Taizong’s secondary wife
● Became the favored wife of his son
○ Ruled for him, due to sickness
● After his death, sons were unable to rule
○ She took the throne at age 65
● Only Chinese female emperor
Review! What Does Bureaucracy
Mean?
● Bureaucracy- a gov’t that appoints state
officials, not elected representatives
Revival of the Civil Service Exam
● China needed to restore their bureaucracy
○ Revived the Civil Service Exam
Civil Service Exam
● Exams were open to all men
○ Do you think men from every social
class took them? Why or why not?
● Few who passed the exam became
scholar-officials
Effects of the Civil Service Exam
● Intelligent and qualified governing class
● Talent and education became more
important than noble birth
Religion & Philosophy Under the
Tang
● Buddhism
● Daoism
● Confucianism
Fall of the Tang Dynasty
External Causes
Internal Causes
● Border attacks
● (751) Muslims
defeated Chinese,
took central Asia
● High taxes
● Rebellion
○ (907)Chinese
rebels sacked
and burned
Tang capital