6. GUPTA TANG SONG BYZANTINES EARLY
RUSSIA
A LITTLE BACKGROUND…
TANG DYNASTY
TANG DYNASTY
RISE – TANG - ~618-~907
•Han disintegrated into
Three Kingdoms Period
•Three Kingdoms united
into short-lived Sui
Dynasty (581-617)
•Li Shimin consolidated
unification his father
started
RISE - TANG
•Stability leads to
population growth and
wealth
•690 - Wu Zetian – only
woman ever to rule in
China – brief Dynasty
within a Dynasty
(“Zhou”)
FALL OF THE SUI, RISE OF THE TANG
Hammond, Professor
Kenneth J. From Yao to
Mao: 5000 Years of
Chinese History. Part I.
The Teaching Company
2004.
00:05:41
ACHIEVEMENTS - TANG
•Trade! Economy
flourished – far-flung
trade networks
•Social order
●Registry of families
●Confucianism & exams
•Literature and poetry
ACHIEVEMENTS - TANG
•gunpowder
–by combining saltpeter,
sulfur, and charcoal.
•block printing
•Other inventions
include mechanical
clocks that kept very
accurate time
ACHIEVEMENTS - TANG
•established a law code,
•renovated the canal
system to encourage
trade and
communication inside
of China.
ACHIEVEMENTS - TANG
•strict social structure
•3main social classes, which
included the gentry, the
peasantry, and the
merchants.
•Each class had rights and
duties
•social mobility was possible
from one class to another.
FALL - TANG
•Military strongmen
clashed among themselves
over dominance at court.
• Eunuchs gained increasing
power over the day-to-day
operations of the central
government.
• Great aristocratic families
schemed against each other
for influence over the
emperors.
FALL OF THE TANG
•880s - a civil war
between rival military
leaders caused major
economic damage.
●
Peasant rebellions
against exploitation by
desperate landlords
increasing
frequency and
violence.
SONG DYNASTY
EMBATTLED STATE
●
Tang disintegrates
●
Central power weak
●
Unique: political
fragmentation did
not hurt economy in
the south!
RE-UNIFICATION
●
General Zhao
Kuangyin unifies in
960
–
“Taizu”
–
Elevated to emperor
by his troops
–
Force generals to
retire
–
Put military under
civilian rule
SONG DOESN'T EXPAND...
●
●
After Kuangyin,
brother Kuangyi =
epmperor
Northern
“barbarians” too
tough to dislodge
–
–
–
Khitans
Tanguts
Copied Chinese gov.
and customs
THE WIMP STATE?
●
●
●
Payoffs and tributes to
neighbors, esp. north
Improvements in military
tech.
–
Manual
–
Gunpowder used now
for cannon
Military crises =
centralization gov power
SONG DYNASTY
Byzantine Empire
Reign of Justinian
527 Justinian =
emperor
Re-establish whole
Roman empire?
552 – so close!
Lost by 565
Justinian
Most impt. Contribution
= codification Roman
Law
“Justinian Code” or
“Corpus of Civil Law”
Basis for all law
East til 1453
West to even the present
Justinian Left Problems
Too much territory
Broke
Plague & depopulation
Invaders threatening
Gradually lost territory 7th
cen. to Muslims
Byzantine
Greek replaces Latin
Eastern Orthodox
Church
Emperor = absolute, by
divine right, church and
state
Believed God appointed
them to defend true
Christianity
“Patriarchs”
Constantinople
Rebuilt after riots 532
Largest city Europe most
of Middle Ages
Architectural
achievements
Hagia Sophia
Greatest commercial
center til 12th cen
Chinese Silk!
Byzantine Empire – 476 CE-1453 CE
907 – 1276 C.E.
The Questions…
6-2.
 Take a side on any ONE issue in the debate between
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians
such as would take place during the Great Schism.

[ patriarch, orthodox, filioque, celibate, eucharist, icon,
iconoclast ]
Great Schism, 1054
Roman Catholic
 Pope
 “Filioque”
 From Father and “and the
son”
 Celibate priesthood
 Unleavened bread in
Eucharist
 Latin
 Iconoclast
EASTERN ORTHODOX
 5 patriarchs
 No filioque

Pope cannot insert that into
Nicene Creed (3rd
Ecumenical Council 431 CE)
 Married priesthood (but
celibate bishops)
 Leavened bread in
Eucharist
 Greek
 Icons
6-3.
 Examine the role of the Byzantines in preserving and
transmitting Greek and Roman cultures.

[ Justinian Code, Corpus of Civil Law ]
Preserving Greco-Roman Culture
Three “heirs” to Rome
1.Islamic Empires
2.Germanic Kingdoms
3.Byzantines (“Nea Roma”)
Justinian’s Code
Greek language
Intact in east what was largely lost in west
Not rediscovered until Crusades, 12th century
6-4.
 Discuss the role of commerce and trade on the Song
Dynasty.

[ commerce, tribute, eunuch, bureaucrat, surplus, specialized
labor, infrastructure, currency, ceramics ]
Economic Growth!
●
Population explosion
–
In 742 50 millions
●
–
Same as in 2 CE
By 1100 100 millions
MORE MORE MORE!
●
Agricultural surplus
–
Cause: improvements in
tech. and crops
–
Effect: commercial
structures
●
●
●
Specialized labor
Commercial
centers
Better
infrastructure
Rice
●
High labor crop
●
Wild form = swamp
●
●
Ideal food “ good taste,
digestible, good nutrition
w/soy – the only cereal that
can be boiled and eaten and
not turn to mush
Rice yields more calories
per unit of land than other
crops
MORE MORE MORE MORE!
●
●
●
●
Paper money evolves
–
Silver too heavy – deposit
somewhere – trade
deposit tickets instead of
iron / silver
–
Gov takes over paper
money
Huge ocean trade = big $$
Industrial development: silk,
ceramics, books, iron
HUGE CITIES!!