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The role of a woman apart of the Ming Dynasty was to complete household tasks.  A Ming woman was not given the right to make an income for herself or her family.  A Ming woman would be confined in her home with her kids to look after.

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The role of woman apart of the Tang Dynasty was a time of freedom. Women had more freedom because the Tang Dynasty was characterized with open minded and liberal ideas. Women would be able to conduct social activities and carry on buisness independently. Woman were given the right to learn history,politics,and military skills.

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The Ming Dynasty social structure was influenced by confucian thought. There were four different occupations in the Ming society and they were:Shi,Nong,Gong,and Shang

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The Tang dynasty social structure was divided up into eight sections: emperors and his family, the aristocracy, the bureaucracy, the emperors servants, the clergy, the peasants, and the artisans.

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Wuhou, (born 624 ce, Wenshui [now in Shanxi province], China-died December 16, 705, Luoyang), posthumous name ( shi) of the woman who rose from concubinage to become empress of China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). She ruled effectively for many years, the last 15 (690-705) in her own name. During her reign, Tang rule was consolidated, and the empire was unified.

Wu Zhao entered the palace of the Tang emperor Taizong (ruled 626-649) in 638, at the age of 14, as a junior concubine. By that time, the Tang dynasty had recently reunited China, largely through the efforts of Taizong. Little is known of Wu's life as a concubine of Taizong, but, on his death in 649, she is traditionally said to have already entered into intimate relations with his heir, the Gaozong emperor. Relegated to a Buddhist convent on the death of Taizong, as custom required, the future empress Wuhou was visited there by the new emperor, who had her brought back to the palace to be his own favourite concubine. She first eliminated her female rivals within the palace-the existing empress and leading concubines-and in 655 gained the position of empress for herself, eventually bearing Gaozong four sons and one daughter.

Wuhou used her authority to bring about the fall of the elder statesmen, all of whom had served Taizong and still exercised great influence over the government. These men opposed her elevation to the position of empress, mainly because, although she was the daughter of a relatively senior officer, her family was not one of the great aristocratic clans. They also objected to the nature of her relationship with Gaozong, on the grounds that, as she had been a concubine of Taizong, it was incestuous. By 660 the empress had triumphed over all opponents, who had been dismissed, exiled, and, in many instances, finally executed. Even the emperor's uncle, the head of the great family of the Changsun, of imperial descent, was hounded to death, and his relatives were exiled or ruined.

Virtually supreme power was now exercised by the Wuhou empress in the name of the sickly Gaozong, who was often too ill to attend to state affairs for long periods. The emperor, who was weak in character, relied on her entirely, and, for the last 23 years of his life, the empress was the real ruler of China. She continued to eliminate potential rivals, even when these were her own relatives, but she governed the empire with great efficiency, employing able men who clearly felt loyalty to her and stood by her when she was challenged. Her great ability as an administrator, her courage, decisive character, and readiness to use ruthless means against any opponent, however highly placed, won her the respect, if not the love, of the court. In the years between 655 and 675, the Tang empire conquered Korea under military leaders who were picked and promoted by the empress.

When Gaozong died in 683, he was succeeded by his son Li Xian (by Wuhou), known as the Zhongzong emperor. The new emperor had been married to a woman of the Wei family, who now sought to put herself in the same position of authority as that of Wuhou, for Zhongzong was as weak and incompetent as his father. After one month Wuhou deposed her son, exiled him, and installed as emperor her second son, Li Dan (the Ruizong emperor), whose authority was purely nominal. A revolt was raised by Tang loyalists and ambitious young officials in the south. It was crushed within weeks with the loyal cooperation of the main armies of the throne. This demonstration of the support she commanded in the public service made the position of the empress unshakable.

Six years later, in 690, at age 65, the empress usurped the throne itself. Accepted without revolt, she ruled for 15 years. During that period the question of the succession began to assume great urgency. Her own nephews of the Wu family had hoped that, as she had already changed the name of the dynasty to Zhou, she would also displace the Tang heirs of the Li family and leave the throne to one of the Wu nephews. Neither of them nor their sons was popular or unusually capable; on the other hand, Wuhou's own sons, the two former emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, had little support and less ability. But, even among her loyal supporters, there was a growing hope that the Tang family of Li would not be discarded. In 698 the empress decided to accede to these views; the exiled Zhongzong was recalled to court and made crown prince. The empress showed her remarkable quality in this decision; she did not place her own family in the line of succession or designate one of her nephews as her heir. She seems to have had no ambition on behalf of her own family, only a determination to retain power for herself to the end.

In the last years of her life, from 699, the empress gave her favour to the Zhang brothers, artistic but depraved courtiers who engaged her affection by elaborate entertainments and skillful flattery. They were intensely resented by the court and senior officials, many of whom had the temerity-and courage-to warn the empress of their pernicious activity. She did not heed these warnings and, as she gradually fell into ill health, depended increasingly on the care of the Zhang brothers. In February 705 a conspiracy formed among the leading ministers and generals, who seized the palace, executed the Zhang brothers, and compelled the empress, old and ill, to yield power to Zhongzong, who reigned until 710. She retired to another palace and died there in December of that year.

The Wuhou empress was a highly competent ruler, using men of her own choice, regardless of their social standing. Although her motives were to secure her own authority, the consequences of her policies were to be of great historical importance. The transformation of Chinese society in the Tang period from one dominated by a military and political aristocracy to one governed by a scholarly bureaucracy drawn from the gentry was promoted by her policy. The significance of this aspect of her rule was long obscured by the prejudice of Chinese historians against an usurping empress and her many acts of cruelty toward opponents. She established the new unified empire on a lasting basis and brought about needed social changes that stabilized the dynasty and ushered in one of the most fruitful ages of Chinese civilization.

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Wuhou, posthumous name of the woman who rose from concubinage to become empress of China during the Tang dynasty.

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Who founded the Ming Dynasty?

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Ming dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Ming, Chinese dynasty that lasted from 1368 to 1644 and provided an interval of native Chinese rule between eras of Mongol and Manchu dominance, respectively. During the Ming period, China exerted immense cultural and political influence on East Asia and the Turks to the west, as well as on Vietnam and Myanmar to the south.

History

The Ming dynasty, which succeeded the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty (1206-1368), was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu, who was of humble origins, later assumed the reign title of Hongwu. The Ming became one of the most stable but also one of the most autocratic of all Chinese dynasties.

The basic governmental structure established by the Ming was continued by the subsequent Qing (Manchu) dynasty and lasted until the imperial institution was abolished in 1911/12. The civil service system was perfected during the Ming and then became stratified; almost all the top Ming officials entered the bureaucracy by passing a government examination. The Censorate (Yushitai), an office designed to investigate official misconduct and corruption, was made a separate organ of the government. Affairs in each province were handled by three agencies, each reporting to separate bureaus in the central government. The position of prime minister was abolished. Instead, the emperor took over personal control of the government, ruling with the assistance of the especially appointed Neige, or Grand Secretariat.

Basically, the Ming incorporated the Song dynasty's policy of relying on the literati in managing state affairs. However, from the Yongle emperor onward, the emperors relied increasingly on trusted eunuchs to contain the literati. Also introduced at that time was a system of punishment by flogging with a stick in court, which was designed to humiliate civil officials-while also making use of them to realize the emperor's aim of maintaining practical control of the state in his own hands. By decree of the emperor, a vast spying service was organized under three special agencies.

Struggles with peoples of various nationalities continued throughout the Ming period. Clashes with Mongols were nearly incessant. During the first decades of the dynasty, the Mongols were driven north to Outer Mongolia (present-day Mongolia), but the Ming could not claim a decisive victory. From then onward the Ming were generally able to maintain their northern border, though by the later stages of the dynasty it in effect only reached the line of the Great Wall. On the northeast, the Juchen (Chinese: Nüzhen, or Ruzhen), who rose in the northeast around the end of the 16th century, pressed the Ming army to withdraw successively southward, and eventually the Ming made the east end of the Great Wall their last line of defense. The Ming devoted considerable resources toward maintaining and strengthening the wall, especially near Beijing, the dynasty's capital.

In early Ming times, China's domain extended considerably in the south as a result of its successful invasion of northern Vietnam. But the brief occupation of Vietnam was met with determined local guerrilla resistance, and the Ming government quickly decided to restore the boundary to its original line. It never again attempted to push southward. During the 15th century the government had organized large tribute-collecting flotillas commanded by Zheng He to extend China's influence. Also during the Ming, Japan became more aggressive. In the 15th century Japanese raiders teamed up with Chinese pirates to make coastal raids in Chinese waters, which were of a relatively small scale but were still highly disruptive to Chinese coastal cities. The Ming government eventually tried to stop Japan's attempt to control Korea, which became a long and costly campaign.

The Ming government was gradually weakened by factionalism between civil officials, interference by palace eunuchs, the burdens of a growing population, and a succession of weak and inattentive emperors. In 1644 a rebel leader, Li Zicheng, captured Beijing, and the local Ming military commander requested aid from the Manchu tribal peoples who had been encroaching on China's northern borders. The Manchu drove out Li Zicheng and then remained, establishing the Qing dynasty.

Cultural achievements

Despite the many foreign contacts made during the Ming period, cultural developments were characterized by a generally conservative and inward-looking attitude. Ming architecture is largely undistinguished with the Forbidden City, a palace complex built in Beijing in the 15th century by the Yongle emperor (and subsequently enlarged and rebuilt), its main representative. The best Ming sculpture is found not in large statues but in small ornamental carvings of jade, ivory, wood, and porcelain. Although a high level of workmanship is manifest in Ming decorative arts such as cloisonné, enamelware, bronze, lacquerwork, and furniture, the major achievements in art were in painting and pottery.

While there were two main traditions in painting in the Ming period, that of "literati painting" (wenrenhua) of the Wu school and that of the "professional academics" ( huayuanpai) associated with the Zhe school, artists generally stressed independent creation, impressing their work with strong marks of their personal styles.

There were many new developments in ceramics, along with the continuation of established traditions. Three major types of decoration emerged: monochromatic glazes, including celadon, red, green, and yellow; underglaze copper red and cobalt blue; and overglaze, or enamel painting, sometimes combined with underglaze blue. The latter, often called "blue and white," was imitated in Vietnam, Japan, and, from the 17th century, in Europe. Much of this porcelain was produced in the huge factory at Jingdezhen in present-day Jiangsu province. One of the period's most-influential wares was the stoneware of Yixing in Jiangsu province, which was exported in the 17th century to the West, where it was known as boccaro ware and imitated by such factories as Meissen.

The Ming regime restored the former literary examinations for public office, which pleased the literary world, dominated by Southerners. In their own writing the Ming sought a return to classical prose and poetry styles and, as a result, produced writings that were imitative and generally of little consequence. Writers of vernacular literature, however, made real contributions, especially in novels and drama. Chinese traditional drama originating in the Song dynasty had been banned by the Mongols but survived underground in the South, and in the Ming era it was restored. This was chuanqi, a form of musical theatre with numerous scenes and contemporary plots. What emerged was kunqu style, less bombastic in song and accompaniment than other popular theatre. Under the Ming it enjoyed great popularity, indeed outlasting the dynasty by a century or more. It was adapted into a full-length opera form, which, although still performed today, was gradually replaced in popularity by jingxi (Peking opera) during the Qing dynasty.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Augustyn.

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Ming dynasty | Dates, Achievements, Culture, & Facts

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Ming dynasty, Chinese dynasty that lasted from 1368 to 1644 and provided an interval of native Chinese rule between eras of Mongol and Manchu dominance, respectively. During the Ming period, China exerted immense cultural and political influence on East Asia.

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The only woman to single-handedly run China.  Emperess Wu was from the Tang Dynasty.  Her power began to rise as she began to serve as a young concubine of Emperor Taizong.  Wu is seen as one of the greatest rulers of ancient China till this day.

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Hongwu emperor was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He would establish a Dynasty that followed economic growth and a flourishing of the arts. Something remarkable about Hongwu was that he was born a peasant. He became a monk,then a rebel leader,and finally the first emperor of a new Dynasty.

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Li Yuan was the founder of the Tang Dynasty. He founded a Dynasty known for the golden age of Chinese arts and culture.

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Hongwu instituted two systems to help peasants despite the social hierarchy of the Ming Dynasty:

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Hongwu instituted two systems to help peasants despite the social hierarchy of the Ming Dynasty:

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As the Hongwu Emperor came from a peasant family, he was aware of how peasants used to suffer under the oppression of the scholar-bureaucrats and the wealthy. Many of the latter, relying on their connections with government officials, encroached unscrupulously on peasants’ lands and bribed the officials to transfer the burden of taxation to the poor. To prevent such abuse, the Hongwu Emperor instituted two systems: Yellow Records and Fish Scale Records. These systems served both to secure the government’s income from land taxes and to affirm that peasants would not lose their lands.

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Emperess Wu takes advantage of being ruler,to help peasants:

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Emperess Wu takes advantage of being ruler,to help peasants:

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Empress Wu helped to improve the lives of the peasants by lowering taxes, building new public works, and improving farming techniques.

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Rise of the Ming Dynasty

The Ming dynasty was founded by the peasant rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang.

Learning Objectives

Describe the origins and rise of the Ming dynasty

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368-1644) following the collapse of the Mongol -led Yuan dynasty.

Explanations for the demise of the Yuan include institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Han Chinese that stirred resentment and rebellion, overtaxation of areas hard-hit by inflation, and massive flooding of the Yellow River caused by the abandonment of irrigation projects.

These issues led to a popular revolt called the Red Turban Rebellion, led in part by a peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang.

With the Yuan dynasty crumbling, competing rebel groups began fighting for control of the country and thus the right to establish a new dynasty, which Zhu did in 1368 after defeating his rivals in the largest naval battle in history and marching toward Beijing, the capital of the Yuan, causing Yuan leaders to flee.

Key Terms

Zhu Yuanzhang: A poor peasant who rose through the ranks of a rebel army and later founded the Ming dynasty.

White Lotus Society: A Buddhist secret society associated with the Red Turban Rebellion.

Overview

The Ming dynasty (January 23, 1368-April 25, 1644), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China founded by the peasant rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang (known posthumously as Emperor Taizu). It succeeded the Yuan dynasty and preceded the short-lived Shun dynasty, which was in turn succeeded by the Qing dynasty. At its height, the Ming dynasty had a population of at least 160 million people, but some assert that the population could actually have been as large as 200 million.

Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the size of the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century surpassed all others in grandeur. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal, the restoration of the Great Wall as it is seen today, and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. The Ming dynasty is, for many reasons, generally known as a period of stable, effective government. It is seen as the most secure and unchallenged ruling house that China had known up until that time. Its institutions were generally preserved by the following Qing dynasty. Civil service dominated government to an unprecedented degree at this time. During the Ming dynasty, the territory of China expanded (and in some cases also retracted) greatly. For a brief period during the dynasty northern Vietnam was included in Ming territory. Other important developments included the moving of the capital from Nanjing to Beijing.

Founding of the Ming Dynasty

The Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) ruled before the establishment of the Ming dynasty. Alongside institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Han Chinese that stirred resentment and rebellion, other explanations for the Yuan's demise included overtaxing areas hard-hit by crop failure, inflation, and massive flooding of the Yellow River caused by abandonment of irrigation projects. Consequently, agriculture and the economy were in shambles, and rebellion broke out among the hundreds of thousands of peasants called upon to work on repairing the dikes of the Yellow River.

A number of Han Chinese groups revolted, including the Red Turbans in 1351. Zhu Yuanzhang was a penniless peasant and Buddhist monk who joined the Red Turbans in 1352, but soon gained a reputation after marrying the foster daughter of a rebel commander.

Zhu was a born into a desperately poor tenant farmer family in Zhongli Village in the Huai River plain, which is in present-day Fengyang, Anhui Province. When he was sixteen, the Huai River broke its banks and flooded the lands where his family lived. Subsequently, a plague killed his entire family, except one of his brothers. He buried them by wrapping them in white clothes. Destitute, Zhu accepted a suggestion to take up a pledge made by his late father and became a novice monk at the Huangjue Temple, a local Buddhist monastery. He did not remain there for long, as the monastery ran short of funds and he was forced to leave. For the next few years, Zhu led the life of a wandering beggar and personally experienced and saw the hardships of the common people. After about three years, he returned to the monastery and stayed there until he was around twenty-four years old. He learned to read and write during the time he spent with the Buddhist monks.

The monastery where Zhu lived was eventually destroyed by an army that was suppressing a local rebellion. In 1352, Zhu joined one of the many insurgent forces that had risen in rebellion against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He rose rapidly through the ranks and became a commander. His rebel force later joined the Red Turbans, a millenarian sect related to the White Lotus Society, and one that followed cultural and religious traditions of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and other religions. Widely seen as a defender of Confucianism and neo-Confucianism among the predominantly Han Chinese population in China, Zhu emerged as a leader of the rebels that were struggling to overthrow the Yuan dynasty.

In 1356 Zhu's rebel force captured the city of Nanjing, which he would later establish as the capital of the Ming dynasty. Zhu enlisted the aid of many able advisors, including the artillery specialists Jiao Yu and Liu Bowen.

Zhu cemented his power in the south by eliminating his arch rival, rebel leader Chen Youliang, in the Battle of Lake Poyang in 1363. This battle was-in terms of personnel-one of the largest naval battles in history. After the dynastic head of the Red Turbans suspiciously died in 1367 while a guest of Zhu, Zhu made his imperial ambitions known by sending an army toward the Yuan capital in 1368. The last Yuan emperor fled north into Mongolia and Zhu declared the founding of the Ming dynasty after razing the Yuan palaces in Dadu (present-day Beijing) to the ground.

Instead of following the traditional way of naming a dynasty after the first ruler's home district, Zhu Yuanzhang's choice of "Ming," or "Brilliant," for his dynasty followed a Mongol precedent of choosing an uplifting title. Zhu Yuanzhang also took "Hongwu," or "Vastly Martial,"' as his reign title. Although the White Lotus had instigated his rise to power, the emperor later denied that he had ever been a member of the organization, and suppressed the religious movement after he became emperor.

Zhu Yuanzhang drew on both past institutions and new approaches in order to create jiaohua (civilization) as an organic Chinese governing process. This included building schools at all levels and increasing study of the classics as well as books on morality. There was also a distribution of Neo-Confucian ritual manuals and a new civil service examination system for recruitment into the bureaucracy.

The Economy under the Ming Dynasty

The economy of the Ming dynasty was characterized by extreme inflation, the return to silver bullion, and the rise of large agricultural markets.

Learning Objectives

Explain why the Ming dynasty supported the agricultural classes

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The economy of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) of China was the largest in the world during that period, but suffered many inflations and contractions of currency.

Because of hyperinflation of paper currency, the government returned to using silver as currency, which saw a major boom but later crashed, giving rise to widespread smuggling.

Both because of his upbringing as a poor peasant and in order to recover from the rule of the Mongols and the wars that followed, the Hongwu Emperor enacted pro-agricultural policies.

The Ming saw the rise of large commercial plantations, cash crops, and expanded markets.

Hongwu Emperor initiated extensive land reform, including the distribution of land to peasants.

Key Terms

bullion: Gold bars, silver bars, and other bars or ingots of precious metal used as currency.

autarkic: The quality of being self-sufficient, especially in economic or political systems.

Overview

The economy of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) of China was the largest in the world during that period. It is regarded as one of China's three golden ages (the other two being the Han and Song periods). The period was marked by the increasing political influence of the merchants, the gradual weakening of imperial rule, and technological advances.

Currency during the Ming Dynasty

The early Ming dynasty attempted to use paper currency, with outflows of bullion limited by its ban on private foreign commerce. Like its forebears, paper currency experienced massive counterfeiting and hyperinflation. In 1425, Ming notes were trading at about 0.014% of their original value under the Hongwu Emperor. The notes remained in circulation as late as 1573, but their printing ceased in 1450. Minor coins were minted in base metals, but trade mostly occurred using silver ingots. As their purity and exact weight varied, they were treated as bullion and measured in tael. These privately made "sycee" first came into use in Guangdong, spreading to the lower Yangtze sometime before 1423, the year sycee became acceptable for payment of tax obligations.

In the mid-15th century, the paucity of circulating silver caused a monetary contraction and an extensive reversion to barter. The problem was met through smuggled, then legal, importation of Japanese silver, mostly through the Portuguese and Dutch, and Spanish silver from Potosí carried on the Manila galleons. Silver was required to pay provincial taxes in 1465, the salt tax in 1475, and corvée exemptions in 1485. By the late Ming, the amount of silver being used was extraordinary; at a time when English traders considered tens of thousands of pounds an exceptional fortune, the Zheng clan of merchants regularly engaged in transactions valued at millions of taels. However, a second silver contraction occurred in the mid-17th century when King Philip IV of Spain began enforcing laws limiting direct trade between Spanish South America and China at about the same time the new Tokugawa shogunate in Japan restricted most of its foreign exports, cutting off Dutch and Portuguese access to its silver. The dramatic spike in silver's value in China made payment of taxes nearly impossible for most provinces. The government even resumed use of paper currency amid Li Zicheng's rebellion.

Agriculture during the Ming Dynasty

In order to recover from the rule of the Mongols and the wars that followed, the Hongwu Emperor enacted pro-agricultural policies. The state invested extensively in agricultural canals and reduced taxes on agriculture to 3.3% of the output, and later to 1.5%. Ming farmers also introduced many innovations such as water-powered plows, and new agricultural methods such as crop rotation. This led to a massive agricultural surplus that became the basis of a market economy.

The Ming saw the rise of commercial plantations that produced crops suitable to their regions. Tea, fruit, paint, and other goods were produced on a massive scale by these agricultural plantations. Regional patterns of production established during this period continued into the Qing dynasty. The Columbian exchange brought crops such as corn. Still, large numbers of peasants abandoned the land to become artisans. The population of the Ming boomed; estimates for the population of the Ming range from 160 to 200 million.

Agriculture during the Ming changed significantly. Firstly, gigantic areas devoted to cash crops sprung up, and there was demand for the crops in the new market economy. Secondly, agricultural tools and carts, some water powered, help to create a large agricultural surplus that formed the basis of the rural economy. Besides rice, other crops were grown on a large scale.

Although images of autarkic farmers who had no connection to the rest of China may have some merit for the earlier Han and Tang dynasties, this was certainly not the case for the Ming dynasty. During the Ming dynasty, the increase in population and the decrease in quality land made it necessary for farmers to make a living off cash crops. Markets for these crops appeared in the rural countryside, where goods were exchanged and bartered.

A second type of market that developed in China was the urban-rural type, in which rural goods were sold to urban dwellers. This was common when landlords decided to reside in the cities and use income from rural land holdings to facilitate exchange in those urban areas. Professional merchants used this type of market to buy rural goods in large quantities.

The third type of market was the "national market," which was developed during the Song dynasty but particularly enhanced during the Ming. This market involved not only the exchanges described above, but also products produced directly for the market. Unlike earlier dynasties, many Ming peasants were no longer generating only products they needed; many of them produced goods for the market, which they then sold at a profit.

Land Reform

As the Hongwu Emperor came from a peasant family, he was aware of how peasants used to suffer under the oppression of the scholar-bureaucrats and the wealthy. Many of the latter, relying on their connections with government officials, encroached unscrupulously on peasants' lands and bribed the officials to transfer the burden of taxation to the poor. To prevent such abuse, the Hongwu Emperor instituted two systems: Yellow Records and Fish Scale Records. These systems served both to secure the government's income from land taxes and to affirm that peasants would not lose their lands.

However, the reforms did not eliminate the threat of the bureaucrats to peasants. Instead, the expansion of the bureaucrats and their growing prestige translated into more wealth and tax exemption for those in government service. The bureaucrats gained new privileges and some became illegal money-lenders and managers of gambling rings. Using their power, the bureaucrats expanded their estates at the expense of peasants' land through outright purchase of those lands and foreclosure on their mortgages whenever they wanted the lands. The peasants often became either tenants or workers, or sought employment elsewhere.

Since the beginning of the Ming dynasty in 1357, great care was taken by the Hongwu Emperor to distribute land to peasants. One way was through forced migration to less dense areas; some people were tied to a pagoda tree in Hongdong and moved. Public works projects, such as the construction of irrigation systems and dikes, were undertaken in an attempt to help farmers. In addition, the Hongwu Emperor also reduced the demands for forced labour on the peasantry. In 1370, the Hongwu Emperor ordered that some lands in Hunan and Anhui should be given to young farmers who had reached adulthood. The order was intended to prevent landlords from seizing the land, as it also decreed that the titles to the lands were not transferable. During the middle part of his reign, the Hongwu Emperor passed an edict stating that those who brought fallow land under cultivation could keep it as their property without being taxed.

The Role of Foreign Trade

Trade during the Ming dynasty began slowly, with severe restrictions, especially toward Japan, but later expanded to markets around the world.

Learning Objectives

Explain the significant role foreign trade played under Ming dynasty

Key Takeaways

Key Points

In the early Ming, after the devastation of the war that expelled the Mongols, the Hongwu Emperor imposed severe restrictions on trade, called the haijin .

The trade ban was completely counterproductive; by the 16th century, piracy and smuggling were widespread.

After Hongwu Emperor's death, most of his policies were reversed by his successors.

After the Chinese banned direct trade with Japan, the Portuguese filled this commercial vacuum as intermediaries between China and Japan.

Although the bulk of imports to China were silver, the Chinese also purchased New World crops from the Spanish Empire, many of which became staple crops.

The thriving of trade and commerce was aided by the construction of canals, roads, and bridges by the Ming government.

Key Terms

haijin: A series of related isolationist Chinese policies restricting private maritime trade and coastal settlement during most of the Ming dynasty.

Matteo Ricci: An Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. His 1602 map of the world in Chinese characters introduced the findings of European exploration to East Asia.

Trade Restrictions

In the early Ming, after the devastation of the war that expelled the Mongols, the Hongwu Emperor imposed severe restrictions on trade (the " haijin " or "sea ban"). Believing that agriculture was the basis of the economy, Hongwu favored that industry over all else, including the merchant industry. Partly imposed to deal with Japanese piracy amid the mopping up of Yuan partisans, the sea ban was completely counterproductive; by the 16th century, piracy and smuggling were endemic and mostly consisted of Chinese who had been dispossessed by the policies. China's foreign trade was limited to irregular and expensive tribute missions, and resistance to them among the Chinese bureaucracy led to the scrapping of Zheng He's fleets. Piracy dropped to negligible levels only upon the ending of the policy in 1567.

After Hongwu Emperor's death, most of his policies were reversed by his successors. By the late Ming, the state was losing power to the very merchants Hongwu had wanted to restrict.

Trade Expands

After the Chinese banned direct trade with Japan, the Portuguese filled this commercial vacuum as intermediaries between China and Japan. The Portuguese bought Chinese silk and sold it to the Japanese in return for Japanese-mined silver; since silver was more highly valued in China, the Portuguese could then use Japanese silver to buy even larger stocks of Chinese silk. However, by 1573-after the Spanish established a trading base in Manila-the Portuguese intermediary trade was trumped by the prime source of incoming silver to China from the Spanish Americas. Although it is unknown just how much silver flowed from the Philippines to China, it is known that the main port for the Mexican silver trade-Acapulco-shipped between 150,000 and 345,000 kg (4 to 9 million taels) of silver annually from 1597 to 1602.

Although the bulk of imports to China were silver, the Chinese also purchased New World crops from the Spanish Empire. This included sweet potatoes, maize, and peanuts, foods that could be cultivated in lands where traditional Chinese staple crops-wheat, millet, and rice-couldn't grow, hence facilitating a rise in the population of China. In the Song dynasty (960-1279), rice had become the major staple crop of the poor; after sweet potatoes were introduced to China around 1560, they gradually became the traditional food of the lower classes. The Ming also imported many European firearms in order to ensure the modernness of their weapons.

The beginning of relations between the Spanish and Chinese were much warmer than when the Portuguese were first given a reception in China. In the Philippines, the Spanish defeated the fleet of the infamous Chinese pirate Limahong in 1575, an act greatly appreciated by the Ming admiral who had been sent to capture Limahong. In fact, the Chinese admiral invited the Spanish to board his vessel and travel back to China, beginning a trip that included two Spanish soldiers and two Christian friars eager to spread the faith. However, the friars returned to the Philippines after it became apparent that their preaching was unwelcome; Matteo Ricci would fare better in his trip of 1582. The Augustinian monk Juan Gonzáles de Mendoza wrote an influential work on China in 1585, remarking that the Ming dynasty was the best-governed kingdom he was aware of in the known world.

The thriving of trade and commerce was aided by the construction of canals, roads, and bridges by the Ming government. The Ming saw the rise of several merchant clans such as the Huai and Jin, who disposed of large amounts of wealth. The gentry and merchant classes started to fuse, and the merchants gained power at the expense of the state. Some merchants were reputed to have a treasure of 30 million taels.

Art under the Ming Dynasty

Literature, poetry, and painting flourished during the Ming dynasty, especially in the economically prosperous lower Yangtze valley.

Learning Objectives

Describe some of the artwork characteristic of the Ming dynasty

Key Takeaways

Key Points

One major innovation during the Ming period was the vernacular novel, written in a form of Chinese readable to an audience much larger than the elite literati and incorporating themes outside the norms of Confucian court styles.

Informal essays, travel writing, and private newspapers also thrived during the Ming period.

During the Ming, classical forms of painting continued, and new schools of painting flourished.

Well-known Ming artists could make a living simply by painting due to the high prices they charged for their artworks and the great demand by the highly cultured community to collect precious works of art.

The period was also renowned for ceramics and porcelains, which were sought around the world, and gave rise to many scammers and imitators.

Key Terms

vernacular: The native language or native dialect of a specific population, especially as distinguished from a literary, national, or standard variety of the language.

calligraphy: A visual art related to writing; the design and execution of lettering with a broad-tip brush, among other writing instruments.

Literature and Poetry

Short fiction had been popular in China as far back as the Tang dynasty (618-907), and the works of contemporaneous Ming authors such as Xu Guangqi, Xu Xiake, and Song Yingxing were often technical and encyclopedic, but the most striking literary development during the Ming period was the vernacular novel. While the gentry elite were educated enough to fully comprehend the language of classical Chinese, those with rudimentary educations-such as women in educated families, merchants, and shop clerks-became a large potential audience for literature and performing arts that employed vernacular Chinese. Literati scholars edited or developed major Chinese novels into mature form in this period, such as Water Margin and Journey to the West. Jin Ping Mei, published in 1610, though it incorporated earlier material, exemplifies the trend toward independent composition and concern with psychology. In the later years of the dynasty, Feng Menglong and Ling Mengchu innovated with vernacular short fiction. Theater scripts were equally imaginative. The most famous script, The Peony Pavilion, was written by Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), and had its first performance at the Pavilion of Prince Teng in 1598.

Informal essay and travel writing was another highlight of Ming literature. Xu Xiake (1587-1641), a travel literature author, published his Travel Diaries in 404,000 written characters, with information on everything from local geography to mineralogy. In contrast to Xu Xiake, who focused on technical aspects in his travel literature, the Chinese poet and official Yuan Hongdao (1568-1610) used travel literature to express his desires for individualism, as well as autonomy from and frustration with Confucian court politics. Yuan desired to free himself from the ethical compromises that were inseparable from the career of a scholar-official. This anti-official sentiment in Yuan's travel literature and poetry was actually following in the tradition of the Song dynasty poet and official Su Shi (1037-1101). Yuan Hongdao and his two brothers, Yuan Zongdao (1560-1600) and Yuan Zhongdao (1570-1623), were the founders of the Gong'an School of letters. This highly individualistic school of poetry and prose was criticized by the Confucian establishment for its association with intense sensual lyricism, which was also apparent in Ming vernacular novels such as the Jin Ping Mei. Yet even the gentry and scholar-officials were affected by the new popular romantic literature, seeking courtesans as soulmates to reenact the heroic love stories that arranged marriages often could not provide or accommodate.

The first reference to the publishing of private newspapers in Beijing was in 1582; by 1638 the Beijing Gazette switched from using woodblock print to movable type printing. The new literary field of the moral guide to business ethics was developed during the late Ming period for the readership of the merchant class.

Painting

Famous painters included Ni Zan and Dong Qichang, as well as the Four Masters of the Ming dynasty, Shen Zhou, Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming, and Qiu Ying. They drew upon the techniques, styles, and complexity in painting achieved by their Song and Yuan predecessors, but added techniques and styles. Well-known Ming artists could make a living simply by painting due to the high prices they charged for their artworks and the great demand by the highly cultured community to collect precious works of art. The artist Qiu Ying was once paid 100 oz of silver to paint a long hand-scroll for the eightieth birthday celebration of the mother of a wealthy patron. Renowned artists often gathered an entourage of followers, some who were amateurs who painted while pursuing an official career, and others who were full-time painters.

The painting techniques that were invented and developed before the Ming period became classical during it. More colors were used in painting during the Ming dynasty; seal brown became much more widely used, and even over-used. Many new painting skills and techniques were innovated and developed; calligraphy was much more closely and perfectly combined with the art of painting. Chinese painting reached another climax in the mid- and late-Ming. Painting was derived in a broad scale, many new schools were born, and many outstanding masters emerged.

Pottery

The period was also renowned for ceramics and porcelains. The major production centers for porcelain were the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province and Dehua in Fujian province. The Dehua porcelain factories catered to European tastes by creating Chinese export porcelain by the 16th century. Individual potters also became known, such as He Chaozong, who became famous in the early 17th century for his style of white porcelain sculpture. The ceramic trade thrived in Asia; Chuimei Ho estimates that about 16% of late Ming era Chinese ceramic exports were sent to Europe, while the rest were destined for Japan and South East Asia.

Carved designs in lacquerware and designs glazed onto porcelain wares displayed intricate scenes similar in complexity to those in painting. These items could be found in the homes of the wealthy, alongside embroidered silks and wares in jade, ivory, and cloisonné. The houses of the rich were also furnished with rosewood furniture and feathery latticework. The writing materials in a scholar's private study, including elaborately carved brush holders made of stone or wood, were designed and arranged ritually to give an aesthetic appeal.

Connoisseurship in the late Ming period centered on these items of refined artistic taste, which provided work for art dealers and even underground scammers who themselves made imitations and false attributions. The Jesuit Matteo Ricci, while staying in Nanjing, wrote that Chinese scam artists were ingenious at making forgeries and thus huge profits. However, there were guides to help the wary new connoisseurs; Liu Tong (d. 1637) wrote a book printed in 1635 that told his readers how to spot fake and authentic pieces of art. He revealed that a Xuande-era (1426-1435) bronzework could be authenticated by judging its sheen; porcelain wares from the Yongle era (1402-1424) could be judged authentic by their thickness.

Fall of the Ming Dynasty

The fall of the Ming dynasty was caused by a combination of factors, including an economic disaster due to lack of silver, a series of natural disasters, peasant uprisings, and finally attacks by the Manchu people.

Learning Objectives

Explain why the Ming dynasty eventually fell from power

Key Takeaways

Key Points

During the last years of the Wanli Emperor 's reign and the reigns of his two successors, an economic crisis developed that was centered around a sudden widespread lack of the empire's chief medium of exchange: silver.

In this early half of the 17th century, famines became common in northern China, and the central government did little to relieve the populations, leading to widespread discontent among the people.

The Manchu, formerly called the Jurchen people, rose to power under the leadership of a tribal leader named Nurhaci, who commissioned a document titled the Seven Grievances, essentially a declaration of war against the Ming.

Peasant and soldier uprising under the leadership of Li Zicheng weakened the government and army of the Ming.

The last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City.

Li Zicheng, who had attempted to start a new Shun dynasty, was eventually defeated by the Manchu army, who founded the Qing dynasty.

Key Terms

Forbidden City: The Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty-the years 1420 to 1912-in Beijing.

Manchu: A Chinese ethnic minority, formerly the Jurchen people, who founded the Qing dynasty.

Wanli Emperor: The 13th emperor of the Ming dynasty of China; his reign of forty-eight years (1572-1620) was the longest of the Ming dynasty, and it witnessed the steady decline of the dynasty.

Economic Breakdown

During the last years of the Wanli Emperor's reign and the reigns of his two successors, an economic crisis developed that was centered around a sudden widespread lack of the empire's chief medium of exchange: silver. The Protestant powers of the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of England were staging frequent raids and acts of piracy against the Catholic-based empires of Spain and Portugal in order to weaken their global economic power. Meanwhile, Philip IV of Spain (r. 1621-1665) began cracking down on illegal smuggling of silver from Mexico and Peru across the Pacific towards China, in favor of shipping American-mined silver directly from Spain to Manila. In 1639, the new Tokugawa regime of Japan shut down most of its foreign trade with European powers, causing a halt of yet another source of silver coming into China. However, while Japanese silver still came into China in limited amounts, the greatest stunt to the flow of silver came from the Americas.

These events occurring at roughly the same time caused a dramatic spike in the value of silver and made paying taxes nearly impossible for most provinces. People began hoarding precious silver, forcing the ratio of the value of copper to silver into a steep decline. In the 1630s, a string of one thousand copper coins was worth an ounce of silver; by 1640 it was reduced to the value of half an ounce; by 1643 it was worth roughly one-third of an ounce. For peasants this was an economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver while conducting local trade and selling their crops with copper coins.

Natural Disasters

In this early half of the 17th century, famines became common in northern China because of unusual dry and cold weather that shortened the growing season; these were effects of a larger ecological event now known as the Little Ice Age. Famine, alongside tax increases, widespread military desertions, a declining relief system, natural disasters such as flooding, and the inability of the government to properly manage irrigation and flood-control projects, caused widespread loss of life and normal civility. The central government was starved of resources and could do very little to mitigate the effects of these calamities. Making matters worse, a widespread epidemic spread across China from Zhejiang to Henan, killing a large but unknown number of people. The famine and drought in the late 1620s and the 1630s contributed to the rebellions that broke out in Shaanxi led by rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

The Qing Conquest of Ming: Rebellion, Invasion, Collapse

The Qing conquest of the Ming was a period of conflict between the Qing dynasty, established by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro in Manchuria (contemporary Northeastern China), and the ruling Ming dynasty of China. The Manchu, formerly called the Jurchen people, had risen to power under the leadership of a tribal leader named Nurhaci. Leading up to the Qing conquest, in 1618 Nurhaci commissioned a document titled the Seven Grievances, which enumerated resentments against the Ming and bespoke rebellion against their domination. Many of the grievances dealt with conflicts against Yehe, which was a major Manchu clan, and Ming favoritism of Yehe. Nurhaci's demand that the Ming pay tribute to him to redress the Seven Grievances was effectively a declaration of war, as the Ming were not willing to pay money to a former tributary. Shortly afterwards, Nurhaci began to force the Ming out of Liaoning in southern Manchuria.

At the same time, the Ming dynasty was fighting for its survival against fiscal turmoil and peasant rebellions. In 1640, masses of Chinese peasants who were starving, unable to pay their taxes, and no longer in fear of the frequently defeated Chinese army, began to form into huge bands of rebels. The Chinese military, caught between fruitless efforts to defeat the Manchu raiders from the north and huge peasant revolts in the provinces, essentially fell apart. On April 24, 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt and then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City. When Li Zicheng moved against him, the Ming general Wu Sangui shifted his alliance to the Manchus. Li Zicheng was defeated at the Battle of Shanhai Pass by the joint forces of Wu Sangui and the Manchu Prince Dorgon. On June 6, the Manchus and Wu entered the capital and proclaimed the young Shunzhi Emperor as Emperor of China.

The Kangxi Emperor ascended the throne in 1661, and in 1662 his regents launched the Great Clearance to defeat the resistance of Ming loyalists in South China. He fought off several rebellions, such as the Revolt of the Three Feudatories led by Wu Sangui in southern China starting in 1673, and then countered by launching a series of campaigns that expanded his empire. In 1662, Zheng Chenggong founded the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan, a pro-Ming dynasty state with a goal of reconquering China. However, the Kingdom of Tungning was defeated in the Battle of Penghu by Han Chinese admiral Shi Lang, who had also served under the Ming.

The fall of the Ming dynasty was caused by a combination of factors. Kenneth Swope argues that one key factor was deteriorating relations between Ming royalty and the Ming empire's military leadership. Other factors include repeated military expeditions to the North, inflationary pressures caused by spending too much from the imperial treasury, natural disasters, and epidemics of disease. Contributing further to the chaos was the peasant rebellion in Beijing in 1644 and a series of weak emperors. Ming power would hold out in what is now southern China for years, but eventually would be overtaken by the Manchus.

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The Ming dynasty was founded by the peasant rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang. Describe the origins and rise of the Ming dynasty Key Points The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368-1644) following the collapse of the Mongol -led Yuan dynasty.

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Tang dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization T'ang, (618-907 ce), Chinese dynasty that succeeded the short-lived Sui dynasty (581-618), developed a successful form of government and administration on the Sui model, and stimulated a cultural and artistic flowering that amounted to a golden age. The Tang dynasty-like most-rose in duplicity and murder, and it subsided into a kind of anarchy. But at its apex, in the early 8th century, the splendour of its arts and its cultural milieu made it a model for the world.

History

Founding of the dynasty

The first Tang emperor, Li Yuan, known by his temple name, Gaozu, began as a contender for the rule of the Sui, of which he had been an official. He overcame various rivals and rebels, and by 621 he controlled China's eastern plain; in 624 he added most of the rest of North and South China, although some rebels remained in the North throughout the dynasty. He directed many complex military operations in his tenure and established the basic institutions of the Tang state. He emulated the first Sui emperor in establishing a highly competent bureaucracy, and he adopted the same pattern of local administration.

Because the state was bankrupt, the administration was kept small, simple, and cheap. The land-distribution system of the Sui was adopted to give every taxable male a plot and to minimize the number of large estates, and Li Yuan also took on the Sui system of taxation. He created mints and established a copper coinage that lasted throughout the dynasty. He recodified the laws with stated penalties for specific acts and provided for their review every 20 years.

Taizong and his successors

The second Tang emperor, Li Shimin, known by the temple name Taizong, succeeded to the throne in 626 by murdering two brothers and forcing the abdication of his father, but he became one of the greatest emperors China has known. He adjusted the balance of the court aristocracy to equalize regional influences and expanded both the Sui use of examinations in literature and culture for hiring civil servants and the Sui system of high-quality schools at the capital. He further enshrined the classics and published a standard edition. He defeated his eastern Turkish enemies and spread disunity among those in the west, expanding China farther westward than ever before.

One of the most remarkable women in Chinese history, Wu Zhao (known by Wuhou, her posthumous name), intrigued her way into the role of empress during the reign of the Gaozong emperor (649-683). She took up residence in Luoyang (the eastern capital) and ruthlessly aggrandized her role by inflating the bureaucracy during Gaozong's illness. Despite her excesses, she maintained a steady grip on the government until she was in her 80s, when she was forced to abdicate.

The dynasty reached the peak of its wealth and power during the early 8th century, which was a golden age for its arts. The aristocracy, scattered, murdered, and incarcerated under the empress Wuhou, was restored and oversaw an era of reform. In the second half of the 8th century, however, rebellion broke out in the northeast and spread rapidly, forcing the emperor Xuanzong to flee west to Sichuan. Although the rebellion was finally suppressed, in its wake came a period of provincial separation and later rebellion. By 818 the emperor Xianzong had restored the authority of the empire throughout most of the country. In the second half of the 9th century, the government grew weaker, and rebellions recurred; the dynasty declined until 907, when it collapsed into a scattering of independent kingdoms that withstood unification for more than 50 years.

Tang culture

The years of the Tang were brilliant times for the arts and culture. Major imperial ceremonies saw a revival and elaboration of the ancient orchestras and companies of courtly dancers. The musicians played on bells, stone chimes, flutes, zithers, and drums. China in this period was hospitable to foreign ideas, as Arabian and Persian seamen roved its ports and "western" music and dance found their way into China from Central Asia. In the taverns of the western capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), western songs and dances were performed to the accompaniment of western musicians on strange instruments. Exotic troupes of dancing girls became the subject of paintings and reproduction in clay figurines. The Pear Garden at the palace was reserved for training musicians and dancers. Foreign music became a third category of music, in addition to court and common music. Before the end of the dynasty there were 10 musical categories, several of them foreign. Although no orchestral scores survive, the music for several solo pieces has been found. Late Tang paintings show imperial entertainments with ensembles of strings, winds, and percussion, and choreographic plans for bands and dancers have also been preserved.

Poetry was the greatest glory of the period. All the verse forms of the past were used and refined, and new ones developed. Regulated verse (lüshi) and an abbreviated, truncated verse (jueju) were introduced and became widely popular. Nearly 50,000 works by some 2,000 Tang poets have been preserved. Prose stylists were concerned with lyrical expression and rhetorical devices for artistic effect.

Heroic sculpture of Buddhas was a feature of the middle Tang; and, although no works of this size and period survive in China, several do in Japan, which was profoundly influenced by the administration, arts, culture, and religion of the Tang dynasty.

Painting played a major role in the culture of the era, and painters were important court figures. One of the Tang ministers of state, Yan Liben, is far better known as a painter than as a statesman. The greatest master of figure painting of the dynasty was Wu Daozi, who did 300 wall paintings in temples at Luoyang and Chang'an. A painter of horses was a great favourite in an era when military steeds were a matter of life and death and when court ladies played a form of polo. Landscape painting was dominated by Wang Wei, who was also an official at the court in the western capital. A new freedom with brushwork developed to provide a wider range of effects of texture and tone. Chan, or Zen, Buddhist painters brought still further freedom with the brush to religious painting.

Pottery made huge strides after the sterility of the Six Dynasties period. Finishes in white porcelain, three-colour pottery and figurines, stoneware with a rich black glaze, and a type of celadon all were developed by Tang potters; and, in keeping with the general interest in things foreign, their wares were often in foreign shapes and followed foreign motifs. Great volumes of tomb figurines were produced. Metalwork and jewelry of the period included much silver. Ritual objects included foreign shapes among the traditional Chinese forms. Silver and gold vessels were no longer cast but "raised" into bowl shape by hammering thin sheets; such vessels for drinking were double thicknesses soldered together with an insulating layer of air between them. Decorated bronze mirrors were also popular.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Adam Augustyn.

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Tang dynasty | History, Government, Achievements, & Facts

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Tang dynasty (618-907 CE), Chinese dynasty that succeeded the short-lived Sui dynasty (581-618), developed a successful form of government and administration on the Sui model, and stimulated a cultural and artistic flowering that amounted to a golden age. Learn more about the Tang dynasty in this article.

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The Tang Dynasty, which lasted from 618-907 AD, was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the chaotic Han Dynasty. Social structure in the Tang Dynasty was prominent, and had negative effects on those who were in lower classes. The system was divided up into eight sections: emperors and his family, the aristocracy, the bureaucracy, the eunuchs/emperors servants, the clergy, the peasants, and lastly, the artisans. There were laws in order to keep each class in line, providing regulations, restrictions, and responsibilities. that ensured the social structure's rigidity. The limitations provided by the laws regarding social structure prevented members of lower classes from living to their full potential by testing one's background, as opposed to their talent, expressly stating slavery as hereditary, and the providing for unequal treatment of women.

Though the government provided access to the scholarly exams to nearly everybody, it was almost impossible to penetrate the scholar class, since the exams merely tested one's background. The highest caliber and most difficult exam was titled "The Imperial Examination." In a story from the Tang Dynasty, the author describes the examination system, saying, "Hsu T'ang was from Ching county of Hsuan-chou and had been taking the examinations since he was young. In the same village there was a man named Wang Tsun, who had served as a minor government clerk when young."[1] A member of the scholar class, Hsu Tang, takes this exam, alongside Wang Tsun. Hsu Tang doesn't fully respect Wang Tsun, even after he passes an exam, and is shocked when he hears that a lowly government clerk is attempting the infamous imperial exam. The story mentions that Hsu Tang had been taking the government exams throughout his life. This gives him major advantages in being successful on this exam. Not only does it indicate that he has more experience and preparation for the test, but it also shows precisely what the examination is seeking out--a "proper" familial background. Instead of testing intelligence and merit, these exams were geared to identify wealthy and important people based on their training and knowledge in certain forms of poetry.

Laws created by Tang emperors regarding slavery and the female role in society prevented these peoples from leading better lives. In "Deed of Sale of a Slave,"[2] Han Yuanding, the man initiating the sale is referred to as "master" in relation to his slave. This illustrates the superiority of Han Yuanding relative to this unnamed slave. Even though Han Yuanding has become too poor to pay debts he owes, his slave is not released from his control. The text states, "After the woman and the goods have been exchanged and the sale completed, it is agreed that the sons and daughters of the Zhu family shall be masters of his slave forever and ever, from generation to generation." He is able to sell this person like property, indicating that the cycle would continue, throughout the slave's life. In fact, this will continue into future generations: the manner by which slaves were bought and sold provided no escape from the slave class of society, because being a slave was considered hereditary. On page two of this document, Han Yuanding's wife is mentioned only as "Seventh Daughter." As a woman in this society, she lacks power, importance, and even sufficient relevance to have a proper name, unlike her husband. Clearly, the man is most powerful in this relationship, followed by his wife, "Seventh Daughter," and concluding with the unnamed slave who is being sold, demonstrating the hardships lower classes faced in the Tang Dynasty.

Women in Tang China were offered more freedoms than they had been granted in the past dynasties, but their rights were still quite limited. Like men, women were granted more freedoms and rights in higher classes than in lower classes. Upper class women were able to become priestesses, partake in spiritual and religious ceremonies, and even participate in philosophical and political debates alongside men.[3] It seems to be quite radical that women were granted these privileges but in reality, very few women were actually able to exercise these rights. Priestesses could be granted such a status from visiting and studying at temples, all of which were located in big cities. Since only wealthier people lived inside the cities, most priestesses were of rich, scholarly families. Poor women had a much different fate. Some families sold their daughters into slavery when they ran out of money, but more commonly, the upper classes would hire poor women to work for them. This practice was so common that there were laws composed. One of these laws said, "If you hire a man's wife or daughter as a servant, you should return her to her husband or father on completion of her period of service."[4] Women were considered nothing without a male power in their life. The woman is always referred to as somebody's daughter or wife, because she is treated like property in this scenario.

The Tang Dynasty period of China had a class system that was not only enforced by social norms, but also by laws. This class system negatively affected lower classes by denying them the same opportunities as higher classes and restricting their rights and freedoms. By instating an examination system that tested family background instead of intelligence, creating laws that trapped people into slavery for generations and degrading the value of women, Tang China made life difficult for many of its people.

1. Unknown. "The Examination System," in Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook , compiled by Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 2nd ed. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1993. <http://www.masscouncil.org/?lesson-plan=traditional-chinese-culture-through-primary-sources>. Unknown. "Deed of a Sale of a Slave," in Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook , compiled by Patricia Buckley Ebrey, 126-27. 2nd ed. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1993.

3.
2. "Tang Dynasty Social Structure." Totally History . N.p., 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2014. <http//:totallyhistory.com/tang-dynasty-social-structure>.

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, ed. Chinese Civilization and Society: A Sourcebook . New York: FreePress, 1981. <http://www.masscouncil.org/?lesson-plan=traditional-chinese-culture-through-primary-sources>.

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The Tang Dynasty, which lasted from 618-907 AD, was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the chaotic Han Dynasty. Social structure in the Tang Dynasty was prominent, and had negative effects on those who were in lower classes.

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statue of Empress Wu Zetian

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statue of Emperor Hongwu

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Tomb guard of Li Yuan