Chines Dynasties by Kirsten Poulin

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:24:42 UTC

Shang Dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:28:57 UTC

The Shang Dynasty began around the mid-18th to 16th century B.C. It was the first ever Dynasty. Many people associated in China were wanderers, but when they began to settle, most settled permanently on farms. They learned how to farm many crops. Such being grains, wheat, rice and barley. As well as farming they were hunters. A part of there culture was created based on a social pyramid. Al tho there were social classes they all had religion in common. They believed in many gods and practiced Taoism. They were skilled workers. They were able to create weapons and many different objects. They used bone, jade, ceramics, stone, wood, shells as well as bronze. These things were all discovered in China. They were able to develop products using these resources. Upon these artifacts they created a writing system in which they wrote on animal bones. With such great success brought downfall. The Dynasty became week with the last king, King Zhou. They suffered from battles against nomads and rivaling tribes.

Zhou Dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:29:16 UTC

When the Zhou people from western China conquered the ruling Sang dynasty, a new dynasty arose. There ruling lasted from 1045 to 256 B.C. It was the longest-ruled dynasty. This period was known as the time of war. The dynasty was divided into two periods. The Western Zhou and the Eastern Zhou. The first important historical figure was King Wen. He ambitiously tried to undermine the authority of the Shang by making alliances with neighboring chiefs that gave the Zhou the military power to make conquests possible. King Wens son, King Wu was known for many achievements in this dynasty. He led an army of 50,000 troops against a Shang army of 700,000 in a battle known as the Battle of Muye. The Shang people were unhappy under the ruling of the Shang king, many soldiers joined Wu's side. The Zhou Dynasty is defined by a social hierarchy and a standardized spoken language. It would prove to be very influential because of the power that it gave to military leaders. The dynasty was also the beginning of China’s Iron Age. The Mandate of Heaven started during the Zhou dynasty when rulers were claiming to be “Sons of Gods”. It was crucial for the Zhou leaders because it struck fear into people. Many different groups of people were following many different rulers, and that each of those leaders were considered a god. Zhou Dynasty came to an end during the Warring States period in 256 BCE, when the army of the state of Qin captured the city of Chengzhou and the last Zhou ruler, King Nan, was killed.

Qin Dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:30:41 UTC

Ruled by the Zhou dynasty. the Qin began as the protectors of the royal Zhou buildings from that they were able to become a major power in western Asia. Qin failed many times at trying to gain more land/extend power to the east. Because they could not extend their power easily they captured non chinse tribes and states that lived near the Huang He river. They were able to avoid the battle for a very long time because they were not close to the combat. The Qin dynasty was a lesser power until Xiaogong made some changes. (361–338 B.C.) He also had a statesman named Shang Yang to help him. Shang Yang did not like being with the Wei dynasty (the other great power in China at the time) so he went west to the Qin dynasty to share his ideas. He became friends with Xiaogong and they made the most organized state during their time. Shang made laws clear that was one of his first priorities. The law was enforced to everyone it did not matter what social class you were in. Shangs most influential change was that he changed the structure of the government. He helped create a more unified state by turning towns and villages into counties and these counties were organized into districts. Shang also encouraged production, especially in farming. They were rewarded as they turned wasteland into farmland and when new workers were needed they got them from neighboring states. To increase production more any male who was not a master of the household was taxed twice as much so extend families were a thing of the past. He also standardized the system of weights and measurements. Under Shang and Xiaogong’s dynasty, Qin dynasty became very wealthy but when Xiao died Shang was killed by enemies at the Qin court. After he Xiao died his son came to power in 325 B.C. China had started to split up so Qin divided rivals and attacked them one at a time after 50 years he had dominated all of the rivals. A vital battle took place in 260 B.C. between Qin and Zhao and Qin destroyed Zhao’s military strength and was able to overtake them many decades later. After successfully unifying China a king named Shi Huangdi took power in 221 B.C. and he was the final power but he did appoint some capable helpers. He was sometimes also called Qin Shi Huang. He made some changes he removed the feudal system and extended counties and districts also known as prefectures. China was divided into 40 prefectures and Shi appointed officials to manage local affairs in these prefectures. To control this large area he forced many workers to construct highways to move his troops. They were forced to connect the walls to the northern border and strengthen them. All of China felt the 11 to 12 years of change. Hundreds of scholars were killed for criticizing Shi Huang and he banned book dealing with other law, farming or medicine because he thought they were dangerous. Because of all of this he was thought of as being cruel. He thought he corrected the misbehavior of the old age. He died in 210 B.C. while touring the empire. His death leads to the fall of the dynasty. His loyal and capable servants were put to death with him. Rebellion broke out when a group of peasants and workers killed their officers; they claimed freedom for the state of Chu. After the first outbreak happened more followed in rapid succession. As soldiers and peasants had emerged from their hiding they attacked imperial armies. The second empire was killed in 206 B.C. after his death a rebel leader accepted the surrender of the last Qin prince.

Han dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:31:21 UTC

When the Han dynasty came to power the first thing they did was return power to the nobles. During the Han, dynasty which lasted from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D they had a few inventions such as the wheelbarrow, paper, and porcelain. Myths say that paper was created in 105 AD that it could have been used 200 years earlier. The main achievements had to do with the ruler who ruled under the mandate of heaven. Wu Ti also is known as Wudi was the ruler. He ruled for 54 years from 140 to 87 B.C. He expanded borders of China into Korea and Vietnam. This expansion is what influenced the Han dynasty. Wudi herd of distant lands that we wealthy so he sent Chang Ch'ien and 100 men to search the western frontier. They did not come back with much besides amazing stories of capture and imprisonment so he sent them again a few years later to central Asia. The route they used is now known as the silk road. He sent them gifts of cattle, gold, and silk to the people he wanted to have an alliance with. A record of these journeys were kept in the Shiji. Chang Ch'ien's journeys began the widespread use of silk road. Many things were imported along this road such as ivory, glass, and wool. Another great achievement during this time was the continued building of the Great Wall. This is now 1 of the wonders of the world but the cost was high on average every mile built there would be 10 deaths. Two common practices of medicine were acupuncture and herbal medicine. They were used to cure common illnesses. They also studied astronomy they got accurate positions for Venus Jupiter and Saturn. The dynasty lasted for more than 400 years but the corrupted government, political issues, and the increasing population soon took its toll and the dynasty lost the mandate of heaven.

Sui dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:31:39 UTC

Under the rule of Emperor Wen Of Sui, and the reunification of China lead to a peaceful and stable society which encouraged economical and political development. This lead to the increase of agricultural acreage which promoted crop yield, And skills in industry lead to advances in technology of shipbuilding. While the Economy flourished, they also develop[ed policies such as the Zutiao System and the Juntian System. This moderated tax rates while keeping revenue high and made sure there was equal division of farmland. The Sui created a transportation system, extended the grand Canal and its borders, and strengthened the Great Wall of China. The Sui Dynasty began to decline as the Second monarch, Emperor Yang. made idiotic decisions, and lived a corrupt life. He also waged war against Gaoli (now Korea) which forced many people to move from their farmlands. This later caused Famine in the countryside leaving everyone in horrible condition. Emperor Yang was then strangled to death by one of his subordinates and the empire fell into ruins. The empire was overthrown by his cousin his cousin's son which then led to the dawn of the Tang Dynasty in 618 AD

Tang dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:31:53 UTC

The tang ruled like the Han dynasty and the first emperor was Kao-tsu he ruled from 618 A.D. to 626 A.D. He gave every adult man equal amounts of land for taxes and he created a money system with copper coins and silk ribbons. Kao wrote rules and changed tweaked them every 20 years these laws lasted into the Ming dynasty. The Kao dynasty was the early stages before the golden age. Kao’s general Li Shih-min successfully defeated all of the Tangs enemies. Once he had defeated all of his enemies he had strong control over the Tang dynasty he proceeded to kill his brothers and force his dad to give him the throne. IN 626 A.D is when he had finally taken over and now he was the emperor. He was called emperor Tai-Tsung. The golden age started now. He kept most of the political policies but shrank the government at the state and central level. Since he shrank the government he had more money to save up food in case of famine or the money could also help farmers whos field could have been destroyed by natural disasters. To be a judge now you had to score very high on an exam so this lead to wise officials. The main military pressure came from the Turkish frontier but they were defeated in 657 A.D. this started 150 years of Tang rule over the region. During this era, gunpowder and woodblock printing were invented. While all of this was going on there borders were still expanding into Korea and central Asia. They often communicated with the lands as far west as Persia. Goods and ideas were still being spread along the silk road. The capitals of the Tang dynasty became melting pots for different cultures. One such religion being practiced was Islam. A big influence though was Buddhism but missionaries had not gotten the religion of Buddhism popular until now the Tang era. By the mid 7 th century different forms of Buddhism that were distinct to China started to appear. One example of Chinese style for Buddhism was Zen Buddhism. By the later parts of the Tang dynasty, the economy had started to suffer. Wu-Tsung the emperor was a devoted Taoist he attempted to eliminate Buddhism from 843-845 A.D. He closed thousands of temples to try and control the wealth. Even though he tried to kill Buddhism it didn't matter because the religion was already on a steady decline. Conflicts between Chinese and foreign people had started so after hundreds of years of trading foreigners were no longer welcomed into China. Even though there was a decline in Buddhism and conflicts between foreigners they were still at the high point of the golden age. The Tang era was a golden age for many things such as art or literature. “Li Po, Tu Fu and Wang Wei were poets famed for the simplicity and naturalism of their writings.” (Newsela) The art and literature though were affected by the rebellion in the northeastern part of China. They attacked the capital city in 756 A.D. this was the beginning of the end of the Tang dynasty. The downward spiral started now and for the next few years fighting within the government brought the Tang dynasty to its end.

Song dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:32:11 UTC

The song dynasty started in 960 to 1279. This dynasty was a period of farming. More ideas for farming were practices and the varieties of different rice were introduced. Other inventions were made that have changed the course of history. Things such as shipbuilding, tea processing, porcelain manufacturing, as well as metalwork. Artists began to create landscapes showing towering mountains and vast expanses of water. These artworks expressed a harmony between nature and the human spirit. Their education advanced as well as their government. Confucianism began in the Shang dynasty. They established Confucianism as the official state philosophy, and all later Chinese dynasties continued to support his ideas and teachings. Chinese population grew rapidly during this time, and they hit a state of poverty as well as hardship. They were the first dynasty to use paper money as a form of currency. The first emperor Zhao Kuangyin unified China under a strong central government. This dynasty faced attacks by peoples from the north, such as the Khitans. In 1126, the Ruzhen seized the Song capital in northern China. After that, the Song held only the southern half of China. This dynasty was called the Northern Song, and the dynasty that ruled after 1127 was called the Southern Song. In 1279, the Song dynasty ended when the Mongols conquered all of China.

Ming dynasty

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 18:32:18 UTC

The Ming dynasty ruled from 1368-1644. During the Ming dynasty, they provided a cultural influence on most of East Asia and the Turks to the west. The Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang. The Ming dynasty was one of the most stable of all the dynasties. Ming had complete rule over everyone else and they did not care much about other peoples wishes. The Ming structured their government in a way that when they fell there government lasted until the Imperial institution was abolished in the 1900s. They created a complex bureaucracy. UNder MIng rule government officials had to pass an examination and Ming also had a office that investigated government corruption. In each province, three different government agencies took care of the local affairs. Each agency reported to a a differnt bureau. There was no longer a prime minister instead emperor took over that job. MIng liked the idea of wise government officials so he kept that idea that you had to be educated to be in government. IN early Ming times they invaded Vietnam but after local resistance, they soon withdrew. Arts and decorative arts flourished these arts showed the Ming time but not in large statues but instead they were shown in pieces of art such as pots. New advancements in ceramics also were happening such as glazes for pots. The Ming dynasty restored former literary examinations for public office. All of the things Ming did helped China grow to what it is today. The Ming dynasty was eventually taken over by a former Ming official who leads the peasant rebellion. He attacked the capital and had won.

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-12 21:47:37 UTC

sources

2022_kirsten_poulin — 2018-12-17 23:56:26 UTC

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Encyclopedia Britannica. "The Qin Dynasty and the Unification of China: 221-202 B.C." Newsela. Newsela, 8 Feb. 2017. Web. 18 Dec. 2018. https://newsela.com/read/lib-overview-qin-dynasty/id/33048/
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Encyclopedia Britannica. “The Ming Dynasty of China: 1368-1644.” Newsela Newsela, 13 Oct. 2017, newsela.com/read/lib-china-ming-dynasty/id/36091/.

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