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The Enduring Legacy of the Song Dynasty
One of the eras of a majestic ancient civilization that has left a lasting impression upon the world of today is the Chinese Song Dynasty. Established by General Zhao Kuangyin this dynasty lasted from 960–1279 AD and brought a new stability to China after many decades of civil war, and ushered in a new era of modernization. It was divided into the Bei (Northern) and the Nan (Southern) Song periods. This brilliant cultural epoch gave birth to major advances in economic reform, achievements in technology, and helped to further medical knowledge. The Song dynasty was located in the east half of the modern day People 's Republic of China. However, it did not occupy for the northernmost areas (the modern Inner Mongolia province and areas above; see Figure 1. Map of the territory of the Song Dynasty.) During the Bei (Northern) Song period (960–1127AD), the Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (which is now Kaifeng). After the Song lost control of northern China to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars the Nan (Southern) Song period (1127–1279 AD) began and the new capital was established at Lin 'an (which is now Hangzhou), located south of the Yangtze River. Before launching into praises of the Song Dynasty 's many achievements, the matter of its origin
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In 1044 AD Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide wrote a treatise called “Wujing Zongyao” or “Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques” in which several formulas for making powerful blasting powder with a large percentage of nitrate were contained. These experiments with and improvements of gunpowder formulas led to more powerful weapons, including bombs (Needham, Joseph (1986e), Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology; The Gunpowder Epic, Cambridge: Cambridge University
During the Tang and Song dynasty, many excellent achievements have been accomplished which are still being preserved and used widely over centuries. Their citizens were excelled in many fields with several of new and practical inventions which all directly affected the citizens’ lives.
The Han dynasty: The Han dynasty was one of the longest of China’s major dynasties. In terms of power and prestige, the Han dynasty is the East rivaled it’s almost contemporary Roman Empire in the West, it lasted a span of four centuries and was considered a golden age in Chinese history, especially in arts, politics, and technology.
Zhao Ji was the eleventh son of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. Being so far down the line for succession to the empire, he spent his time devoting himself to his loves of literature, art, and Daoism; surrounding himself in luxury and sophistication. He built up and catalogued an extensive painting collection, Xuanhehuapu, with over 6,000 paintings. To date, no earlier collection, neither court or private, is known to have as much detail as Huizong’s because book length catalogues of his paintings, calligraphies and antiquities all survived (Ebrey, p.5). Huizong wanted to reform court music that had been degenerated during the Five Dynasties Period and was an avid believer in ruiying, Heaven’s way of communicating with the earth. He is thought of as the only accomplished artist in a line of emperors all who loved and appreciated the arts (Oxford Art Dictionary). It is his love of the arts, and his decisions to favor art and religion over politics that is associated with the fall of the Great Northern Song Dynasty, a dynasty that ruled from 960 until it was lost at the hand of Huizong in 1127.
to signify that this was the beginning of a long era of Mongol power.3 The Yuan Dynasty
The Song dynasty is actually divided into two separate periods: The Northern Song from 960-1126 A.D. and the Southern Song from 1126-1279 A.D. The northwestern part of the country had been taken over by the nomadic tribes, forcing the emperor move the capital to Kaifeng, then later to Hangzhou during the southern Song period. They also lost control of Tibet. (Duiker, & Spielvogel, 2009) While they struggled with territory control, the Song strived in economic development and cultural achievement.
The Song Dynasty was very prosperous and known as a “golden age,” much like some of the previous dynasties in China. However, not everything about the Song Dynasty was perfect, including the vast difference in power men over women had. Men were free and unbound by society, whereas women were isolated and controlled by their husband and family. All of this was pushed by the Neo-Confucians, who believed that women were below men. Women in the Song Dynasty were subject to many different societal standards, leading to them having little power and control over their lives.
They were made of stone with wooden lattices around it. The buildings were taller and thinner with high spires. “The tulou in the picture has 53 rooms on each level… These apartment houses were popular because they were efficient to build and heat, using very little wood…” Therefore, the Song may not have been as sturdy as the Tang’s pagodas but the Song Dynasty did create apartment Complexes similar to Pagodas called tulou’s, which seems very intelligent. “Palaces and temples were at first designed in the Tang tradition, sturdy and relatively simple in detail though smaller in scale… however, became progressively more complex.” The Song Dynasty is similar to the Tang because it kept progressing and becoming more of a complex advanced
The Han Dynasty, the amazing Chinese era that has unified China for over 400 years. This era in China’s history began in 206 B.C. when a rebel army rose up against the Qin army. One rebellion, led by Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang was later joined by Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu, Ying Bu, and Peng Yue joined forces with Liu Bang. The people of the Qin Dynasty were unhappy under the rule of Qin Shihuang, who ran his empire with an iron fist. His rule was absolute and disagreeing was punishable by death, though Emperor Qin was the one who to end the Warring States as well as complete the conquering of China in 221 B.C, thus expanding the Chinese state.
During the Han and Roman time period everything was changing. New Technology greatly expanding the empire's. Attitudes shifted in the Han and Roman empire. The Han attitude towards technology is for the common people with innovative tools and natural disaster prevention. The attitude to the Roman technology is to show off how advanced their civilization was with aqueducts and paved roads.
The Zhou Dynasty was the next influential time period in early Chinese history. During this era, the ideas of the Shang were built upon. The supreme being in the previous period, Shang-di, became more of an idea than a figure. Shang-di became Tian. Tian was considered a sort of heaven place. This place handed down the right to rule to the leaders, called “mandate of heaven” and was also the source of bl...
The Mongols, a nomadic society in the 13th century, were quickly able to conquer a vast amount of land in Eurasia. The Mongols were able to accomplish expanding their empire so widely and so fast because they had many military tactics, and their army was extremely well trained. These both got them a leg up on their enemies. The Mongols were incredibly ruthless at times in battle and used interrogation tactics to gain intel. Plus, their soldiers were trained from a very young age and always prepared.
recover these lands so they were forced to make peace with the Khitans and the
The Tang dynasty was an era of major technological advancement. This can be very clearly seen in their revolutionary explosive powder or gun powder, as well as their very expensive porcelain. The gunpowder is perhaps China’s most groundbreaking invention. Although it was invented for mere fireworks purposes, the military saw great potential in a highly explosive substance. This set off a chain reaction of events that some may think as detrimental to our society. From this powder, the first set of gun powder based guns, or muskets were developed. This triggered an arms race up until the early 1900s. As with any sort of mass engineering of guns, only death was left in its wake. Although the powder was pr...
The great Chinese civilization of that period, the Ydan dynasty, formed by Kublai Khan in 1271 is credited with sending many of China's innovations to the Western world via Marco Polo. Its cuisine, silk, spices, gun powder, rockets and other weapons of war are among the most famous.
The purpose of this paper is to tell the history of the Ming Dynasty’s impact on the Chinese Empire, and to explain why the Chinese Empire was in fact an empire.