Song Dynasty and Neo-Confucianism Quiz

Song Dynasty

• The Song Dynasty's economic, commercial, and political revolutions were sparked by advancements in farming.
• Tang and Song rulers promoted agricultural production and peasantry.
• The Song Dynasty brought about the world's first manufacturing revolution, producing goods for consumption far and wide.
• Cultures around China consolidated their internal political authority and defined their own identities as distinct from China.

Neo-Confucians

• Neo-Confucians revived pure Confucian thoughts and teachings by establishing libraries, recovering old texts, and developing personal philosophies.
• Neo-Confucians were hostile to foreign ideas.
• Neo-Confucians had strict views on gender and class.

Wang Anshi and Reforms

• Wang Anshi was a Confucian scholar and the chief minister of the Song Dynasty.
• He instituted reforms in an attempt to save the dynasty's finances by supporting agricultural expansion and initiating landlord and scholar-gentry taxation.
• He attempted to start a bureaucracy that emphasized analytical thinking rather than memorization of classics.
• His reforms were reversed after the death of his supporter, Emperor Shenzong, by the new neo-Confucist emperor.

North Song to South Song Transition

• The Jin Dynasty was founded north of the Song Empire after they defeated the Liao Dynasty.
• As the Jin invaded China, the Song fled south, leading to the formation of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Commercialism

• Canal systems and Silk Roads led to booming commercial expansion.
• Commerce expanded into cities and trading towns.
• The Song Dynasty saw the use of credit, deposit shops (banks), and flying money (credit vouchers).
• Urban growth and sophistication emerged in cities such as:
  • Changan, the Tang capital, with a population of 2 million, making it the largest city in the world.
  • Hangzhou, the Southern Song capital.

Flying Cash Importance

• Flying cash was essentially paper money.

Silk Road Exchange

• Persia supplied dates, saffron, pistachios, rugs, and tapestries.
• Africa supplied frankincense, aloe, gold, salt, and timber.
• India supplied sandalwood, jasmine, and cloth.
• China supplied silk, porcelain, paper, and tea.
• The Silk Road facilitated the transmission of art through Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.

Indian Ocean Trade

• The Song Dynasty engaged in trade with the Malay Peninsula.
• Buddhism was not expanding at the same rate as before, and was not being used to pay for fighters.

Feudalism in Japan

• Elite families in Japanese countryside sought to monopolize land and labor.
• Rice farming was the dominant staple crop, along with fishing.
• Elite families carved out private precincts ruled by house governments, known as manoralism.
• In each local precinct, the elite family constructed small fortresses to house the local lord and his military retainers.

Bushi and Samurai

• Warrior leaders, or bushi, exercised private jurisdiction within their lands and enforced their rule through private armies of mounted troops known as samurai.
• As the imperial government weakened, it began to hire local lords and their armed troops to provide for law and order.
• Bushi and samurai were supported by peasants who supplied them with food, leading to the emergence of a separate and powerful class.
• The bushi practiced a code called Bushido, the way of the warrior (chivalry).
• Warfare between groups of samurai was often based on heroic combat between champions.

Mongol Origins

• The Mongols originated in the steppes of Central Asia.
• Steppes are grasslands and shrublands with few trees and border the Gobi Desert and Siberian Forest.
• Mongol tribes were constantly competing for territory.
• Mongol society was egalitarian, men and women were seen as equal, and valued courage in battle.

Characteristics of Mongol Tribes

• Mongols were a nomadic society.
• They migrated in search of grazing lands and lived in yurts.
• They herded goats and sheep and ate meat and milk produced by their herds.
• They traded hides and dairy products for jewelry, weapons, and cloth.
• Mongol society was divided into tribes, who combined during war or when threatened.
• Mongols were accomplished horsemen and were excellent with short and long bows.
• Through contact with China, Mongols learned to use: battering rams, cannons, catapults, flaming arrows, and gunpowder.
• Mongols could cover large distances quickly.
• They used the Yam System, which relied on relay stations and messengers to carry urgent messages.
• The Yam System invigorated the Silk Road system.
• Mongols lived by a warrior code that valued bravery.
• Mongol warriors used spies and informants to create maps of areas they were going to invade.

Genghis Khan

• Genghis Khan (Temujin) was born in 1162.
• He was known for being an excellent warrior, military leader, motivator, and visionary.
• He united the Mongol tribes into a large confederation by breaking individual tribe loyalties and demanding loyalty to himself.
• He recognized merit rather than status or position, and was known to take in enemies as generals if they were good at fighting.
• Genghis Khan was elected Khagan, leader of Mongol tribes, in 1206 at the Kuriltai.

Early Life and Campaigns of Genghis Khan

• Genghis Khan was known for planning ahead and making hasty moves, and he would not fight if he didn't expect to win.
• In 1207, he led his first military campaign, defeating the Xi Xia Kingdom.
• Genghis Khan next attacked the Jin Empire, which was difficult to overtake, but he used captured Chinese to create Chinese weapons.
• In 1219, Genghis Khan conquered the Kara Khitai Empire and the Khwarazm Empire.
• The Mongols captured artisans and scholars, but killed or sold others into slavery.
• The Mongols were known for devastating towns they conquered.
• The Mongols wanted the world to know that they were undefeatable and instill fear in their enemies.

Territory of Mongol Empire

• The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous land empire in history.
• The Mongol Empire encompassed modern-day Mongolia, China, much/all of Russia, Ukraine, Chilicia, Anatolia, Georgia, Armenia, Persia, Iraq, Korea, Central Asia, and parts of Burma, Romania, and Pakistan.
• The Mongol Empire established its capital at Karakorum.

Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan and other Leaders

• The Mongols tolerated religions and cultures and never forced their religion on others.
• A script was devised for the Mongolian language, allowing for record keeping.
• Mongol conquests brought peace to regions, facilitating better trade and governance.
• Mongol khans extracted taxes and tributes.
• Mongol rule reinvigorated Eurasian trade routes.
• Mongol khans assimilated Middle Eastern outlooks and some converted to Islam.

Yuan Dynasty in China

• The Mongols conquered the Xi Xia and Jin Empires, turning their attention to the Song Dynasty.
• Kubilai Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson, led forces against the Song in 1235.
• The Mongols established control over most of China in 1271.
• The Mongols established the Yuan Dynasty in 1279.
• The Yuan Dynasty built its capital at Tatu, present-day Beijing.

Society in Yuan China

• Kubilai Khan passed many laws to distinguish between Mongols and Chinese.
• Chinese were forbidden from learning Mongol writing.
• Intermarriage between Mongols and Chinese was outlawed.
• Mongol women did not practice Chinese customs and enjoyed more freedoms.
• Mongol women did not practice foot binding and could move about freely in public without an escort.
• In terms of social standing, the Yuan Dynasty followed this hierarchy: Mongols, Muslims and Asian nomads, and lastly Chinese.
• The Mongols adopted Chinese clothing and artwork.

Mongol Rule in Yuan China

• The Yuan Court welcomed foreigners, such as Marco Polo, and utilized the expertise of scholars from many regions.
• Foreigners and Mongols were used in bureaucratic positions.
• The Chinese civil service exam was not used.
• Chinese were able to hold local and regional government positions.
• Religious tolerance was practiced.
• Many Chinese viewed Kubilai Khan as a barbarian and did not reconcile to Mongol rule.
• Kubilai Khan attempted to win over the Chinese, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
• The Yuan Dynasty developed a navy to expand to Japan, but the effort was unsuccessful.
• Kubilai Khan sought to reduce peasant taxes and forced labor, and he attempted to establish elementary schools in villages.

Test your knowledge on the economic, political, and cultural developments of the Song Dynasty and the rise of Neo-Confucian thought. Explore key figures like Wang Anshi and the impact of reforms during this transformative period in Chinese history. Understand the complexities of agricultural advancements and their societal implications.