Essay On Tang Dynasty

1. How did Wu Zhao manage to rise to such a high position in an empire that favored Confucian Values?

China was said to live through many fascinating dynasties, but the Tang dynasty was said to be the greatest of Chinese history. The Tang dynasty was an age of historical achievements and innovations, a golden era. The Tang ruled over China through 618 to 907 AD. Two of the main religions during this dynasty were Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. The Tang Dynasty flowed with prosperity and new ideas. During this time, a popular Tang invention was woodblock printing. Woodblock would be used to print Buddhist writings and teachings. Rice was a big aspect of Chinese civilization that helped grow and improve their lives. The Tang Dynasty wasn’t the longest, but a time of Chinese creation and innovation.

In bountiful places all over the world during the Post-Classical era, between the sixth and thirteenth century, there were many innovations. Especially in China when the three prodigious dynasties thrived; the Sui, Tang, and Song. The Sui, Tang, and Song bestowed numerous changes, along with continuity. Two of the most evident changes during this dynasties were technology and the repercussion of Confucianism and Buddhism on the empires. There was many continuities within the government, structure and culture. During 581 and 1279, China saw the advances in technology in Confucianism, while controlling alike government, structure, and culture.

Ancient China was a highly developed civilization whose many dynasties each had some kind of significant development, let it be in trade, invention, art, religion, government, or architecture. Two dynasties in particular, however, marked the Golden Age of Chinese history. This period is known for its large economic revolution. The two dynasties were called the Tang & Song Dynasty. The Tang & Song Dynasties were experiencing a Golden Age due to the fact that they had a fair system in granting government positions, brought highly advanced inventions to the world, and had very intricate architecture.

Zhu Yuanzhang led a very strong and powerful army to take control of the Yuan Dynasty and they were successful. That led them to gain power. They consolidated by trading and it was even more beneficial to them since they were in Asia and near the water so it was easy for them to use boats to travel and trade. They also secured their borders from their enemies by building the Great Wall of China. They managed to maintain power by allowing everyone in the empire freedom of religion and fair rules and they had good economic income from trading.

It is interesting to discover that there were two hugely successful empires, located thousands of miles apart that flourished in ways never seen before in history, and that, although there is some evidence that they were slightly aware of each other’s existence, the two societies did not have regular contact. Yet both empires achieved similar economic and political greatness and developed comparable solutions to the problems they faced. These empires are the Han China and Roman Empires, lasting from 753 B.C.E. to 330 C.E. This paper will address the economic similarities and differences between the countries and the consequences of their actions which either brought down the empire or allowed it to survive.

The Qing, Mughal and Ottoman empires all had effective administration and victories that allowed them to advance. The Manchu, who ruled the Qing Dynasty, had to assert dominance to control the Chinese people living in the empire, who vastly outnumbered them. They successfully reoriented China after the rocky transfer of power following the previous empire, the Ming. The Manchu had “knowledge of Chinese administration” and a “well organized army” (Bingham, 134), which helped them effectively rule. They made Chinese men shave the front of their heads and wear their hair in long queues, or pony tails (Bingham, 136)” to show control. They made sure Manchu warriors didn’t lose their fighting edge in battle, which was a large part of their identity.

There where many factors that led China to political unification in contrast to India. One factor is, dynasties such as the Zhou Dynasty who kept the same political system as its predecessors, where India had changed many things and continued to change political and social systems. India was very fragmented in political unification because, India was and still is a land of diversity. Ancient India was also not as organized as Ancient China in ruling. When the Zhou kingdom had started to end and break apart into many powerful states a “relativity young state of Qin located in the original homeland of the Zhou, emerged as a key player in conflicts”(p. 78) that would eventually bring down the Zhou Dynasty and give way to the Qin Dynasty where it was ruled with ruthless efficiency(p.79).

Politics and social class in Classical China was quite different compared to Classical India. At this time, politics in the ancient time was mostly monarchy and created a strong bureaucracy. Monarchy in Classical China were mostly based upon of the fact of the dynasties. Some famous emperors from this time was Qin Shi Huangdi from the Qin Dynasty and Wu Ti from the Han Dynasty. Qin Shi Huangdi centralized government by putting his people and the system was based on loyalty, trust. Wu Ti expanded the Chinese territory which brought peace and prospered. Their bureaucracy had many different parts and if someone died, they would’ve just plugged in someone else in their place. People who wanted to be a bureaucrat had to take the civil service exam,

Describe the key factors in the Sui-Tang era that made for the restoration of a strong, unified Chinese empire after centuries of turmoil?

The destruction of the Han Dynasty began many years ago.The Han empire's institutions were destroyed by the warlord Dong Zhuo, and fractured into regional regimes ruled by various warlords. Eventually, one of those warlords, Cao Cao, was able to gradually reunify the empire. However, the empire was controlled by Cao Cao himself, not Emperor Xian. Cao Cao's efforts to completely reunite the Han empire were rejected at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208-209AD, when his armies were defeated by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. The Han dynasty officially ended today when Cao Pi, Cao Cao's son and heir, forced Emperor Xian to abdicate in his favour. Overall, our civilization as a whole has been deteriorating; being eroded from without: and

About three to four million years ago, the first humans classified as hominids lived in Africa. Australopithecines were bipedal and were able to make simple tools out of stone. Louis and May Leakey discovered a hominid that they named Homo habilis. These hominids were the first to make tools. With a larger brain, they were able to make better decisions when it came to searching for food. Around 1.5 million years ago, a new variation of the hominid emerged. They were named Homo erectus and were able to make more sophisticated tools. They were the first hominids to leave Africa and travel to parts of Europe and Asia.

Conquering China the Mongols set up their own dynasty and ruled China for many years. Under

China’s Last Empire. The Great Qing. William T. Rowe. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. 360 pages including Emperors and Dynasties, Pronunciation Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Index, Maps and Figures.

The early Ming Dynasty was a period of cultural restoration and expansion. Under a series of strong rulers, China extended its rule into Mongolia and Central Asia. The Ming even briefly conquered Vietnam, which after a thousand years of Chinese rule had reclaimed its independence following the collapse of the Tang dynasty in the tenth century”(Duiker 336) .The Ming dynasty also known as the Empire of the Great Ming was described as of the greatest and famous eras that bought stability in human history. Emperor Hongwu born Zhu Yuanzhang (1368 -1398) was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China despite his lowly birth as the son of a hired laborer from one of the poorest parts of China”(Menzies 45). In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues, and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Zhu Yuanzhang rose to command the force