Similarities Between Tang And Song Dynasties

Between 100 CE and 300 CE, the Han Dynasty had set important cultural foundations, such as Confucianism, constant, which lasted even after the rule of the Dynasty due to literature. The cultural changes led to a period of peace and economic prosperity; however, the political changes, such as unequal control of land between the rich and poor, had resulted in the Empire’s collapse by 220 CE, and it led to the Three Kingdoms Period (ends in 280 CE). The interior government was corrupt because of the civil service exams and the outer court system. Wealthy people had taken advantage of their power in order to get power. The court systems and the elite class became more focused on the luxuries of ruling rather than the duties of ruling. Teachings

The Lasting Effects of the Tang and Song Dynasties During the Post Classical Era, the Tang and Song Dynasties, which arose in China, had lasting effects throughout World History. These dynasties accomplished this goal through success in political, social, and economic aspects of their societies. After the fall of the Sui Dynasty in 618 C.E., two influential empires arose in China, the Tang and Song.

1. 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 restoration of a strong, unified Chinese empire after centuries of turmoil was made possible through the reestablishment of a centralized empire, the revival of Confucian ideas and the enhancement of the scholar-gentry administrators. The creation of a bureaucracy allowed for control from the imperial palace all the down to district level.

Different periods throughout China’s history have different names, known as dynasties, for the diverse positions within its society. Theoretically, all of the periods are similar, with the government and military officials ranking high in the hierarchy, and the average everyday people being under regular Chinese law. Throughout China’s history, the society has been organized into a hierarchic system of socio-economic classes, known as the four occupations. The four occupations system seems to have become distorted after the commercialization of Chinese culture during the Song Dynasty. Even though the social rankings within the country are not as predominant as they once were, the people living within the country still know their “place” within the society.

It is often believed and taught that from about 300 BCE to 300 CE the Roman Empire was the greatest imperial power in the world and that it was the social, economic, and political center of world. This was also the period of the Chinese Han Dynasty, which was an equal, if not more, powerful empire in all aspects. The similarities of the implementation, spread, and establishment of the Han and Roman empires’ authority is what made them both successful and dominant in gaining, maintaining, and exercising the political authority they both possessed in the pre-modern world. BOTH EMPIRES WERE SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE OF THEIR USE OF MILITARY FORCE TO CONQUER, BUT BEYOND THAT THEY ESTABLISHED LAW AND ORDER BY EITHER SPREADING THEIR LAWS AND IDEALS

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,

The Tang dynasty was first run by the emperor Tang Taizong he was a great ruler and brought the empire to success in it’s early days ranging from 626 649. was the next to take power. She ruled from behind the scenes for a while, until 660 when she declared herself empress being the first to ever do so in china. Along with these strong rulers the Tang had a strong central bureaucracy. Through this bureaucracy you could enter by taking a test or if you were very high class you could just automatically be given a position.

Women in the Song Dynasty This part will evoke women’s life and rights in the Northern Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty is often seen as the start of the decline of women status in the Chinese society: a revival of Confucianism led women political role to be reduced, as well as their public appearance compared to Tang Dynasty. The practice of foot binding also started in the Song Dynasty. However, women also enjoyed new and reinforced property rights, and social mobility and political influence were not completely impossible to achieve. Indeed, there are several examples of some lower class women managing to get considerable power by providing pleasure to the higher spheres of the Imperial Court.

The purpose of this was to show people how to be in harmony with their place in life. Legalism is a ruling made by Shi Huangdi, who was a strict ruler in china. The purpose of this ruling was to get the people of china to follow the rule, and if they didn’t there was a very harsh punishment. Although confucianism and legalism have some similarities, but the differences between the two are amazingly clear.

Confucius and his disciple Mencius had an influence on Chinese thought and social practice. Chinese traditions of worshiping deceased ancestors and exceptional leaders inspired the growth of Confucianism as a philosophic custom and religion. Confucianism was established as the state’s official doctrine by Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty. However, both philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism believed that anyone can develop wisdom or skill, regardless of social status or birth.

After imperial structure was restored, the Chinese began to disapprove of Buddhism (docs 4, 6). Chinese government authorities increasingly saw Buddhism as a threat to their political power and moved to discredit it. Imperial Tang advisor Han Yu saw Buddhism as evil, anti-Confucian, and illegal (doc 4). Han Yu’s position and livelihood greatly depends on Confucianism remaining dominant, especially due to the civil service system, which provided him with his government job. Due to this, he is not a very reliable source on how the average citizen and even the Chinese emperor felt about Confucianism remaining dominate (doc 4, POV).

Chinese women suffer from the unfair notion for thousands of years. The basic requirements of being virtuous women are “Three Obediences and Four Virtues (三从四德)”. The “Three Obediences” were “obey your father before marriage (未嫁从父); obey your husband when married (既嫁从夫); and obey your sons in widowhood (夫死从子)”. And the “Four Virtues” were “Female virtues (妇德)”, “Female words (妇言)”, “Female appearances (妇容)” and “Female work (妇功)”. (Sun, 2015).

The main theme that entangles itself in all of the source material is the idea of how governments should be run in such a powerful empire, such as Imperial Rome and the Han Dynasty. Starting with the first source, it is evident that the first Qin emperor believed that only the orthodox teachings should be tolerated, which meant that the works of the Five Classics and its teachings were to be extinguished. The next primary source serves as a supplement to explaining the fall of the Qin dynasty due to its warring ideas and Jia Yi argues that if Confucius teachings were implemented then the dynasty would have still been intact. The third source explains how the Qin dynasty was unjust in its equal appropriation of punishment against criminals regardless of motives or social class. Essentially, Dong Zhongshu believed that a dynasty could not be successful if it failed to establish a fair and righteous justice system for its citizens.

The Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty both had methods for choosing government officials. However, the Song Dynasty had the most foolproof way of choosing their government officials. This is because of three reasons. The first reason, is the school was funded by the state, which made it more equal and affordable between the aristocrats and the common people to get education to pass the exam. Another reason is that scribes copied the exams to be graded so the people who are grading the tests couldn't favor one person over the other. This could affect how the Tang chose leaders. The Tang favored aristocrats because they were wealthy and owned land. The third reason for the Song having a better system for choose leaders is that the song base

The way clans were organized is believed to have led to the joint family life. They had mastered the use of bronze in weapons and utensils. They also created the writing system that is still used in China