SONG DYNASTY (960 – 1279 A.D.) – Part 1/6

September 26, 2010

Fifty-three years after the Tang Dynasty collapsed, Zhao Kuangyin, a general in the latter Zhou Dynasty (951-960) led a mutiny resulting in the Song Dynasty being established in Kaifeng City, Henan Province that would survive for 319 years.

During the Song Dynasty, China experienced developments in science and technology.

For example, the four great inventions of China were developed during the Song Dynasty—paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder

The Song Dynasty is considered a great period in ancient China and a continuation of what took place during the Tang Dynasty.

A striking feature of Song politics was the way greater importance was attached to civil administration than to military arts.

Under such circumstances, education, merit, and talent were encouraged and the imperial examination system was improved.

Astronomy was also an area where advances were made.

In July 1054, an unknown nova appeared in the sky. The sudden appearance of this nova alarmed the bureau of astronomy. A year later, the star vanished.

The nova was important because astronomers discovered the Crab Nebula near Taurus and careful records were kept during the Song Dynasty that benefits science today.

By the year 1072, Shen Kuo had been appointed head of the bureau of astronomy, and he took charge of the design of astronomical instruments leading to further scientific advances in this field

See the Tang Dynasty

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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The Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD) – Part 4/4

September 25, 2010

The Tang Dynasty did not discriminate against ethnic groups.  All were treated the same, and people from minority groups held positions of great importance.

In fact, minorities became prime ministers, generals and members of the imperial garrison.

The mother’s of several Tang emperors were not from the Han majority.

Tang Emperor Taizong handled relationships with ethnic minorities skillfully.

One motto of his was, “In the past, Chinese emperors emphasized the Han people at the expense of minority groups, but I believe they are all from one family so they support me.”

The ethnic minorities in northwest China revered Emperor Taizong and called him Tian Kehan.

Kehan means “emperor” and Tian Kehan means “the son of Heaven“.

In 755 AD, people in the Tang capital sang and danced to celebrate the 70th birthday of Emperor Taizong.

In October 1970, archeologists discovered more than a thousand Tang artifacts. One was a silver kettle featuring dancing horses with cups in their mouths, which matched the historical record for Emperor Taizong’s seventieth birthday.

Poetry flourished. Although the Tang Dynasty lasted less than 300 years, more than 50,000 poems had been produced— all of them published today in one collection of Tang poems.

Return to The Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD) – Part 3 or start with Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

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The Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD) – Part 3/4

September 25, 2010

Later, after the first Tang emperor, Taoism was removed as the national religion and all religions were treated equal.

This benefitted Buddhism.

In 1987, archeologists discovered an underground temple/palace below the Famen Temple that had been built and sealed during the Tang Dynasty and found a solid-gold pagoda and inside was a finger bone of the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni.

The seventeen-hundred year-old Famen Temple was built during the Eastern Han Dynasty. To date, this is the largest underground Buddhist palace/temple in China.

Although China is known as the home of tea, it wasn’t until the Tang Dynasty that drinking tea became part of the culture when the Chinese also invented noodles.

Chang’an, known as Xian when it was the capital of China’s first emperor, had an east and west market that sold goods from around the known world.

A popular past time for both men and women during the dynasty was playing polo, which had been introduced from Persia.

Art, music and dance flourished in the Tang capital.  The political flexibility of the Tang Dynasty promoted social tolerance leading to stability.

Continued in Tang Dynasty – Part 4 or return to The Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD) – Part 2

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

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The Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD) – Part 2/4

September 24, 2010

During the Sui (589-617) and Tang Dynasties, China went through a period of cultural and spiritual development.

The country’s ethnic groups along with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism coexisted peacefully with foreign religions such as Islam.

Literature and the arts developed more than before.

The Han Dynasty (206 BC to 219 AD) opened the Silk Road for trade, and the civilizations of Rome, Ancient Egypt, of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and India continued trade with the Tang Dynasty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acjINcNNOPI

According to Tang Dynasty records contact was maintained with more than 300 countries and regions across the known world, so the Silk Road was also known as the Envoy Road.

People from countries such as Japan, Korea, and India as well as Tehran came to China.

Many foreigners had positions in the central government of the Tang Dynasty, and they served both as civil officials and military officers.

The Tang Dynasty demonstrated respect for all foreign religions.  During this time, Christianity was introduced to China.

The Imperial family of the Tang Dynasty had been a military family in Northwest China for generations and they made Taoism the national religion.

Laozi, the founder of Taoism, advocated harmony between people and nature, which was reflected in the beliefs of the first rulers of the Tang Dynasty.

Continue with Tang Dynasty – Part 3 or return to The Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD) – Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

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Running toward the Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD) – Part 1/4

September 24, 2010

If we were to compare Chinese civilization to an amusement ride, it would be a roller coaster.

As each dynasty ended, there was usually a period of chaos, war and anarchy among rival factions.

After the collapse of China’s last Dynasty, the Qing, between 1911 and 1949, chaos, anarchy, warlords, rebellion and World War II tore at the fabric of China. See The Roots of Madness

Then Communist China was born, which eventually led to China’s Capitalist Revolution.

The Xia Dynasty (about 2205 – 1766 BC) ended with the reign of a tyrannical emperor, who lived an extravagant life. When patriotic ministers attempted giving him good advice, he killed them. Then the people rose in rebellion.

The Shang Dynasty (1766 – 1122 BC) ended in similar circumstances when the last emperor lived a luxurious life and tortured both his ministers and people. Another rebellion led by the chief of the Zhou tribe brought down the Shang.

The Zhou Dynasty (1122 – 221 BC) was divided between the Eastern and Western Zhou Dynasties, which fell apart during the Spring and Autumn (770 – 475 BC) Period and the Warring States Period (476 – 221 BC) when the Zhou Emperor didn’t have the power to control the nobles, who fought amongst themselves again leading to chaos and anarchy.

The short Qin Dynasty (221 to 207 BC) unified all China ending the Warring States Period.

However, Qin Shi Huangdi, China’s first emperor, was brutal and soon after his death, the Qin Dynasty was swept aside to be replaced by the Han Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty (207 BC to 220 AD) was divided into the Western and Eastern Han. Near the end of the Han, the last two emperors were weak. The rule of law broke down again and life was hard.

The Han ended with another rebellion leading to the Three Kingdom’s Period (220 – 280 AD), which meant more chaos and anarchy before China would be unified again under one emperor.

With the end of the Three Kingdoms Period, the Jin Dynasty (265 – 420 AD) ruled until the final emperors were too weak to control the warlords, which led to chaos and anarchy.

The Jin Dynasty was followed by four successive southern dynasties (420 – 589 AD)  and five northern dynasties (386 – 581 AD) followed by the Sui Dynasty that lasted for 38 years when the last emperor of the Sui yielded the throne to the Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty.

The early Tang emperors built an empire that pushed China’s boundaries to their farthest existence and a culture whose achievements would profoundly influence all Asia.

A thriving economy with complex international ties created one of the richest, strongest and most sophisticated states in world history.

The western capital of Chan-an, which had been the first capital of the Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties, had a population of a million inside the city walls.

Continued in the Tang Dynasty – Part 2

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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