Friday, December 7th

Accomplishments of the Song Dynasty


-ruled from 960-1279

  • succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period
  • followed by Yuan dynasty

    Key People:

    Song Taizu
  • Founded Northern Song Dynasty
  • Ruled from 960-976
  • Took over local military, assigned civilians to be officials
  • Established policies for agriculture in order to promote economy

Song Taizong

  • Brother of Song Taizu
  • Ruled from 976-997
  • Ordered Li Fang to make an encyclopedia
  • He read three volumes a day and read the entire thing within a year

Song Gaozong

  • Founded Southern Song dynasty- began when the Northern ended in 1127
  • Jurchens attacked the Northern dynasty and capture the capital
  • Song Gaozong ruled from 1127-1162
  • Excellent in calligraphy

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

  • Major dynasty before the Song Dynasty
  • 5 dynasties:
  • Later Liang
  • Later Tang
  • Later Jin
  • Later Han
  • Later Zhou
  • 10 Kingdoms
  • Wu
  • Wuyue
  • Min
  • Chu
  • Southern Han
  • Former Shy
  • Later Shu
  • Jingnan
  • Southern Tang
  • Northern Han
  • Torn apart by war
  • Eventually Quyue and Qingyuan gave up their land to Northern Song in 978

Yuan Dynasty

  • Major dynasty after Song dynasty
  • In 1276, Kublai Khan led his army and captured the capital of the Southern Song dynasty
  • Unified China, ended Song dynasty
  • Population explosion began in Song dynasty
  • Women started binding their feet
  • Rice and Tea became dominant food
  • Fast progression in science and technology
  • Used moveable type printing—allowed for hundreds of sheets to be printed
  • Invented gunpowder and gunpowder weapons
  • Known for building some of the largest cities in the world
  • Came up with advanced rice cultivation techniques

Science, Technology, Poetry, and Art of the Song Dynasty

 

Poetry

  • Follows the Golden Age of Chinese
  • Written by over 2,200 authors
  • Important part of social life
  • Two famous poets:
  • Du Fu
  • Li Bai
  • Classical Chinese Poetry:
  • Su Shi
  • Ouyang Xiu
  • Lu You
  • Yang Wanli
  • Different forms of poetry
  • Ci- form of poetry based on songs and rhythms with different words

Tang Technology

  • Invented astronomical clock
  • Gun powder
  • Gas cylinders
  • Water-powered fans
  • Porcelain

Song Technology

  • Calculated an accurate measurement of the astronomical meridian
  • Lots of medical breakthroughs
  • Used ephedrine as a drug
  • Hydraulic powered astronomical clock tower
  • Movable type
  • Flamethrower

Tang Art

  • Painted many paintings of landscapes
  • Shanshui- paintings of mountains and water
  • Many paintings were traded
  • Main music was qin
  • Song Art- did a lot of pictures of significant and historical events and nature

Science of Tang

  • Contributed to astronomy, medicine, and printing technique
  • Monk Yixing was the first to successfully measure the length of the meridian line

Science of Song

  • See above bullets
  • Period that these advancements were made in is called the Chinese Renaissance

 

Song and Tang Dynasty: Agriculture and Trade

  • Tang Agriculture
  • Dug underground wells to help with irrigation
  • Made a lightweight pump used to take water to farmland far from water sources
  • Grew crops such as corn, rice, beans, and wheat
  • Tang Dynasty Trade
  • Use of the Silk Roads declined during this time
  • Silk Roads were often ambushed by the Mongols

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