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
1,274Women’s Rights and Social Classes
- Song Dynasty
- Lower in class than men
- Lot of well-educated women, educated their sons
- Some women wrote poems and stories
- Most women were maids and servants
- Women gained many new legal rights in ownership of property once married-- given large dowries and legal rights
- Establishment
- 50 years after the end of the Tang, an imperial army reunified China, Song dynasty was born
- Formed from one of the dynasties after the Tang
- Song Dynasty Social Pyramid:
- Wealthy landowners
- Scholars
- Merchants and artisans
- Soldiers and peasants
- Slaves
- Common Women in Song Dynasty
- Traded livestock and women to Turks
- Weren’t treated well
- Cooked and cleaned, took care of men
- High Class Women
- Courtesans were great singers and poets
- Supervised banquets and feasts
- Weren’t afraid to criticize men
- Social Pyramid of Tang Dynasty
- Emperor and Family
- Aristocracy
- Bureaucracy
- Eunuchs
- Clergy
- Peasants
- Artisans and traders
- Slaves
Weaponry
- Song Dynasty Weapons
- Knife Chariot
- Rammer
- Scaling ladder
- Iron sword
- Stone-casting machine
- Fire arrow
- Fireball
- Watchtower
- Gunpowder
- Helped develop early types of rockets, cannons, bombs and mines
- Bombs of gunpowder were mixed with crap iron
- Song dynasty continued to improve weapons to hold off Mongols
- Tang Weapons
- Pike
- Swords
- Bow and arrow
- Grenades
- Throwing knives
- Armor
- Made of plates of iron with sharp edges for offensive abilities
- Used shields made of thick iron pieces
- Tactics
- Song- used element of surprise
- When in direct conflict, attack where they least expect
- Tang- feinting and smart countering
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