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Chapter 13
Tang & Song Dynasties
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Li Yuan | Also known as Duke of Tang; minister for Yangdi; took over empire following assasination of Yandi; first emperor of Tang dynasty; took imperial title of Gaozu |
Chang'an | Capital of Tang dynasty; population of 2 million, larger than any other city in the world at that time |
Ministry of Rites | Administered examinations to students from Chinese government schools or those recommended by distinguished scholars |
jinshi | Title granted to students who passed the most difficult Chinese examination on all of Chinese literature; became immediate dignitaries and eligible for high office. |
pure land Buddhism | Emphasized salvationist aspects pf Chinese Buddhism; popular among masses of Chinese society |
Zen Buddhism | Known as Chan Buddhism in China; stressed meditation and the appreciation of natural and artistic beauty |
Empress Wu | Tang Ruler 690-705 C.E.; supported Buddhist establishment; tried to elevate Buddhism to state religion; had multistory statues of Buddha created |
Wuzong | Chinese emperor of Tang dynasty who openly persecuted Buddhism by destroying monastaries in 1840s; reduced influence of Chinese Buddhism in favor of Confucian ideology. |
Yang Guifei | Royal concubine during reign of Xuanzong; introduction of her relatives into royal administration led to revolt. |
Zhao Kuangyin | (r.960-976) Founder of Song dynasty; originally a general following fall of Tang; took title of Taizu; failed to overcome northern Liao dynasty that remained independent. |
Liao Dynasty | Founded in 907 by nomadic Khitan peoples from Manchuria; maintained independence from Song dynasty in China |
Khitans | Nomadic peoples of Manchuria; military superior to Song dynasty China but influenced by Chinese culture; forced humuliating treaties on Song China in 11th century. |
Zhu Xi | (1130-1200) Most prominent of neo-Confucian scholars during the Song dynasty in China; stressed importance of applying philosophcial principles to everyday life and action |
neo-Confucians | Revived ancient Confucian teachings in Song era China; great impact on the dynasties that followed; their emphasis on tradition and hositility to foreign systems made Chinese rulers and bureaucrats less receptive to outside ideas and influences |
Tangut | Rulers of Xi Xia kingdom of northwest China; one of regional kingdoms during period of southern Song; conquered by Mongols in 1226 |
Xi Xia | Kingdom of Tangut people, north of Song kingdom, in mid-11th century; collected tribute that drained Song resources and burdened Chinese peasantry |
Wang Anshi | Confuician scholar and chief minister of a Song emperor in 1070s; introduced sweeping reforms based on Legalists; advocated greater state intervention in society |
Jurchens | Founders of the Jin kingdom that succeeded in the Liao in northern China; annexed most of the Yellow River basin and forced Song to flee south |
Jin | Kingdom north of the Song Empire; established by Jurchens in 1115 after overthrowing Liao dynstasty; ended 1234 |
Southern Song | Rump state of Song dynasty from 1127 to 1279; carved out of the much larger domains ruled by the Tang and northern Song; culturally one of the most glorious reigns in Chinese history |
Grand Canal | Built in 7th century during reign of Yangdi during Sui dynasty; designed to link the original centers of Chinese civilization on the north China plain with the Yangtze river basin to the south; nearly 1200 miles long |
junks | Chinese ships equipped with watertight bulkheads, sternpost rudders, compasses, and bamboo fenders; dominant force in Asian seas east of the Malayan peninsula |
flying money | Chinese credit instrument that provided credit vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at the end of the voyage; reduced danger of robbery; early form of currency |
footbinding | Practice in Chinese society of mutilating women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household |
Li Bo | (701-762) Most famous poet of the Tang era; blended images of the mudane world with philo |