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Liao (Kitan) Dynasty 907-916-1125
Xi Xia (Tangut) Dynasty ca. 982-1038-1227
Jin (Jurchen) Dynasty 1115-1234
Yuan (Mongol) 1260-1279-1368
N. Song (960-1127)
Capital at Kaifeng
S. Song (1127-1279)
Capital at Hangzhou
Ming (1368-1644)
Spoke Altaic language (Tungusic)
E. Manchuria
Hunt and fish
C. Manchuria (Sungari River) from 10th c.
Agriculture, cattle and horse raising
Hunting and war important male pursuits
Sungari R. Tributary, SE of Harbin
Wugunai (1021-74)
Tribal unifier/Liao Tributary
*Aguda (r. 1113-1115-23)
Refused to dance, 1112
Independent of Liao, 1115
Founded Jin dynasty, 1115
Conquered Liao, 1125
Conquered North China from the Song, 1126
Controlled cradle of Chinese civilization
“the land of Yao, the region of Shun, the realm of Yu”
Chen Liang (1143-94)
Population
50 million under Jin
70 million under S. Song
Relative status of rulers
Emperors as brothers
Song's Annual gifts
200,000 bolts of silk
100,000 ounces of silver
Relative status of rulers
Jurchen ruler as uncle
Song ruler as nephew
Song's Annual gifts
300,000 bolts of silk
1 million strings of coins
300,000 ounces of silver
Arose in China-Inner Asia borderlands
Process seen earlier in Korea, Japan, Vietnam, etc.
Modified bureaucratic government
Written language
60 million, mid-Tang
100 million, N. Song in 1100
Population, ca. 1200
North: 50 million under Jin
South: 70 million under S. Song
S. Song Hangzhou, 4 million
Production of 125,000 tons of iron, 1078
1.4 kg (3.1 lbs.)/person
Not matched in Europe until 1700
Proto-paper, 1st c. AD
Commonly used, 3rd-4th c.
Buddhist invention 7th c.
Books in scroll format 9th c.
Moveable type, 1048
Social consequences of printing?
Jinshi “presented scholar” highest degree
Yin "shadow" privilege persists
Tang emphasized literary ability
Song emphasized Confucian classics
What are the social consequences of the availability of printed books on paper?
“Peace Reigns over the River,” (Hansen, 258-62)
Where are the women?
Tomb of Master Zhao and wife, 1099 (Hansen, pp. 248-50)
A seat at the table
S. Song version, mid-12th c. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Jin court painting, 1196 (Jilin Provincial Museum)
Elite households
Perpetuation
Old view
Male domination
New view
Marriageability
Female enforcement
Hansen thesis: Commodification of marriage
Widow remarriage
Yuan Dynasty {Mongol} (1260-1279-1368)
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
1. In the Introduction, Timothy Brook describes how researching and writing the book, The Troubled Empire, changed his ideas about the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty and Chinese-ruled Ming Dynasty.
How did his ideas change?
What aspect of his research prompted him to change his ideas?
Why does Brook argue that environmental history unites the Yuan and Ming Dynasties?
2. On page 20, Brook asks, “Dragons belong to Chinese history, but do they belong in this history?”
How does he respond? Do you agree
Why did people in China (and Britain) believe in dragons and even try to study them as an academic topic?
What is the role of dragons in Chinese culture by the late imperial era?
Brook writes, “A dragon could display the authority of the emperor, but it also could signal that Heaven was unhappy with his rule.” (p. 10, last full paragraph)
Is the traditional Chinese interpretation of dragons contradictory? Why should an auspicious symbol of the emperor also signal Heaven’s unhappiness with him?