Essay on Song Dynasty and Tang

Submitted By TheRay420
Words: 878
Pages: 4

Chapter 12 Reunification and Renaissance in Chinese Civilization: The Era of the Tang and Song Dynasties

Reading Guide
Introduction
After reading the Introduction, you should be able to answer/define the following:
What is Hangzhou? Why is it important?
Any significant elements listed about the Tang and Song dynasties?
Rebuilding the Imperial Edifice in the Sui-Tang Era
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
How was the Sui dynasty established?
Why was Wendi popular?
Sui Excesses and Collapse
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Define: Yangdi
Positive and negative accomplishments of Yangdi
How was Yangdi overthrown?
The Emergence of the Tang and the Restoration of the Empire
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Define: Li Yuan
How far did the Tang Empire reach?
How was the Tang Empire able to restore its power?
Who is Gaozong, what did he do?

Rebuilding the World’s Largest and Most Pervasive Bureaucracy
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Define: Chang’an
How was the scholar-gentry class improved? What ideology did they hold?
What effect did the civil service exams have on Chinese bureaucracy?
Institutionalizing Meritocracy: The Growing Importance of the Examination System
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Define: Ministry of Rites, Jinshi
How were potential administrators trained for their bureaucratic position?
What connection was essential for Chinese people to gain access into the scholar-gentry class?
State and Religion in the Tang and Song Eras
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
How Buddhism was initially treated in Tang and Song China? When did it flourish?
Define: Pure Land Buddhism, Chan/Zen Buddhism, Empress Wu
What is the goal of Chan Buddhist followers?
The Anti-Buddhist Backlash
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Why did Buddhism clash with Confucius, Daoist, and Legalist parties?
Define: Wuzong
What effect did Wuzong have on most of China’s opinion of Buddhism?
Tang Decline and the Rise of the Song
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
What led to the Tang decline?
How did the Song claim power?
Who is Empress Wei? What did she do?
Define: Xuanzong, Yang Guifei
Why was Xuanzong an ineffective ruler?
How did the nomadic peoples take advantage of the Chinese during this period?
The Founding of the Song Dynasty
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Define: Zhao Kuangyin, Liao Dynasty, Khitans
What was the relationship between the Song and the nomadic peoples like?
Song Politics: Settling for Partial Restoration
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
How did the Song compare to the Tang in political and military power?
Was the Song more or less successful in their civil service exams than the Tang?
The Revival of Confucian Thought
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Define: Zhu Xi, Neo-Confucians
How did the Neo-Confucinists affect the political and economic elements of China?

Roots of Decline: Attempts at Reform
After reading this section, you should be able to answer/define the following:
Define: Tangut, Xi Xia, Wang Anshi
How was the army a burden on the Song dynasty?
What effect did the