Song Dynasty Research Paper

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The Flowering of Traditional China
“The significant change that China experienced during its medieval [postclassical] era is described in the text as change within continuity because the strong classical tradition of China allowed for the adaptation of new trends within that tradition.”
After the fall of the Han dynasty in the beginning of the third century C.E., China was in a prolonged period of separation and civil war. Nomadic forces took advantage over advantage of an absent government and took over the Northern part of China. The Yangtze Valley and farther south managed to maintain a native Chinese rule. However this constant time of unrest had an effect on the Chinese peoples mentality. They questioned the principles of Confucianism, …show more content…
But this didn’t last very long, in 960 a new dynasty known as the Song dynasty took hold. From the beginning they had more problems defending their territory than the dynasties before them. Despite efforts from Song Taizu, he was not able to re-conquer the northwestern part of the country from the nomadic Khitan people. Even though the Song was politically and militarily weak, it was still a time of economic expansion, prosperity, and cultural achievement. Making it another one of the greatest dynasties. But the Song dynasty made the same mistake of using the help of one barbaric group to fight another as the Tang did, and when the Mongols were don fighting off the Jurchen, they turned to the Song. The Song were defeated in 1279 by the Mongols, who used gunpowder as a tool to defeat the Song, had learned about gunpowder from the …show more content…
Under the Grand Council there was the Department of State Affairs, equivalent to the modern cabinet. The Tang adopted the Civil service examination, a system of selecting bureaucrats on merit and their understanding of Confucian principles. Supposed to be Democratic, the Civil Service Examination was mainly comprised of aristocrats who had the time and money to prepare for the test, as well as the ability to travel to the capital city to take the test. The Song however were more successful at limiting the power of the aristocrats. The candidates who passed the test who were not from the aristocratic landowners became know as the scholar-gentry. However the system was still not equal, for example only males were eligible and the Song didn’t attempt to create a universal elementary education, so unless they had a wealthy willing sponsor, and poor man would not be able to study for or take the
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