Postclassical+China

11.1 APPARTS chart: Ties That Bind: Paths to Power (pg 261) What do we know about where this was created? What have we learned about this topic? Society that may be relevant? || - Tang bureaucracy followed a strict hierarchy that was expected to be adhered to. Places in these hierarchies were often determined by civil service examinations, like those administered by the Ministry of Rites to students from government schools. However, there was a fair bit of graft in Tang bureaucracy, and relatives of high court officials were often able to gain positions even if they were unable to pass civil service exams. || Who is the intended audience? How might they receive this? – quotes to support your claims? || - The audience is a high ranking Chinese official who has to the power to alter the position in which the author lies on the government hierarchy. The official, who is the nephew of the Prime Minister might interpret the letter in different ways, considering his relationship with Wu Bao. The high ranking Chinese official might be from the same province or state in China as Wu Bao. He is also the nephew of the Prime Minister of China. || What is the purpose of this document? Read between the lines, support claims with a quote || - The author wants to return to the heart of China to serve as a high ranking bureaucratic official with a stable salary. Although he concedes that he is not as "talented" as other men (suggesting he did not do well on the civil service exams), he claims that he "[languishes] in this out-of-way corner beyond the Chien [mountains], close to the haunts of the barbarians." || Support with quotes || - Wu Bao is requesting a "special favor" of the official, in hopes that he can return from the fringes of the Tang empire and serve as an official in "my native place" which was "thousands of miles away." || How does this relate to the big picture? What can it tell us as historians? Relate to ESPIRIT if possible || - This letter suggests that Tang government was not structured in a way that was necessarily fair to all people applying to civil service positions. While it is true that the best performers on the civil service examinations were able to gain high positions, those were were related to or had special relationships with powerful ranking officials were also able to secure jobs, despite the fact that there may have been other, more qualified people. In the letter, a "special favor" is asked of the high official, with the knowledge that the high official "will not overlook a man from [his] native place." This "loophole" in the Tang bureaucratic system established a potential for graft and corruption within Chinese society ||
 * **Author** - Who created this? What do we know about the author? What might influence their opinions? || - Letter sent by local functionary Wu Bao to high official in hopes in gaining a more prominent spot in Chinese imperial bureaucracy; included in short story by Tang author Niu Su ||
 * **Place** – Where and when was it created - || - Created in China during the Tang era; this was a period were scholar-bureaucrats were coming back into favor after the revival of Confucian philosophy ||
 * **Prior Knowledge**
 * **Audience**
 * **Reason for Creation**
 * **The Main Idea**
 * **Significance**

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Su

11.1 Summary of Tang and Song China

The Tang and Song dynasties resulted in the consolidation of China after several hundred years of political instability and turmoil. There was a reversion to many of the past ideals of Confucianism, where imperial hierarchy, scholar-bureaucracy, and pursuits in the arts (for the upper classes) were encouraged. “Neo-Confucian” scholars stressed the importance of respect to elders, obedience, and then continued subordination of women (although certain individuals, like Empress Wu and Yang Guifei, were able to wield considerable political power). Neo-Confucian philosophy, however, stressed Chinese isolationism (with the exceptions being Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia), to the detriment of Chinese society as a whole. Nevertheless, the Tang and the Song dynasties remained one of the most innovative times in Chinese history, where the amount of art, literature, and other scholarly pursuits practiced continued to burgeon. There was also an economic “revolution” that took place under these two dynasties; the government actively encouraged the building of irrigation systems, public works projects, infrastructure improvements (the Grand Canal, nearly 12,000 miles long, linked many of the rivers that ran East to West from the Yellow Sea), and the cultivation of new land. The efficiency of this agricultural system was buttressed by new technological innovations, like the wheelbarrow and new fertilization techniques. Merchants also became a wealthy, respected social class and played a more noticeable role in Chinese society. They used enormous cargo ships called junks to distribute their goods to Japan and throughout Southeast Asia, and also developed a system of credit called “flying money”. Politically, the Tang was the stronger of the two dynasties: it acquired lands as far west as Afghanistan and wielded a powerful military. However, after the last emperor of the Tang dynasty was forced to resign in 907, the Song dynasty emerged. The Song preferred to appoint scholar-bureaucrats (rather than military officers) as governors of Chinese provinces – this led to the Song’s ultimate demise. They were pushed back south after nomadic invasions my Genghis Khan in the north, and were ultimately conquered by one of Genghis’ descendants, Kublai Khan.