AS 201 Imperial China's Dynasties

HanMap

I. Han = First of the Great Imperial Dynasties

The new emperor called for the services of men of talent, not only to restore the destroyed classics but to serve as officials in the government. From that time, the Chinese Empire was governed by a body of officials theoretically selected on merit. These scholar-officials were highly educated individuals who shared a common ideology of Confucianism and were recruited for government service through the famous Chinese system of civil service exams. Such a practice has few parallels elsewhere at this early date in human history.

In 124 BC, during the reign of Wu Di (140-87, the Martial Emperor), an imperial university was set up for the study of Confucian classics. The university recruited talented students, and the state supported them. Starting with 50 when the university first opened, the number of government-supported students reached 30,000 by the end of the Han Dynasty. The Invention of printing, and this emphasis on Education and Learning based on the Classics coincided to enable the creation and diffusion of many books and documents during Han times.

Emperor Wu also established Confucianism as the official doctrine of the state. This designation lasted until the end of the Chinese Empire. True, in the Han dynasty, it was still an era of dominance by great families, those who acquired land, wealth and power under the older feudal system. It was they who initilly "recommended" young students to jon the university and eventually the government. But Han marked the beginning a more meritocratic system that promoted the able and worthy by Confucian standards in a fairly systematic and unbiased manner.

Changan (長安), the capital = the Name means "Enduring Peace," with an Imperial Palace on a grand scale creating a symbolic ritual space within which the Emperor, regarded as the axis between Heaven and Earth, surveyed the entire realm, and performed numerous rituals aimed at maintaining the cosmic order. A cosmopolitan metropolis, the population of several 100,000s featured markets, centers of trade and commerce and the Imperial Palace. It was the end point for the Great Silk Road.

HanCap

Palaces, residences for nobles, official residences, and temples were the main constructions inside the walled city.

Built in the southwest of the city, the Weiyang Palace, for example, was also known as the West Palace, where the emperor met with officials. Covering an area of 5 square kilometers, the palace had a square shape, with walls built on four sides, of which the east and the west walls were 2150 meters long each, and the south and the north ones 2250 long each. A gate was open on each of the four sides. The east and north gates each had a watchtower, and the east one was open for the feudal princes who wanted to meet with the emperor while the north one was for ordinary people. Inside the palace were over 40 halls and pavilions.

So, the overall impression was of a commanding city, clean, organized, healty, hygenic, and well laid-out in a rectangle 84 square kilometers and enclosed with a 25.7km long city wall and with a 6.13m wide moat, this ancient capital prided on its striking buildings, particularly the Temple of Heaven, a platform made from pounded earth with four concentric rings. The city had eight main avenues, with the longest one of 5,500 meters long and 45 meters wide.

Each street was divided into three ways, with the middle one only used by the emperor himself and the side ones for ordinary citizens. Various kinds of trees, such as pagoda tree, elm, pine, and cypress, grew along both sides of the streets, which divided the city into regular-shaped residential and downtown areas. During its most flourishing period, Changan City had a population of 240,000 consisting of 88,000 households. It was the first large-scale and densely populated city in Chinese history.

Confucianism Established

Wudi also established Confucianism as the basis for correct official and individual conduct and for the educational curriculum. The reliance of the bureaucracy on members of a highly educated class grounded in Confucian writings and other classics defined China's education and statecraft for many centuries.

History:

Poetry, literature, and philosophy flourished during the reign of Emperor Wudi (141–86 B.C.). The monumental Shiji (Historical Records) written by Sima Qian (145–80 B.C.) set the standard for later government-sponsored histories. Among many other things, it recorded information about the various peoples, invariably described as "barbarian," who lived on the empire's borders.

For example, some excerpts:

The Emperor on his Treatment of his People http://www.humanistictexts.org/simaqian.html

3 Destruction of History and Free Speech

"Now the August Emperor has unified all under heaven, distinguishing black from white and establishing a single source of authority. Yet the adherents of private theories band together to criticize the laws and directives. Hearing that an order has been handed down, each one proceeds to discuss it in the light of his own theories. At court they disapprove in their hearts; outside they debate it in the streets. They hold it a mark of fame to defy the ruler, regard it as lofty to take a dissenting stance, and they lead the lesser officials in fabricating slander. If behavior such as this is not prohibited, then in upper circles the authority of the ruler will be compromised, and in lower ones cliques will form. Therefore it should be prohibited."I therefore request that all records of the historians other than those of the state of Qin be burned. With the exception of the academicians whose duty it is to possess them, if there are persons anywhere in the empire who have in their possession copies of the Odes,the Documents, or the writings of the hundred schools of philosophy, they shall in all cases deliver them to the governor or his commandant for burning. Anyone who ventures to discuss the Odes or Documents shall be executed in the marketplace. Anyone who uses antiquity to criticize the present shall be executed along with his family. Any official who observes or knows of violations and fails to report them shall be equally guilty. Anyone who has failed to burn such books within thirty days of the promulgation of this order shall be subjected to tattoo and condemned to 'wall dawn' [convict] labor. The books that are to be exempted are those on medicine, divination, agriculture, and forestry. Anyone wishing to study the laws and ordinances should have a law official for his teacher." An imperial decree granted approval of the proposal.

Sima Qian: Chancellor Li Si's Advice, Biogr

5 The Scholar’s Plot

Master Hou and Master Lu plotted together, saying, "The First Emperor is by nature obstinate, cruel, and self-willed. He rose up from among the feudal rulers to unite the entire empire, and now that he has achieved his ends and fulfilled his desires, he believes that there has never been anyone like him since remote antiquity.

"He entrusts everything to the law officials, and the law officials alone are allowed into his presence. Although seventy men have been appointed as academicians, they are mere figureheads and are never consulted. The chancellor and the other major officials are all handed decisions that have already been made, and they simply second the emperor's opinion. The emperor delights in showing his authority by punishing and killing, and everyone throughout the empire dreads punishment and tries merely to maintain his position, none daring to exert true loyalty. The emperor never learns of his mistakes and hence grows daily more arrogant, while his underlings, prostrate with fear, flatter and deceive him in order to curry favor."

Sima Qian, Biography of the First Emperor

6 The Execution of 460 Scholars

He [the Emperor] then ordered the imperial secretary to subject all the scholars to investigation. The scholars reported on one another in an attempt to exonerate themselves. Over 460 persons were convicted of violating the prohibitions, and were executed at Xianyang,word of it being publicized throughout the empire so as to act as a warning to later ages. In addition, increasing numbers of convicts were transported to the border regions.

The First Emperor trusted his own judgment, never consulting others, and hence his errors went uncorrected. The Second Emperor carried on in the same manner, never reforming, compounding his misfortune through violence and cruelty. . .At that time the world was not without men of deep insight and an understanding of change. The reason they did not dare exert their loyalty and correct the errors of the ruler was that Qin's customs forbade the mentioning of inauspicious matters. Before their words of loyal advice were even out of their mouths, they would have been condemned to execution. This insured that the men of the empire would incline their ears to listen, stand in an attitude of solemn attention, but clamp their mouths shut and never speak out. Therefore when the three rulers strayed from the Way, the loyal ministers did not dare remonstrate, and the men of wisdom did not dare offer counsel. The empire was already in rebellion, but the ruler was never informed of the villainy—how pitiful!. . .

In the south he seized the land of the hundred tribes of Yue and made of it Guilin and Xiang provinces, and the lords of the hundred Yue bowed their heads, hung halters from their necks, and pleaded for their lives with the lowest officials of Qin. Then he sent Meng Tian north to build the Great Wall and defend the borders, driving back the Xiongnu over 230 miles, so that the barbarians no longer ventured to come south to pasture their horses and their men dared not take up their bows to vent their hatred.

Thereupon he discarded the ways of the former kings and burned the books of the hundred schools of philosophy in order to make the black-headed people ignorant. He destroyed the walls of the great cities, put to death the powerful leaders, and collected all the arms of the empire, which he had brought to his capital at Xianyang, where the spears and arrowheads were melted down and cast to make twelve human statues. All this he did in order to weaken the black-headed people.

Sima Qian: Li Jian’s Commentary

8 The First Emperor’s Rule

Then Qin faced south to call itself ruler of the empire, which meant that the world now had a Son of Heaven to head it. The masses hoped that they would be granted the peace and security to live out their lives, and there was not one of them who did not set aside selfish thoughts and look up to the sovereign in reverence. This was the moment for demonstrating authority and proving one's merit as a ruler, laying the foundation for lasting peace in the empire.

But the First Emperor was greedy and short-sighted, confident in his own wisdom, never trusting his meritorious officials, never getting to know his people. He cast aside the kingly Way and relied on private procedures, outlawing books and writings, making the laws and penalties much harsher, putting deceit and force foremost and humanity and righteousness last, leading the whole world in violence and cruelty. In annexing the lands of others, one may place priority on deceit and force, but insuring peace and stability in the lands one has annexed calls for a respect for authority. Hence I say that seizing, and guarding what you have seized, do not depend upon the same techniques.

Qin put an end to the Warring States period and made itself ruler of the empire, but it did not change its ways or reform its system of government, which shows that the means employed to seize an empire differ from those needed to guard it. Qin tried to guard it alone and single-handed, and therefore its downfall was merely a matter of time.

Sima Qian, Biography of the First Emperor

II. Disunity: the Three Kingdoms 220-589 CE

Wei, Shu and Wu. One might think that such a prolonged period of disunity would mean the end of China as a unified political, economic and social entity. Such was the case with the Roman Empire. But China went the other way and eventually reestablished unity.

III. Sui and Tang: Reunification of the Empire

The Sui (581-617 CE) and subsequent Tang (618-906 CE) dynasties reunify China, three-hundred years after the fall of the Han dynasty (in 220). Although the Sui was a short-lived dynasty, it set the table for the glories that were to come under the Tang. Their achievements included the reconstruction of the Great Wall and the building of the ambitious Grand Canal that linked the northern capital region with the newly rich agricultural centers of the Yangtze River valley.

The dark line is the modern grand canal, the dotted line shows its original path - from the mouth of the Yangtze River [which goes to Shanghai today] north west to Luoyang and Chang'an, the eastern end of the famous Silk Road.

Its main purpose was to make it easier to transport agricultural products from the southern regions which had large food surpluses to the north which was always short of food. Not only was the finished Grand Canal more than 1000 miles long, but it was also at least 100 feet wide, with roads built all along the canal on both sides. The barges of course had to be pulled by animals or humans, in the absence of steam power until more than 1000 years later.

The Grand Canal linked two of China's most important river basins, the Yellow River (Huang He) and the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). North of the Yangtze, the canal must ascend a gradual slope to an elevation of more than 40 meters. To insure safe circulation, a system of locks (the Chinese are attributed to the first lock ever built in 983), feeder lakes and lateral canals was constructed. Under such circumstances, the control of an unified China became a possibility and the Grand Canal is acknowledged to be a significant element in the economic and political stability of imperial China, mainly through grain distribution.

Unfortunately, the toll in terms of labor and resources was high for this project and compounded by ruinous military campaigns against northern Korea, the costs generated popular rebellion and led to the speedy demise of the Sui Dynasty.

Tang

The Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907), with its capital at Changan (長安), is regarded by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization--equal, or even superior, to the Han period. Changan reached a population of 1 million inhabitants within the city walls while cities like Paris and London had only only 30,000-50,000 residentsduring the 800-1,000 CE period.

Its territory, acquired through the military exploits of its early rulers, was greater than that of the Han. Stimulated by contact with India () and the Middle East, the empire saw a flowering of creativity in many fields. Buddhism (佛[仏]教), originating in India around the time of Confucius, flourished during the Tang period, becoming thoroughly sinicized and a permanent part of Chinese traditional culture. Block printing was invented, making the written word available to vastly greater audiences. The Tang period was the golden age of literature and art.

A government system supported by a large class of Confucian literati selected through civil service examinations (科学) was perfected under Tang rule. This competitive procedure was designed to draw the best talents into government. But perhaps an even greater consideration for the Tang rulers, aware that imperial dependence on powerful aristocratic families and warlords would have destabilizing consequences, was to create a body of career officials having no autonomous territorial or functional power base. As it turned out, these scholar-officials acquired status in their local communities, family ties, and shared values that connected them to the imperial court. From Tang times until the closing days of the Qing empire in 1911, scholar-officials functioned often as intermediaries between the grass-roots level and the government.

For these reasons, the Tang, along with the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE) that followed, is often referred to as China’s “Golden Age” and it is interesting to contrast developments in China with developments in Europe at the same time. (Europe, after the fall of Rome in 410, entered a millennium (c. 400-1400) where disengagement from humanistic learning dominated.)

Under the Tang, China becomes the preeminent civilization in East Asia and the world with links east to Korea and Japan and west, along the Silk Route. The Tang Captial, Chang-An, reached a population of 1 million inhabitants within the city walls. Cities like Paris and London in around the year 1,000 CE was only 30,000-50,000.

Poetry, calligraphy, landscape painting, philosophy, political thought, historical writing, scientific advances in astronomy, chemistry, and medicine, and the production of fine silks, porcelain, and teas all flourish, particularly in the period from the 7th to the 12th centuries.

The Tang capital of Changan (today, Xian) was one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the time. As an eastern terminus of the Silk Route, traders and goods from East, West, and South Asia as well as a variety of religions coexisted in the capital. Religious groups and temples representing Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Manichaeism, (a Persian sect from the 3rd century CE expounding philosophical dualism), Nestorian Christianity (a sect that separated from Byzantine Christianity in 431 and was centered in Persia), and Zoroastrianism (a Persian religion from the 6th century, named after its founder the prophet Zoroaster) could all be found. The imperial families of the Sui and Tang intermarried with families of nomadic and Turkic origins in China’s Northwest. Such images should be held in mind when considering presentations of China as a “closed” society throughout history. An Arab market and mosque, dating from this period when the Chinese capital hosted traders from across Eurasia, remain active in Xian at the beginning of the 21st century.

Buddhism played a dominant role in Tang dynasty China, its influence evident in poetry and art of the period. A universalistic religious philosophy that originated in India (the historical Buddha was born in c.a. 563 BCE), Buddhism first entered China in the first century CE with traders following the Silk Route. Buddhist teachings spoke to the concerns of salvation and the release from suffering and flourished during the period of political disunity in China (220-581) after the fall of the Han dynasty. Various schools of Buddhism spread after the reunification of China under the Sui (581), and Buddhist influence reached its height during the three-hundred years of Tang rule (618-907). The monk Xuanzang (Hsuan Tsang), whose travels to India to bring back Buddhist sutras, or discourses, became the basis for the popular 16th century novel, Monkey or Journey to the West, followed the Silk Route during this period (629-645). Buddhism, religious Daoism, and Confucianism all coexisted as the “three teachings” under the Tang.

The influence of Buddhism declined in China after the Tang, and Buddhism, as Rhodes Murphey notes, “entered the stream of folk religion, especially for the non-literate, and its beliefs and practices further mixed with peasant traditions of magic, as was also the case with Daoism.”

Poetry

Poetry is the primary literary form in China from earliest times (not epic or drama as in the West). During the Tang dynasty, poetic form reaches new heights and everyone who is literate in the society writes poetry; it is an essential element of social communication. China’s three most renowned poets live at this time: Wang Wei, Li Bo, and Du Fu.

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