The Postclassical Period, c. 600 CE to c. 1450: Content Summary 3.3: Postclassical States in East Asia

The Tang reinstated the Confucian civil service examination system, which further diminished the political influence of Buddhism. (3.3.A)

Tang centralization and expansion of the imperial bureaucracy increased Chinese political unity. (3.3.A)

The scholar-gentry elite was revived while the authority of warlords and landed aristocrats was diminished. (3.3.A)

Integration of Confucianism into China’s imperial culture peaked with the Song Dynasty’s adoption of Neoconfucianism as its official political ideology. (3.3.A)

The new form of Confucianism combined Confucian concepts of hierarchy and ritual with Daoist traditions of balance and harmony. (3.3.A)

Neoconfucian ideology stressed conservative traditions and was hostile to foreign philosophies and religions, such as Buddhism. (3.3.A)

Neoconfucian ideology stressed conservative traditions and was hostile to foreign philosophies and religions, such as Buddhism. (3.3.A)

Additional irrigation systems, roads, and bridges built during the Tang and Song dynasties connected large commercial and urban markets and incentivized free peasants to produce and sell surplus crops. (3.3.B)

Chinese rice yields expanded dramatically with the adoption of Champa rice, which could be harvested multiple times a year. (3.3.B)

Highly productive agriculture, which was aided by Tang policies that equally distributed fields to peasants, sustained the extensive demographic and urban expansion of postclassical China. (3.3.B)

There was a growing Chinese demand for these goods, and the revival of the Silk Roads and long-distance trade during the Tang Dynasty also increased demand. (3.3.B)

A highly commercialized economy, a growing population, and rising agricultural productivity expanded the Chinese tax base and provided the revenue to sustain continued state investment in transportation infrastructures. (3.3.B)

Reviving a practice from previous dynasties, the Tang established tributary relations with conquered states and societies, demanding that they recognize Chinese supremacy as a condition for retaining local authority. (3.3.C)

Major peasant revolts and a series of corrupt leaders led to the eventual downfall of the Tang Dynasty. (3.3.C)

After a short interlude, the Song Dynasty reestablished order and centralized rule over China. (3.3.C)

After a short interlude, the Song Dynasty reestablished order and centralized rule over China. (3.3.C)

The Song emperors emphasized education, civil administration, and the promotion of a scholarly gentry, along with mistrust and disdain for the military. (3.3.C)

The Song emperors emphasized education, civil administration, and the promotion of a scholarly gentry, along with mistrust and disdain for the military. (3.3.C)

The burdening cost of tribute and a massive bureaucracy, in conjunction with the growth of warlordism along its frontiers, weakened the Song Dynasty. (3.3.C)

Territory was lost to nomadic empires such as the Jurchens, and the dynasty was eventually toppled by the Mongols in 1279. (3.3.C)