World History / Unit 5: Empires of Africa, Asia and the Americas
5.3 China: Tang, Song and Ming
Notes
China's dynasties after the Han made major advances in technology, trade and government.
- Tang dynasty (618 to 907): expanded territory, strengthened civil service exams, and supported Buddhism and poetry.
- Song dynasty (960 to 1279): an age of invention and commerce, including movable type printing, the magnetic compass, gunpowder weapons and paper money. Fast-ripening Champa rice fed a growing population.
- Marco Polo wrote of Yuan China (Henry Yule translation, 1871): "the Great Kaan causeth the bark of trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money all over his country."
- Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644): drove out the Mongols, built the Forbidden City in Beijing and rebuilt the Great Wall mostly as it stands today.
- Admiral Zheng He led huge treasure-ship voyages (1405 to 1433) to Southeast Asia, India, Arabia and East Africa. After his voyages, Ming rulers limited foreign trade and contact.
Practice
Which group of inventions is associated with Song China?
The Song era was one of China's most inventive periods.
Read the excerpt from Marco Polo (1871 translation): the ruler "causeth the bark of trees, made into something like paper, to pass for money all over his country." What surprised Polo?
Paper currency was unfamiliar to Europeans at the time.
What happened after Zheng He's voyages ended in 1433?
Officials saw the voyages as too costly and focused on threats from the north.
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