Tang dynasty
Landscape art from the Tang dynasty
Song dynasty economic revolution
Coins used during the Song dynasty
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A major economic growth spurt in the Song dynasty in which there was rapid population growth, development of waterways, increase in industrial production, and many other technological advances. This rendered China as the richest and most skilled country in the world.
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Hangzhou
Foot binding
How the foot looks after foot binding
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Said to have started through dancers and courtesans in the 10th or 11th centuries, the practice of foot binding involved wrapping a young girl's feet which usually broke the bones. This was associated with beauty and was imposed by mothers on their daughters to increase marriage prospects.
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Tribute system
Pretty much what the tribute system was like
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The Chinese worldview in which China was considered superior to surrounding "barbarians" resulted in a system in which foreigners had to pay tribute to the emperor in order to trade in China's markets or to be provided with "bestowals" from the emperor. The Chinese also viewed themselves as the superior culture in comparison to their neighbors.
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Xiongnu
A map of the Xiongnu Empire
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The Xiongnu was a confederacy created by nomads around the same time as the Han dynasty. An ironic reversal of the tribute system occurred when the Xiongnu raided northern China and forced the emperor and the people to pay tribute to the confederacy in the form of princesses, and large amounts of grain, wine and even silk.
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Khitan/Jurchen people
A map showing the control of the Jurchen state
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Both of these peoples were nomadic groups that conquered and governed parts of northern China and major areas of the steppes of the north. When the Han dynasty fell, the Khitan came into power and when the Tang dynasty fell the Jurchen people came into power. Also, both of these demanded that the Song dynasty deliver to them huge amounts of silk, silver, and tea.
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Silla dynasty (Korea)
Hangul
Chu nom
Trung sisters
Shotoku Taishi
A drawing of Shotoku Taishi
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A prominent aristocrat of on of the major clans in Japan who launched a series of large-scale missions to China which took hundreds of Japanese people to the mainland and applied what they learned. His main goal was to make Japan like China in their form of a centralized bureaucratic state.
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Bushido
The seven virtues of Bushido
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The way of the warrior which was developed by the samurai. This distinctive set of values included great skill in martial arts, bravery, loyalty, endurance, honesty, and a preference of death over surrender.
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