Part Nine IX › Division III III › Section 931 931

China to the Beginning of the Late T’ang (ad 755)

Subject Outline

AThe character and achievements of Chinese civilization, the geography and ethnography of China, archaeological and documentary historical sources, historiographic problems
BThe emergence of traditional Chinese civilization
- 1The prehistoric period
  - aThe Paleolithic and Mesolithic stages in North China: industries in the Ordos region, microlithic tools
  - bThe Neolithic stage: pebble tools and domesticated animals, "Mongolian Neolithic"
  - cThe Yang-shao Painted Pottery culture
    - iStratigraphy: villages of Hsi-yin-ts'un and Yang-shao-ts un, pottery styles
    - iiPainted pottery styles, sites in Kansu, ornamental designs, stone implements
  - dThe Lung-shan Black Pottery complex and western limits of Black Pottery culture, the Late Neolithic Period in South China and the Early Bronze Age in North China, bronze objects in the Ordos region
- 2The beginnings of the Chinese civilization: the early dynasties
  - aOrigins of the Chinese people and culture: legends and cultural centres, the Hsia dynasty (c. 2205 -c. 1766 bc)
  - bThe Shang, or Yin, period (c. 1766-c. 1122 bc): Chengchow site as early capital and cultural centre at Anyang, social system, early calendar, warfare, industry and commerce, script
  - cThe Western (early) Chou (1122-771 bc): the conquest of Shang under Wen Wang and Wu Wang (1111 bc), Chou feudal system
  - dThe Eastern (later) Chou (771-481 bc), also called the Chun Ch'iu period; internal chaos; period of the Warring States (481-221 bc)
    - iBreakdown of the Chou feudal system: capital at Loyang, rivalry among Chou states, various Chou successor states in the Warring States period (481-221 bc)
    - iiSocial, political, and cultural changes: decline of feudalism, urbanization and assimilation, rise of monarchy under Wen Kung, economic development
  - eThe Classical period of Chinese literature and philosophy: Chinese religion and cosmology, Confucianism and Taoism, the "hundred schools" (the Naturalists, the Dialecticians, Mo-tzu, Meng-tzu [Mencius], Chuang-tzu, the Legalists)
CThe unification of China under the Ch'in and Han dynasties (221 bc-ad 220)
- 1Establishment of the Ch'in empire (221-206 bc): development of central government, fall of the dynasty after death of Shih Huang Ti
  - aEarly successes of the Ch'in under Mu Kung, reforms of Hsiao Kung and Shang Yang
  - bCh'in strategy, unification of China by the Ch'in (221 bc), abolition of feudal system, highway building and construction of the Great Wall in the reign of Shih Huang Ti, the minister Li Ssu, political repression
- 2The Han dynasty
  - aWestern (Former or Earlier) Han (206 bc-ad 8) and the Wang Mang usurpation (ad 9-23)
    - iEstablishment of the dynasty by Liu Pang (Han Kao Tsu): the capital at Ch'ang-an, reign of Liu Heng (Han Wen Ti) from 179 to 157 bc, consolidation of Imperial power
    - iiExpansion under Han Wu Ti (140-87 bc) into southern China and Central Asia, dynastic crisis (91-87 bc), ascendancy of the Wang family and Wang Mang's usurpation of throne (ad 9-23)
  - bThe Eastern (Later) Han: restoration of the dynasty by Liu Hsiu (Han Kuang Wu Ti) (ad 25-57), capital at Loyang, domestic and foreign policy, decline of government after ad 125
  - cPolitical developments, foreign relations, and cultural attainments in the Han period
    - iThe Han political system: the structure and the practice of government
    - iiRelations with other peoples: the Hsiung-nu of Central Asia, Pan Ch'ao's campaigns in Central Asia
    - iiiHan cultural life: educational developments, invention of paper, prose writing, developments in music and the visual arts, introduction of Buddhism
DThe breakdown and revival of the empire
- 1The Six Dynasties period (ad 220-589)
  - aThe division of the empire into the Three Kingdoms of Wei (North China), Shu Han (Szechwan), and Wu (South China): era of barbarian invasions and rule, the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms (304-589)
  - bIntellectual and religious trends: decline in Confucianism, Taoist resurgence, spread of Buddhism
- 2The reunification of China under the Sui and early T'ang dynasties
  - aThe Sui (581-618): Sui founder Yang Chien (Sui Wen Ti), institutional reforms
  - bThe reign of Yang Ti (605-618): integration of the South, foreign affairs, military reverses and collapse of the dynasty
  - cThe early T'ang (618-624) and the period of T'ang power (626-755)
    - iLi Yuan's (618-626) establishment of the dynasty: resistance to T'ang conquest, administration of the state, fiscal and legal system
    - iiThe era of good government in the reign of T'ai Tsung (626-649): educational and administrative reforms, conquest of eastern Turks, Kao Tsung (649-683) and influence of Empress Wu, conquest of Oxus Valley and later military reverses