China was seperated into three dynasties in the past. They were called the
Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties.
The Song Dynasty (907-1276)
The Song Dynasty has a time period that was chaotic, after the ending of the Tang Dynasty
fifty years before. A soldier named Taizu became an emporer who tried to reunite China.
Taizu had much success and kept China strong for many years. Emporers always had all the
power, and had to be strong. Wealthy landowners could be powerful, and could influnence the
emporer. The bureaucrats who were conservative and slow to accept change, could also change the laws. China was divided into provinces, each ruled by a governer. The most powerful body
was the Council of State, which had meetings that the emporer attended. The council freely
discussed issues and listened to other peoples opinions from all over the empire.
By the twelfth century, the Song Dynasty began to fall apart. No one was taking interest in
ruling the country. The Song Dynasty did last for another 150 years though. The culture
continued even though the empire was weak.
The Song Dynasty was a time when great artwork was made. Artisians made porclein and jade
carvings which were very beautiful. Emporers were also skilled painters. The emporer Huizong
was one of the best painters. Chinese writing was called calligraphy, and it was a form of art.
It was written using the same brush strokes. Painters mainly enjoyed painting scenes of everyday life, like nature. Theatre and acting were very popular during the Song Dynasty.
The Chinese had a style of architecture that hasn't changed much over time. People used tile,
plastic, brick and mainly wood to build. Wood didn't last for long, so buildings didn't survive for very long. Important building always faced south, like the imperial palace in the Forbidden City of Beijing. Kitchens were usually located away from the main building, as to have a less danger of a fire. Although the Song Dynasty had very weak moments and was less strong then other dyansties, it had a great influence to Chinese art, technology, government and economics.
The Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
The Yuan Dynasty had a time period that was rough, since the ending of the Song Dyansty.
The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, however were not Chinese, they were Mongols. In 1206,
conqueror Chinggis Khan made himself the lord of the Mongols. They created a large army and
created one of the largest empires. The soldiers were fierce, and were difficult to defeat. When
Chinggis died in 1227, he had ruled an area from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Chinggis's
grandson Khubilai took over the Yuan Dynasty in 1271.
In the past, the conquerors of China followed the Chinese culture. Khubilai did not want this to happen to the Mongols. He tried to keep the different cultures in his empire separate. He
divided the population into three groups: the Mongols, the Various Races ( not chinese), and the
Chinese ( people with a Chinese culture). It was illegal to marry someone outside of your group. The Chinese population was quite punished. Khubilai collected heavy taxes, and made everyone work hard labour. He needed the money and the labour for his own ideas. Although they had difficult times, the daily life of the Chinese people was the same as before. The economy and the arts still continued to grow.
During the Yuan Dyansty foreigners such as Marco Polo visited China. The Mongols kept it safe for traders who crossed Asia along the old Silk Road. Muslim traders were very welcome by Mongols. These visitors spreaded the word about the weath in China. Lots of monks also travelled to the West. In some eyes, the court of Khubilai was great and wealthy, but in others, it was like a story. The Mongol's high taxes eventually caused people to become rebellious. Different rebellios groups joined together to try and fight the conquerors. Once the rebellious
groups won, no one was really in charge of China. Which led to the ending of the Yuan Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
In 1368 the Ming Dynasty was formed and was founded by Taisu, who gained control of the previous rebellios groups. Taisu was now the emporer of China. "Ming", which means brilliant,
formed at Nanjing. Taisu ruled for 32 years, and although he was a cruel man, he reunited China.
For many years China received tribute from other countries. Other countries were expected to send gifts to China. The other countries were not allowed to trade with China unless they recognized China's superior wealth and power by the tribute. Chengzu, Taisu's successer, wanted to continue this system. He sent out ships to try and confirm his rule. Ming turned away from sea power, however, and focused back on China.
The government during the Ming Dynasty had many levels of power. Each level was more important then the one below it. There was a different set of rules for each level. The Ming court began to aruge more with eachother, which is when the court eunuchs gained more power. They almost took over the government during the Ming Dynasty. Taisu began to get the palace guards to spy on the officials, and over time had about 100,000 government officials executed. The eunuchs over time also controlled the army, taxation and imperial workshops.
The Ming emporers worked hard to rebuild the economy in China. The rebellious incidents that happened in the Yuan Dynasty damaged China's business and agriculture. In 1370, the imperial government started to rebuild the empire's economy. After some work, the economy under the Ming dynasty was strong and healthy. Ming artisians continued to produce good manufacutured items.Silk, lacquer work and other products were sold at high prices everywhere. The upper classes of the Ming Dynasty enjoyed their wealth and power. Most of China's other people were farmers living in villages. They travelled very little. It was hard to move up the social ladder, since most of the people rarely travelled. Merchants however were good at becoming more rich.
Women who had more freedom during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, lost freedom during the Ming. A cultural practise which happened to ever woman was called footbinding. The Chinese people beleived that smaller feet were more beautiful then women with bigger feet. Without footbinding, women had a little chance of marrying someone. Women could not walk far with there feet bound up tightly, and they could not walk freely. It also forced women to stay at home. Footbinding started in the Song Dynasty and did not end until the 19th century.
The ending of the Ming Dynasty happened because the rulers began to lose touch with their people. China cut itself more and more from the world. China was invaded by the Japanese in the 1500's, and also by the Mongols. The peasents began to rebel, and the emporer lost interest with providing a good government. The last Ming emporer hung himself on a hill outside his palace, which led to the end.
