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2. Varieties of Civilizations

China and its neighbors

China: Song dynasty

before Mongol takeover

China relatively stably ruled since late 7th century

1200: Song dynasty (960–1279) ruled large parts of an ancient Chinese civilization

afterwards, dynasties drew on older political/cultural traditions that outlasted even Song dynasty, remaining into 20th century

Song dynasty was golden age of arts, literature

excellent poetry, landscape painting, ceramics

scholars debated new forms of Confucian philosophy

Bureaucratic state structure

built on earlier precedents

Censorate oversees rest of the government

check on character and competence of public officials

staff took examinations (first established in Han dynasty)

more elaborate than before

aided by printing press

schools/colleges to prepare for exams

central feature for upper-class men

privileged: better able to access education

village/landowner sometimes sponsored man from commoner background

enter officialdom

bring prestige, possible concrete benefits to those who sponsored him

social mobility in otherwise hierarchical society

despite this, official positions often went to sons of privileged, even if they did not pass the exams

many who passed lower-level exams could not be accommodated

education/exam system grew more rapidly than number of official positions

could still maintain prestige and prominence locally with landowning and success in exams

6 major ministries overseen by Censorate

Economic revolution

rapid growth in population (50-60 million in 9th century to 120 million by 1200)

“by far the richest, most skilled, and most populous country on earth”

achievements in agricultural production

Champa rice

fast-ripening

drought-resistant

adopted from Vietnam

most urbanized city in world

capital Hangzhou “beyond dispute the finest and noblest [city] in the world” (Marco Polo)

Industrial production soared

metallurgy (large-scale enterprises and smaller backyard furnaces)

provided government with:

suits of armor

iron arrowheads

coins

tools

construction

bells in Buddhist monasteries

fueled by coal

metallurgy, heating homes, cooking

generated air pollution

printing inventions

woodblock

movable type

first printed books

by 1000 relatively cheap books widespread

navigational techniques

shipbuilding techniques

gunpowder

producing for market instead of local consumption

internal waterways (canals, rivers, lakes) stretched about 30,000 miles

cheap movement of goods

allow peasants to grow specialized crops

taxes paid in cash, not in kind

peasants have to sell something (products or labor)

paper money (invented by China), letters of credit, promissory notes led to commercialization of society

“Output increased, population grew, skills multiplied, and a burst of inventiveness made Song China far wealthier than ever before—or than any of its contemporaries” (scholars)

Life of women

tightening restrictions and new opportunities for women

Confucian emphasized women being subordinates to men, keep men and women separate in every part of life

“The boy leads the girl, the girl follows the boy; the duty of husbands to be resolute and wives to be docile begins with this” (Sima Guang (1019-1086), historian/scholar)

elite men: masculinity = refined pursuits

calligraphy

scholarship

painting

poetry

feminine qualities emphasize weakness, reticence, delicacy

women’s textile jobs slowly replaced

urban workshops, state factories (run by men) take over skills like weaving textiles (especially silk) that were done by rural women in homes

women continued to tend silkworms and spin silk thread but income-generating work of making fabrics now lost

foot binding

began from dancers/courtesans in 10th/11th century

tight wrapping of young girls’ feet

break bones

intense pain

general acceptance among elite both during and after Song Dynasty

“rite of passage”

source of pride

topic of poetry

new images of female beauty and eroticism

small size

frailty

deference

keep women restricted to “inner quarters” where Confucian traditions said they belonged

property rights expanded

control own dowries, inherit property from families

“neither in earlier nor in later periods did as much property pass through women’s hands” as during Song dynasty (scholar)

education of women

encouraged by lower-ranking but ambitious officials

could more effectively raise sons and increase family’s fortune

Korea

resisted Chinese political domination but adopted elements of Chinese culture and sought source of China’s wealth and power

generally maintained political independence

succession of dynasties

Unified Silla (688-900)

Koryo (918-1392)

Joseon (1392-1910)

retained distinctive culture and separate political existence

still part of Chinese world order

Relationship with/impact of China

tributary relationship with China

Korea:

regular missions to Chinese imperial court

acknowledge China’s preeminent position in East Asia

present tribute (products of value from Korea)

perform rituals of submission

China:

give visitors gifts/bestowals

reaffirm peaceful relations

allow official and personal trade

Confucianism was tried but not strongly supported in Korea

free choice marriages, women singing, dancing strongly disapproved of by Chinese

Chinese models of family life, female behavior replace Korean

especially among elite

based on Confucian concept of filial piety (respect for parents, elders, ancestors)

restrictions on elite women, especially widows, came to exceed those in China

customs that disappeared included:

women giving birth and raising children in parents’ home

funeral rites where husband was buried in sacred plot of wife’s family

remarriage of widows or divorced women

female inheritance of property

Being unique

after 688 (Unified Silla dynasty), political independence largely intact

Chinese cultural influence had little impact

exception: Buddhism

most effect on aristocracy

did not affect serf-like peasants

did not affect slaves (1/3 of population by 1100)

exam system to recruit government officials was tried but did not gain traction

aristocratic class maintained stronger monopoly on bureaucratic office than China did

mid-1400s: developing hangul (phonetic alphabet) for writing Korean

greater cultural independence

resisted by conservative male elites (used to using Chinese characters for Korean)

gradually took hold, especially in:

private correspondence

popular fiction

among women

Vietnam

resisted Chinese political domination but adopted elements of Chinese culture and sought source of China’s wealth and power

elite borrowed heavily from China

Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism

administrative techniques

examination system

artistic/literary styles

Relationship with/impact of China

achieved political independence while still part of tribute system as vassal state

unlike Korea: fully incorporated into China from 111 BCE to 939 CE

even after achieving independence (in 938 from China), Vietnamese rulers carefully maintained tributary role and sent repeated missions to do homage

successive Vietnamese dynasties followed footsteps of Chinese government

claimed Mandate of Heaven

used Chinese court rituals

Chinese-based exam system undermined established aristocracy

provided social mobility for commoners

created merit-based scholar-gentry class to staff bureaucracy

members of elite deeply committed to Chinese culture

viewed Vietnam less as separate nation than southern extension of universal civilization (China)

Being unique

distinctive language

fondness for cockfighting (chickens)

habit of chewing betel nuts

greater role for women in social and economic life

despite heavy Chinese influence

“I want to drive away the enemy to save our people. I will not resign myself to the usual lot of women who bow their heads and become concubines” (female leader of anti-Chinese resistance movement)

female nature deities and “female Buddha” part of popular religion

even as Confucian-based ideas took root in elite

northern officials tried to impose more orthodox Confucian gender practices

tried to replace local customs that allowed women to choose own husbands, married men live in wife’s house

so persistent that 17th-century Chinese visitor said, with disgust, Vietnamese preferred birth of a girl to that of a boy

reflected larger patterns of Southeast Asian cultures that distinguished it from China

developed chu nom

“southern script”

variation of Chinese writing

basis for independent national literature

way for most educated women to write