The Mongols and China

Chapter 8-2

The Mongols• The Mongols were a

pastoral people who rose to power in a very quick & swift manor throughout Asia

• They became unified under the leadership of Temujin

• In 1206 he was elected Genghis Kahn, strong ruler

The Mongols• Kahn brought much of

the Eurasian landmass under a single rule, creating the largest land empire in history, the Mongol Empire

• After the death of Kahn in 1227, the empire began to change

• It is only the death of Kahn that saved western Europe from falling under the control of the Mongols

The Mongols• In 1279 Kahn’s grandson, Kublai Kahn

conquered the Song & established a new dynasty in China, the Yuan

• Kublai ruled until his death in 1294• The Mongol dynasty eventually fell

victim to the same problem that had plagued other dynasties

1. Too much spending on foreign conquests

2. Corruption at court3. Growing internal instability

• In 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang (JOO YWAHN*JAHNG), the son of a peasant, defeated the Mongol dynasty & set up a new dynasty, the Ming

Religion and Government• Confucian principles

were the basis of the Chinese government during the Han dynasty

• However, by the time the Sui & Tang dynasty emerged Buddhism & Daoism rivaled the influence of Confucianism

  A Statue of the Buddha

Buddhism & Daoism

• Buddhism first came to China in the first century A.D. by merchants & missionaries

• As a result of the fall of the Han dynasty Buddhism & Daoism became more attractive to many people, especially the ruling classes

• Even into the early years of the Tang dynasty the popularity of Buddhism continued to grow

• Buddhists temples were constructed & Buddhists monks even became advisors to the imperial court

Buddhism & Daoism• Buddhism would eventually

lose favor under the Tang dynasty

• The reason was three fold1. Buddhism was seen as a foreign religion2. The Buddhist monasteries had acquired thousands of acres of land & serfs which led to corruption 3. Buddhism rejected the idea of the material world as an illusion which was a denial of the essence of Confucian teachings-the need for devotion to family and hard work which were also virtues of the Chinese state

Neo-Confucianism• From the time of the Song

dynasty until the end of the dynasty system in the twentieth century the governments official religion was that of a revived Confucianism called Neo-Confucianism

• This was a reaction to Buddhism & Daoism

• Neo-Confucianism teaches that the world is real, not an illusion, & fulfillment comes from participation in the world

Neo-Confucianism

• Neo-Confucianists divide the world into a material world & a spiritual world

• Although humans live in the material they are linked to the spiritual

• The goal is to move from the material world to join with the Supreme Ultimate

A Golden Age In Art

• The period between the Tang & the Ming age was a period of great Chinese literature

• The invention of painting during the Tang dynasty helped make literature more readily available & more popular

Red ceramic glazed porcelain horse from the Tang Dynasty

Painting & Ceramics

• It was during the Song & Mongol dynasties that landscape painting reached its peak

• In the area of ceramics the Chinese developed the skill of making porcelain