<b>The Chinese (581 to 1644)<b>

China was reunited in 581 AD after a long period of internal war by the founders
of the Sui dynasty. For most of the 1000 years that followed, China was one of
the largest and most advanced civilization in the world. Because of its geograph
ic isolation from the West, it was able to develop and maintain a unique culture
that spread its influence over much of Asia.
An emperor generally held supreme power as the son of heaven. Natural disasters
or other calamities were taken as proof that the mandate of heaven had been with
drawn, however, and could justify revolt. Mandarins were conservative civil serv
ants who operated most of the government at the local, province, and imperial le
vel. Mandarins earned their positions by passing detailed civil service examinat
ions based mainly on the works of Confucius.
The T'ang dynasty ruled China from 618 to 907. China under the T'ang was large,
wealthy, and powerful. There was extensive foreign trade and interest in the art
s among the upper class. Printing and gunpowder were invented. The last 100 year
s of T'ang rule witnessed tumultuous peasant revolts, however, and wars between
local military rulers that the imperial court could not end. The years from 907
to 960 were known as the Five Dynasties period. Northern China was held by barba
rians, and southern China split into 10 rival states. From one of these, an army
general named Zhao Kuang-ying seized power and unified the southern states, fou
nding the Song dynasty. His descendants reunited China within 20 years.
The Song dynasty ruled at least part of China until 1279. This was another perio
d of cultural brilliance, and it was considered the great age of Chinese landsca
pe painting. There was a dramatic improvement in economic activity, including a
large overseas trade. Population and cities grew, food production grew faster th
an population, a money economy developed, and industrial output increased. No ci
ty in Europe could approach the populations of Chang An, Beijing, and Guang Zhou
, all with more than 2 million inhabitants.
The wealth of China attracted enemies, however, and the Mongols began attacks in
1206. By 1279 they had completed the conquest of Song China and moved the capit
al to Beijing. The dramatic economic improvement of the Song dynasty ended with
the Mongol conquests and the estimated 30 million deaths that they caused. The M
ongol Yuan dynasty reunited China and reestablished it as a great military and w
orld power. Chinese influence was spread into Asia. Hanoi was captured three tim
es and tribute was extracted from Burma. Trade with India, Arabia, and the Persi
an Gulf was developed. Marco Polo visited China during this period.
Natural disasters and higher taxes in the fourteenth century caused rural rebell
ions. A Buddhist monk rose to be one of the leaders of the Red Turbans, a secret
society opposed to the emperor in Beijing. The rebels seized Nanjing in 1356 an
d drove the Mongols from Beijing 12 years later, establishing the Ming dynasty.
The Ming presided over another cultural flowering and established a political un
ity that outlasted the Ming and continued into the twentieth century. The Ming c
lamped down a strict conservatism and isolation, however, discouraging change an
d innovation, banning foreign travel, and closing the Silk Road.
Some of the most noteworthy aspects of medieval China are the technologies that
were invented there, usually many centuries before a similar technology was inve
nted in, or transmitted to, the West. Important Chinese inventions included the
compass, the wheelbarrow, the abacus, the horse harness, the stirrup, the clock,
iron-casting, steel, paper, moveable type (printing), paper money, gunpowder, a
nd the stern-post rudder.