East Asian Civilizations

Han Empire in China

 Han empire had existed for 400 years,
advances in trade and technology.
 Silk Road: first trade route between China
and Europe.
 People traveled in caravans through deserts
and mountains.
 Tang Dynasty takes over
 Armies force
neighboring
countries to
acknowledge Chinese
superiority and pay
tribute.
 Tang’s most
important
developments were
gunpowder and block
printing.
 Empire weakened 300
Song dynasty
 Ruled China for 300
years, Golden Age
 Wealth and culture
expands across all
of East Asia.
 China produces
books, better
ships, paper money,
arts, and
literature.
Genghis Khan
 Leader of the
Mongols, wanted to
take over China.
 Known for brutality
to enemies, many
allowed him to take
over out of fear.
 Created large
multiethnic state in
Asia
 Positive qualities:
encouraged arts,
literacy, united
 Mongols take over
 Mongols invade in 1279 and remove Song
dynasty
 Establish peace, political stability, and
expand trade.
 Believed heaven gave them the right to
rule
 Realized the Chinese were very advanced
and did not try to change their culture.
 Marco Polo
 European explorer
who traveled to
China and worked
under Kublai Khan
 Book: Travels of
Marco Polo
 Brought Chinese
ideas to Europe,
inspired later
adventurers to
explore the world.
Ming takeover
 Ming dynasty takes
over after Mongols in
1368
 Restore Confucianism
as main beliefs, build
up industries and
navy.
 Forced Mongols to
marry with ethnic
Chinese or face
persecution.
 Kublai Khan
 Genghis Khan’s grandson and leader of
Mongolian rule in China.
 Improved everyday life for Chinese:
 Built roads and canals.
 Assisted with the poor
 Encouraged book making and observation
of the stars.
 Maintained a large military presence in
China
Chinese Exploration
 Chinese begin to
explore Indian Ocean
and East Africa.
 Zheng He: led
explorations to
expand empire,
collect tribute, and
promote trade.
 Showed military
strength of China and
collected treasures
for empire.
Korea

 Koreans are influenced by Chinese

developments but try to maintain own
culture as well.
 Improve on block printing and create
a simpler alphabet than the Chinese.
 New alphabet made it easier for many
Koreans to read.
 Japan rises
 Japan felt influence of Chinese but was not
conquered by them because of seas
surrounding Japan.
 Nobles are sent to China to study Chinese
government and technology.
 Eventually Japan’s society adopted some of
these ideas brought back.
 Japanese
Feudalism

 Emperor is powerless, real power belongs to

shogun.
 Shogun: supreme military commander.
 Shogun distribute lands to lords who help
shogun by supplying army when called upon
 Samurai: lesser lords who were warriors for
shogun.
 Tokugawa shogunate
 Brought central government control,
peace, and stability to Japan.
 Encourage trade and the development of
samurai culture.
 Committed to ancient ideas which brought
conflict when foreigners arrived.