The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia - Essay Example

The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia Introduction The Tang Dynasty referred to a colonial empire of China preceded by the Sui Empire/Dynasty (Ebrey 34). The Tang Dynasty was established by the Li Family who ruled China after the decline of the Sui Empire. The Tang Dynasty brought significant changes to China, which will be discussed later in this paper. The Song Dynasty was also a ruling dynasty of the same region from 960 to 1279 (Ebrey 72). The Song Dynasty was the first governing body, in the world, to issue paper money or banknotes.

This paper will discuss some of the significant changes that these two dynasties brought to china and its neighbors, Japan and Korea.The Tang and Song Dynasties brought significant changes to China. The Tang Dynasty was significantly a period of stability and progress. The regime maintained and supported a service system through drafting officials by standardized examinations along with recommendations to the office. China’s culture also flourished during the Tang era, as it is regarded as the greatest age for Chinese poetry (Ebrey 35).

The Song Dynasty, on the other hand, introduced banknotes as a form of trade to China (Ebrey 78). No other empire, all round the world, had done this. Banknotes improved the trade and commerce of China, which made the country, even up to today, be regarded as the best traders all round the world.A notable change, during the Tang Dynasty, was the development of the woodblock printing. Woodblock printing refers to a technique of printing images, texts or patterns (Ebrey 37). Woodblock printing was used widely in East Asia, and the Tang Dynasty could take credit for introducing this technique.

In reality, woodblock printing boosted the Chinese art as the art could now be printed for people to view. Social living, during the Song Dynasty, was vibrant in that social elites gathered to trade and view precious artworks, the citizens intermingled at private clubs and public festivals, and towns had lively entertainment joints. The Song Dynasty improved the socializing of the Chinese citizens (Ebrey 78).The Tang Dynasty set out to resolve internal problems within the government that had constantly overwhelmed past dynasties.

The Tang Dynasty, building upon the Sui legal code, provided a new legal code, which succeeding Chinese regimes would base theirs upon, as well as neighboring empires such as Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. The visual arts of the Song regime were heightened by new developments like advances in portrait painting and landscape (Ebrey 80). The gentry’s elite, with the help of the Song, observed art as a traditional activity of the cultured scholar-official, which included painting, writing calligraphy and composing poetry.

ConclusionSince China, Japan and Korea, mainly shared the same culture, what took place in China also influenced the dealing in the other two nations. Chinese artwork, in particular the calligraphy, was mainly adapted in both Japan and Korea. Both the Tang and Song dynasties assisted these two nations military-wise. China had a strong army established by the two regimes, which assisted their neighbors in tough times. Chinese monks also travelled to both Japan and Korea to spread their Buddhism religion, which was widely accepted.

Work CitedEbrey, Patricia. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print.