China Second Golden Age
By: Nathan S.
Advances in Agriculture: China was always good with agriculture and became experts with agriculture. In souther area part of China they grew rice because of the warm weather and in the north part with the cold weather they grew wheat, barley and other types of grains. During the Song Dynasty the farmers could reach new heights due to the new irrigation system that they started to use. One example is one farmer could do the work of many farmers by using a new invention called the dragon backbone pump. With this easy to use and portable pump a farmer could scoop up water and pour it into the irrigation canal. Most of the land under song became used by the farming the land that used to be wild became farmland. The new techniques allowed the farmers to grow twice as many crops as it used to.The knowledge of farming grew even more when farmers learned to grow new crops like cotton which allowed them to make cloths and other goods. Tea was already grown in China but now the production of tea grew even larger. Agriculture helped with giving all of China food, pay government taxes, trade, and population. In Song dynasty farmers should feed all of China’s population which was 100 million. It was the largest country in its time.
City Life: This rise in the agriculture helped with populating China and soon the cities streets were being filled with shopkeepers, doctors, religious leaders, entertainers, artisans and artists walked the city streets. China’s capital and largest city in China in Tang dynasty was Chang’an which was also the largest city of its time. With the million of people that were in Chang’an there were many other cultures like Korea, Persia, Arabia, Europe and of course China. It was know as a philosophical and religious center.
Trade in China and Beyond: Three of China’s key components trade, agriculture and population kept growing with each other. China became richer than ever before. Most of the trading was done in China itself like the rivers on boats. A series of waterways called the Grand Canal carried a lot of trade and during the Tang dynasty it became even bigger with the construction that was started in Sui dynasty. The Grand canal made it easy to move goods from the farms to the cites. China also traded with other countries like Korea, South West Asia, India and Japan. Some of the goods that China traded was tea, rice, spices and jade but the most important was silk. It was so important to China that they kept the secret to making it. Chinese exported many goods like plants, wool, glass, gold and silver. China even opened up there Pacific ports that opened even more trading. During this time they developed porcelain. All this trade made merchants a strong part of society and with the trade they had to develop a system of paper money.
When China became richer there literare, science and art increased to. In Tang dynasty some of the greatest artist and writers lived in China history. Du Fu and Li Bo wrote poems that people still enjoy today. One poem by Li Bo shows how a person would feel homesick at night. “Before my bed there is bright moonlight so that it seems like frost on the ground: Lifting my head I watch the bright moon, Lowering my head I dream that I’m Home”-Li Bo, Quiet Night Thoughts. A artist called Wu Daozi painted murals that celebrated Buddhism, and nature.There was also a girl recognized for her literature called Li Qingzhao who tried to capture one point in time with her writing. Both of the Tang and Song dynasty artist were experts at sculpting. Tang horse figures would really show how strong the animal really was. Songs artist covered the sculptures in a green glaze called celadon.
In both Tang and Song dynasties some of the most important inventions that are still used today were invented. A legend said paper was invented by a man named Cai Lun in 105 during the Han dynasty. A later invention add on to paper was called woodblock printing and it when a whole page of paper is carved into a block of wood. It put paper on to a block the presses it against the page to make a printed page. Another invention the took place in Tang dynasty and maybe the most important was gunpowder. Its many powder combined to make one explosive powder. It first purpose was for fireworks but it was later put into bombs and rockets. Later it was used to make a firearms and cannons. Gunpowder changed the ways war and at the same time changed human history. The most useful invention in Tang dynasty was the magnetic compass. The gadget used the magnetic field to show what direction you are facing. All of the world travelers used this to tell which way they were going better than before. The compass was a key point in the big journeys on ship in history. Song dynasty also made a very important invention it was a movable type unlike the woodblock printing you could move the electors to change the page. Song dynasty best invention maybe was the idea of paper money. With coins being so big and bulky it was much easier to have paper money. As trade increased the need for money increased along with it.
China’s Second Golden Age was a very big advancement to actually to the whole world because of the inventions that China created to change the course of history.So all of the advancments we would call “light” so why do we call the dark ages dark.
City Life: This rise in the agriculture helped with populating China and soon the cities streets were being filled with shopkeepers, doctors, religious leaders, entertainers, artisans and artists walked the city streets. China’s capital and largest city in China in Tang dynasty was Chang’an which was also the largest city of its time. With the million of people that were in Chang’an there were many other cultures like Korea, Persia, Arabia, Europe and of course China. It was know as a philosophical and religious center.
Trade in China and Beyond: Three of China’s key components trade, agriculture and population kept growing with each other. China became richer than ever before. Most of the trading was done in China itself like the rivers on boats. A series of waterways called the Grand Canal carried a lot of trade and during the Tang dynasty it became even bigger with the construction that was started in Sui dynasty. The Grand canal made it easy to move goods from the farms to the cites. China also traded with other countries like Korea, South West Asia, India and Japan. Some of the goods that China traded was tea, rice, spices and jade but the most important was silk. It was so important to China that they kept the secret to making it. Chinese exported many goods like plants, wool, glass, gold and silver. China even opened up there Pacific ports that opened even more trading. During this time they developed porcelain. All this trade made merchants a strong part of society and with the trade they had to develop a system of paper money.
When China became richer there literare, science and art increased to. In Tang dynasty some of the greatest artist and writers lived in China history. Du Fu and Li Bo wrote poems that people still enjoy today. One poem by Li Bo shows how a person would feel homesick at night. “Before my bed there is bright moonlight so that it seems like frost on the ground: Lifting my head I watch the bright moon, Lowering my head I dream that I’m Home”-Li Bo, Quiet Night Thoughts. A artist called Wu Daozi painted murals that celebrated Buddhism, and nature.There was also a girl recognized for her literature called Li Qingzhao who tried to capture one point in time with her writing. Both of the Tang and Song dynasty artist were experts at sculpting. Tang horse figures would really show how strong the animal really was. Songs artist covered the sculptures in a green glaze called celadon.
In both Tang and Song dynasties some of the most important inventions that are still used today were invented. A legend said paper was invented by a man named Cai Lun in 105 during the Han dynasty. A later invention add on to paper was called woodblock printing and it when a whole page of paper is carved into a block of wood. It put paper on to a block the presses it against the page to make a printed page. Another invention the took place in Tang dynasty and maybe the most important was gunpowder. Its many powder combined to make one explosive powder. It first purpose was for fireworks but it was later put into bombs and rockets. Later it was used to make a firearms and cannons. Gunpowder changed the ways war and at the same time changed human history. The most useful invention in Tang dynasty was the magnetic compass. The gadget used the magnetic field to show what direction you are facing. All of the world travelers used this to tell which way they were going better than before. The compass was a key point in the big journeys on ship in history. Song dynasty also made a very important invention it was a movable type unlike the woodblock printing you could move the electors to change the page. Song dynasty best invention maybe was the idea of paper money. With coins being so big and bulky it was much easier to have paper money. As trade increased the need for money increased along with it.
China’s Second Golden Age was a very big advancement to actually to the whole world because of the inventions that China created to change the course of history.So all of the advancments we would call “light” so why do we call the dark ages dark.