Changes

===Culture, Trade and Religion under the Tang and Song Dynasties===

===Culture, Trade and Religion under the Tang and Song Dynasties===

Buddhism spread in China in initial form of Mahayana Buddhism, which treated Buddha like a god.  The Chinese version of Buddhism was different from the Indian form and was called “Chan Buddhism”; the Japanese version was named “Zen Buddhism.”  Chan and Zen Buddhism focused more on enlightenment and meditation than Indian Buddhism.  The Chinese dynasties then introduced Buddhism to Vietnam.  Meanwhile, Confucianism changed to “neo-Confucianism” to adapt to these Buddhist changes.

Buddhism spread in China initially in the form of Mahayana Buddhism, which treated Buddha like a god.  The Chinese version of Buddhism was different from the Indian form and was called “Chan Buddhism”; the Japanese version was named “Zen Buddhism.”  Chan and Zen Buddhism focused more on enlightenment and meditation than Indian Buddhism.  The Chinese dynasties then introduced Buddhism to Vietnam.  Meanwhile, Confucianism changed to “neo-Confucianism” to adapt to these Buddhist changes.

Historians criticize a practice of the wealthy Chinese in “foot-binding” young girls’ feet with strips of cloth in order to make it more difficult for them to walk and work when they became adults.  Historians view this as a way that men made women dependent on them, but the practice was also considered to make women more attractive and to be a sign that they were wealthy enough not to work.

The culture of China during this period included a practice of the wealthy Chinese in “foot-binding” young girls’ feet with strips of cloth in order to make it more difficult for them to walk and work when they became adults.  Historians criticize this as a way that men made women dependent on them, but this cultural practice was also considered to make women more attractive and to be a sign that they were wealthy enough not to work.

Population grew during the Tan and Song Dynasties, and there was one tremendous invention (by accident) that would change the world:  gunpowder.  Other inventions included good porcelain (“chinaware”), moveable type for printing (which distributed Buddhist texts) and the magnetic compass for facilitating travel to Africa and the Persian Gulf.  Iron production aided farmers and soldiers.

Population grew during the Tan and Song Dynasties, and there was one tremendous invention (by accident) that would change the world:  gunpowder.  Other inventions included good porcelain (“chinaware”), moveable type for printing (which distributed Buddhist texts) and the magnetic compass for facilitating travel to Africa and the Persian Gulf.  Iron production aided farmers and soldiers.

The civil servants (government workers) were the upper class, while merchants and shopkeepers formed the middle class.  Trade by the Malay sailors brought goods from faraway.  Tea and a fast-growing rice came from Vietnam, and the Chinese learned to plant and harvest two crops each year rather than just one on the same soil.  The Chinese then exported a food surplus.

The civil servants (government workers) were the upper class, while merchants and shopkeepers formed the middle class.  Trade by the Malay sailors brought goods from faraway.  Tea and a fast-growing rice came from Vietnam, and the Chinese learned to plant and harvest two crops each year rather than just one on the same soil.  The Chinese enjoyed a surplus of food, and exported for payment the excess of food that it did not consume.

The adjacent countries of Japan, Korea and Vietnam all adopted modifications of the Chinese writing system, religion and type of government.  Each of these regions, as well as present-day Cambodia, had empires of its own.

The adjacent countries of Japan, Korea and Vietnam all adopted modifications of the Chinese writing system, religion and type of government.  Each of these regions, as well as present-day Cambodia, had empires of its own.