Chapter 1: The Anglo-Saxons

Unit 9: Imperial China The emperor and the people

One of the most powerful and most technologically advanced societies in the medieval world was the mighty empire of China.

Throughout the medieval period, the Chinese emperors ruled over a vast area of Asia containing a huge proportion of the world’s people. By the 14th century there were perhaps 80 million people in China, in a world of fewer than 400 million. There were occasional civil wars and periods of disunity, but much of the time China remained united under a single emperor, and most of its people thought of themselves as members of a single civilisation – even though customs varied between regions.

Dynasties and emperors

The power of the emperor was believed to be divinely granted, and he was known as the ‘Son of Heaven’. Beliefs about the nature of the emperor’s divine status varied widely, but all agreed that he formed a link between humanity and Heaven. The emperor was seen as a semi-divine father to all Chinese people. Much of the emperor’s role consisted of performing religious rituals that only he could conduct, fulfi lling his place in the universal order that was thought to keep the world peaceful and safe. It was believed that an emperor had the right to govern because he had been granted the mandate of Heaven – Heaven had given him its favour and supported his power. To keep the mandate, the emperor had to govern justly and rule in the interests of the whole country. The mandate was usually thought to stay with a single dynasty of emperors as long as they ruled in accordance with Heaven’s will; so when the empire was troubled by famine, invasion or other disasters, this was often interpreted to mean that the mandate had been withdrawn and Heaven was no longer pleased with the ruling dynasty. If a rebel or invading group could successfully seize the throne, the mandate of Heaven had passed to them. The three major dynasties of Imperial China were the Tang dynasty (618–907), the Song dynasty (960–1279) and the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). • Under the three-century rule of the Tang, China became immensely prosperous and powerful. The collapse of the Tang in 907 was followed by the chaotic ‘Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period’, but order was re-established with the foundation of the Song dynasty in 960. • The Song era saw industrial and technological progress that made China remarkable in the medieval world. Eventually, the Song were overwhelmed by Mongol conquerors who ruled China for almost a century.

The First Emperor

The power of the emperors started with Qin Shi Huang, who founded the fi rst imperial dynasty in 221 BCE. His own dynasty lasted only until 207 BCE, but from that date onwards the imperial system endured.

Qin Shi Huang, the fi rst emperor

• In 1368 a Chinese rebellion overthrew the Mongols and founded the Ming dynasty. The Ming restored Chinese traditions, and in many ways brought China back to the heights of power it had under the Tang.

Gentry and civil service

Below the emperor, powerful regional families, called the gentry, ran much of the local government in China’s many provinces. Although the gentry held large amounts of land, the emperors could shift this land around at will, taking property from one gentry family and giving it to another, thus keeping the gentry from becoming too powerful. More powerful and more important than the gentry was China’s complex civil service. The main duties of civil servants (mandarins) were taking the census, calculating and collecting taxation, and serving as judges. Civil servants had great power but were expected to live by an ideal Dragons are common in Chinese art, as on this of selfl ess loyalty and service to the emperor. To be part gilt-carved bronze furnace from the Ming period of the civil service, young men had to pass two or three stages of imperial examinations. These examinations focused on the arts of government and on the morality and traditions found in China’s literature and philosophy. Most of those who were recruited through these examinations came from the gentry, but young men from poor backgrounds did sometimes pass. These examinations were extremely competitive, and some men spent their entire lives studying towards them. In the imperial court, the emperor was attended by eunuchs. These men were trusted to serve the emperor selfl essly because they could not have families of their own, so could not pass it on to their children – and therefore had less reason to gather power or wealth to themselves.

Pronouncing Chinese names

In the Pinyin transliteration system (the standard way of writing the Chinese language using the Western alphabet), these rules apply: • ‘q’ is pronounced ‘ch’, as in charm or chocolate • ‘x’ is pronounced roughly like the ‘sh’ in shirt or shallow • ‘zh’ is pronounced ‘j’ as in jam or jet • ‘ou’ is pronounced ‘o’ as in go or hippo.

Check your understanding

1. What did imperial Chinese people believe about the role of their emperor? 2. What was the mandate of Heaven? 3. What were the three major dynasties of Imperial China? 4. How did young men become members of the Chinese civil service? 5. What made Chinese emperors so powerful?