Portal:History of Imperial China
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The history of Imperial China spans from the beginning of the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC to the end of the Qing dynasty and the formation of the Republic of China in 1912 AD.
Chinese society in the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) was marked by political and legal reforms, a philosophical revival of Confucianism, and the development of cities beyond administrative purposes into centers of trade, industry, and maritime commerce. The inhabitants of rural areas were mostly farmers, although some were also hunters, fishers, or government employees working in mines or the salt marshes. Contrarily, shopkeepers, artisans, city guards, entertainers, laborers, and wealthy merchants lived in the county and provincial centers along with the Chinese gentry—a small, elite community of educated scholars and scholar-officials. As landholders and drafted government officials, the gentry considered themselves the leading members of society; gaining their cooperation and employment was essential for the county or provincial bureaucrat overburdened with official duties. In many ways, scholar-officials of the Song period differed from the more aristocratic scholar-officials of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Civil service examinations became the primary means of appointment to an official post, and competitors vying for official degrees dramatically increased. Frequent disagreements between ministers of state, on which policies were most beneficial to the economy, the people, and their own careers, often led to political strife within the central court and gave rise to political factions, hindering the central government's ability to administer the empire and uphold political stability. (read more...)
Su Song was the engineer of a water-driven astronomical clock tower in medieval Kaifeng, which employed the use of an early escapement mechanism. The escapement mechanism of Su's clock tower had previously been invented by Buddhist monk Yi Xing and government official Liang Lingzan in 725 AD to operate a water-powered armillary sphere, although Su's armillary sphere was the first to be provided with a mechanical clock drive. Su's clock tower also featured the oldest known endless power-transmitting chain drive, called the tian ti (天梯), or "celestial ladder", as depicted in his horological treatise. The clock tower had 133 different clock jacks to indicate and sound the hours. Su Song's treatise about the clock tower, Xinyi Xiangfayao (新 儀 . 象 法 要), has survived since its written form in 1092 and official printed publication in 1094. The book has been analyzed by many historians, such as Joseph Needham. However, the clock itself was dismantled by the invading Jurchen army in AD 1127, and although attempts were made to reassemble the clock tower, it was never successfully reinstated. (read more...)
A 1675 painting of Kuniyoshi Utagawa, a Chinese priest-astronomer. The illustration includes valuable depictions of contemporary astronomical instruments.
From Wikipedia's newest history of Imperial China related-articles:
- ...that the Tang Dynasty chancellor Fang Guan tried to use a centuries-old strategy from the Spring and Autumn Period against An Lushan's army, with disastrous consequences?
- ...that Dou Kang served as the chancellor in the court of Emperor Gaozu of Tang during the early Tang period?
- ...that Chen Shuda, an imperial prince of the Chen Dynasty, served in Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty and held influential positions after his country was taken over?
| History of China | |
| Imperial Dynasties | Qin · Han · Jin · Southern and Northern · Sui · Tang · Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms · Song · Liao · Western Xia · Jin · Yuan · Ming · Qing |
| Second | row 2, cell 2 |
