The Super Summary of World History - Alan Dale Daniel [69]
Emperor Wu expanded the empire by conquering Northern Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand in Southeast Asia. Between 9 BC to AD 25, the Han dynasty was overthrown and then restored, thus showing a great resiliency. In the year 2 AD, a census taken by the Han dynasty recorded a population of 57 million. This was a huge number for the time. China was in the population lead and never relinquished it. The West was starting to reach China during this period, and about AD 80 the great Silk Road trading route was established from Rome from China. [77] China managed to keep a complete monopoly on the riches of the East for centuries; thus, the Silk Road became a highway of wealth for European merchants if they could reach the portals of commerce in the East. Control of or access to this trade route would determine the economic viability of many empires.
In AD 220, China fell into a severe civil war that divided China into Three Kingdoms (Wei, Wu, and Shu). It was during this 300 year period (longer than the USA has been around) of war and unrest that Buddhism began to establish itself as a major religion in China. The wars continued and eventually the Sui dynasty, in AD 581, reunited China into one country. The Sui did not last long, and in AD 618 the Tang dynasty emerged. The Tang conquered territory well beyond previous Chinese borders, and they benefited from an excellent road and canal infrastructure. Trading silk—which the Chinese held a monopoly on by keeping its mode of production a secret—along the Silk Road and with the Indian Ocean trade network increased the nation’s wealth. Civil war broke out once again in AD 755 when a great Tang general, An Lushan, rebelled against the throne. His rebellion was defeated, but it cost the empire so much blood and treasure the Tang never recovered. By 907 the Tang dynasty, one of the most brilliant in Chinese history, had disintegrated. From 907 to 960 is the time of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms where multiple states rose and fell rather quickly, leaving China searching for stability.
Note how closely this follows the basic outline of European and Middle Eastern civilization. Empire after empire arose, only to be conquered by another empire. Some lasted longer than others, but the pattern is the same.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period ended in northern China when the Liao dynasty, as part of the non-Chinese Khitan Empire, gained control. The Jin conquered the Khitan in 1127 when they took over northern China. The European Marco Polo was traveling around China during the Jin period, and upon returning home told wondrous tales of the Far East, hence increasing western curiosity about Asia. Beginning in 960 and lasting until 1279 AD, the Song dynasty ruled much of southern China. Song emperors survived by retreating south, under pressure from the Jin and later the Mongols, and establishing a new capital at Hangzhou. They managed to create a competent government made up largely of the civil servants recruited from prosperous rural-area families. The Song dynasty was the first to use gunpowder weapons extensively in battles, some of them at sea. After the Mongol conquest of the Jin, the Song warred with the northern invaders for sixty-five years which considerably sapped their strength, but they managed to protect southern China from a Mongol conquest for many years.
The Mongol successors of Genghis Khan conquered northern China and the Jin by 1234. Commencing in 1231 they conquered Korea by 1236, then turned in earnest on southern China (the Song). Kublai Khan conquered the southern Song dynasty in 1279, establishing the Yang dynasty. Twice Kublai Khan tried to invade Japan only to have his fleets swept away by huge storms named Kamikaze (Divine Winds) by the