WHI-Chap15-Obj3

Describe the Tang and Song Dynasties' Agricultural, Technological, and Industrial Developments

(T&E pages 383-392)

The Tang and Song Dynasties "benefited from a remarkable series of agricultural, technological, industrial, and commercial developments that transformed China into the economic powerhouse of Eurasia. This economic development originated in the Tang Dynasty, but its results became most clear during the Song...The economic surge of tang and Song times had implications that went well beyond China, since it stimulated trade and production throughout much of the eastern hemisphere for more than half a millennium" (Traditions and Encounters 383).

Agricultural Achievements:

1. Fast Ripening Rice: When Sui and Tang armies entered Vietnam, they discovered a species of fast-ripening rice that allowed farmers to harvest two crops per year. This "quickly resulted in an expanded supply of food...Tang and Song China benefited enormously from the introduction of new food crops" (Traditions and Encounters 383).
2. New Agricultural Techniques: "Chinese cultivators increased their productivity by adopting improved agricultural techniques" (Traditions and Encounters 384). They used more heavy iron plows, and they used oxen (in the north) and water buffaloes (in the south) to pull the plows and increase efficiency. They used manure and compost to make the soil more fertile. They also created complex irrigation systems that included reservoirs, dams, dikes, canals, pumps, and waterwheels. "Artificial irrigation made it possible to extend cultivation to difficult terrain, including terraced mountainsides-- a development that vastly expanded China's agricultural potential" (Traditions and Encounters 384).

Technological Achievements:

1. Porcelain: During the Tang Dynasty, Chinese crafts workers discovered methods of making high-quality porcelain, "which was lighter, thinner, and adaptable to more uses than earlier pottery. When fired with glazes, porcelain could also become an aesthetically appealing utensil and even a work of art" (Traditions and Encounters 386). Though eventually, other societies acquired the technology, Chinese porcelain remained highly valued, and huge amounts of it was exported during the Tang and Song dynasties. Their porcelain was so renowned that now all high-quality porcelain can be called 'china.'
2. Metallurgy: The discovery that using coke instead of coal in furnaces produced superior grades of metal caused an increased amount of steel and iron production. These metals were mostly used for weaponry and agricultural tools, such as iron arrowheads and the plows mentioned above. They were also used for construction of large structures such as bridges and pagodas.
3. Gunpowder: Daoist alchemists accidentally learned how to create gunpowder while trying to discover an elixir that caused immortality. They found that mixtures containing charcoal, saltpeter, sulphur, and arsenic often exploded, and military officials quickly adapted this technology to warfare, and created 'fire lances' and primitive bombs. At first, the gunpowder weapons were not very effective; they mostly created smoke and noise that confused and frightened the opponent. Gradually, the technology became more advanced.
4. Printing: Though the exact origins of printing are unknown, it first became popular during the Tang Dynasty. First, block printing was used, in which a certain page would be carved into a wooden block in reverse. This was extremely time consuming, so eventually moveable type was developed: tiny blocks, each one carved with a certain character, which could be arranged in a frame to form sentences. This was very inefficient, however, because of the vast number of Chinese characters, so it never became very popular. "By the late ninth century, printed copies of Buddhist texts, Confucian works, calendars, agricultural treatises, and popular works appeared in large quantities" (Traditions and Encounters 387-8).
5. Naval Technology: When goods from the southeast Asian islands became more popular in China, marine travel increased. Mariners developed improvements like iron nails, watertight bulkheads, rudders, canvas and bamboo sails, and the "south-pointing needle", or the magnetic compass.

Industrial Achievements:

1. Financial Instruments: Because trade was expanding so quickly during the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was a shortage of copper coins. Therefore, merchants created letters of credit, known as "flying money", which "enabled merchants to deposit goods or cash at one location and draw the equivalent in cash or goods elsewhere in China" (Traditions and Encounters 389). They also developed promissory notes, which were like IOUs, and checks.
2. Paper Money: Paper money was first developed by individual merchants. However, if merchants were unable to honor their notes, disorder and riots could occur. Therefore, by the 11th century the government forbade the private issuance of printed money. Printed money caused many problems. Not only did a lot of counterfeiting occur, but the government often overprinted the money. This created a loss of faith in the paper money. "In spite of abuses, however, printed paper money provided a powerful stimulus to the Chinese economy" (Traditions and Encounters 389).
3. Cosmopolitan Society and Hemispheric Economy: "Trade and urbanization transformed Tang and Song China into a prosperous, cosmopolitan society" (Traditions and Encounters 390). Chinese consumers developed a taste for foreign goods, so foreign merchants were always in the main cities. "China's economic surge during the Tang and Song Dynasties promoted trade and economic growth throughout much of the eastern hemisphere" (Traditions and Encounters 391-2).

(See Objective 5: List and explain new business practices which occurred during the Tang and Song eras)

--Sbennettbrandt 19:40, 10 May 2010 (CDT)

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