China's Golden Age; Early Japan & Korea

Chapter 8 (China: A Golden Age)

1. In what ways did the Sui recapitulate the Qin as they reasserted dynastic control over China?
2. How do the Du Fu and Li Bai poetry selections reflect Tang-era society and culture? Is there a difference between these selections and that of the Song poet Su Shi and the Yuan-era selections that appear later in the chapter? How do these poems reflect either Confucian or Buddhist ideas as well as the differing concerns of Chinese literati during each of these eras?
3. The Tang era is portrayed as China's "cosmopolitan age." How did life at the Tang capital of Chang'an support this characterization? What was the impact of Tang achievement on the future of China?
4. During the Tang dynasty, China's rulers repeatedly tried to address the proper relationship between Buddhism and Confucianism. What are some examples of the fortunes of Buddhism under the various Tang rulers? Why was Buddhism perceived as a threat to the traditional Chineses political order? In what ways did Buddhism ultimately change Chinese culture, including its impact on what became known as Neo-Confucianism?
5. Some cite the Song dynasty as the prime example of misguided Chinese leadership. Others regard it as China's golden age. What evidence does either side use in support of their argument? How does this debate focus on inconsistencies--or even a bipolarity--in the administration of the Chinese dynastic system? Why do some argue that had Song rule continued, especially under the Southern Song, China could have had its own industrial revolution?
6. How did Mongol/Yuan rule of China have a lasting impact on Chinese civilization?
7. What were the changing Chinese relationships with international trade under the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties?

Chapter 9 (Early Japan and Korea)

1. How have mountains had an impact on the historical development of both Korea and Japan?
2. How do the Kojiki and Nihongi reflect early Japanese society and culture?
3. What did Chinese civilization offer to Japan, as Prince Shōtoku began to innovate at the Japanese court? How does Japan's localization of the Chinese tradition differ from Chinese practice?
4. How may the power of Buddhist temples be linked to the move of the Japanese court from Nara to Heian (Kyoto)? How did Buddhism develop in Japan thereafter, and what was its impact ion Japanese culture?
5. How do the writings of Lady Murasaki reflect both the best and the worst of early Japanese court culture? How does  what she descries relate to the development of shōen and the collapse if the Heian order?
6. When were connections among Korea, Japan, and China strongest? Why did they strengthen and waken when they did?
7. Why did the Koreans try to reproduce Chinese culture so faithfully? How did their efforts compare with those of their Japanese neighbors? How were they also selective in their localizations of the Chinese system?