Do you need to understand China in the Middle Ages? Kid history ideas are excellent ways to start learning about Chinese history. A period of economic decline and turmoil marked the start of the Middle Ages, but China would not stay mired in decay for long. By the time China was half way through the Middle Ages, they would be at the helm of the world’s advances in technology.
The Decline of China
Around 220 CE, China fell apart into three different kingdoms. This time period was called the Three Kingdoms period for this reason. With China in disunity, economic growth stagnated and fighting among the kingdoms made it one of the bloodiest times in Chinese history. The Three Kingdoms period officially ended around 265 CE when the Jin Dynasty (265 CE-420 CE) effectively defeated the three separate kingdoms and unified China.
The Rise of Chinese Technology
The birth of Chinese innovative technologies heralded a new era in Chinese history. Long before the European countries would begin their technological assent, the Chinese had already created a complex system of waterways that were plied by more ships than the world had ever seen. These waterways connected the various areas of the empire and also allowed for effective governance and transmission of products. Ships plied the coast of Africa and map making was at the highest quality the world had seen to date. Money in the form of bank notes and coins was also in broad use among the population and the creation of a strong merchant class was eminent. Gunpowder was in use by 1044 CE- or 240 years before gunpowder usage would be recorded in Europe. Books were also being made and read by a large portion of China’s populace, making China one of the most literate nation’s in the world.
By the 11 th century, a great deal of the surplus from the merchant population was being diverted into officials and courtiers pockets via tax measures. Excluding the merchant class and the government, extreme poverty affected the majority of the population. A great deal of money was being devoted to the expansion and maintenance of the Chinese empire as well as to the upkeep of the exorbitant courtier class. Two invasions marked the downfall of China’s empire: one from the northern frontier and another from the Mongols led by Genghis Khan. The first invasion would affect China the least. The Jürchen conquered China, but most of the Chinese bureaucracy and life remained the same. The Jürchen’s method of bureaucracy matched quite closely to that of China’s, making the transition between empires an easy one. The invasion by Genghis Khan led to a very different outcome. Accustomed to life on the steppe, the Mongols were skilled horsemen and swept across China and Europe in a wave of invasions and conquests. They set themselves up as the Yüan dynasty in China and contracted out tax collection to Muslim merchants. Disrupting the social arrangements that had helped create China’s technology boom, China would fall into a period of decline. From the 1270’s onward, prices would rice causing widespread poverty and rebellions.
Start writing Chinese characters. Some examples can be found here of various Chinese characters . China in the Middle Ages saw a rise in literacy and the literati would spend time learning to write characters artistically. Try using various colors of ink and different sized paint brushes to create your characters.
You can also try to make various tools that were used during the Middle Ages in China. Katherine Frantz has an excellent article detailing exactly how to make some of the most common tools of the period.
