Editing China (section)

==== Sui, Tang and Song ====
The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture, economy and [[imperial examination]] system, constructed the [[Grand Canal of China|Grand Canal]], and patronized [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]]. However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and a [[Goguryeo–Sui War|failed war]] in [[Goguryeo|northern Korea]] provoked widespread unrest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Ki-Baik |title=A new history of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-6746-1576-2 |page=47}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Graff |first=David Andrew |title=Medieval Chinese warfare, 300–900 |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-4152-3955-9 |page=13}}</ref>
Under the succeeding [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song dynasties]], Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adshead |first=S. A. M. |title=T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9780230005518 |page=54 |doi=10.1057/9780230005518_2}}</ref> The Tang dynasty retained control of the [[Western Regions]] and the Silk Road,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nishijima |first=Sadao |title=Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220 |date=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5212-4327-8 |editor-last=Twitchett |editor-first=Denis |editor-link=Denis Twitchett |pages=545–607 |chapter=The Economic and Social History of Former Han |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521243278.012 |editor-last2=Loewe |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Loewe}}</ref> which brought traders to as far as [[Mesopotamia]] and the [[Horn of Africa]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowman |first=John S. |url=https://archive.org/details/columbiachronolo00john |title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture |date=2000 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/columbiachronolo00john/page/104 104–105] |url-access=registration}}</ref> and made the capital [[Chang'an]] a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it was devastated and weakened by the [[An Lushan rebellion]] in the 8th century.<ref>{{Cite book |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |date=2007 |publisher=City University of HK Press |isbn=978-9-6293-7140-1 |page=71}}</ref> In 907, the Tang disintegrated completely when the local military governors became ungovernable. The Song dynasty ended the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|separatist situation]] in 960, leading to a balance of power between the Song and the [[Liao dynasty]]. The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paludan |first=Ann |title=Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors |date=1998 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-5000-5090-2 |page=136}}</ref>

Between the 10th and 11th century CE, the population of China doubled to around 100 million people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a [[Neo-Confucianism|revival of Confucianism]], in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Siu-Chi |title=Essentials of Neo-Confucianism: Eight Major Philosophers of the Song and Ming Periods |date=1999 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-3132-6449-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sjzPPg8eK7sC&pg=PA3 3]}}</ref> and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as [[landscape art]] and [[porcelain]] were brought to new levels of complexity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) |date=October 2001 |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nsong/hd_nsong.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010152800/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nsong/hd_nsong.htm |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=27 November 2013 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref> However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]]. In 1127, [[Emperor Huizong of Song|Emperor Emeritus Huizong]], [[Emperor Qinzong of Song]] and the capital [[Kaifeng|Bianjing]] were captured during the [[Jin–Song wars]]. The remnants of the Song retreated to [[Northern and southern China|southern China]] and reestablished [[Southern Song Dynasty|the Song]] at [[Nanjing|Jiankang]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gernet |first=Jacques |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/22 |title=Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276 |date=1962 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-0720-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/22 22] |oclc=1029050217}}</ref>