History

Introduction

The historical and current treatment of black women since the years of slavery until today, the devaluation of women in the U.S. society, and the idea that protecting women against violence is the burden of women have created a culture that fosters and accepts domestic violence and intimate partner violence within the black community.

The first part of this essay provides an argument for the above statement, while the second part of the essay negates that argument with a counter-argument that it is all a systemic ploy; a typical characteristic of capitalist-based racism. The essay ends with a clarification of why the opening statement cannot be true, given that reported incidences of domestic violence against black women are normal and isolated incidences.

The supporting argument

The devaluation of the black women began in the slave-master society and has since become a continuing systematic tolerance of oppression. The system blames the victim, instead of the attacker. In the slave era, the black woman was dehumanized. She was sold naked, flogged, and was attacked for her sexual integrity. The white woman, a wife, or the sister to a male master would be abusive to the black slave women. She would accuse her of seducing white male masters who were her brothers or husband.

Meanwhile, the black women would again suffer rape and other sexual insults from the white male master. She ended up serving as a breeder to both the white and the black male. She would return to her home to find her husband willing to subject her to humiliation and oppression, as he dealt with the same treatment that he received from the slave masters (Brown 94).

Meanwhile, the black woman also had to fend for her offspring, often alone. She had to protect her family and sacrifice a great deal of comfort to sustain the livelihood of her family. In the slave days, it meant taking beatings, working extra hard, and the willingness to tolerate abuse as she begged for mercy for her children, who were also slaves. She became the leader of the household by virtue of her relentlessness to defend the plight of family members.

Nevertheless, her strong household position and the leadership in single-parent homes brought more abuses her way. Male black adults just off from being emancipated from slavery saw the rise of the black women as a threat to their new found status. As such, they contributed to her oppression, denying her options for participating in women’s empowerment movements and promoting women empowerment ideologies (Brown 96).

The white men opted to highlight the strengths of the black woman. They hailed her as being able to perform jobs, just like the black men, endure violence, and still perform well in providing nanny services and house help services in households. The oppression of the black women served their cause well. Both the blacks and the lower class whites felt oppressed. To them, the black women were a possible channel for releasing the stress and the victim mentality.

Black men became hostile to their women because society labeled women as equal to men and capable of raising households. Nevertheless, this role was not given to them voluntarily. Rather, it was the harsh realities of slavery, followed by the economic difficulties of the underclass and absentee fathers due to the war and industrialization that made the black women step up.

Meanwhile, the white woman is presented as a true feminine representation because of her willingness to support a patriarchal society. Now, the black women have to strive to adopt the white women ideas to garner respect, yet their circumstances that are created by capitalism and its social influences cannot allow her to do so.

Opposing argument

It is important to understand that there are brilliant white women and white men, just as the same exists for black women and men. Slavery presented circumstances of oppression for anyone on the wrong side of the divide. Afterward, the economic hardships of the lower class, both black and white, presented oppressive circumstances witnessed today in any society. There is a myriad of problems facing low-class families. These challenges influence gender relations, which may not be common in the middle class and high-class families.

People who commit violent acts against black women today are individuals, and their cases should be handled individually. The mere occurrence of more incidences in the black community affecting black women highlights the different demographic challenges that only manifest as violence, but they are not proofs of a systemic devaluation of women in the U.S. society (Hampton and Gullotta 110-111).

Slavery offers a scapegoat for widespread crimes and white induced problems. However, it should not act as an explanation for black women’s oppression today. Statistics on crime in the U.S show that blacks commit more crimes than the whites about their respective population sizes. However, on a deeper level analysis, the same crime statistics show that blacks mainly murder and rob. However, the most reported crimes among whites are rape and aggravated assault.

Other than robbery, the whites dominate the rest of the crimes in the U.S. According to these statistics, violence against black women in the black community may feature in media reports, but it does not imply that the problem is inherent in the black community more than it is widespread in the white community (Hampton and Gullotta 47-56).

History, psychology, and media play a role in perpetuating the myth of a predatory black man. It is a way of perpetuating racism, which is promoted by the capitalist system (Hampton and Gullotta 5). It is the fear of a black man rising to take over economic opportunities from the white man.

Devaluation of women, slavery, and the idea that women have to protect themselves against violence is a ploy to prevent the oppressed from inflicting vengeance. Therefore, incidents like the one involving Ray Rice or Floyd Mayweather are just “isolated” incidents involving individuals. There is no systematic oppression leading to this kind of injustice for the black women (“Mayweather: NFL Wrong on Ray Rice” par. 2-5).

Conclusion (summary of personal stance)

I believe that gender violence is a social problem afflicting both whites and colored people alike. History may give capitalists a basis to use domestic violence as one of the many characteristics of putting underprivileged races down to keep tensions up among the providers of labor.

Thus, underclass whites and blacks, as well as colored people will be in constant competition for supremacy. In such as society, shaming another race is part of a bigger plot to undermine the progress of the entire race. It does not imply that there are inherent problems in the community unless the statistics would provide proof.

Works Cited

Brown, E. Nadia. Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making, New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Print.

Hampton, L. Robert, and Thomas P. Gullotta. Interpersonal Violence in the African-American Community: Evidence-Based, New York: Springer, 2006. Print.

Mayweather: NFL Wrong on Ray Rice. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/11498043/nfl-overreacted-ray-rice-floyd-mayweather-says>.

In 1945, the joint forces of the allies managed to defeat the Axis, which resulted in the end of World War II. However, the Soviet Union and the United States had different opinions concerning the world structure, and it led to significant geopolitical tension between the nations. The USSR wanted to establish communist governments in Eastern Europe and Asia, while the USA tried to limit the power of the Soviet Union and help various nations build and preserve their democracies. Thus, the competition between the two nations to increase their spheres of influence was known as the Cold War, and the USA took specific steps to meet the perceived Soviet threat during the 1940s-1960s.

Iranian crisis of 1946 was one of the first events of the Cold War. The USSR refused to leave occupied Iranian territory irrespective of the previous agreements. The US diplomatic pressure made the Soviets withdraw their forces, but it became clear that similar conflicts would be likely to occur. Consequently, 1946 witnessed as Winston Churchill presented his “Iron Curtain” speech, where he accused the USSR of building an iron curtain that divided Europe into two competing parts. Joseph Stalin considered this speech a declaration of war against the Soviet Union, but he did not want to change his aggressive policy.

Another significant event of the Cold War was connected with Greece that was suffering from the Civil War in 1946-1949. The USA was afraid that communist forces could gain control over the nation, which made American officials develop a response. It referred to the Truman Doctrine of 1947, where the president offered a policy of containment of Russian threats over the world. It stated that the United States should have taken specific measures, both financial and military, to help free peoples combat communist regimes.

The Doctrine above had significant outcomes for the whole world. On the one hand, it referred to the US Marshall Plan that implied sending financial aid to West European countries. West Germany was among these recipients, and it led to the Berlin Crisis of 1948. The Soviet Union blocked all the connections between East and West Berlin, which divided the city into two different parts. On the other hand, the way of how the USSR responded to containment measures denoted that the financial assistance could not be sufficient to succeed in the Cold War. That is why NATO appeared in 1949 to oppose the Soviet intervention in world democracies. Irrespective of its goal, NATO did not take any military operations during the Cold War.

In addition to the United States, the Soviet Union also invested money in gaining control over various countries. Consequently, the opposing powers supported sympathizing groups throughout the world, which led to regional conflicts. Firstly, the Chinese revolution resulted in the victory of the communists, and they established the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Secondly, the Korean War showed the American attempts to gain control over both North and South Korean, but the US failed to cope with the task. Finally, the Vietnam War that was unsuccessful for the USA was another example of how the Cold War opponents could decide on the fate of Asian nations.

In conclusion, the Cold War was caused by the intentions of the two opposing sides to become a hegemon in world politics. The harsh actions of the USSR made the United Stated implement specific measures to oppose the communist state. These actions included both financial and military assistance sent to various countries that were threatened by the Soviets. Consequently, multiple regional conflicts emerged over the globe, and they implied different consequences for the USSR and the USA.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was a large state that consisted of European and Asian republics. It was one of the main competitors of the USA, and its collapse was considered a victory of the democratic world over communism. Even though it disappeared in 1991, the events that led to this result started occurring relatively long before that year. Thus, the process of the USSR dissolution began in the early 1980s and included ineffective management procedures, national movements in the Soviet republics, and social unrest in the 1990s.

As has been mentioned, the first essential issue happened in Poland in the 1980s. Repression and economic-political struggle of the Polish population resulted in the fact that people organized multiple strikes and demonstrations. Even though the independent trade union “Solidarity” was created, martial law was further implemented to defeat political opposition. However, the tragic situation in Poland became more moderate when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985.

When he was elected General Secretary, Gorbachev understood that the country needed some changes, and perestroika was one of them. The term denoted the reformation of the state structure to meet the needs of individuals. However, the economic and political reforms, instead of positive outcomes, resulted in shortages, various problems, and the rise of national movements in the republics. Gorbachev’s another significant policy referred to glasnost, meaning openness and transparency.

Since strict censorship had been a characteristic feature of the Soviet Union, General Secretary decided to eliminate this negative phenomenon. Even though the changes were said to produce positive outcomes, they failed to work. For example, irrespective of glasnost, the truth about the Chernobyl disaster was revealed to the public a few days after the catastrophe. Consequently, Gorbachev’s reforms were not sufficient to change Soviet society and eliminate existing problems.

Since the Soviet government showed its incompetence, negative consequences referred to both foreign and domestic affairs. On the one hand, the Warsaw Pact countries believed that they could be free from communist influence. As a result, 1989 witnessed as these states expressed their intentions to leave the international agreement, which, in turn, showed that the USSR lost its control over East Europe. On the other hand, domestic affairs represented a significant issue for the government. For example, tragic events happened in Lithuania, where independence supporters organized strikes. In 1991, Soviet troops were sent to suppress this movement, which resulted in approximately 20 casualties. It was another mistake of the Soviet government, which strengthened the independence movement in all the republics.

That state of affairs required some actions, and the 1991 democratic elections were organized, where Boris Yeltsin managed to become the first Russian president. Even though he opposed Gorbachev, the two were allies during the August coup of 1991. Then, some members of the Soviet government organized civil unrest to gain control over the country and implement harsher reforms. The protesters were confronted by the forces led by Yeltsin. Even though it only took a few days to suppress the coup, it was considered one of the leading causes that resulted in the collapse. Since the situation was becoming worse, the officials decided to sign the Belavezha Accords that marked the collapse of the USSR into 15 independent states.

In conclusion, the information above has shown that the dissolution was a logical outcome of a range of events. They included political, economic, and social inefficiencies made by the Soviet government. In addition to that, almost every republic witnessed national movements and demonstrations for independence. Consequently, it would be wrong to say that the Soviet Union collapsed unexpectedly because numerous events approached this outcome with every year starting from the early 1980s.

The United States of America has experienced an impressive change from the discrimination which was common in the country up to the 20th century. Various personalities like Martin Luther King Junior died while fighting discrimination in society.

The society was suffering from the chronic disease of social discrimination that was threatening to bring the very foundation of the country down.

A section of the society felt that they were treated like second class citizens of this country, while others felt that they deserve to be treated like the superior race. This created a rift in the society, and with this rift came hatred and disunity. The society has been fighting this for many years.

The Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, the Native Americans among other groups have fought hand in hand to ensure that discrimination is brought to an end in the United States (Shropshire 68). The fruits of their hard labor have been experienced in various sectors within the society.

Sport has been used as one of the unifying factors in the war against discrimination within the United States. Such sporting activities like basketball, baseball, football among others have been used in society to bring people together.

Players from the different ethnic background would find themselves playing in one team as a unit. This helps in making them realize that they are equal and that their interests are common. As such, they should be acting like one big family without any form of discrimination.

Similarly, the spectators will find themselves supporting the same team during the games. This also helps in making them realize that they are one family. This helps in creating a bond that would go beyond the fields, to the society.

However, there is a rising concern in the United States over the names of some of the teams. The names of some of the teams have raised a lot of controversies in the near past. Teams such as Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins have raised a lot of controversy as being racism.

As Rosner (87) observes, the Native Americans have considered the names not only offensive but a reminder of the past when they were hunted and killed like wild animals by the colonizers.

Some of these teams were established in the early and middle nineteenth century when discrimination was very common in society in the United States.

However, society has changed, and the United States of America is now a country that embraces diversity. The teams remain leading factors that help bring unity in society.

Many scholars and members of the society have been arguing over the claim that some names of teams and logos are controversial and perpetuating social segregation. For instance, the name Washington Redskins has generated a lot of heated debate in the recent past.

The question some are asking is why this name would generate a lot of concern. The native Americans claim that this name was used as an identification form them who were considered inferior to the settles.

The settlers came, took their land, enslaved them and then named them the redskins. Just as the blacks were referred to as the nigger, these natives were referred to as the redskins. This was a name that the colonizers used to show these Native Americans that they were inferior to the whites.

As the skin color was the major way of naming each race, they were given the name redskins. The whites considered their skin to be the best in the world, and that others were supposed to accept this fact.

Using this name raises a lot of emotions in society. Within the current United States, there are people who experienced racial discrimination and shudders at the mere reflection of what used to happen to them.

As society embraces a rare unity that had not been experienced before, victims of social segregation are struggling to forget the bitter past (Wong 68).

They are struggling to embrace the unity that they had been denied for a very long time. The younger generation that did not get to experience this misfortune has had and read about the discrimination that was rampant in this country.

They are also trying to forget the fact that such cases existed. The society is struggling to forget the dirty past. This is because the United States is stronger when it acts as a team.

Citizens of this country stand to gain a lot when they work together than when they work as separate opposing units. A society where everyone respects the other is all that all Americans are aspiring for.

Any name or logo that may be reminding the society of the dirty past should be eliminated. The name Redskins can be said to have a direct reference to the Native Americans that were called so by the colonialists. This was a name that they would bear as a mark of slavery.

The name identified them as lesser members of society. This was a name that was used when they were hunted like wild animals. It is this very name that was used to remind them that even after attaining independence, they remained inferior to the whites.

It is this names this name that was used to group them with the ‘niggers’ who were nothing to the whites but slaves. This is a name that not only the Native Americans would want to forget. It is a name that the society, in general, would want to forget.

The Black Americans would want to forget this name because it brings back the memory of the times when they were referred to as niggers.

The Native Americans would want to forget it because it is a reminder of the days when they were treated like animals.

The whites would want to forget this name because they need to stay away from the guilt of the fact that at one point in life, they discriminated against other members of this great nation (Morgan 78). The political leaders would want to forget this name in their quest for a unified country.

Religious leaders would want to put to an end such names as they struggle to develop a society that is peaceful and cohesive.

Everyone needs peace and harmony. America needs to have a society where people will identify themselves as Americans, and not specific ethnic backgrounds they come from.

The name Redskins should come to an end. The argument that the owner of the Washington Redskins made that the name and the brand have developed over the years to win the trust of the public is misleading.

The supporters of the team and the players would easily move into the new name immediately it is presented to them. The issue of the name holding a legacy may not be very true.

If it is holding any legacy, then this is a negative legacy of ethnicity that was developed years ago, and one which the society has fought very hard to eradicate.

Cleveland Indians is another controversial name with a logo that has raised a lot of debate. Just like the name Redskins, the name Indians is also controversial. It tries to select a particular society within the Unites States in a way that may not be pleasant to them (Thornton 56).

Their logo of a cartoon is also controversial because it is believed that the cartoon had been used as a representation of a particular minority group. As such, it has received criticism and pressure for a change of name.

Sports are unifying events. Having teams with strong names are something that every club is yearning for. When a club’s name develops, it becomes difficult to change and develop a different name that would be as strong as the one eliminated.

However, building a new name is far much better than having the wrath of an irate community. Teams should have names that identify with the society positively. It should be a name that brings solidarity and peace among Americans.

Teams like Manchester United and Arsenal have become popular globally with names that are unifying. The names do not have any negative connotations from the historical perspective. This is the approach that the American teams should embrace.

These teams should realize that when they fail to embrace this new approach, they may end up being agents of disunity in society.

Works Cited

Morgan, William. Ethics in Sport. Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2007. Print.

Rosner, Scott. The Business of Sports. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2011. Print.

Shropshire, Kenneth. In Black and White: Race and Sports in America. New York: New York University Press, 1996. Print.

Thornton, Patrick. Sports Ethics for Sports Management Professionals. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett, 2012. Print.

Wong, Glenn. Essentials of Sports Law. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010. Print.

Introduction

American slavery involved the ownership of persons who were subjected to work without consent and contracts. The southern side focused on cash crop cultivation as the main economic activity while the northern side agricultural activities were less. In the north, slaves were used in domestic work and skilled crafts while in the southern slaves worked on cash crop farms.

Slaves were more in the south than in the north as a result of the labor intensive activities. This explains why slave trade was more in Southern America than North (Northrup 460-462). This paper discusses slavery in Virginia and South America and the factors that contributed to this practice. It will also discuss how African slaves developed a sense of community in slavery.

Causes of the slave trade

In the Virginia colony, tobacco was the main agricultural activity and was very labor intensive. As the colony’s population increased, tobacco cultivation and demand for labor increased. The European colonizers also expanded their sugar farming activities into the Caribbean.

This brought the need for more slaves. Sugar demand and better prices from Brazil and west Indies prompted South American countries to engage in the slave trade. Availability of white servants began declining and could not meet the demand for labor. Africanization began in the Caribbean at this point (Nellis 84-85).

The English also indirectly contributed to the increased slave numbers in America. When the British took over slave trade from the Dutch, the price of importing slaves decreased and African slaves were more available To American colonies.

Colonists opted to import slaves rather than importing indentured servants. Brazil, the Caribbean, and Jamaica were the most notorious in the slave trade. The slave population later increased as the slaves reproduced and multiplied in numbers (Northrup 459).

Agriculture was the main economic activity.

A sense of community Among African Slaves

African slaves were united by sharing a common culture in which music art, tales and literature were part of their cultural beliefs and practices. Christianity teachings were interpreted from a cultural perspective. This brought them together despite the hardships experienced in the plantations. A sense of the community came up as a result of spiritual and social well being as the bible addressed both communal and personal needs (Berkin 94).

Conclusion

Slave trade began in the latter part of the seventeenth century and was fueled by the economic gains obtained from labor importation. The slave trade was more in the south than north. This is attributed to labor demand and economic activities. Culture and religious education played an important role in bringing African slaves together. In this case, they developed a sense of community amongst themselves.

Works Cited

Berkin, Carol. Making America: A History of the United States. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Print.

Hill, Kenneth H. Religious Education in the African American Church: A Comprehensive Introduction. Denver, Colo.: Chalice Press. 2007. Print

Nellis, Eric G. An Empire of Regions: A Brief History of Colonial British America. North York [i.e. Toronto], Ont: University of Toronto Press, 2010. Print.

Northrup, Cynthia C. The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Print.

Introduction

Tang Dynasty has an inevitable role in making China more prosperous and this reign is known as the golden age of China. There was growth in different fields especially in military sector, political sector, economic sector and culture. This paper tries to penetrate into the history of China in order to unfold the prosperity of Tang Dynasty which led to the golden age of China. The paper presents the various subjects such as a brief history of Tang Dynasty in China, the growth of politics and administration, military and foreign policy, trade relations and tax system, culture, religion, literature and end of the dynasty.

A brief history of Tang Dynasty in China

The period of Tang Dynasty plays an important role in the history of China. This dynasty came to exist in the year 618 AD and it ended in 907 AD. The reign of Tang Dynasty made China more powerful and prosperous among other dynasties in the world at this time. There was development in every realm of life especially in politics, economy, culture and military during the period of this dynasty. Sui Dynasty which was prior to Tang dynasty came to perish due to the tyranny of Yang emperor and the problems raised by the peasants. Li-Yuan, who was the chief officer of Taiyuan, formed an army with a view to capture the reign from Yang. The emperor Yang was killed by the chancellor in 618 and the rule was captured by Li-Yuan who himself proclaimed as the emperor changing the name of the dynasty as Tang Dynasty. The period from 627 to 649 was the glorious period of China in which economy and commerce flourished. The Emperor Xuanzong led the dynasty to the second glorious period. At this time, the national economic growth, political and cultural change entered a new heyday. Because of the inefficiency of the subsequent emperors, corruption of wicked chancellors, rebellions from the peasants led to the deterioration of Tang Empire. The last emperor Ai was dethroned in 907 by Chancellor Zhu Qunzhong and he started to call the empire as Liang.

The growth of politics and administration

The politics of Tang Dynasty is intermingled with the religious views. Monks had a great place in politics, because they believed that the incantations of the monks would bring victory for the force and secure the nation. There are references on the incantations of monks to avert drought. Buddhism and Daoism were the main religions prevailed during the reign of Tang Dynasty. It tried to take census to count the population in the dynasty. The tax system was very effective and they reduced the tax rate for grain and cloth. Census in 609 estimated that there were around 50 million people and nine million households in the dynasty. A new legal system was formulated and it was followed by the subsequent dynasties and some of the neighboring nations such as Vietnam, Korea and Japan which are together known today as South East Asia. They formulated law and executed penalties and punishments like varying from ten blows to hundred blows by way of stick, exile and execution. They categorized the penalties according to the severity of the crime and they enacted law to control social and political corruption. For better administration, the dynasty formed three departments for the performance of draft, review and implementation of the policies. They categorized six ministries such as personnel administration, finance, rites, military, justice, and public works and the formulation of these ministries helped them to lead the nation more prosperous. Chang’an was the capital city of Tang Dynasty where the palace of Emperor was situated and the administrative and political discussions were held here. They formed a large civil service system in which bureaucrats were appointed as in-charge of local, provincial and central government. Graduates were appointed as bureaucrats and there were two types of exams for the selection of bureaucrats known as Jinshi and Mingjing.

Military and foreign policy

The emperor Xuanzong made some changes in the army. He changed the three year service to a longer service in the army. This led to economic benefit. He increased the number of troops. They fortified many of the places in order to escape from Turkish threats. They made trade relations with foreigners by sea and land means. “Of major importance for the richness of the Tang upper class was of course the “international” trade between China and the Inner Asian countries, the Southeast Asian kingdoms (including India) and Korea and Japan. Chinese economic articles are found in the Near Orient, having passed the trading routes of the Indian and Arab merchants along the Indian Ocean.” (Theobald). They made use of silk route to bring trade relations with other dynasties such as India, Persia, Mesopotamia etc. They continued trade relation through sea also and their presence was there in Indian Ocean, Gulf Sea, Persian sea and Red sea.

Culture in Tang dynasty

Religion

Buddhism was the main religion of Tang dynasty. This religion was highly promoted during this time. Emperors in this time took all steps to promote Buddhism. ”During the 6th century Chinese Buddhism was consolidated and standardized. Great schools were founded that boasted thousands of disciples. Schools with royal patrons built huge monasteries. Between A.D. 476 and 540 the number of temples rose from 6,500 to 30,900 and the number of monks and nuns grew from 80,000 to 200,000 (out of a population of 50 million).” (Hays). Chinese were highly interested to understand more about Buddhism. The journey of Buddhist monk Hsuan Tsang helped Chinese to get vast information about Buddhism. With providing knowledge on Buddhism, Hsuan Tsang’s visits to different places were very helpful to people for getting information about different countries. Hsuan Tsang was most important scholar in Tang dynasty. Even though Buddhism got great prominence, it began to be replaced by Taoism with the end of Tang dynasty.

Art and literature

Different kinds of art and literature got great importance in Tang Dynasty. “The Tang Dynasty was a golden age for the Chinese arts. Landscape painting and bronze sculpture (Tang horses) were perfected and famous poets wrote verse. Chinese acrobatics and dance also took off.” (Hays).

The art of painting had a great time during Tang Dynasty. Rulers encouraged the artists in many ways. Many schools were established this time to promote painters. During this time, this art got great opportunity to derive new techniques. Different coloring materials began to be used in this time.

Like poems and paintings, Chinese dance also was having a wonderful time. Chinese dances were influenced by different dance forms in different parts of the world and vice versa. We can see great influence of Chinese dance in dance styles of Japanese and Koreans.

Different sculptures made in this time in China were most beautiful works ever in this field. Different kinds of horses made with clay and bronze in this time is great example for the perfection they gained in this area.

Leisure

In Tang Dynasty, people were very interested in different kinds of sports and entertainments. Some entertainments and sports had western influence over them. Chinese had great passion towards horses. Horses were considered as the symbol of power. Horses were the main subjects for poets, painters and sculptures. They sold large amount of silks for getting horses from other countries. Horses had great role in most of their sports. Polo is a great example for this. “Along with horses, a western sport was introduced to China during Tang. Polo came to China in the early 7th century and became very popular sport (Fig. left). A combination of soccer and croquet played on horseback, the game was introduced from Persia.” (The Exoticism in Tang (618-907)). But these kinds of sports mainly belonged to upper classes. There were many other activities like hunting, cock fighting, archery etc. for others.

End of Tang dynasty

There were a number of reasons for the end of Tang Dynasty. One of the main reasons was corruption and inability of rulers which caused people acting against them. Failure in the battle of Tala which closed all the Chinese expectation in central Asia is another major reason for the end of this tenure. Severe drought that happened following the climate change also was a reason for end of this tenure.

In Tang dynasty China was open to all foreign cultures and religious beliefs. Even though Buddhism was the main religion, no other religions were hurt in the country.

Conclusion

China achieved tremendous development in military, economy and politics. The efficiency shown by the rulers in this time could not be followed by the successors. This tenure witnessed wide spreading of Buddhism among Chinese community. Historic journey of Hsuan Tsang was one of the main reasons for getting vast knowledge about Buddha. Strength of poems made in tang shows the excellence of poets lived in the tenure. Story tellers also got great importance during the tenure. Story telling was a major part of the entertainment of common people in this dynasty. Development in the area of sculptures and painting is incredible. Many well known paintings of that tenure still exist as masterpieces. Use of horses and sports items like polo etc. is the example for the acceptance that got for different kinds of culture from different parts of the world. A lot of reasons were there for the end of this golden tenure. It is sure that incompetence of the leaders had a great role for bringing this tenure to an end. Climate change is also shown as another reason. It is said that the country was undergoing severe drought and people began to hunt enormously. Rulers almost failed to tackle the situation and gradually it led to the rebelling of people.

Works Cited

Hays, Jeffrey. Tang Dynasty (A.D. 690-907) and Song Dynasty (960-1279). Facts and Details, 2008. Web.

The Exoticism in Tang (618-907). Silkroad Foundation, 2000.

Theobald, Ulrich. Chinese History-Tang Dynasty (618-907): Economy. China Knowledge- A Universal Guide for China Studies, 2000.