China before the Arrival of the Europeans



China before the Arrival of the Europeans

Chinese Government was based on the Dynastic Cycle and the Mandate of Heaven

• Mandate of Heaven: heaven was the impersonal law of nature that kept order in the universe through the king; the king was the link between Heaven and Earth

o The king was chosen by Heaven to rule because of talent and virtue

o If the king failed to keep the gods happy then the Mandate could be withdrawn

• Dynastic Cycle: the flow of Chinese dynasties

o A new dynasty is established and the Mandate is given

o The new dynasty restores order, protects the people, rebuilds the infrastructure, and expands influence and trade

o The aging dynasty stops providing good government and begins losing control over officials, over taxes the people, stops providing funding for the infrastructure, and treats people unfairly

o The old dynasty loses the Mandate and Heaven shows its displeasure with floods, famine, lawlessness, invasions, and rebellions

o The old dynasty is overthrown and replaced with a new dynasty

Chinese Philosophy:

• Confucius

o Upset by violence and moral decay in China

o Wrote Analects to spread his message

o Government and order could be restored through the Five Constant Relationships:

▪ Ruler to Subject

▪ Father to Son

▪ Husband to Wife

▪ Older Brother to Younger Brother

▪ Friend to Friend

o Duty: subordinate your interests to the interests of family and society

o Work Ethic: if everyone does his/her duty then the whole world would prosper

o Golden Rule: treat people with kindness and love (a combination of loyalty and reciprocity that results in a sense of humanity)

o Teachings were further developed by his student Mencius:

▪ By nature people are essentially good- all feel sympathy for others when they are in pain, all people feel ashamed when they do something bad, all people respect what is superior, and all people know what is right and wrong

• Taoism

o The natural order is more important than society- follow the Tao or “way of nature”

o Each individual should live his life according to his own nature rather than follow an artificial model- detach from society and its worries

o Accept things as they come and don’t strive for anything because it will all happen as Heaven wills it- achieving goals doesn’t matter: just be a part of the process of life

▪ Everything in balance and everything in time

• Legalism

o A highly efficient and powerful government is needed to restore order

o Humans are by nature evil and need to be restrained and punished to be kept in line

▪ Harsh laws and stiff punishments

▪ Ruler should show no compassion

Chinese Dynasties:

• Shang (1750 BC to 1045 BC)

o First recorded Chinese dynasty

o Began practice of veneration of ancestors

• Zhou (1045 BC to 256 BC)

o Longest dynasty in Chinese history

o Emperor created a complex bureaucracy

o Family became the heart of society: filial piety

o 403 BC civil war broke out- Period of the Warring States

• Qin (221 BC to 202 BC)

o Aggressive: expanded China’s borders

o Built the Great Wall of China

o Ruthless- Legalism the official ideology of the regime

• Han (202 BC to 220 AD)

o Adopted Confucianism as the official ideology of the regime

o Introduced the civil examination system for all government officials

• Sui (581 to 618)

o Came to power after 300 years of civil war

o Completed the Grand Canal linking the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers

o Cruel emperor: dynasty ended when he was assassinated

• Tang (618 to 907)

o Conducted land reform- broke up large estates to give land to peasants

o Reinforced the civil examination system

• Song (960 to 1279)

o Period of economic prosperity

o Trade with Japan and Korea predominate- porcelain was prized

o Scholar-gentry became the new elite

• Yuan (1279 to 1368)

o Kublai Khan (Mongols) conquered China and established a new dynasty

o Adapted to Chinese customs and government

• Ming (1368 to 1644)

o Extended China’s rule into Mongolia

o Strengthened the Great Wall of China

o Centralized the bureaucracy, established a national education system, increased food production, introduced the first manufacturing, built the Forbidden City in Beijing, and sponsored Zheng He’s voyages of discovery to Africa between 1405 and 1433

o First contact with the Europeans since Marco Polo in the 1200s when the Portuguese arrived in 1514

▪ Seen as barbarians by the Chinese, who attempted to limit contact

▪ Christian missionaries arrived in China

• Qing (1644 to 1911)

o China’s last dynasty

o Founded by the Manchus (from Manchuria) who invaded and conquered China as the Ming weakened

o Forced all males to adopt the Manchu hairstyle- shaved forehead and braided hair into a pigtail called a queue

o Qing emperors were ethnically and culturally different from the Chinese (only 2% of the total population)

▪ Legally classified as above the rest of the Chinese

▪ Nobility received landholdings and revenue from the state treasury

▪ Brought ethnic Chinese into the imperial administration to gain support (held 80% of lower posts)

o Strongest emperor: Kangxi (ruled from 1661 to 1722)

▪ Built a strong Manchu army to deal with unrest

▪ Patron of the arts

▪ Tolerant of Christian missionaries

o Emperor Qianlong (ruled 1736 to 1795) expanded China to its greatest physical size

▪ Considered the height of Qing rule- after his death the dynasty began to decline

• Officials became corrupt and taxes increased

• White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) weakened the dynasty further

• Increased European pressure, especially from the British

o Europeans no longer willing to be confined to a small island outside of Guangzhou (could only be there from March to October and could only deal with Chinese merchants licensed by the government)

o 1793: Lord Macartney embassy to Beijing

o Didn’t develop a strong commercial base- merchants were looked at as inferior to farmers (manufacturing was also tightly controlled by the government and paid the highest taxes)

o Center of society was the extended family- 3 to 4 generations lived together and the elderly were cared for by their children.

o Women were inferior- only males could receive a formal education or government posts, women couldn’t divorce or own property, husbands could take a second wife, footbinding restricted movement for upper class women.

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