Chinachapters

The History of China Chapter One: China’s Dynasties

China’s history dates back to as early as 5000 B.C. Written history of China dates back to 1700 B.C. China’s history was divided into dynasties. A dynasty is a succession of rulers who belong to the same family. The first Chinese dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, began around 1700 B.C. and the final Chinese dynasty, the Manchu Dynasty, ended in 1911. Each of China’s dynasties made lasting contributions to China. A list of the Chinese dynasties can be found below.

Shang (c. 1500 - 1027 B.C.)

Zhou (1027 - 256 B.C.)

Qin (221 - 206 B.C.)

Han (202 B.C. - A.D. 220)

Tang (A.D. 618 - 907)

Song (A.D. 960 - 1279)

Jin in north (1127 - 1234)

Song in south (1127 - 1279)

Mongol (A.D. 1279 - 1368)

Ming (A.D. 1368 - 1644)

Manchu (A.D. 1644 - 1911)

The History of China Chapter Two:
Confucianism / Taoism / Buddhism

These “Three School of Thought” have been a very strong influence in the behavior, traditions, and actions of the Chinese people for hundreds of years.
Confucianism:

Confucius, born in 551 B.C., is considered China’s most influential philosopher. His initial goal was to become a ruler, but because he was so outspoken in his views he never got a permanent position in the government. As a result, Confucius turned to teaching. Although he never wrote anything, Confucius’ thoughts were collected and written by his students in a book called “The Analects”.
Confucius had little interest in religious matters such as salvation. Instead, he concerned himself with ensuring social order and good government..
Confucius taught that harmony resulted when people accepted their place in society. He stressed 5 key relationships: father to son, elder brother to younger brother, husband to wife, ruler to subject, and friend to friend. His views included:

-Older people were superior to younger ones.
-Men were superior to women (however mothers of sons should be respected)
-Everyone had duties depending on your position in society.
-Inferiors owed loyalty and obedience to superiors
-A woman’s duty was to ensure stability and harmony in the home
-Correct behavior would bring order and stability
-Respect for parents was to be placed above all duties (even loyalty to the state)
-Other Confucian values: honesty, hard work, concern for others

Confucius believed people were naturally good. Also, he believed that people are born alike and it is “practice and hard work that set them apart”. He urged rulers to take advice from educated, wise men because he believed education would be the road to advancement in Chinese society.

In the centuries that followed Confucius, his ideas had spread throughout every area of Chinese life. Confucianism never became a religion, like Buddhism, but it influenced the Chinese government greatly as the gov’t would choose Confucian scholars to serve as officials. The Confucian idea of “filial piety” (respect for parents), bolstered traditional customs such as reverence for ancestors. These ideas spread into other area such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. (Close to 1/3 of the world came under the influence of Confucian ideas.

Daoism:

Daoists had no interest in bringing order to human affairs, they wanted to live in harmony with nature. The founder was Laozi (LOW DZEE) or “Old Master”. He lived during the time of Confucius and wrote “The Way of Virtue”, a book that had enormous influence on Chinese life.

Laozi looked beyond everyday worries to focus on the “Dao” or the way. Daoists reject the world of conflict and, instead, emphasized the virtue of yielding. “Water does not resist, but yields to outside pressure. Yet, it is an unstoppable force.” Daoists might give way to a conflict, only to return again, like water, to their natural course.. Many Daoists gave way from the “unnatural” ways of society to become hermits, artists, poets.

Views: They believed government was unnatural thus they believed the best gov’t was one that governed least. Daoism evolved into a popular religion and used magic as “charms” to protect them from unseen forces. The use of magic by Daoists led to advances in science (i.e. it is believed that Daoists invented gunpowder, which they first used as firecrackers to frighten ghosts.)

Buddhism:

Buddhism came to China from India around A.D. 100. The great appeal for the Chinese (although it took a long time to be accepted by most) was its promise of the escape from suffering, hope of eternal happiness, and Buddha was seen as a compassionate, merciful god.

The founder was Siddhartha Gautama who lived from 563 to 483 B.C. He left his wife and child when he was 29 to find an answer to the question “why do people suffer pain and sorrow?” In meditating under the sacred Bodhi Tree, he felt the answer had come to him. He created the “Eightfold Path” that would free the soul : right view, right aim, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

He left some of the noblest as well as simplest rules for human conduct called
The Five Precepts:
Harm no living thing
Take nothing that is not given
Speak no untruth
Live chastely
Injest nothing that clouds the mind

Buddhism absorbed Confucian and Daoist traditions and by 400 A.D. it had spread throughout China. Large Buddist monasteries became important centers of learning, literature, and the arts.

The History of China Chapter Three: The Middle Kingdom

The inhabitants of China considered themselves part of “The Middle Kingdom”. This concept developed because of China’s isolation to the rest of the world. Physical geography and its vast distance from other centers of culture led to China’s isolation. To the south, the thick jungles and the steep mountains of Southeast Asia made a natural border that was difficult to penetrate. To the west, the towering Himalayas and rugged Plateau of Tibet, more than 10,000 feet above sea level, protected China from invasion. This isolation led the Chinese to think of their country as the center of the world. They considered the nomadic people who lived in the dry lands of the north and west to be members of the “Outer Kingdoms” (barbarians, inferior, backward). These “barbarians” were from Manchuria, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. (map on page 136 in textbook).

The Chinese, on the other hand, considered themselves superior to all members of the “Outer Kingdom”. The mistrust of outsiders and isolationalism caused China to develop quite differently than other cultures. (as is evident in its characteristics such as language, architecture, customs, philosophies, etc.......) This isolation hurt its development as ideas and technologies from more developed nations were prohibited (especially in the 1800’s).

The History of China Chapter Four: The Opening of China

In the 1200’s, the Mongols, under Genghis Khan, broke through the Great Wall and conquered Jin China. The Chinese became part of the Mongol Empire (map 302).
The 100 year Mongol occupation of China was hated by the Chinese because the Mongols were members of the “Outer Kingdoms”. Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai, completed the conquest of China after Genghis’ death. Kublai Khan moved his capital from the Mongolian city of Karakorum to Beijing and adopted Chinese ways (continuity of Chinese culture). Kublai was so impressed with Chinese culture that he became more interested in being the emperor of China than the emperor of the Mongol empire.

Kublai Khan understood the importance of trade and sharing ideas with other countries, thus, he opened China to foreign traders and visitors. (for this he was hated by the Chinese). One of the best known foreign visitors were the Polos, a merchant family from Italy. Marco Polo was 17 when he left his home town of Venice in 1271 to travel with his father and uncle to the court of Kublai Khan. The journey through Central China and across the terrible Gobi took 4 years. Marco Polo stayed in China until he was 34. He became a favorite of the Mongol emperor and serve as an official in the Chinese gov’t. He returned to Venice in 1295 and had trouble convincing his fellow Italians of what he had experienced (size and population of China, “stones that burned like wood” { coal }, China’s wealth, architecture, etc....). The Italians called him “Marco Millions” and “prince of liars”, however because his book, The Travels of Marco Polo , he inspired many to travel to China to experience it for themselves.

By Genghis Khan’s invasion of China and the subsequent opening of China, this had a dramatic impact on the world. It was because of this opening, that inventions such as gunpowder and printing became known first to the Muslims and then to the Europeans (and thus influenced America). So, you could say Genghis Khan had an indirect influence on American history. Can you explain why?

The History of China Chapter Five: Isolationism

Isolationism is the absence of interaction. Isolationism slows progress because it does not allow ideas to enter a country. Interaction with other lands introduces new technology. Cutting yourself off from trade from outside nations hurts your economy as well. The “Middle Kingdom” concept isolated China for hundreds of years and their advancement has been affected by this to this day. The Mongol dynasty was the one exception to the Middle Kingdom concept but, that interaction with foreign lands was forced upon the Chinese. In 1368, a Buddhist monk, Hong Wu, gathered an army, captured the Mongol capital at Beijing and drove the Mongols out of China. This action marked the beginning of the Ming dynasty (Ming means “brilliant and illustrious”). The Ming dynasty lasted until 1644. The Mings had prosperous trade by exporting more products than any other nation in the world. The trading expeditions were led by a court official by the name of Jeng Ho. Between 1405 and 1433, Jeng Ho commanded seven major trade expeditions with some 62 ships and 28,000 sailors (in the 1st expedition). China prospered as Ho visited over 50 countries and introduced vast amounts of information to China and developed China’s naval skills as well. However, in 1433, the Mings had a complete reversal in policy and ceased all trade expeditions, haulted construction of large ocean going ships, and made it a crime for any Chinese to leave the country by sea. China’s trade greatly declined.

Why the reversal?

1. Many Chinese court officials disliked Jeng Ho and plotted against him to have him removed.
2. Naval expeditions were draining the Chinese treasury and the court thought the money should be spent, instead, to strengthen China’s northern borders where, even in the mid-1400’s, the Mongols were still a threat. { more isolationism}

Some nations, especially the Portuguese, ignored the Chinese laws and operated smuggling operations and resorted to crime to trade their goods. These actions promoted further mistrust and the Mings increased their efforts to keep foreigners out. The Ming’s isolationism seriously interfered with trade causing Ming China great financial problems. These financial problems weakened China, discontent within grew, the country weakened and this allowed nomad invaders from the north, the Manchus, to conquer Ming China. {dynastic cycle}

The Manchus ruled China until 1911. Unlike the Mongols, the Manchus tried to retain their own customs and language rather than adopt Chinese ways. Intermarriage with the Chinese were forbidden and a dress code was enforced to show separateness and inferiority. For example, Chinese men were required to wear queues.

The Manchus were progressive at first. They expanded their territory, built roads and canals, created grian storage (in case of famine), developed some industry, and gave aid to farmers. Two notable emperors were Kangxi and his grandson Qian Long. Together, they ruled for 120 years. Kangxi had the longest reign in Chinese history
(61 years).

However, the Manchu policy of isolationism was their major weakness. Great advances were being made in industry and science and these innovations never reached China. Qian Long summarized the Chinese attitude in a letter to the King of England: “The stores in the Celestial Empire are extremely plentiful. There is nothing We do not possess, so there is really no need for the products of the foreign barbarians in order to balance supply and demand.” { Middle Kingdom}.

Another great problem facing the Manchus was a dramatic increase in population. In 1710, the population of China was 115 million, but, by 1793, it had doubled. This rapid population growth was not matched by advances in agriculture and industry.

The History of China Chapter Six : The Opium War

The power of the Manchu dynasty began to decline rapidly after 1800. By the mid-1800’s, open rebellion broke out in many parts of China because of economic hardships.
Westerners stepped up pressure in an effort to trade with China. The Manchus refused to allow the British to establish regular trade with China. The British brought opium into India in return for China’s tea and silk. Many Chinese farmers were buying the opium in India getting addicted to the drug and turned to robbery to buy it and were neglecting their farms. Silver flowed out of China in payment for the drug, disrupting the economy. Chinese official decided to take action. They outlawed opium and executed Chinese drug dealers. China demanded Britain to stop the trade. The British refused, insisting on the right to free trade. When the Chinese government seized a large shipment of British opium, war broke out between Britain and China. The outdated Chinese “junks” were no match for the powerful British warships equipped with modern gunpowder cannons. The Chinese ports, using outdated weapons, were easily overrun by the British. The Opium War lasted three years. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. In the treaty, the British were given the southern port of Hong Kong. China had to pay for the opium they had destroyed. Most important, the Chinese were forced to open five port cities to trade. When some of the provisions of theTreaty of Nanking were ignored by the Manchus, another war (with a combined British and French force) broke out. The Chinese were forced to sign a second treaty. In the second treaty, China had to open another 11 ports to foreign trade, opium trade was legalized, China was forced to receive Western government diplomats, and they had to protect Christian missionaries. These two treaties marked the REAL OPENING OF CHINA. Of course, the Chinese, because of their “Middle Kingdom” past, hated the Manchus for allowing foreigners into their country.

The History of China Chapter Seven:
Extraterritoriality and the Spheres of Influence

The second treaty after the Opium War forced China to excuse foreigners from trial in Chinese courts and they were subject only to the laws and courts in their home country. This concept is called extraterritoriality. By the Manchu government allowing this to happen, the weakness of China was now clear to all.

China’s weakness was further exposed when spheres of influence were established. A sphere of influence in a region in a country where the economic interests were supreme. Within its sphere, a country had rights to specific tracts of land called concessions. It controlled these concessions and enjoyed the right of extraterritoriality there. Russia, Germany, and France all gained concessions in China.

The History of China Chapter Eight: The Boxer Rebellion

The Chinese deeply resented the exploitation and invasion of their country by foreigners. Their Manchu rulers held on to traditional Chinese customs and resisted Western ways. A group of Chinese formed “the Secret Society of Harmonious Fists” or “Boxers” that resisted all Westerners. In 1900 the Boxers took up arms. They destroyed railroads, burned bridges, killed Europeans, and resisted any efforts by Westerners to expand inside China. The Boxer Rebellion was quickly put down by a combined force of Europeans, Americans, and Japanese.

Although the Boxer Rebellion failed, the seeds for revolutionary change in China were planted.

The History of China Chapter Nine:
Sun Yat-sen and the Guomindang

Sun was a young revolutionary leader that had studied in Honolulu, Hawaii for 3 years, and later graduated from medical school in Hong Kong. He was a nationalist
(one having patroitic feelings for their country and has a desire for independence from foreign forces) and resented the Manchu government for making humiliating concessions to imperialistic (policy of extending rule or influence or authority of one country over another for power or economic gain) powers. For many years he made plans to overthrow the weak but tyrannical (oppressive power exerted by a government / the exercise of absolute power) Manchu dynasty.

Sun’s revolutionary activities forced him to leave China for 16 years. During those years, he worked abroad organizing Chinese communities within China into a revolutionary force called the Guomindang or “Nationalist People’s Party”.

In 1911, Chinese revolutionaries overthrew the Manchu dynasty. Sun returned to China and attempted to organize the Chinese together but local (regional) leaders did not want to give up their power to Sun. After a 10 year struggle, however, Sun had gained enough support to become elected President in 1921.

Western powers would not help Sun because he had criticized them for their imperialistic ambitions in China, so Sun turned to the Soviet Union for help. The Soviets sent money, arms, and advisers.

Despite all of Sun’s efforts, he was still only able to establish a government in southern China with its capital at Guangzhou (Canton). When Sun died in 1925, powerful regional leaders still controlled the rest of China, including the capital city of Beijing in the north.

Sun, however, served as an inspiration to his followers. Sun’s writings became the guide for reform in China. The book, Three Principles of the People, was used by the Guomindang as their fundamental guidelines for reforms such as nationalism, the ending of foreign influence in their country, and economic security for all Chinese.

The History of China Chapter Ten:
The Communist Revolution / Chinese Civil War

When Sun died, his place was taken by a young military officer named
Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang had a concern about the Guomindang. One of the wings of the Guomindang, the communist wing, was becoming too strong. In 1927, Chiang launched a suprise attack against the Chinese Communists, killing many of them.
A small group of Communists, led by Mao Zedong, survived, and from that time on, the Nationalists and the Communists were bitter enemies engaged in a civil war.
In 1928, Chiang attacked Beijing and was successful. It was at this time, that Western powers recognized Chiang’s government as the official gov’t of China.

By 1931, the Chinese Communists had established 15 strongholds in southern and central China and established a rival government to Chiang Kai-shek. In 1934, Chiang attacked the Communists’ bases and forced them to evacuate. As a response to Chiang’s action, Mao gathered 90,000 of his followers and led them on a one year march across China to gain support for his Communist cause. They marched 6,000 miles and only 1/2 of those that stareted the march survived. However, the Communists that did survive the Long March, won the support of many and continued to fight against Chiang’s armies.

When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, the Communists and Nationalists stopped their civil war and united temporarily to fight the Japanese. However, their differences were too deep to make the alliance last, and civil war broke out again in 1945 after Japan’s defeat.

By 1949, the Communists, with far more popular support than the Nationalists, had conquered most of China. In October of 1949, the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed by the Communists. This new government controlled the most populous country in the world, with about 600 million people.

Chiang Kai-shek and his remaining forces fled to Taiwan, about 130 miles east of mainland China. They set up the Nationalist Chinese government there, still claiming it was the only legitimate gov’t of China.

The History of China Chapter Eleven: China Under Mao Zedong

Under Mao, a totalitarian dictatorship was formed in China crushing all opposition and exerting control over the personal lives of the people. Mao was determined to turn China into a strong communist nation. He took control of the large private farms and redistributed the land into small farms affecting millions of people. (easier for the gov’t to control).

Mao’s next step was to form cooperatives, among the small farmers, in which the land and equipment was pooled together and the harvest was shared based on how much each contributed. The cooperatives could not keep up with the high demands set by Mao so, he responded by creating the “Great Leap Foward” in 1957. Under the GLF, the cooperatives were turned into huge communes made up of 5,000 families each. The peasants hated the new commune system because they had to give up their work animals, equipment, and even small plots of private land and give all to the commune. The only thing the peasants were allowed to own were a few personal items. The leaders of the communes provided the peasants with basic needs (food and housing) and in return the peasants were expected to work the land and produce crops. Under this system, peasants had little incentive to produce more than the minimum thus the system failed. Millions died from starvation and crop production dropped drastically. “The Great Leap Foward” took China a giant step backward. Mao’s industrialization program under the “Great Leap Foward” had similar results because he had ignored an old Chinese proverb: “If you plant trees in the morning, don’t expect to cut planks by nightfall.” (Explain what this means)

By the mid-1960’s, most Chinese had “somewhat” better living conditions than ever before. Food was rationed (define), health conditions improved, and the average Chinese could buy a few consumer goods (bicycle, sewing machine, small kitchen appliance). Mao felt the Chinese were getting to “bourgeois” (materialistic / western) so Moa took drastic action. Mao believed the nation’s interest in materialism could be linked to a group of intellectuals teaching capitalistic, anticommunist idea. So, in 1966, Mao began the “cleaning out” of intellectuals known as “The Great Cultural Revolution”.

Because of the GCR, university students, doctors, teachers, and professionals were sent from urban to rural areas to farm, mine, or work in factories. In addition, Mao closed most of the nation’s schools.

Mao organized 13 million teenagers into groups called “The Red Guard”. These “crusaders for a better China” , launched parades, demonstrations, and terrorists activities in support of Mao’s strict communistic policies. The Red Guard attacked teachers, gov’t leaders, factory manager, etc....... and accused them of holding on to “old ideas, old customs, and old habits.”

It got so bad that many regional army commanders refused to obey orders from the central Chinese gov’t. By the end of 1968, Mao realized the GCR was out of control and decided to reopen the schools and The Red Guard was disbanded.

Mao Zedong died in 1976.

The History of China Chapter Twelve : China After Mao Zedong

After Mao’s death, the new leader of the Communist party in China was Deng Xiaoping. His goal was to make China the world’s third “superpower” by the year 2000. To achieve this goal, Deng introduced the “Four Modernizations” plan:

1. agriculture : (Agriculture became the #1 priority because w/o food none of the other modernizations could succeed)
2. industry

3. military

4. science and technology
In a remarkable departure from communist doctrine, the Chinese gov’t, in 1979, introduced the “Responsibility System” to rural areas, where 80% of the Chinese lived. Under this system, any crops grown by a family in excess of the state quota belonged to the family and could be consumed or sold on the free market. The profits could be used to buy personal items or to open a small business in the cities. The RS gave incentive to the Chinese farmers thus, production was up. The RS is an example of a blend of collective control and free enterprise. (unique to the world)

To speed modernization along, the Chinese gov’t sent thousands of students to study in the U.S., Europe, and Japan to recieve technical training. These students returned to China with valuable information to pass along to other Chinese.

To help with the growing population problem, in 1979 China became the first country in the world to introduce a program to limit the size of families. China’s “One Child Policy” helped to slow population growth. Many Chinese, however, disliked the program.

Although China relations with the outside world improved after Mao, China had a major setback in 1989. Pro-democratic university students staged a protest in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and demanded democratic reforms in the gov’t. Although the demonstrations were peaceful, the leaders of China’s hardline government sent in troops and killed or arrested thousands. The reaction from around the world was one of shock.

After Deng Xiaoping was Jiang Zemin (in 1989). Zemin was replaced by Hu Jintao in 2003.