Social and Cultural Cross Currents

1.What was the basis of the Donglin Academy’s criticism of Wang Yangming? (“The Ming Dynasty Lapses into Disorder”)

urged them to pursue their innate knowledge, encouraged selfishness telling people to follow their own minds.

What was Huang Zongxi's main criticism of the government?

He belived the emperor system itself was the problem

Why did the Qing ban Christianity?

The Pope tried to tell the Chinese how to behave, especially about ancestor worship.

 Why were books missing from the Four Treasuries collection?

The emperor censored and destroyed books he didn't like.

What was the main purpose of the banner system?

To keep the Manchu military strong and privileged.

Why did Voltaire like China's system?

No powerful aristocrats or priests to cause trouble, rationalism of confucionism

What solution did conservative Confucians suggest to restore social order?

Go back to Zhu Xi's strict, external rules

How did the conservative turn in the intellectual world develop?

Scholars blamed Wang Yangming's ideas for causing too much freedom and moral decline.

What point did Yan Ruoju prove in terms of Chinese textual studies?

He proved a major version of it was a fake.

How is the "red mansions," the main setting of The Dream of the Red Mansions, described?

A beautiful garden where the young characters live an ideal life.