Chinese Dynasties Review

San Dynasty

  • Important dynasty to know for the exam.
  • Time period: September to December.

Context for Essay Questions on China

  • Earlier dynasties before the San Dynasty can be used for context.
  • Han Dynasty and classical age.

Saul Dynasty: State Building

  • Utilized traditional methods to maintain, justify, and control their empire.

  • Political Control Methods:

    • Civil service exams: Education-based.

    • Confucianism: Core philosophical and social framework.

    • Mandate of Heaven: Religion-based justification for rule.

      • Similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings.

    • Strong Centralization:

      • Emperor holds ultimate power.
      • Strong imperial bureaucracy in place.

    • Middle Kingdom Concept:

      • China views itself as superior to other nations.
      • Belief that the world revolves around China.

    • Tribute System:

      • Areas surrounding China provide payments to the emperor.
      • Includes the Cao Cao process.

Society and Culture

  • Patriarchy:

    • Foot binding: Prominent example of patriarchy, practiced until banned by Mao Zedong.

  • Neo-Confucianism:

    • Syncretism: Combination of Confucianism with Buddhism and Taoism.

  • Buddhism:

    • Zen Buddhism: Most popular variation.
    • Syncretism: Buddhism mixes with local customs and architecture, takes on a Chinese approach.

Economic Developments

  • Increased Commercialization:

    • Massive increase in commerce and trade.
    • Connected to the Silk Road.
    • Growth of cities due to commercialization.
    • Boom in iron industry.
    • Trade increased for porcelain, silk, and spices.

  • Grand Canal:

    • Important for internal trade within China.

Innovations

  • Champo Rice:

    • Introduced from present-day Vietnam.

      • Increases population and labor.

    • Paper Money:

      • First paper currency.
      • Significant innovation.

    • Advances in Iron and Steel.

Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)

  • Established by the Mongols after overthrowing the Song Dynasty.

  • Key Figure: Kublai Khan.

  • Attempt to legitimize rule by:

    • Adopting the Mandate of Heaven.
    • Using Chinese dynastic titles.

  • Practices:

    • Civil service exams not adopted until late in the dynasty; Mongols were privileged over Chinese.

    • More open for women compared to previous dynasties; No foot binding; Allowed public interaction between men and women.

    • Focused on promoting merchants and trade.

      • Traditionally, merchants were at the bottom of the social system, but the Mongols changed this.

    • Spread of Technology:

      • Gunpowder spread out of China.
      • Rice spread due to the Mongols.

    • Uighur Script:

      • Written language of a Muslim minority group in China.

    • Religious Tolerance:

      • Very tolerant of religion compared to previous Chinese dynasties.

Ming Dynasty

  • Overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368.

  • Two Periods:

    • Early Ming (1368 - around 1500)
    • Later Ming (around 1500 - 1644)

Early Ming Dynasty (1368-1500)

  • Goal: Eliminate Mongol influences and restore Chinese traditions.

  • Practices:

    • Reestablished civil service exam.
    • Confucianism as central philosophy.
    • Brought back the Mandate of Heaven and the Middle Kingdom concept.
    • Rebuilt the economy, planting a billion trees to recover from the Mongols' destruction.

  • Capital moved to Beijing.

  • Forbidden City built to display power.

  • Zheng He:

    • Voyages in the Indian Ocean to project Chinese power and bring back resources.
    • Voyages stopped due to internal issues and resurgence of Mongols.
    • Trade continued, especially in porcelain and silk.
      • Blue on white porcelain style known as "moldware" (referred to as "fine China" in Europe).

  • Architecture: new sections of the Great Wall built, building upon older structures.

Later Ming Dynasty (1500-1644)

  • Increased contact with Europeans.

  • Jesuit missionaries attempted to convert people, but with limited success.

  • Increased trade contact with Europeans.

  • Silver:

    • Major influx of silver into China from European trade.
    • Led to inflation and economic issues.
    • Single Whip Law:
      • Required all taxes to be collected in silver; made silver the primary currency.

Qing Dynasty (1644-1911/1912)

  • Took over from the Ming Dynasty.

  • Manchu from Manchuria:

    • Considered by many as not a legitimate Chinese dynasty due to non-Han ethnicity.

  • Traditional Methods of Rule:

    • Used Chinese traditions to legitimize rule.
    • Maintained the Mandate of Heaven, civil service exams, Confucianism/Neo-Confucianism, strong centralization, and the Middle Kingdom concept.
    • Social Structure: Pretty much unchanged; merchants still at the bottom; foot binding continued.
    • Tribute System: Expanded with the dynasty's territorial reach.

Expansion

  • Expanded to include almost all of current-day China and Mongolia.
  • Used gunpowder weapons for expansion.

Dealing with Europeans

  • Increased European presence led to concerns about trade imbalances.

  • Canton System:

    • Restricted European trade to the port of Canton.
    • Regulated trade to control European influence.
    • Distinct from Japan's system of self-isolation; China maintained trade contact, but in a regulated manner.

1800s: Century of Humiliation/Crisis

  • Issues with Europeans:

    • Europeans sought greater trade access beyond Canton.
    • Diplomatic Missions: Britain's Macartney Mission failed to open up more trade locations.

  • Opium:

    • Britain introduced opium to China to reverse the unfavorable balance of trade.

    • Opium Wars:

      • China outlawed opium, but Britain smuggled it in.
      • Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1850s): China lost.
        • Treaty of Nanking (1842): Gave Britain special privileges, including more open ports, treaty courts, and immunity for British citizens from minor offenses.

  • Spheres of Influence:

    • Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan divided China into economic spheres of influence, practicing economic imperialism.

Rebellions

  • Taiping Rebellion (1860s):

    • Bloodiest civil war in history (20-30 million deaths).
    • Led by Hong Xiuquan, who claimed to be the brother of Jesus.
    • Weakened the Qing Dynasty.

  • Boxer Rebellion (late 1890s):

    • Aimed against spheres of influence.
    • Initially opposed, then supported by the Qing Dynasty.
    • Crushed by a multinational force, leading to China paying millions of ounces of silver in reparations.

Attempts at Reform

  • Self-Strengthening Movement:

    • Modernization effort by the Qing Dynasty, but it failed.
    • Unlike Japan's Meiji Restoration, China's efforts did not succeed.

Revolution of 1911

  • Overthrew the Qing Dynasty.

Post-Dynastic China

  • Civil war between communists and nationalists.

  • Mao Zedong took over, leading to:

    • Great Leap Forward: a mass famine resulting from collectivization. Resulted in approx 30 million deaths.
    • Cultural Revolution: a mass persecution to get rid of what was seen as 'western' or 'old fashioned' ideas across China.

Trade and Economics Review (1200-1450)

  • Silk Road and general trade routes were significant.

  • Trade Networks:

    • Silk Road
    • Trans-Saharan Caravan Routes
    • Indian Ocean Sea Lanes

  • Intensification of Trade:

    • Empires played a big role (Mongols, Song Dynasty, Abbasid Caliphate).
    • Increased demand for luxury goods.

  • Infrastructure:

    • Caravanserai important for long distance trade.

  • Monsoon Winds:

    • Key for Indian Ocean Sea Lanes.

  • New Technologies:

    • Compass, astrolabe, new ship designs (dhow, junk), and lateen sails.

  • Camel Saddle:

    • Key for Trans-Saharan routes.

  • Currency: Paper money out of China.

Luxury Goods

  • Increased demand for luxury goods helped increase trade.
  • Examples: silk, porcelain, spices, gold, copper.

Role of Empires

  • Mongols helped revive the Silk Road.
  • Abbasid Caliphate in the Middle East.
  • West African Trade Kingdoms: Mali, Ghana, Songhai
  • Swahili City States for East Africa with the Indian Ocean Sea Lanes.
  • Indian Dynasties.

Cross-Cultural Exchange

  • Religion:

    • Spread of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.
    • Syncretism: Mixing of religions with architecture, sculpture, etc.
    • Technology:
      • Gunpowder spread. Also the Astrolabe and the Compass
      • Windmills spread from the Middle East to China.

  • Environmental Exchange:

    • Crops spread: Champa rice into China.

    • Disease spread: Black Death/Bubonic Plague impacted Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and China.

      • Europe Hit Hardest leading to economic and religious disruption along with innovation in art and culture.

Diasporic Communities

  • Communities of merchants connected to a certain religion or culture.
  • Examples: Muslim merchants in the Indonesian region, Chinese merchants in the South China Sea and Southeast Asia, and Jewish merchants.

World Travelers

  • Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta traveled across the world and brought back ideas about their trips.

European Exploration (1450-1750)

  • European exploration started a wave of Colonization and Exploration.

  • European Trade built up a truly global trade.

  • Triangular Trade System connects New World and Old World Together

    *Manufactured goods sent to Africa to get slaves for forced labor and crops to the Americas. These crops are sent to Europe as raw materials.

    *Precious metals like Silver from South America go to Spain and around the world.

  • Commercial Maritime Empires: Portugal established a trade post empire; mercantilism.

  • Columbian Exchange: Exchange of crops, animals, and diseases.

Columbian Exchange

  • Disease: Spread of Smallpox in the Americas, leading to a great die-off.
  • Crops: Rice and sugar came from Europe.
  • Animals: The horse had a revolutionary impact.
  • The Americas sent crops back to Europe (the Potato), crops led to population growth.

Religious Impact

  • Religion Spread across Latin America and becomes a dominant belief system.
  • Syncretism also occured and blended beliefs with European religion.

Industrialization (1750-1900)

  • A big economic development that sparked from the First and Second industrial revolutions.
  • Britain was the first location to industrialize from having natural resources like waterways coal, iron, money and a global empire.
  • Financial institutions built wealth and resources, such as stock markets and banks.

Economic Theories

  • Connected to industrialization: capitalism, Adam Smith, laissez faire.

Examples of New Companies

*United States Fruit Company (Chiquita Bananas) and economic imperialism.

  • Responses to capitalism: socialism and Marxism.

Connection with Imperialism

  • All the industrialized nations established and intensified colonies across seas.
  • Examples, in particular - Congo was colonized for rubber.

Economic Imperialism

  • China and Latin America: China has the Opium wars. Latin America are expert based economies due to Beef and Guano exports.