UCLA CHIN 50
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Rulers
Tang Taizong
Son of Gaozu, who overthrew the Sui Dynasty, rules for extensive period, and was talented military leader
Empress Wu/Wu Zetian
Former concubine of of Gaozong, Taizong’s successor, that Gaozong elevated to role of empress
Once elevated, she quickly worked to oust any rivals and opponents, and took full charge once gaozong suffered a stroke, and deposed both her sons
Also declared herself as emperor of new ZHou dynasty
Tang Xuanzong
His reign was the high point of Tang culture, and he invested greatly in state ceremonies and court life, but was also careful in affairs of state, curbing power of imperial relatives and Buddhist monasteries
He ordered a new census and reformed equal-field system, and restructured defence establishment
Yang Guifei
Xuanzong’s great love who lacked sound political sense and was amused by military governor An Lushan, leading Xuanzong to shower An Lushan with favors and allowing him to amass troops
An Lushan then rebelled, marching to the two capitals of Luoyang and Chang’an, compelling Xuanzong to flee west where the troops accompanying him forced a mutiny so that Yang Guifei would be strangled; Xuangzong, depressed by turn of events, abdicated in favor of his son
Xuanzang
Monk that passed through Turfan and went to India
Important People
Du You
From eminent aristocratic fam, submitted his Tongdian, a history of Chinese institutions that read as a plea to fix the imperial institution (from eunuchs) and decided that government should base itself on new ideas, not old classical Confucian institutions described in literature
Du You wanted forward-thinking to fix the government
Han Yu
Du Yous contemporary that thought that Confucian Classics were basis of education and good writing; concerned about weakness of central government, but thought that rejuvenation of Confucain learning would bolster state, adn submitted a memorial to throne protesting against emperor’s veneration of a relic of the Buddha
Argues that Buddhism was a barbaric cult
Wanted to imitate past to regain central control
Huang Chao
Leader of largest bandit gang during decline of Tang dynasty who took Chang’an and set up government, then sacked Luoyang, then proclaimed the Liang dynasty
Ideology
Chan Buddhism
Aka Zen Buddhism, became very popular among educated elite, and rejected authority of sutras and stated superiority of mind-to-mind transmission of Buddhist truth through series of patriarchs
Buddhistm also came under suspicion as foreign in late Tang, with court initiated massive supression of Buddhism for four years, but by the time orders were rescinded, 250k had returned to lay life, and many monasteries and chapels had been demolished or returned to other purposes
Dunhuang
Far NW edge of China, where silk road across desert began, but deeply influenced by Tang bureaucracy
Politics
Tang kept laws of Sui that enforce social and political hierarchies with graded punishments
Post rebellion, Tang emperial power became occupied by factions of eunuchs that were all-powerful, even executing an emperor and officials who plotted to overthrow them
Military
Turks
Were major eurasian power, though they did not have set succession rules, but were very militaristically powerful, and China tried to pursue diplomacy, though China eventually wrested control of Inner Mongolia from the Turks, as seen thru their control of the Tarim Basin
Uyghurs
After Tang pulled back from Tarim Basin due to the An Lushan rebellion, Uyghurs took over the area
An Lushan rebellion was put down with help of Uyghurs, but also had to be paid off richly to stop them from plundering Luoyang, and later on had to be paid off with huge quantities of silk for a pittance of horses
Tibetans
Briefly had control of Tarim Basin, and emerged as major power as secondary state along Tang borders
Goguryeo and Silla (Korea)
Taizong attempted to conquer Goguryeo, but failed; tried again with alliance with Silla, but control of Goguryeo went ot Silla not China, though Silla became strong ally of Tang
An Lushan Rebellion
Xuanzong’s great love who lacked sound political sense and was amused by military governor An Lushan, leading Xuanzong to shower An Lushan with favors and allowing him to amass troops
An Lushan then rebelled, marching to the two capitals of Luoyang and Chang’an, compelling Xuanzong to flee west where the troops accompanying him forced a mutiny so that Yang Guifei would be strangled; Xuangzong, depressed by turn of events, abdicated in favor of his son
Economy
Arab Merchants
Trade, beyond the silk road, boomed in maritime due to Arab merchants
Salt Commission
When the government abolished the equal-field system and substituted it with a twice-yearly tax on actual land-holding, but discovered that it could earn significant money by charging taxes on salt sold to licensed merchant distributors, thus placing a monopoly on salt and selling it
Post-rebellion, Tang also gave up on market control, leading to greater local and regional trade
Buddhist Monasteries
Their huge tracts of land became useful for monetary enterprises like mills and oil presses, and with income earned they often expanded into money-lending or pawn-broking businesses, making them an economic force in local communities
Culture
Chang’an
A magnificent capital laid out in a square grid with walls of pounded earth, and a palace in the North s.t. the emperor could face S to his subjects
There were 108 wards, each enclosed by wall, certain blocks were set aside for markets, great S gate opened up to extremely broad avenue, with the city coming to be a place that many officials sought to live in
Educated men in Tang engage din wide range of arts and learning, with COnfucian scholarship flourishing (like writing of histories)
Confucian texts and principles were not looked upon as incompatible with Buddhism and Daoism, all educated men wrote poems, and scholars became esteemed for their calligraphy
Due to the jinshi, the Tang produced many of China’s greatest poets
Tang Short stories
Civil service examination system in Tang
Empress Wu elevated system for recruitment of men to office, allowing for highly talented men of unconnected backgrounds to rise within the system, with Confucian values, despite only 20-30 men passing per year
Had two main tests, mingjing and jinshi, though the latter became more prestigious
Tang also set up schools to teach the Confucian education, including the five classics
Mulian
Buddhist who journeyed to netherworld to save mother who was suffering harrowing punishments led to popular ghost festival where food was put out to feed hungry ghosts
Arts
Woodblock printing
Need for repeated prints of things led to rise of woodblock printing, which was much more efficient
Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty (907-1276)
Rulers
Zhao Kuangyin/Song Taizu
General first able to defeat most rivals in the north, first emperor of Song dynasty
Was elevated to emperor by troops, and by the time of his death, most of south had submitted to Song
He was able to put end to military rule by retiring his own commanders on generous pensions and replacing military governors with civil officials
Transferred best units of regional army to palace army, and put army under civilian control to prevent coup, and regularly rotated officers
Song Taizong
Younger bro of Taizu, and dismantled military provinces, and appointed attendants in charge of judicial, fiscal, military, and transportation matters
Song Huizong
Talented painter and calligrapher emperor that built up imperial art collection, though his apparent aesthetic interests led to the fall of the court
The Jurchens came and raided Kaifeng, then set siege to the city a year later, taking captives including Huizong and his successor
Yue Fei
A general who tried to regain the north after the fall of the Song dynasty and its retreat to the S
Important People
Wang Anshi
Was supported by emperor shenzong, who wanted military glory
Was man behind the New Policies, which was a whole host of restructuring of bureaucracy, and the amount he wanted to do quickly antagonized bureaucracy
He responded by trying to bring his own men into bureaucracy through revising the entry examinations for office, incensing critics and resulting in intense factional struggle
Was eventually ousted by those who opposed him, and after Shenzong’s death factional hostility persisted
Because no legitimate means to resolve political conflicts existed, disputes between officials frequently escalated
Sima Guang
Denounced Wang Anshi and his New Policies as un-Confucian
Served as prime minister and wrote a narrative history of China covering more than 1300 years from late Zhou to founding of Song
Su Shi/Su Dongpo
Denounced Wang Anshi and his New Policies as un-Confucian
Su Song
Well-known literati who took keen interest in scientific and technical matters, had interest in astronomy and published five maps of up-to-date information on starts
Led team to compile new illustrated material medica
Shen Gua
Widely traveled, as he was from official family, and designed drainage and embankment systems and served as financial expert skilled at calculating effect of currency policies, had massive range of misc interests, argued that sun and moon were spherical
Wen Tianxiang
Most famous literati-turned-general continued to fight even when there was little chance of driving out Mongols, withdrawing further and further south, hoping to keep Mongols from two Song princes loyalists rallied behind
Li Qingzhao
Famed female poet of Song
Cheng Yi/Cheng Hao
Two brothers who developed metaphysical theories on workings of cosmos
Hong Mai
Official that was a sympathetic witness to local religions
Zhu Xi
Immensely learned in teachings of predecessors, served as official while also writing many books
Considered himself as follower of Chen brothers, and actively developed institutional basis of revived Confucianism and helped establish academies as private gathering places for teachers and disciples
His insistence that his interpretations were correct offended many, and his teachings were banned for a few decades after his death, only to then receive unprecedented political support
Politics
Military crises also spurred political centralization, with Song gov matching Confucian ideal more than any other period; there were no tyrants, no evil empresses, and no eunuch coups
There were many checks and balances, with each political organ having special censorial organs to report abuses of power
Early Song emperors regularly listened to range of opinions before making decisions and deferred to leading officials, and Taizu claimed to never put anyone to death for disagreeing with him, leading to court officials that were committed to good gov and willing to stand up for what they believed
Siege of Xiangyang
Second time around Mongols came, they set siege to Xiangyang, a city on the Han river in Hubei recognized as the key to control in Yangzi valley
Lasted five years, with no lack of dedicated chinese military leaders and officials, but they were poorly coordinated, and with a child emperor, the highest officials were caught up opposing each others’ plans
Civil service examination system in Song
Led to emergence of scholar-elite class, and the greatly expanded civil service examination system led to great efforts put into perfecting examinations as tool for discovering most qualified candidates
The system ended the dominance of north in officialdom
Prestige of success in exams was extraordinarily high, and men who entered gov service without passing most prestigious exams were often forced to undesired positions will little chance of rising
Given the (hereditary) incentives, more and more men attempted the civil service examinations
Once one son was in the service, it was easier to get others to follow
Military
Inner asian powers like the Tanguts and Khitans were difficult to deal with, with Song ultimately making substantial annual payments to purchase peace, though Song still greatly expanded its army for defence purposes, and led to great improvements in military tech
Mongols came and threatened Song from the west, and led total slaughter of Chengdu and refugees streaming from Sichuan to Song
Gunpowder
Above led to development of gunpowder, but military advancements in tech were usually temporary bc enemies would capture craftsmen and force them to produce comparable weapons and tools
Economy
Political fragmentation of five dynasties/ten kingdoms period impacted southern economy little, with rulers of regional states eager to expand tax bases successfully promoting trade (ten kingdoms)
In north it was less benign, with inner asians ruling in quick succession with little stability (five dynasties)
Loss of north for Song dynasty also had little effect on S economy, if anything the southern Hangzhou capital stimulated trade, with transport of goods to capital forming a large share of total trade, and was no more cost-effective
Paper money
Massive increase in trade due to population increase and many farmers having side hustles in small-scale productions led to great demand for currency, leading to paper money
Was trustable because they could trade in paper money for silver
Increase of interregional trading led to more specialized and organized merchant contracts and partnerships
Culture
Both government led and private commercial printing expanded number of books for sale for the gain of knowledge
“Han” as a term for Chinese people
Came from northerner term describing Chinese subjects and picked up by Chinese literati
Neo-Confucianism
That the Song dynasty could not reach the territorial power of its predecessors despite its advancements in other areas disturbed thinkers, and stimulated determination to revitalize Confucianism
Four Books
Zhu Xi’s commentaries on the Analects, Mencius, Doctrine of the Mean, and Great Learning
Environment
Deforestation of north China led to Yellow river flooding surrounding areas and changing course
Arts
Landscape painting
Spurred perhaps by importance of nature in Daoism and neo-Confucianism, landscape painting was highly prized by the Chinese
Inner Asian Rule: Liao, Xi Xia, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties (907-1368)
Rulers
Abaoji
Was leader of Khitan tribe that united the Khitans as the Tang dynasty disintegrated and proclaimed Khitan (aka Liao) dynasty as successor to Tang, setting aside traditional Khitan custom of electing chiefs for limited terms, adopting family name Yelu and marrying exclusively with aristocratic Xiao clan, and setting his son up to be his successor
Built walled Supreme Capital in northern Inner Mongolia, and expanded realm into modern Mongolia, eastern Bohai, and territory S of Great Wall, then reached for Kaifeng, looting it
Temujin/Chinggis/Genghis Khan
Great khan of Mongolian tribes and created massive army and draconian laws to reduce internal disorder, and ordered adaption of Uyghur script for mongol
His death created a crisis, and empire ended up being divided into four sections, each governed by one of the lines of his descendants
Ogodei
One of Chinggis’ sons, crushed Jin and became ruler of north China and wrested control of Sichuan from Song
Yelu Chucai
Sinified Khitan that convinced Ogodei that greater wealth could be gained by taxing farmers (rather than turning the entirety of northern China into pastureland), though this did not last long, with Yelu’s rivals convincing Ogodei that it was more lucrative to let Central Asian Muslim merchants bid against each other for license to collect taxes
Merchants quickly gained reputation and came to be hated
Khubilai
Ruled prefecture of Hebei, prior to ruling all of China, and even knew some spoken Chinese, and transferred capital from Mongolia to Beijing and adopted Chinese name ‘Yuan’ for his dynasty, then set siege to Xiangyang for five years
By the time Mongols conquered Song, there was a longer a pan-Asian Mongol empire, as most of the mongol successor states were hostile to each other
Important People
Zhong Kui
Zhao Mengfu
Talented painter and calligrapher enrolled in imperial Academy of Hangzhou, and was recruited by Khubulai to be scholar of the Mongolian court
William of Rubruck
Flemish friar who went Karakorum, Mongolian capital and took communion in a Nestorian church
Marco Polo
Found ethnic animosity of Mongol-ruled China intense
The Venetian was warmly received by Khubilai and was also awed by wealth and splendor of Chinese cities
Ideology
Politics
Mongol Empire
Did not really adopt Chinese ways, though Mongol rulers developed taste for material fruits of Chinese civilization, they purposely avoided many Chinese social and political practices, conducting business in Mongol and spending summers in mongol
Mongol soldiers in China were privileged group that lived relatively separately from Chinese military garrisons and were discouraged from marrying Chinese
Widespread rebellion in S China brought Yuan dynasty down, and Mongols did not melt into Chinese population the way the Xianbei had, with many fleeing northward to steppe and resuming nomadic tribal life
To Mongolians, N and S China were so dif that they were dif ethnic categories
All inner asian states made law distinctions based on ethnic classifications, favoring their own people as a way to maintain political dominance
This affected areas including taxation, which was defined by traditional practice, and each ethnic group was judged and sentenced according to its own legal traditions
Other ethnic based laws were clearly meant to tamp down Chinese dissent
Mongols registered hereditary statuses by occupation, and forced them to provide unpaid services needed by state according to rotational quotas, leading many families to leave these statuses to avoid this unfavorable situation
Dual governance
Distinct Khitan and Chinese areas, preserving language and traditions, with cultural elite becoming adept in both Khitan and Chinese ways
Kaifeng
Fell to Jurchen siege engines, and Jurchens looted the city
Military
Khitans
Placed large importance in the sun and gold, but also adopted Buddhism
Abaoji created Chinese-like script, and introduced examination system like that of Tang for only Chinese subjects to fill lower-level posts
Tanguts
Spoke language related to Tibetan but saw themselves as distinct people, and had distinct regional military governor and given title Duke of Xia, eventually controlling Silk Route
Tangut script was created and somewhat resembles Chinese characters
Jurchens (Jin)
Acquired much land north of Yangzi river after sensing Song weakness post-treaty, though having acquired so much land and power so quickly, they defaulted to Khitans’ dual gov and employed former Liao officials
Moved capital from central Manchuria to Beijing and then Kaifeng, making greater use of Chinese political institutions and employed more Chinese officials, maintaining trade monopolies and copied monetary system
Settles bulk of Jurchen in north China to maintain control over Chinese population, and those who did settle had privileged access to high posts, but tended to adopt Chinese language and dress, with Jurchen commanders who objected to trend of assimilation assassinating Jin emperor, and succeeding emperor sought to revitalize Jurchen heritage
To empower Jurchen heritage, they looked to Conufican texts, though the empire as a whole faced environmental and economic setbacks
By the end of Jin Dynasty, most Jurcehn living in China proper were essentially Chinese and considered “Han” by the mongols
Mongols
Did not really adopt Chinese ways, though Mongol rulers developed taste for material fruits of Chinese civilization, they purposely avoided many Chinese social and political practices, conducting business in Mongol and spending summers in mongol
Mongol soldiers in China were privileged group that lived relatively separately from Chinese military garrisons and were discouraged from marrying Chinese
Widespread rebellion in S China brought Yuan dynasty down, and Mongols did not melt into Chinese population the way the Xianbei had, with many fleeing northward to steppe and resuming nomadic tribal life
Culture
Yuan Dynasty Drama
Was established during Jin and Yuan periods, with over 600 Jin dramas preserved, with most plays being in four acts
Mongol rulers were patrons of theatre, though the development of the field likely owes something to changed career prospects of literati
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Rulers
Zhu Yuanzhang/Ming Taizu/Hongwu
First commoner to become emperor in 1500 years, was shrewd, hardworking, and ruthless, joined Red Turbans and became commander of troops, eventually capturing Nanjing
Used Nanjing as base for campaigns against other local strongmen, and gradually became supreme in SE, then sent army north toward Yuan capital in Beijing, and Mongol leader did not abdicate and instead fled
He retained Nanjing as capital, making Ming first dynasty controlling N and S China from city S of Yangzi River
Cut government expenses wherever he could, and was very strict with officials, forcing them to kneel when they spoke to him
Continued Yuan use of hereditary obligations, including army in hereditary obligations, and set aside 10% of land for military colony land
Issued hortatory admonitions for village heads to read aloud to the neighbors, as urged them behave with filial piety towards parents and neighbors
Taizu did not extend sympathies to commercial and scholarly elites, with inordinately high tax rates imposed on rich and culture region around Suzhou, with thousands of wealthy families from SE forced to settle elsewhere, esp Nanjing
Ceased holding civil service examination for more than decade, and edited Mencius
Began suspecting that others were plotting against him, executing almost 70k in pointless investigation, and put himself through huge piles of paperwork, not able to trust
Taizu’s efforts organize his gov around unpaid service caused downstream issues, with unpaid soldiers deserting, and military land changing hands illegally
However, funds were so low, they had to levy extra-legal ones to keep basic services going, and ordinary households were often devastated by the burden
Yongle/Chengzu
Taizu’s fourth son, a forceful military man, led campaigns to NE to fight Mongols, and moved main capital Beijing, demoting Nanjing to secondary
Beijing was yet again arranged in boxes
Eunuchs in Ming
While Taizu forbade eunuchs from learning to read or write, within decades, eunuchs were not merely managing huge imperial workshops, but also playing major roles in both military and civil matters, with own bureaucracy parallel to civil service bureaucracy
Important People
Hideyoshi
Leader of recently unified Japan attacked Joseon Korea and Ming, at great cost, forced a Japanese retreat
Wang Yangming
philosopher -official who advocated join admin by both local leaders and Chinese official for gradual sinification in SW frontier
Also challenged Zhu Xi’s philosophies, objected to Zhu Xi’s teachings that understanding of moral principles were something that could be understood and realized only through careful and rational investigation of events and things, and instead thought that truth could be found within oneself
By clearing one’s mind of obstructions, they could discover universal principles
His thinkings gained wide notice and a century after his death, Wang’s followers took Confucain thought in many new directions
Li Zhi
Rethought philosophical basis of feelings, passions, and the self, and was a fierce critic of hypocrisy who saw little value in conforming to conventional patterns of behavior
Tang Xianzu
Author of play scripts of love stories and social satires, wrote The Peony Pavilion
Feng Menglong
Writer and editor who created collections of vernacular short stories populated by various characters
Zheng He
Loyal Muslim eunuch of Chengzu who set on expedition to enroll trading partners into Ming diplomatic system, going as far as the east coast of Africa
Matteo Ricci
Italian missionary who commented on exceedingly large numbers of books in circulation and ridiculously low prices
Accepted in late Ming court circles due to late Ming’s openness as foreign literati
Jingdezhen
Town where kilns produced enough porcelain to supply the whole country
Politics
Civil Service Examinations in Ming
Reversing Yuan policies, Ming gov again made this the main route to office and thus central feature of literati life
Instituted provincial quotas to guarantee representation of all provinces
Candidates were expected to demonstrate mastery of Four Books as interpreted by Zhu Xi, and examinations became divorced from literary trends due to the rigidity of the testing
Becoming one of the selected gave the man entrance to be community leader and into educated circles, and most reduced, these men could be tutors for wealthy families
Again, like Song, a relatively small number of land owning families had disproportionate large share of the high degrees generation after generation
Eight-legged essay
Formal 8 part style that emphasized reasoning by analogy and pairing statements
Military
Great Wall
A young Ming emperor foolishly led army into Mongol terrority, allowing himself to be captured and his courtiers slaughtered, and a century later the Ming, no more successful in defending itself against the raids of the Mongol Altan Khan, invested heavily in reconstruction of Great Wall
Economy
Silver in Ming
Gov failed to meet need for coinage, control counterfeit coins, or enforce use of its poorly back paper, and eventually gave up paper money and minting coins, and uncoined silver came to circulate as main form of money and gov collected most taxes silver
Shift to silver aided revival of commercial economy, esp. due to influx of silver from Japan and Philippines to expand money supply
Culture
Expansion of vernacular literature for general public impacted cultural sensibilities, and educated wo/men alike seem often ot have idealized headstrong romantic attachment to people, things, or causes
Chaste widows
Women with husbands who died young went back to live with parents as chaste/faithful widows, which was celebrated by Ming Neo-Confucian
Sometimes wrote poems within established poetic style but also developed distinctively feminine voices
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo zhi)
Martial exploits of rivals for power at end of Han
Journey to the West (Xiyou ji)
Fantastic account of Buddhist pilgrim to india in Tang times accompanied by monkey with magical powers
Plum in the Golden Vase (Jinpingmei)
Erotic tale of lustful merchang, wife, and concubines
Water Margin (Bandits of the Marsh/Shuihu zhuan)
Band of outlaws during Song
“community compacts”
Local associations promoted by scholars in Song dynasty for purposes of moral renewal, where members had to agree to correct each other’s fault and offer assistance in times of difficulty, with expulsion being sanction for anyone who failed to cooperate
Early Qing Dynasty (1644-18002)
Rulers
Nurhaci
Accomplished creation of Manchu state over 30 years, by prospering from close military and trade contacts with Ming, had phonetic script created for Manchu language, and invented banner system
When conditions in Ming China deteriorated, Nurhaci renounced fealt to Ming and declared establishment of Later Jin dynasty and then attacked Ming territory in Liaodong area and promised opportunities for those who surrendered
All those in areas under his subjection were forced to adopt the queue
Kangxi
Started rule at age 15, patronize Chinese literati, and made efforts to induce prominent literati to join gov, but also saw to it that bannermen dominated the gov
While regular prefectural and county posts in China proper went mostly to Chinese, the highest supervisory levels went to Manchus
Familiarized himself with Chinese literati culture, but also hospitable to Western missionaries, tolerating them so long as converts continued to perform ancestral rites, though his hospitality was rejected when catholic missionary insisted on papal authority and expulsion of missionaries occurred
Yongzheng
Curbed military power of Manchu aristocracy and tightened central control over civil bureaucracy, and put particular effort into trying to set state finances on sound footing, substituting new public levies for patchwork of taxes and fees from Ming
Also banned hereditary servile status, legally emancipating members of various local demeaned casts
Qianlong
Benefitted from his father’s fiscal reforms and often ran large surplus, and recognized that ability to hold empire together rested on ability to speak in political and religious idioms of those he ruled, learning to speak Mongolian fluently
Was large patron of Lamaist Buddhism
Was concerned in preserving Manchu history and culture
Any hint of anti-Manchu activity brough quick and forceful action, and he orchestrated a huge literary inquisition, collecting thousands of books and scrutinizing for slighting references to previous Manchus, and destroying books that had such descriptions
Important People
Wu Sangui
A general who was charged with guarding E most pass of Great Wall, defected to Manchus and helped them cross the wall, defeat rebels, and rid N China of bandits
Zheng Chenggong/Koxinga
Ming loyalist pirate and trader attacked Taiwan and drove out Dutch, and great number of Chinese immigrated there while he and his sons ruled, finally qing sent naval expedition to defeat these forces
Zhu Da/Bada Shanren
Member of Ming imperial clan who took up personal of Buddhist monk to avoid being involved with new gov, and his paintings of birds, fish, etc. evoke sense of crazy energy
Lord George Macartney
Cousin of King and ambassador to Russia was sent as envoy to Qianlong, and sized up Chinese, saying that Chinese were ill-prepared for war with European powers, while Qianlong dismissed the British envoy
Heshen
Handsome imperial bodyguard that Qianlong was obsessed with towards the end of his rule that was promoted to posts normally held by most experience officials and Heshen blatantly abused power and siphoned money from imperial treasuries to himself
White Lotus Rebellion
Towards the end of Qianlong’s rule, not even the White Lotus rebels could be defeated, with officers sent to fight them prolonging the conflict to line their own pockets.
Military
massacre at Yangzhou
Manchus slaughtered thousands of people in yangzhou when they didn’t submit
Banner system
Organized population into military units, each identified by colored banner
Banner included soldiers, families, and those supporting them, and most commanding officers were from Nurhaci’s own lineage
There were also Mongolian and Chinese banners
In times of peace, banners settled across China, not allowed to marry outside of the banners, and Chinese language became pervasive within a few generations, with bannermen learning Manchu at school and not at home
Bannermen lived off stipends intended to cover their living costs and special needs, though bannermen often became burdened with debt and lived in povery
Banner population grew faster than need for their services, and Qianlong thus removed most Chinese bannerman from rolls, reclassifying them as commoners, and his efforts to resettle surplus Manchu bannermen as farmers in original homeland met with little success
Banner armies are credited with huge expansion of territory accomplished by Qing, including Taiwan, Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang
Economy
British East India Company
English monopoly of Chinese trade
England developed taste for tea, as Europe’s view of China and Chinese culture gradually grew less rosy, leading British merchants to demand change in the way they traded with China, wanting to get closer to source of tea
Co-hong
Chinese official merchant guild in Guangzhou, only city Europeans could trade in
Culture
Queue
Long plait traditional to Manchus that Chinese men were forced to adopt
Ming loyalists
“evidential” research
As Qing progressed, scholars began to turn their attention to earlier and earlier texts, sometimes the Han commentaries, in hope that they would be free of Buddhist and Daoist contamination
Some became absorbed in close textual analysis of earliest text, trying to sort out genuine ancient texts
This evidential research required access to large libraries, making it the speciality of wealthy lower Yangzi region, with its concentration of academis and private libraries
A Dream of Red Mansions/Story of the Stone (Hongloumeng/Shitouji)
One of the greatest masterpieces of traditional Chinese fiction by Cao Xueqin about a wealthy family and a wide spread of characters
Late Qing Dynasty (1800-1900)
Rulers
Empress Dowager Cixi
Important People
Lin Zexu
Official sent to compel foreign traders to stop bringing opium into China and stopping Chinese from smoking
Confiscated pipes, seized opium stores, and arrested many Chinese
Threatened and bribed foreign merchants to turn over opium and appealed to Queen Victoria
British superintendent of trade eventually collected opium fro merchants and turned it over to Lin who destroyed it
Hong Xiuquan
Taiping rebellion leader, see below
Zeng Guofan
Scholar-official that led Qing court resistance against Taiping rebellion
Yaqub Beg
General with army that took over capital of Xinjiang, Kashgar, with relative ease and set up his own state, but was highly unpopular with the people due to his strict rules, and the Chinese armies soon took back the area soon after his death
Li Hongzhang
Commander of main N army, became convinced that China had to industrialize to match Western Powers’ economic strength
Helped create many industries and transportation modes to industrialize China, yet Qing still failed to transform itself into modern industrial power
Kang Youwei
Presented Confucian thought in new light, where it supported modernization
Guangxu emperor called on kang to help him step up reform, leading to emperor issuing edict after edict, aka the hundred days reform, but was soon stopped by empress dowager cixi who was afraid the reforms would undermine the position of the Manchus
Liang Qichao
Politics
Opium Wars/Anglo-Chinese War
British were purchasing 1/7 of tea sold in China and China was deriving 1/10 of state revenue from import tax, causing huge trade imbalance for Britain
China at large was quite addicted to opium by 1800s, and British took advantage of this by selling mass amounts of opium and shortage of silver caused havoc in Qing economy bc it changed exchange rate between copper cash and silver
Opium addiction transcended class barriers
Lin Zexu was sent to stop it, and he did
William Jardine of the major opium trading firm sailed to London to lobby for war, then supplied the war, quickly defeating the Qing, through Britain’s far superior navy
Britain soon occupied strategic coastal cities, including Shanghai, and China had to sue for peace, resulting in Treaty of Nanjing, which forced Chinese to open five treaty ports, fixed tariff at 5% and made Britain the most-favored nation
Other nations soon followed forcing China to cede more and more ports
And still, opium addition continued
Hundred Days Reform
Military
Taiping Rebellion
Started in S China, which suffered most from disruption of Opium War and had particularly pervasive opium addiction when Hakka Hong Xiuquan with visions that he interpreted as meaning that he was Jesus’ younger brother, and led followers in destroying idols, giving up opium and alcohol
Hong soon had 20k ardent followers armed to protect themselves against bandits, but also clashed with imperial forces, then declared himslef king of Taiping and began capturing cities, and set up gov in Nanjing and held civil service examinations
Also tried to conquer Shanghai but quickly repelled by Western forces, but Qing court had trouble suppressing them
Only suppressed them when Zeng Guofan took personal offence to the rebellion and their anti-Confucian ideals when they attempted to terrorize Hunan when he was mourning his mother
Recruited literati to serve under him, who then recruited peasnats to fight with them
Two of his acolytes, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang became leading generals in their own right
After a decade of warfare, these armies captured Nanjing, though death and environmental toll was enormous
After Taiping rebellion, the new armies turned to insurrections in other parts of the country, like banditry in rural areas
The new armies became centers of power, with late Qing court very dependent on men like Zeng Guofan
Xinjiang
Muslim regions of Xinjiang were attempting to break away, threatening bc of proximity to Russia, who were steadily acquiring more territory
At great cost, Qing reasserted military supremacy in Xinjiang
Sino-Japanese War
Japan purposely instigated war with Qing, and ensuing war resulted in great Qing casualties, with Li’s army routed at Pyongyang and navy destroyed at mouth of Yalu River, with Japanese moving into Qing territory
Chinese sent Li Hongzhang to negotiate for peace, though European powers were not pleased with Japanese takeover of China, and themselves scrambled for parts of China, seeing how easily Japan did so
This devastation led to group of young scholars led by Kang Youwei and convinced that gov needed to raise taxes, develop state bank, build railroad network and commercial fleet, set up modern postal system, and call upon Chinese abroad to help
Kang presented Confucius in new light, as an institutional innovator and proponent of change, giving traditional reasoning for China to industrialize
Boxer Rebellion
The Harmonious Fists tapped into fear and resentment against Christian missionaries and combined martial arts with shamanistic belief in ability to make themselves invulnerable to battle through rituals, and blamed China’s ills on evil of foreigners, attracting peasants, soldiers, boat trackers, and etc.
Finally Western powers protested and prepared for war, and Empress Dowager Cixi decided to support boxers
20,000 troops from a dozen nations marched from Tianjin to Beijing, where they lifted siege (from Boxers) and looted the city while empress fled and Li Hongzhang was sent to negotiate
Economy
California Gold Rush
In California, few arrived in time for lucrative strikes, and often drifted to other lines of work, facing racial prejudice
Culture
Shanghai
Shanghai became a culturally and economically dynamic cosmopolitan city as a hybrid city with multiple jurisdictions and highly diverse residents, with an INternational Settlement, French concession, and a Chinese city, with its history showing the complex interactions of growing world trade
Shanghai was already in the most prosperous part of China, with well-established port, connected to both port and river, and with attack of Taiping, all main centres of literati culture in the region fled to Shanghai due to its treaty port status and Western presence
The International Settlement was self-governing along Western lines, but had great majority of Chinese residents, followed by British and others
Prominent among Shanghai’s wealthiest residents were compradors, men who worked as agents for foreign firms, with some making great fortunes
Modern banking and stock trade soon followed in development in Shanghai
Became cultural center, and it became China’s commercial publishing hub
Early Twentieth Century (1900-1949)
Rulers
Sun Yatsen
Sun Yatsen was also an anti-Manchu revolutionary who lived in the states, then was sent back to China, where he went to Hong Kong, was baptized, and studied western medicine
In Hong Kong, Sun and friends discussed advantages of a republic, and he created the Revolutionary Alliance to help China skip steps and skip ahead of the west
Led nationalist party
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai, recently returned from France, became head of military academy, where both Communist and Nationalist officers were trained
Much later on, also brought back disgraced leaders like Deng Xiaoping, after Mao’s death
Mao Zedong
Nationalist failings, as well as Communist successes with master tactician Mao Zedong, led to the victory of the Communist Party powerfully shaped by ideas, experiences, and personalities of Mao Zedong who mobilized peasants and trained cadres
Mao Zedong was from a farming family in Hunan, then rose through emerging modern school system to go to provincial capital for middle school and teachers’ college; upon graduation he worked in library of Beijing University and participated in Marxist discussions, and heeded Li Dazhao’s call to go to countryside to organize peasants he returned to Hunan
After Nationalist purges of 1927-28, Mao led few thousand men into mountains along Hunan-Jiangxi border where they joined other Communists to form Jiangxi Soviet, who became skilled at organizing peasants, sending in work teams to villages to investigate landholding, then organizing redistribution of land, which gained popular support
After several years battling nationalist armies sent to destroy them, Communist soldiers, cadres, porters, and followers broke out from Nationalists’ encirclement for the ‘Long March’ in search of a new base area, leaving behind wives, children, and 20k wounded troops
For a year Red Army and party command columns kept retreating, fighting almost all the time and suffering enormous casualties, and by the time they had found an area in central Shaanxi to establish new base, they had marched almost 6k miles, with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai as top leaders
Communist Party made its base at Yan’an
Mao seemed to model himself on Stalin while offering his own interpretations of Marxism which became to be known as Mao Zedong thought
Mao reinterpreted Marxist theory in such a way so that peasants could be seen as the vanguard of revolution, and everyone at Yan’an had to study Mao’s writings in small study groups, acquiring a vocabulary and conceptual framework
Party unity was also strengthened by an extraordinarily portent technique of intellectual and moral remolding in Rectification Campaign of 1942-44 where everyone able to read was swept up in intense drama, starting with close discussion of assigned texts, then personal confession, then struggle sessions
They watched dramatic public humiliations of principal targets, and people learned to interpret any deviation from Mao’s line as defects of petty bourgeois background
Peasants were recruited through mobilization by Communist organizers to ambush Japanese soldiers or sabotage installations, and indoctrinated with message that they could build better more egalitarian future
Chiang Kai-shek
From 1928 onwards, Chiang Kaishek led Nationalists
As a son of merchant family, went to Japan to study military science and joined precursor of Nationlist Party there, then appointed to Whampoa Academy was crucial to his rose because it allowed him to connect with local officers in party’s army; he was also a skilled politician
His efforts in state-building focused on army to rein in surviving warlords, suppress Communists, and resist Japan
For army, he turned to Germany for training and for arms
To modernize economy he turned to Western-trained economists and engineers
In first few years of power, Chiang has considerable success in gradually eliminating warlord opponents
In 1934 to combat intellectual appeal of Communists and build support for government, he launched indoctrination New Life Movement program inspired by contemporary fascist movements in Europe
Later on failed to mobilize early against Japanese aggression, then when fighting for Shanghai failed and led to Rape of Nanking
Chiang later on failed to capture Manchuria from communists, and retreated to Taiwan
Important People
Yuan Shikai
Top general sent to mount military response against revolutionaries, but instead negotiated with them and named himself president
Never really got off the ground, and all six provinces he supposedly controlled declared independence
Yan Fu
One of first Chinese to study in England and published translations of famous English rhetorics, and argued that Western form of gov freed energy of ind, which could then be channeled towards collective goals
Chen Duxiu
Founder of New Youth periodical, which in its first edition challenged traditional Confucius thought of respecting elders, saying that the youth needed to be more proactive
Hu Shi
Thought aim of new thought was not to replace old beliefs with ones imported from West, but to develop habit of critical thought
Campaigned for people to give up classical literary language
Lu Xun
First to write well in vernacular, educated in Japan and well read in European literature
Qiu Jin
Female political activist
Lin Biao
Defence minister who died bizarrely
Politics
Warlord Period
12 years from Yuan Shikai’s death until est. of nationalist gov; in absence of strong central power, commanders in Yuan’s old army, governors of provinces, etc. built up local power bases and border regions declared independence
May Fourth Movement
3k Beijing students assembled in Tiananmen Square, shouting patriotic slogans, were arrested by government, but widespread support for them led to their release
New Culture Movement
Set off by New Youth, was set in motion by youth determined to arrest China’s decline, angry that China lost out in Versailles Peace Conference
1911 Revolution
he 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution, was a successful revolt against the Qing Dynasty in China that overthrew the imperial system and established the Republic of China
Nationalist Party
Comintern sent advisors who introduced democratic centralism for Nationalists and helped craft strategies for grassroots mobilization
Chinese Communist Party
Influenced by Comintern, Russian-led org to promote communist revolution throughout world, which helped structure Communist Party cells, creating degree of discipline and centralization beyond existing repertoire of Chinese organizational behavior
Three Principles of the People
The three principles are often translated into and summarized as nationalism, democracy, and the livelihood of the people (or welfarism).
New Life Movement
The New Life Movement was a government-led civic campaign in the 1930s Republic of China to promote cultural reform and Neo-Confucian social morality and to ultimately unite China under a centralised ideology following the emergence of ideological challenges to the status quo. Chiang Kai-shek as head of the government and the Chinese Nationalist Party launched the initiative on 19 February 1934 as part of an anti-Communist campaign, and soon enlarged the campaign to target the whole nation.
Military
Rape of Nanking
Occurred after Nationalist defeat in Shanghai, where Japanese soldiers followed the Chinese to Nanjing, killing, looting, and raping women
Northern Expedition
Expedition to reunify country, esp. North, and was launched by Chiang Kaisheck and Communists aiding his military advance
Chiang Kaishek ultimately ordered Shanghai underworld guild to kill all Communist members and Communists retaliated by massacring nationalist supporters
Long March
Communists broke out from Nationalists’ encircelment and started Long March for new base area, eventually making Yan’an central base of the Communists
Yan’an
Everyone in yanan had to study Mao’s writings in small study groups, acquiring vocabulary and conceptual framework, with dramatic public humiliations of principal targets, and people learned to interpret any deviation from Mao’s line as defects of petty bourgeois background
Culture
Mao Zedong Thought
Mao Zedong’s interpretations of Marxist thought
China Under Mao (1949-1976)
Important People
Liu Shaoqi
Labeled as chief capitalist roader by Mao during cultural revolution, died later
Ding Ling
Female author that fell out of favor with Mao
Jiang Qing
Wife of Mao and later leader of radical faction
Gang of Four
Jiang Qing’s allies who terrorized Den Xiaoping, Zhou enlai
Deng Xiaoping
Xi Jinping
Military
Korean War
Not even a year into new gov under Mao Zedong, it became embroiled in Korean war, supporting Stalin and Kim Il-sung
Costs were huge, eliminating reconciliation w/ US and resulted in massive Chinese casualties
Culture
Five Antis
Launched during Korean War and simultaneous search for enemy agents w/i China, it was to weed out least cooperative of capitalists still controlling private enterprises, and people were mobilized to accuse merchants and manufacturers of bribery, etc., with tens of thousands of businessmen investigated and criticized, and once they confessed had to pay restitution, consisting of all their assets
So many ppl were arrested that they had to create labor camps to hold the people
“Let a hundred flowers bloom”
When Mao publicly called for candid advice on problems w/i party, with intellectuals at first wary, lost inhibitions when first few were lavished with praise
So many complaints came that Mao got mad abruptly reversed course
Anti-Rightist Campaign
Came after above campaign, where greater than half of China’s tiny educated elite were stigmatized so that unit leaders could show their quota of rightists, and were sent to countryside to overcome separation from the masses
Victims were diverse, ranging from reporters to railroad engineers
Great Leap Forward
Mao thought growth was too slow so he devised plan where, through concerted hard work of hundreds of millions of people laboring together, China would transform itself into modern country
Agricultural collectives all over country were amalgamated to gigantic communes, where seeds were planted more densely and small-scale factories were opened using locally available materials
With educated experts removed by anti-rightist campaign, plans were formulated by commoners, not experts
With little time spent on the farm doing normal farm work, and projects were done with such haste and so little technical knowledge that serious mistakes were made
This resulted in deadliest famine in world history, with greatly exaggerated harvest (much of it was left to rot) and when harvests fell in next two years, shortages were magnified by cadres who continued to report gains in production and refusal of central government to accept aid
Prevented people from moving to improve situations, where population registration bound rural people to villages of birth
Three Hard Years
The famine period, 30-40 million excess deaths from dearth of food
Cultural Revolution
Decided to mobilize the masses to discover and attach bourgeois and capitalist elements that had insinuate themselves into the party
Quickly escalated beyond ability of anybody to control or direct, with school closing as students devoted all their time to Red Guard activities, with massive rallies held in Tiananmen Square
Tensions and antagonism suppressed by tight social control broke into open as Red Guards found opportunities to get back at people or vent their fury, posting big character posters and roamed streets, destroying all things foreign and old, searching homes for things that were reactionary, and orchestrated countless denunciation meetings
Mao also mobilized workers to attack local and regional party officials, with rival rebel factions fighting for power with many places having no functioning civilian government
With deteriorating situation, Mao moderated the movement to prevent full-scale civil war, disbanding Red Guards and sending them to work as ordinary farmers
In place of old party structure, Revolutionary Committees were set up with members from various organizations, though army quickly became dominant force, instigating the most violent phase of Cultural Revolution where military authorities and civilian partners embarked on campaign of terror to rout out imagined class enemies, and stopped only when defense minister bizarrely died
Little Red Book
Gospel of Chairman Mao, compiled by Lin Biao to indoctrinate soldiers
Red Guards
Young people who acted on cultural evolution
Tiananmen Incident
Students protested for democracy and wanted to end corruption in Tiananmen Square, with people numbering in the millions, a humiliation for Deng, resulting in troops shooting down the students
Environment
Three Gorges Dam
Completed on Yangzi River is world’s largest hydroelectric power station, and required relocation of almost a million people, but also dramatically changes ecology of river