Transcript China - FarnboroughHillHistoryDept

China
Key Concepts
Contents
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3.
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6.
7.
Dynasties
The Mandate of Heaven
Confucius
Government of China before 1900
Chinese Writing
The position of women in society
China and the rest of the world before
1900
8. China in 1900
Dynasties
• Chinese history divided into DYNASTIES since
2000BC (see page 10)
• Xia Dynasty was the first
• Qin (Chin) Dynasty (c.221BC) gave name to
China
• The Yuan Dynasty established by Kublai Khan
(Grandson of Genghis Khan) in 1279
• Marco Polo visited Yuan Dynasty China
• In 1645 the Manchu Dynasty ordered all Han
men to wear their hair in a pigtail (a queue)
• Mao was a great reader and fan of Qin Dynasty
The Mandate of Heaven
• Heaven means a force that causes and
justifies change. Like fate.
• Justified authority of the Emperor and
Dynasty since c.1000BC
• A Dynasty fell when they lost the Mandate of
Heaven
• This was seen as a result of their evil actions
• Signs were successful rebellions, famine,
floods and earthquakes
Confucius (470-391BC)
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Known in China as Kong Qui
Lived during Zhou Dynasty
Wrote a book called Analects
Basis of Chinese government and way of life
His ideas defended and expanded upon by
Meng Tzu (Mencius) in 300 BC
• “Ever since man came into this world, there has
never been one greater than Confucius.”
• Emphasised importance of harmony in all things
Confucian ideas of harmony
• “Reform yourself and then arrange your family
and so pacify the world”
• Correct behaviour and respect for those in
authority is crucial for maintaining authority
(deference and obedience)
• Living within the laws of nature
• Rulers should also treat subjects with love and
concern or will lose Mandate of Heaven
• Not concerned with supernatural but focused on
ordering society to create heaven on earth
• “Good government consists in the ruler being a
ruler, the minister being a minister, the father
being a father, and the son being a son.”
Examples of Confucian Harmony
Yin and Yang and
Chinese Medicine
Sweet and sour
Feng Shui
Government of China
before 1900
• Emperor with Mandate of Heaven was absolute
ruler
• The Son of Heaven
• Link between China and Nature
• The people owed him total loyalty
• Legalism used by some emperors instead of
Confucianism
• Eg WuDi (141-87BC) of Qin Dynasty
• Mao knew all about detailed history of emperors
Mandarins
• C.10,000 Civil Servants called Mandarins
governed China (Scholar-Officials)
• They had to pass exams on Confucius and
handwriting (Calligraphy) to qualify
• Very powerful privileged group for 1300
years
• In theory open to any sector in society
Chinese Writing (Calligraphy)
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Chinese handwriting is not phonetic
Over 40,000 characters
Takes years to master
Helps to build unity
Written with an ink brush on rice paper
Dog
Cat
The position of women in society
• In Confucian order women subordinate to
men
• Eg Footbinding
• On marriage girl’s loyalty now to
husband’s family ahead of her own
• Your dad’s family more important
• Many girls not given a name until
marriage. Mao’s first wife was called
Woman Luo.
China and the outside world
before 1900
• “The Middle Kingdom”
• 13th Century first contacts with Europe
(Silk Road) eg Marco Polo
• 1793 contacts made with Britain – Lord
Macartney
• Tributary States
• By 19th century China slipping behind
Europe
China and Europe in 19th Century
• Britain trying to establish trade with China
• Private traders importing opium into China
• 1838 Emperor banned trade in opium –
causing social problems and run on silver
• 1839 3 million pounds opium thrown into
sea
• Under pressure British Government
declare war on China
• Britain win war in 1842
The Opium Wars
• Treaty of Nanjing gave Britain Shanghai,
Hong Kong and 3 other cities
• 1856 a second Anglo-Chinese War
• Gives Britain greater control over trade
• France, USA, Germany and Russia also
seize “Treaty Ports” and establish spheres
of influence. Treaties called “unequal
treaties”
• Missionaries established schools,
hospitals, churches etc
China and Japan
• Japan had successfully modernised
• Many Chinese nationalists admired the
Japanese model eg Zou Rong and Lu Xun
• 1894 – Rebellion in Korea V Monarch
• China and Japan rush in troops
• Japan sink a Chinese ship and seize Lushun in
Manchuria and Shandong
• China forced to give Korea and some ports to
Japan by Treaty of Shimoneseki
• 1905 Japan defeated Russia
China in 1900
• Governed by Empress Dowager Ci Xi on behalf
of Emperor Guangxu (Qing (Manchu) Dynasty)
• Growing Nationalist movement which hated yet
admired the West and Japan
• Economic and social problems led to a series of
rebellions against the Emperor
• Corruption
• Militarily and technologically inferior to Japan
and the West
• Over 50 Treaty Ports.
• Lost Vietnam and Korea to France and Japan
Homework
Skim read pages 11-24 and note down
reasons why anti-government feeling was
growing in China in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries
A Sign from a park in Shanghai
Empress Dowager Ci Xi
A Mandarin official
(Ming Dynasty)
A shoemaker with a queue