Transcript A Concise History of China

China – A Brief History
Two anecdotal Chinese ancestral Figures
伏羲 – The Animal Domesticator,
inventor of hunting and fishery, as
well as medicine.
神农氏 – the Godly Farmer,
inventor of agriculture & Chinese
medicine
A Brief History
*
Chinese history & Dynasties
Dynasty -- A succession of rulers from the same family or
line
Most of the 5,000 - 6,000 years of recorded Chinese history were
characterized by replacement of one dynasty by another,
following almost the same pattern.
A new dynasty with
a strong leader with
strong morality
established a new
dynasty
Successors as rulers
with weak
personality, lower
morality, corruption,
lack of caring for the
people
Angry farmers went on
rebellion: miserable life
with high tax, forced
labor without pay,
demanding military
duties
Neolithic Era
3000 - 1500 B.C.
The Chinese civilization started
from the alluvial plains down along
the Yellow River & Yangtze River
Funerary Storage Jar (ca 2400 B.C.)
Ceremonial Stem Cup
(3000-2000 B.C.)
Shang
1523 - 1028 B.C.
Fang I (Ritual Wine Vessel,
late 13th-12th century B.C.)
Ko (Dagger-Axe, Yin or early Chou
dynasty
Chou (/ Zhou)
1027 - 256 B.C.
Yung-cheng Bell (Chou dynasty,
Warring States period)
Chou (/ Zhou): 1027 - 256 B.C.
Tripod (Ritual Food Vessel): Western Chou dynasty
Confucius / 孔夫子
"Our greatest glory is not
in never falling, but in
getting up every time we
do fall."
More Confucius
quotations
Name: 孔丘 Kong Qiu
Birth: September 28, 551 BC
Death: 479 BC
School: Founder of Confucianism
The Seven Kingdoms (战国七雄)
Chu
Han
Qi
Qin
Wei
Yan
Zhao
(楚)
(韩)
(齐)
(秦)
(魏)
(燕)
(赵)
Ch'in (/Qin)
221 - 206 B.C.
Han Dynasty
206 B.C. - 220 A.D.
Funerary Model of a Pig Sty
(Western Han dynasty, Earthenware)
 Paper and lead-glazed
ceramics invented
 Greatly improved silk-weaving
techniques.
Han Dynasty
206 B.C. - 220 A.D.
Prancing Horse (Eastern Han dynasty,
Earthenware with traces of pigment)
Six Dynasties
220- 586
Avalokitesvara
(571, Black
marble with
traces of
pigments &
gilding
Spirit Jar (late
3rd century,
Porcelaneous
stoneware with
olive green
glaze
Wars, plagues, political instability,
religions, and arts
Sui
581 - 618
Cup: T'ang
dynasty:Porcelaneous
stoneware with clear glaze
It was during Tang dynasty,
Buddhism was introduced
into China.
Song
960 – 1279 AD
The Great Wall of China
 Largest structure ever built
on earth
 Crosses the northern part of
China
 6,700 km, /4,500 miles long
 Built over 2,000 years
 Construction from 770-476
BC
For the nomad people in the north, the Middle
 Built to protect territory
Kingdom within the Great Wall were irresistible.  Completely built by hand
 Many people died building it
Research has found an unusually high prevalence of a particular set of genes
on human Y-chromosome in China
The distribution of the unusual Y-chromosome (Shaded circles). (The
New York Times)
Unequal reproductive
success in human
Based on the amount of mutations and mutation
rate of involved genes, it is possible that these
estimated 1,500,000 Chinese men are direct
descendants of Giocangga, the grandfather of the
founder of the Qing dynasty.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Avenue South,
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404
http://www.artsmia.org/art-ofasia/history/chinese-dynasty-guide.cfm
Tea and the Opium War
As tea drinking became very popular in
England from the 18th Century and its
main tea supplier was China in the 19th
Century, mainly from one province –
Fujian, the home of Oolong Tea
Because of Chinese tradition, the British
traders, like any other traders, were
distrusted, and were required to pay silver
bullions for the tea they would buy;
The British did not have that much money, of
course!
Tea and the Opium War
As such, the British started
to sell to the Chinese
Opium, which quickly
got the Chinese addicted
Some Chinese officials with
vision foresaw this as a
serious problem, and
convinced the
government to start a ban
on opium trade
Tea and the Opium War
So the British started the Opium War
The Chinese lost the opium war, and had to
“rent” Hong Kong to the British and gave
them other privileges, such as trading rights
Hong Kong was not returned to China until
1997
China also had to deal with other invading
forces, including the France, Russia, USA,
Germany, and other tiny countries that China
never heard of!
General Lin
Zhexu, the
Chinese hero
leading the 1st
Opium War against
British Opium
The forming of Modern China
1. Ironically, Gun Powder was a Chinese invention,
which the Chinese have used for centuries for
various purposes, esp. for firework and hunting.
2. Now the Europeans, not just the British, came with
guns and wanted a share of China’s wealth.
3. This defeat and other military losses served to
wake up the Chinese. People blamed the corrupted
Qing dynasty and believed that they must learning
from their enemies in order to save China
4. The Qing dynasty came to an end in 1912
as the revolutionary forces originated in
southern China pushed north to overthrow it
– The Northward Wars
The “Two Chinas”
1. The Northward Wars has lead to the
establishment of the Republic of China
with Guomindang, or the Nationalist
Party (GMD) as its ruling party;
2. A civil war soon broke out between
GMD and the Communist Party (CPC);
they cooperated during the Northward
Wars (the 1st GMD-CPC Union);
3. The two sides formed a brief 2nd GMDCPC Union during WWII to fight the
Japanese, but split again after WWII.
4. A full scale civil war ended with GMD
defeated and retreated to the island of
Taiwan
The “Two Chinas”
 The CPC lead China, the People’s
Republic of China, was founded in 1949;
 PRC currently represents China in UN,
while Taiwan is officially considered as a
province of China;
 USA has diplomatic relationship with
PRC, but not with Taiwan, although it
uses Taiwan as a leverage;
 Previous US presidential elections always
played the China card, but not in the last
one, simply because USA and China are
tied up in global issues;
 Admit it or not, China has improved
greatly in the last 30 yrs.
Cultural Invasion
• 中国, the Central Kingdom, had fought
ferociously to defend its territory from
invaders thirsty for its wealth, with much
success;
• When it was defeated, it just absorbed the
invaders into its culture;
• Will China retain its identity and
culture in the tides of globalization?
A summary
 Yuan Dynasty was the first time when the Central Kingdom
was completely conquered by an invading people. But the
Mongols ruled China in the Chinese way, alienating some
other Mongols. This left the Mongol Empire to include only
China proper and the Outer Mongolia of now;
 Ming is the last Han ruled Chinese Dynasty, and the
Manchurians Qing Dynasty was the last Chinese dynasty.
 The Nationalist government, Republic of China inherited its
territory from the Qing, but had to give up the territory of
Mongolia because of pressure from the Soviet Union.
 Civil war of China after the WWII resulting the retreating of
the Nationalist government to Taiwan and the establishment of
the People’s Republic of China on the mainland