Ming-Qing-Birth of Modern China (Chap 26 & 37)
MLHY
Taiping Rebellion
south of China; the native Hakka people suffered the most
- opium war
- social tension
- Hong Xiu-quan's anti-Confucian and Christian-like vision
1854-1864: Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace
- Nanjing: capital
- support from the West - short-lived
- Qing triumphant!
Late Manzhou Restoration
policy aim: restore vitality to the Court and give
China the ability to protect itself from
foreign barbarians
modernized army, shipyards and arsenals
translating agency for Western books
land reform, new crops and flood-control projects
F took Vietnam from C
C lost the Sino-Japanese war in 1895
China's Post 1895
Qing Dynasty
foreign pressure: R, G, B and J
Christian missionaries - freedom to convert
Lost of territories:
- Vietnam to France
- Korea to Japan
- Manchuria to Russia
decline of Ming Dynasty:
- ineffective emperors
- corruption
- abusive eunuchs
- peasant rebellions
- rebellion against the Confucian school of thought
Manzhou tribesmen:
- from Manchuria
- paid tribute but X accepted lordship
- admired Chinese culture
- gradually won support from the Mandarin class who opposed Confucianism
Hongwu introduced a corps of palace eunuchs:
- men w/out families
- tots dedicated servants
- eyes and ears of the emperor - almost dictatorial powers
- power hungry but never seem to have attempted to overthrow the emperor
Capital: Nanjing --> Beijing (better defense)
Bureaucracy basis: Confucian philosophy and ethics
- alternate years - county level
- once every 3 years - provincial capitals
- most prestigious "men of Han"
- basic reading, writing and arithmetic
- imagination, creativity and individuality, NO
Army:
i) Qing ethnic group; Bannermen
ii) Mandarin ethnic group
Kangxi:
- long reign
- strong personality, intelligent and well educated
- kept the Manzhou tribesmen and ethnic Chinese separate
- similar to King Louis XIV of France
- retained traditional Chinese administration
- improved waterways - dams and canals
- opened 4 ports to European traders - small, permanent ethnic enclaves were formed
Qienlong:
- great warrior and perceptive administrator
- brought Tibet under Chinese control - for the very 1st time!
100 Days of Reform (1895)
- under Empress Dowager Cixi
- most important: her position!
- aim: streamline the government, permit greater public access to
officials, and modernize the educational system with the inclusion
of Western subjects
Boxer Rebellion (1900)
- attempt to rid of foreign exploitation
- old Confucian-based government cannot be maintained
- Boxer = quasi-religious society
- joined by Empress Dowager Cixi
- lacked weaponry and effective leadership
- vs. Europe!
Urban decent lifestyle
Engineers & inventors: X prominent
- Confucian ethos: the retention of the old, not the invention of the new, that inspired properly educated Chinese
Ming Political System
thus, the beginning of modern China
British East India Company + Indian opium + China = lucrative trade!
- replacement for gold & silver, the B. used to pay for China's tea and silk
illegal trade and B's free trade disrupted China's finances and forced China to open more ports solely for OPIUM!
Lin Zexu (official): implemented restrictive import policies and rehab for addicts!
- pissed off B who forced an unequal treaty: China lost some territories, forced to open more coastal towns to foreign
traders - HELLO Hong Kong!
- invasion of other foreign powers: F. G. US. and Russia
all-powerful non-divine emperor : Mandate of Heaven
highly trained bureaucracy from all classes and backgrounds
3 chief groups: peasants, soldiers, workers
- hereditary
- theoretically caste-based
- China too vast and bureaucracy too small
Rise of Chinese Nationalism
Qing Culture and Economy
Kang Yu-wei
- argued that Confucian philosophy is about reform!
- history was evolutionary and moving forward!
- New China Movement
- x successful
- forced to flee
Abolishment of Confucian examination (1905)
- arrival of aspiring officials with Western or Westernized Japanese education
- Sun Yat-sen
- leader of an antigovernment reform movement
- initially called to head the new parliamentary government
- stepped down and replaced by General Yuan Shikai, to avoid a civil war
- founder of Kuomintang!
General Yuan Shikai
- attempted to be emperor
- failed to prevent a Japanese incursion during WW1
limited education --> distinct disadvantage
uniform education --> cohesive governing class
- able to preserve China from disintegration
Dealing w Foreigners
most respected cultural activities: philosophy, history, calligraphy,
poetry and painting
- Book of the Golden Lotus
- The Dream of the Red Chamber
- pornographic content
prioritize 'aesthetic sensitivities and artistic excellence'
education was provided to anyone who could afford it
lost to the West in science and technology
improvements in agriculture and engineering
- incapable of sustaining the pop growth!
80% worked the land
20%: shopkeepers, market porters,
carters, artisans and
moneylenders
massive famine and poverty
- machinery had not been intro to modernize agriculture
China-Japan:
- pirates (wokou) - abandonment of coastal areas to pirates
- cultural & commercial interchange
- daimyo & Chinese merchants
- shoguns of Japan: great admirers of Chinese culture
Maritime Expedition:
- sponsored travel to East Indies and the coast of Africa
- advanced Chinese seamanship, ship design and how confident China was in interacting with foreigners
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Yongle
- son and heir
- expanded to Korea, Vietnam and Mongolia
- Great Wall was rebuilt
last pure Chinese dynasty
founder: Zhu-Yuanzhang
- peasant
- imperial title: Hongwu
- great talent & cruelty
- capital: Nanjing
pop boom: 60 mil - 150 mil
rise in food supply:
- rice - Vietnam
- corn, squash, peanuts & beans from America - via Portuguese & Spanish merchants
merchants of China:
- low social status
- wealthy to live a comfortable life
- Portuguese merchants - Macao