Download The Significance of China in World History

The Significance of Ancient China in World History
Name: _____________________
World AP/ Napp
Date: _____________________
Part I: Reading – Context and Connections: [From Voyages in World History]
 Circle key words
 Underline important ideas
 Box unfamiliar vocabulary
 Annotate – add notes to text
“The clearest indication of the First Emperor’s legacy is the words we use even now for
‘China’ and ‘Chinese.’ China entered English via the Sanskrit word for Chee-na, the
Indian pronunciation of Qin. Following the lead of the First Emperor, the Qin and Han
dynasties created a blueprint for imperial rule that lasted for two thousand years. In the
centuries after the fall of the Han, China was not always unified. But subsequent Chinese
rulers always aspired to reunify the empire and conceived of China’s physical borders as
largely those of the Han dynasty at its greatest extent.
The Qin dynasty begun by the First Emperor introduced a centralized administration
headed by the emperor, recorded the population in household registers, systematized
weights and measures, and promoted officials strictly on the basis of merit. The Qin also
had a ceremonial state, as the emperor’s sacrifices showed, but these measures affected
everyone living in Qin territory and had far greater impact than any actions of the
Mauryan dynasty in India.
The Han dynasty made one important change: officials had to pass examinations testing
their knowledge of Confucianism before they could attain higher office. The Han extended
its military control far to the west, establishing more sustained contacts with the peoples
living along the Silk Road. Use of this route continued in later periods, peaking in the sixth
through eight centuries.
The Qin/Han blueprint for rule kept China unified for most of its long history. Even
before the Qin unified China, the Chinese shared a cuisine, belief in the tenets of
Confucianism, and a common writing system which has remained in use, with some
modifications for over three thousand years. These all made China easier to unify than
neighboring India. Just as a Chinese chef combines different precut ingredients to make
distinctive dishes, other ancient innovations often made use of component parts to make
final products that varied slightly.
China’s path to complex society followed the same pattern as in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and
India, all societies on the Eurasian landmass. In about 8000 B.C.E., the Chinese began to
cultivate millet and wheat in the north, and in 7000 B.C.E., they first grew rice in the south.
Chinese farmers domesticated cattle, oxen, and horses to work the land, and they made
agricultural implements – plows, shovels, machetes – first of stone and then, around 2000
B.C.E., of bronze. Agriculture arose first in river valleys, and farmers used plows to
prepare the land to seed, wheeled carts to carry things, and domesticated animals to work
the land. Similarly, metallurgists learned how to work bronze before they mastered the
higher temperatures necessary to smelt iron. In both China and India, iron replaced
bronze around 500 B.C.E., the time when the first coins circulated.”
Part II: Generalizations
 Examine the following groups of five related terms/events/individuals
 Note what the terms have in common: select an appropriate title
 Determine the specific relationship between and among the terms
 In a sentence or two, express that specific relationship; the generalization must
address all four terms. In a multi-paragraph essay, the generalization would
become the thesis
I
First Emperor
Centralized
Systematized Weights and Measures
Officials Promoted Based on Merit
Ceremonial State
II
Examination System
Silk Road
Confucianism
Military Control
Unified
III
Common Writing System
Confucianism
Cuisine
Qin
Han
IV
Millet
Rice
Domesticated Cattle, Oxen, and Horses
Plows, Shovels, Machetes
Wheeled Carts
Critical Thinking Question:
The past informs the present. How does the reading support this thesis?
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Part III: Enduring Issue – Confucianism and China Today
The Article: “A Confucian Constitution for China” by Jiang Qing and Daniel A. Bell
July 10, 2012: An Op-Ed piece in the New York Times
ON Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a speech in Mongolia
denouncing Asian governments that seek “to restrict people’s access to ideas and
information, to imprison them for expressing their views, to usurp the rights of citizens to
choose their leaders.” It was a swipe at China’s authoritarian political system. The view
that China should become more democratic is widely held in the West. But framing the
debate in terms of democracy versus authoritarianism overlooks better possibilities.
The political future of China is far likelier to be determined by the longstanding
Confucian tradition of “humane authority” than by Western-style multiparty elections.
After all, democracy is flawed as an ideal. Political legitimacy is based solely on the
sovereignty of the people – more specifically, a government that grants power to
democratically elected representatives. But there is no compelling reason for a government
to have only one source of legitimacy.
Democracy is also flawed in practice. Political choices come down to the desires and
interests of the electorate. This leads to two problems. First, the will of the majority may
not be moral: it may favor racism, imperialism or fascism. Second, when there is a clash
between the short-term interests of the populace and the long-term interests of mankind, as
is the case with global warming, the people’s short-term interests become the political
priority. As a result, democratically elected governments in America and elsewhere are
finding it nearly impossible to implement policies that curb energy usage in the interests of
humanity and of future generations.
In China, political Confucians defend an alternative approach: the Way of the Humane
Authority. The question of political legitimacy is central to their constitutional thought.
Legitimacy is not simply what people think of their rulers; it is the deciding factor in
determining whether a ruler has the right to rule. And unlike Western-style democracy,
there is more than one source of legitimacy.
According to the Gongyang Zhuan, a commentary on a Confucian classic, political power
can be justified through three sources: the legitimacy of heaven (a sacred, transcendent
sense of natural morality), the legitimacy of earth (wisdom from history and culture), and
the legitimacy of the human (political obedience through popular will).
In ancient times, Humane Authority was implemented by early Chinese monarchs. But
changes in historical circumstances now necessitate changes in the form of rule. Today, the
will of the people must be given an institutional form that was lacking in the past, though it
should be constrained and balanced by institutional arrangements reflecting the other two
forms of legitimacy.
In modern China, Humane Authority should be exercised by a tricameral legislature: a
House of Exemplary Persons that represents sacred legitimacy; a House of the Nation that
represents historical and cultural legitimacy; and a House of the People that represents
popular legitimacy.
The leader of the House of Exemplary Persons should be a great scholar. Candidates for
membership should be nominated by scholars and examined on their knowledge of the
Confucian classics and then assessed through trial periods of progressively greater
administrative responsibilities – similar to the examination and recommendation systems
used to select scholar-officials in the imperial past. The leader of the House of the Nation
should be a direct descendant of Confucius; other members would be selected from
descendants of great sages and rulers, along with representatives of China’s major
religions. Finally, members of the House of the People should be elected either by popular
vote or as heads of occupational groups.
This system would have checks and balances. Each house would deliberate in its own way
and not interfere in the affairs of the others. To avoid political gridlock arising from
conflicts among the three houses, a bill would be required to pass at least two houses to
become law. To protect the primacy of sacred legitimacy in Confucian tradition the House
of Exemplary Persons would have a final, exclusive veto, but its power would be
constrained by that of the other two houses: for example, if they propose a bill restricting
religious freedom, the People and the Nation could oppose it, stopping it from becoming
law.
Instead of judging political progress simply by asking whether China is becoming more
democratic, Humane Authority provides a more comprehensive and culturally sensitive
way of judging its political progress.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------On a separate piece of paper, answer the following questions.
1- What is the author’s thesis?
2- How does the author support his thesis?
3- How would the author’s vision of a superior government function?
4- Evaluate the author’s conclusions. Do you agree or disagree? Support your answer.
5- Determine the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s thesis. Where might you argue
with the author? Provide your arguments.