Download 1 Historical Background Four Dynastic Eras

Historical Background
Middle Kingdom centered
on Yellow River.
World’s longest
continuous civilization:
– 8000 years (at least) of
cultural artifacts
Yangshao, Longshan
pottery cultures
– 4000 years of good
written history.
Four Dynastic Eras
Three Ancient Dynasties: Xia/Shang/Zhou (2000 yrs)
Early Empire: Qin/Han Dynasties (450), followed by 350
yrs of division, many assorted kingdoms
Middle Empire: Sui/Tang Dynasties (300), followed by
50 yrs
Late Empire:
– Song Dynasty (300 yrs)
Conquered by Mongols (Yuan Dynasty, lasting 100 yrs)
– Ming Dynasty (300 yrs)
Conquered by Manchus (Qing Dynasty, lasting 250 yrs)
Modern Period:
– Republic of China (1911-1949)
– People’s Republic of China (1949-present)
San Dai – Three Ancient Dynasties
Xia (2200-1600 BCE)
– Arose in Henan & Shanxi.
– Ruling family, ritual and force.
Shang (1700-1000 BCE)
– Arose in Shandong, bronze technology
Zhou [Chou] Dynasty (1100-221 BCE)
– Arose in Shaanxi, conquered Shang
– Western Zhou ended in 771 with sack of capital
– Eastern Zhou (770-403):
Spring & Autumn Period (722-481)
Warring States Period (403-221)
– Feudal, decentralized states, ceremonial rulers.
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China in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties
Early Empire
Empire unified in 221 BC by Ying Zheng, known as Qin Shi
Huangdi. This was the Qin Dynasty.
– Unification, widespread standardization, harsh government built on
terror, legalist philosophy, elimination of aristocracy, massive
building projects, weak successor overthrown by peasant rebellion.
Han Dynasty, 206 BCE - 220 CE, by rebel Liu Bang
– Western and Eastern Han broken up by Xin Dynasty of Wang Meng.
– Rise of new aristocracy, elimination of primogeniture.
– Economic and territorial expansion, population grew to 60 million,
about a third of the entire world population.
– Confucianism became official imperial philosophy.
– Technologies: canals, irrigation, drought-resistant rice, crop rotation,
intertillage, terracing, textiles, silk, mining, pottery, paper.
– Silk road developed, many tributary states, envoys from Rome.
Three Kingdoms, Western Jin, Northern and Southern
Dynasties, and so on – economy, population collapsed.
China in the Qin and Han Dynasties
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Middle Empire
China reunited by Emperor Wen of
the Sui Dynasty in 581. Construction
of Grand Canal, redistribution of land,
military expansion, harsh rule, and fourth
emperor murdered by generals.
Tang Dynasty (618-906). China’s
most cosmopolitan dynasty. Buddhism
dominant, role of women prominent,
international trade expanded, population
recovered to 53 million by 754.
Dynastic Cycle: power struggles, weak emperor, high cost of
aristocracy, bureaucracy and military, rising population, pressure on
land, rents, food prices. Rising tax rates on peasants, but tax
avoidance or exemptions for aristocracy. Free peasants became
tenants or slaves, and tax collections fell so tax rates rose again.
Peasants revolt, population falls, dynasty is undermined and
overthrown by powerful interests. Collapse of state, and chaos.
The Silk Road
Late Empire, Part 1
After fifty years of chaos – known as the Five Dynasties &
Ten Kingdoms period, China reunited by Song Dynasty.
Relatively weak state, but China’s Greatest Age. Song weakened
military power but improved military technology (gunpowder,
grenades, etc.), replaced aristocracy with gentry under examination
system for civil service. Dynastic cycle ended.
Neoconfucianism became official philosophy.
Land taxes converted to trade and salt taxes, paper currency
developed, technologies improved, economic prosperity improved,
population rose to 100 million by 1124 (again, a third of the world).
Northern Song centered in Kaifeng, fought northern Khitan (Qidan,
a.k.a. the Liao Dynasty) and then defeated by northern Jurchen
(Ruzhen, a.k.a. Jin Dynasty) in 1126.
Southern Song centered in Hangzhou, military expenses rose and taxes
fell, first hyperinflation, Song defeated by Mongols in 1275.
Khubilai Khan established Yuan Dynasty. Mongols originally
intended only plunder, but learned to rule as Chinese. Built capital in
Beijing (known as Dadu). Marco Polo told stories about long visit to
China.
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China in the Song Dynasty
Late Empire, Part 2
The Mongol Yuan Dynasty was overthrown by the monk Zhu
Yuanzheng (Emperor Hongwu), who established the Ming
Dynasty and put his capital in Nanjing.
Population rose back to 80m by 1400, 100m by 1500, and 120m by
1650. China now only a fifth of world population.
Emperor ruled directly, centralized government less responsive, more
xenophobic and conservative. Military buildup focused on nomadic
tribes.
Voyages of Zheng He (1405-1430) stopped, records burnt.
Consolidation of “single whip” taxes focused on land. Inadequate money
supply for expanding trade, emergence of silver.
Arrival of foreigners in 1600s, reliance on trade for silver, and then
collapse of trade set off rising taxes and peasant rebellions.
Manchus asked for assistance in suppressing rebellion, but stayed.
Manchu invaders established Qing Dynasty in 1644,
essentially continuing Ming policies with a Manchu layer on
top. Chinese forced to wear queues as sign of obedience.
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China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
China’s Population
By 1850, China had over 400 million people,
again a third of the world’s population of 1.2
billion. How was China able to maintain and
feed such a large population?
According to UNR History Professor Hugh
Shapiro, there are several reasons China had so
many people:
Medicine
Technology
Hygiene
Highly efficient land use
Efficient premodern agriculture
In 1949, China’s population was 450 million,
only 18% of the world’s 2.5 billion.
Medicine
Hugh’s specialty is the
history of Chinese
medicine, and he
argues that it was
much more advanced
than medicine in the
West until the last
Century, though also
very different.
Acupuncture, herbal
medicine.
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Hygiene: habitual boiling of
water for tea drinking
China has long used its land intensively
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China’s Advances
China was known as the source of porcelain and pottery,
tea, and silk, of course.
Ancient Chinese invented many things before the West,
including the compass, papermaking, printing,
gunpowder, the shadow clock, the abacus, the
seismometer, and the crossbow.
In the 1200s, China produced much more pig iron than
England did in the 1700s. They used natural gas for fuel,
and could deep mine. They also invented the iron plow,
the propeller, the suspension bridge, the parachute, the
seed drill, and the double-action piston pump.
This is a terra cotta soldier
from the tomb of the first
Qin Emperor, from 2200
years ago.
He carried a crossbow.
Deep drilling for salt and
natural gas, circa 100 AD
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The
double
action
piston
bellows
China’s Decline
Until at least 1750, the Middle Kingdom was the
world’s most advanced society and economy.
Large population: cheap abundant labor, premodern
agricultural technologies, gentry-supported backwardlooking imperial state, Malthusian tensions.
By 1850, China was in decline – relatively and
absolutely, economically and demographically.
Called the “sick man of Asia” and dominated by small
foreign countries.
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