The P.R.C.
Dec 31, 2015
Geography 20% of world’s population
Middle KingdomGeographic isolation causes ethnocentrism
Cultural Isolation Population Density
80% live on eastern 10% of land
Percentages of Percentages of Different LandformsDifferent Landforms
Percentages of Percentages of Different LandformsDifferent Landforms
Rivers Huang He
1st civilizationChina’s SorrowLoess
Yangtze RiverProvide fish, irrigation, hydropower, living space and transportation
The Polluted Yellow The Polluted Yellow RiverRiver
The Polluted Yellow The Polluted Yellow RiverRiver
Population Density
““Brown” China vs. Brown” China vs. “Green” China“Green” China
““Brown” China vs. Brown” China vs. “Green” China“Green” China
Rice DominantW
heat
Dom
inan
t
Pasture and Oasis
Double-crop rice
Fuels, Power, Minerals, & Fuels, Power, Minerals, & Metals in ChinaMetals in China
Fuels, Power, Minerals, & Fuels, Power, Minerals, & Metals in ChinaMetals in China
Belief Systems
Confucius philosophy Creates basis of culture
Family most important Human nature is good Duty is to obey Filial Piety
Neolithic 3,000 B.C. 1,500 B.C.
Shang 1523 B.C. – 1028 B.C.
Chou 1027 B.C. – 256 B.C.
Ch’in 221 B.C. - 206 B.C.
Han 206 B.C.-220A.D.
Sui 581-618
T’ang 618-906
Sung 960-1279
Yuan(Mongol) 1280-1365
Ming 1368 - 1644
Ch’ing (Manchu) 1644-1912
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221-206 B.C.E.
Established China’s first empire Shi Huangdi (221-206 B.C.E) Legalist rule
Bureaucratic administration Centralized control Military expansion Book burnings --> targetedConfucianists
Buried protestors alive! Built large section of the Great
Wall
- Feudal System
Merchants
Peasants
War Lords
EmperorNobles
The Great Wall - 200 B.C.
- keep foreigners out
Dynastic Rule (1200-1912)
Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.
“People of the Han” --> original Chinese
Paper invented [105 B.C.E.]
Silk Road trade develops; improves life for many
Buddhism introduced into China
Expanded into Central Asia
Liu Sheng Tomb (d. 113 BCE)
His jade suit has 2498 pieces!
Sui Dynasty, 581-618 C.E.Sui Dynasty, 581-618 C.E. “Land
Equalization” System –> land redistribution.
Unified coinage. Grand Canal
constructed. Established an
army of professional soldiers.
People were overworked and overtaxed!
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.
Imperial examination system perfected.
Liberal attitude towards all religions. Spread of
Buddhism in China Golden Age of foreign
relations with other countries. Japan, Korea,
Persia
Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.Tang Dynasty, 618-907 C.E.
New technologies: Printing --> moveable print Porcelain Gunpowder Mechanical clocks
More cosmopolitan culture.
Reestablished the safety of the Silk Road.
Tea comes into China from Southeast Asia.
Foot-Binding in Tang ChinaFoot-Binding in Tang China
Broken toes by 3 years of age.
Size 5 ½ shoe on the left
Song [Sung] Dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.Song [Sung] Dynasty, 960-1279 C.E.
Creation of an urban, merchant, middle class.
Increased emphasis on education & cheaper availability of printed books.
Magnetic compass makes China a great sea power!
The MONGOLS [“Golden Horde”]The MONGOLS [“Golden Horde”]
Temujin --> Genghis Khan [“Universal Ruler”] 1162 - 1227 from the steppe [dry, grass-covered plains of
Central Asia]
The MONGOLS [“Golden Horde”]The MONGOLS [“Golden Horde”]
Genghis Khan’s Tax Laws: If you do not pay homage,
we will take your prosperity. If you do not have prosperity,
we will take your children. If you do not have children,
we will take your wife. If you do not have a wife,
we will take your head. Used cruelty as a weapon --
> some areas never recovered from Mongol destruction!
Mongol Rule
1.Mongols Unite China under Genghis Khan
2.Build capital at Beijing
3.Marco Polo visits and finds noodles, gunpowder, ice cream and coal.
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.
Kublai Khan [1260-1294] Pax Mongolica
[“Mongol Peace”] Tolerated Chinese culture
but lived apart from them. No Chinese in top govt.
posts. Believed foreigner were
moretrustworthy.
Encouraged foreign trade & foreign merchants to live and work in China. Marco Polo
Marco Polo’s TravelsMarco Polo’s Travels
A Venetian merchant who traveled through Yuan China: 1271-1295
“Black Stones” [coal]
Gunpowder.
Noodles.
Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 C.E.
The Black Plague was spread by the Mongols in the mid-14c.
Sent fleets against Japan. 1281 --> 150,000 warriors Defeated by kamikazi [“winds of the
gods”]
Kublai Khan experienced several humiliating defeats in Southeast Asia late in his life.
Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 C.E.Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 C.E.
Golden Age of Chinese Art Moderation Softness Gracefulness
Three different schools ofpainting developed.
Hundreds of thousands ofworkers constructed theForbidden City.
Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho)Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho)
Ming “Treasure Fleet” Each ship 400’ long & 160’
wide China’s “Columbus?”
1371-1435
Admiral Zheng He’s VoyagesAdmiral Zheng He’s Voyages First Voyage: 1405-1407 [62 ships; 27,800 men].
Second Voyage: 1407-1409 [Ho didn’t go on this trip].
Third Voyage: 1409-1411 [48 ships; 30,000 men]. Fourth Voyage: 1413-1415 [63 ships; 28,500
men]. Fifth Voyage: 1417-1419 Sixth Voyage: 1421-1422
Emperor Zhu Gaozhi cancelled future trips and ordered ship builders and sailors to stop work.
Seventh Voyage: 1431-1433 Emperor Zhu Zhanji resumed the voyages in 1430 to
restore peaceful relations with Malacca & Siam 100 ships and 27,500 men; Cheng Ho died on the return trip.
Manchu Dynasty(1644-1912) No European had visited China since Marco Polo
China had products that Europe wantedPorcelain, silk, jade and tea
Pre-Industrial Revolution Pre 1800s British had unfavorable balance of trade strict limits on foreign traders.
China enjoyed a trade surplus, exporting more than it imported. Westerners had a trade deficit with China, buying more from the
Chinese than they sold to them
Opium War 1839-1842 British smuggle opium Chinese become addicted Chinese gov. resent opium trade destroys 20,000 chests of opium
Opium War - Results 1842 - Treaty of
Nanjing Chinese pay
indemnities British receive
several trading ports Britain gains Hong
Kong Extra-territoriality
granted to British citizens living in China
Decline of Manchu
Irrigation systems neglected= massive flooding of Huang He valley.
The population explosion = hardship for China’s peasants.
Continued Chinese isolation Political corruption
Taiping Rebellion - 1850-64
Peasants revolt against: high taxes needed to pay for Opium War
gov.’s failure to control opium and foreigners
Westerners help weak Manchu put down rebellion
Over 40 million Chinese killed
Hundred Days of Reform
-China loses Sino-Japanese War (1895)
-Emperor launched reforms: - western education- public school system- westernization of Chinese
government- reform of the army
Empress Dowager returned to power
Boxer Rebellion 1899-1900
Boxers =Righteous Harmonious Fists
Rebel against foreign control and lose Foreign technology
too strong Beijing under
foreign control Forced to
modernize
Chinese Civil War Sun Yixan tries to form
republic Three Principles of the
People: Nationalism – no foreigners Democracy – end dynastic rule Livelihood – economic
prosperity Sun dies Chiang takes over but loses
civil war to communists in 1949