Imperial China 221 B C 1911 A D

Imperial China 221 B. C. – 1911 A. D.

China before Qin Dynasty • The “Yellow Emperor” • Xia and Shang Dynasties – 2070 B. C. - 1046 B. C. • Zhou Dynasty – 1046 B. C. - 256 B. C. • “Spring and Autumn” period – 770 B. C. - 476 B. C.

Confucius (551 B. C. -479 B. C. )

Confucianism • Concerned primarily with restoring social stability and order • a system of social and ethical philosophy • li – rituals, norms, institutions, or mores • ren – humaneness, kindness, benevolence, or virtue

Five Relationships • • • father-child ruler-subject husband-wife elder brother-younger brother friend-friend

Qin Dynasty • • 221 B. C. - 206 B. C. Qin Shi Huangdi unified China built a centralized bureaucratic apparatus – prefectures and counties • persecuted Confucianism • Han Dynasty (206 B. C. – 220 A. D. ) promoted Confucianism as state ideology

Civil Service Exam System • 605 A. D. to 1905 A. D. • composition based on Confucian classics

Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644)

China’s Tributary System • Traditional system for managing foreign relations • The ``Middle Kingdom” worldview • Ming dynasty had the most extensive tributary system – tributes from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and even West Asia and Africa

Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912) • Ming dynasty fell in 1644 amid peasant uprisings and Manchu invasion • Manchu and Han Chinese

Ming and Qing Emperors

Mandate of Heaven

Western invasions (1839 -1900) • Opium War (1839 - 1842) • The Second Opium War (1856 - 1860) • Russia’s territorial gains – Northeast China (1858 - 1860) – Northwest China (1881 - 1884) • Sino-French War (1883 - 1885) • Sino-Japanese War (1894 - 95) • 8 -nation forces (1900)

The Treaty System • large amount of indemnity • dozens of treaty ports open to foreign – trade – gunboats – missionaries • territorial losses • tariffs

Weakness fully exposed • Sino-Japanese War of 1894 - 1895 – Chinese navy destroyed – Taiwan ceded to Japan – large indemnity – most-favored-nation – more treaty ports – Korea • start of Japanese empire

The scramble for concessions

The scramble for answers • radicalization of domestic politics • the “Hundred Days of Reform” in 1898 – ambitious reform program • examination system • bureaucracy • modernization – suppressed by conservatives in Qing court • reformist leaders fled to Japan

The Boxer Uprising in 1900 • • Peasants in Northern China support from high officials of Qing court destruction of anything foreign siege of the legation quarter in Beijing

8 -nation forces invaded Beijing • • Harsh settlement station troops in Beijing huge indemnity Russian troops in Manchuria – until 1905

Imperialism in China

Radicalization of politics status quo modern monarchy Qing court Peasants Reformers Revolutionaries republic pre-1841 China Marxism? nationalism?

Legacies of Imperial Era • • enormous size ideological and moral commitment strong personal leadership at the apex nationwide governing bureaucracies – merit-based civil service exam system – combination of executive and judicial power • low status of merchants • culturalism (civilization) v. nationalism