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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 1After 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 2The 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 PopulationBy 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, premodernagricultural technologies, gentry-supported backward-looking 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.