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

• born in 551 B.C.

• died in 479 B.C.

In China Today

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, South 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

Qing court Reformers

Peasants Revolutionaries

status quo

pre-1841 China

modern monarchy

republic

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