China:Ancient Times to Imperialism

Answer questions in this color USING COMPLETE SENTENCES

on page 46 of your SS Notebook.

CHINA’S GEOGRAPHY• Nearly identical

size as Europe• Major River Valleys

(Yellow, Yangtze)• Climate diversity• Himalayas• Deserts (Gobi,

etc.)• Central location

(Borders several countries)

#1: Make a list of key points to remember about China’s Geography.

CHINA’S LONG HISTORY• Dates back thousands of years.• Qin Shi Huangdi (221-210 BCE)– First to unite most of China– Started construction of Great Wall– Terracotta Army

#2: Who is considered the first Emperor of China? When did he rule? What are some of his legacies?

AFTER THE QIN DYNASTY• Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE)– Connected to Europe via Silk Roads

• Tang Dynasty

(618 CE to 907 CE)

• Song Dynasty

(960 CE to 1279 CE)

#3: How did China and Europe trade before the Age of Exploration?

CHINESE INVENTIONS• Until the Scientific Revolution, China was generally had more advanced

technology than Europe or most of the rest of the world.• Compass (200s BCE)• Canals with locks (900s)• Paper (100s CE)• Woodblock Printing (600s CE)• Moveable Type Printing (1000s CE)• Porcelain (100s CE)• Steel (200 BCE)• Gunpowder (800s CE)• Mechanical Clock (700s CE)• Smallpox Innoculation (900s CE)#4: What were some of the great inventions of ancient and medieval China?

YUAN and MING• Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)– China was conquered by the Mongolians under the leadership of

Genghis Khan• Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)– Rebuilt China– Forbidden City (Beijing)– Confucian Civil

Service Exams– Great Wall– Voyages of Exploration

#5: Who ruled China during the Yuan Dynasty? (dates)#6: What did the Ming Dynasty accomplish? (dates)

COLLAPSE OF THE MING• As the Ming Dynasty began to collapse, there was a peasant

revolt. – The leaders raged across the countryside, wiping away the Ming Dynasty.– A Ming general, stationed near the Great Wall near the border with

Manchuria asked his old enemies, the Manchurians to help fight off the rebels.

– The Manchurians accepted.– Upon crossing the Great Wall, the Manchurians

found that China was weak…– The Manchurians conquered China and set up

China’s last dynasty, the Qing Dynasty.

#7: How did the Manchurians (not ethnic Chinese) manage to conquer China and start the Qing Dynasty?

QING DYNASTY CHINA• Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)– Adopted Chinese Confucian-style of government.– Split administrative positions

evenly between Manchurians (2% of population) and Han

Chinese (main Chinese ethnicity).

– Forced Chinese men to wear hair in Manchu style as a

sign of Manchurian superiority.#8: When did the Qing Dynasty begin and end? What did the Manchu Dynasty do to make the Chinese accept them as leaders? What did they do that made the Chinese dislike them?

COMPARISON WITH EUROPE

CHINA EUROPE (total)SIZE (2013) 9.7 mil sq km 10.1 mil sq kmPOPULATION

1700 200 million 120 million1800 300 million 200 million2013 1,344 million 740 million

China’s “sphere of influence” extended well beyond their borders to many “tributary states.”

#9: How big (in all senses of the word) is/was China? Explain.

EARLY CONTACT WITH THE WEST

• Marco Polo (late 13th century)• Russian traders in North (Manchurian border)• 1514 – 1st Portuguese ship– At first expelled because of

rudeness, later allowed to set up base in Macao.

• 1699 – British set up base at Canton (Guangzhou).– Ships only allowed to come from Oct-Mar

#10: How did China limit trade with Europeans before the Industrial Revolution?

LORD MACARTNEY’S MISSION

• In 1793 Britain sent Lord Macartney to request the formal opening of diplomatic and trade relations between Britain and China.

• After watching the video we will pause to read Emperor Qianlong’s reply to King George III of Britain to learn more about how the Chinese viewed other nations and their place in the world.

• (Pause to show video on Qianlong and Britain)#11: Create a rough translation of Emperor Qianlong’s letter to King George III.

BRITISH OPIUM• Britain began importing opium into China.• Opium was an addictive drug grown in India (which the

British controlled as part of their empire).• On the next few screens we will read a

letter from a Chinese government official to Britain’s Queen Victoria asking her to stop the importation of opium into China.

#12: Explain how opium came to China.

Lin Zexu’s Letter to Queen Victoria (edited)

The kings of your honorable country have always been noted for their politeness and submissiveness. Your country has profited from trade with China for 200 years. This is the source from which your country has become known for its wealth. But there appear among the crowd of barbarians both good and bad people. There are those who smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people and cause the spread of poision to all provinces…#13: How did Chinese leaders think of Europeans?#14: What are some of the reasons that China believed the opium trade should be stopped?

Lin Zexu’s Letter to Queen Victoria (edited)

The wealth of China is used to profit the barbarians. By what right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people? Where is your conscience? The smoking of opium is strictly forbidden by your country because the harm caused is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your country, then you should not let it harm others—especially China!

#13: How did Chinese leaders think of Europeans?#14: What are some of the reasons that China believed the opium trade should be stopped?

Lin Zexu’s Letter to Queen Victoria (edited)

Of all that China exports to foreign countries, there is not a single thing which is not beneficial to people. Take tea and porcelain, for example: the foreign countries cannot get along without them. On the other hand, the items coming from outside China can only be used as toys. We can take them or get along without them. Nevertheless, our Celestial Court lets tea, silk, and other goods be shipped without limit. This is for no other reason but to share the benefit with the people of the whole world.(Lin then asks Queen Victoria to end the opium trade…)#13: How did Chinese leaders think of Europeans?#14: What are some of the reasons that China believed the opium trade should be stopped?

THE OPIUM WAR• Lin Zexu’s letter and a Chinese crackdown on the flow of

opium led Britain to send its navy to China.• (Copy down Qs

15 and 16 before we watch the video)

• (Pause to show video on the Opium War)

#15: What caused the Opium War?#16: What was the result of the Opium War?

After the Opium War• The Opium War was the beginning of the end of

traditional China…– China was no longer the most powerful empire, no longer the

center of the world.• 1853-1863: Taiping Rebellion– Peasant rebellion. Dynasty

couldn’t stop it for a long time because too busy dealing with Europeans.

– 20 million died.#17: Why was the Opium War “the beginning of the end” for traditional China?

FURTHER CONCESSIONS• 1860—Britain and France captured Beijing– During the Taiping Rebellion– Forced more concessions in the Treaty of Tianjin• Legalized opium• Open more ports to foreigners• Gave Hong Kong and Kowloon peninsula to Britain• Russia gained territory in Northern China

• China gradually lost more and more territory– Also lost control of “tributary” states (Southeast Asia, Korea,

etc.)#18: How did Europeans gain even more power over China in 1860?

Spheres of Influence

#19: Make a rough map of China, showing how it had been divided into “Spheres of Influence” for the competing European nations.

SHOULD CHINA REFORM?• Some in China argued that they should begin to reform

their government, military, economy, and technological programs along a European model.– Because they need to compete with Europe.

• Others said China needed to stick to its traditions and work to kick the foreigners out.

• The Empress Dowager Cixi took control from her nephew when he tried to pass reforms.

Consider/Discuss: Should China have reformed or not? Or, was it already too late?

“Open Door Policy”• 1899 – US Secretary of State, John Hay proposes the “Open

Door Policy” to other imperialist powers.

• Basically, he proposed that they should help keep the

Chinese Empire alive, and all share equally in

access to China.• Others weren’t too excited about

the idea.

#20: What was the “Open Door Policy?” What country proposed this idea?

THE BOXER REBELLION• (watch the video on the Open

Door Policy and the Boxer Rebellion to answer Q20—Copy down the Q now.)

#21: What was the Boxer Rebellion? When did it occur? Why? What was the result?

THE QING DYNASTY COLLAPSES

• Empress Dowager Cixi began reforms– “too little, too late.”– Peasants found them useless—formed

Boxer-like secret societies.– Chinese business leaders were upset when

she used foreign firms to build railroads.• 1908—Empress and her nephew die.– Leaves Puyi, a three-year-old, as the

Emperor…the last Emperor of China.

#22: Who was the last Emperor of China?

SUN YAT-SEN and the 1911 REVOLUTION

• Sun Yat-Sen united radical groups under his Three People’s Principles:– Nationalism (kick out the Manchurians)– Democracy– People’s Livelihood

• 1911—The Qing Dynasty falls, and the Republic of China begins.

• (Note: we’ll learn more about what happened to China afterwards when we study WWII and the Cold War.)

#23: When did the Qing Dynasty end? Who led the Revolution and what were his big ideas?