Chinese Culture and
Recent Economic Development
( Part I)
By Dr. Ming Men
Visiting Fulbright Scholar
Chinese Culture and Recent
Economic Development
• The land of China
• A glance on Chinese history
• Chinese culture traits
• Chinese culture roots
Chinese Culture and Recent
Economic Development
• Family life
• Education
• Cultural attitudes
• Tips for doing business with China
The land of China
The land of China
• China’s culture, like all others, was
conditioned by the land which nurtured it.
• A large, disparate resource-rich physical
setting produced a large, disparate, self-
sufficient society.
5000 years history
• The land is the stage;
• The people are the cast.
Ancient civilization
• In pre-modern times, technological
inventions and scientific discoveries
depended on the experiences of
craftsmen and farmers, and the
enlightened genius’ casual
observations of nature.
Advanced technology
• Owing to a large population, there
were many able craftsmen, skillful
weavers and geniuses in China.
• The country thus made many
splendid contributions to science and
technology.
An example
The prosperous nation
• China held a leading position in the
fields of scientific discovery,
technological invention, productivity
improvement and wealth creation,
and was the most prosperous
economy in the world.
Ancient Chinese inventions
• Compass
• Dynamite
• Paper making technology
• Printing technology
Earthquake forecasting apparatus
Ancient Chinese “computer”
The closed China
• During the Qing Dynasty before 1840,
China was closed, or more
accurately, it highly controlled its
contacts with the outside world.
Vigorous trade control
• The western merchants could only deal
with a group of government appointed
merchants called ”Gong Hang”.
• The volume of the trade and the prices as
well as the personal activities of western
merchants were also regulated by the
Gong Hang.
Why did China impose such
limitations on trade?
• Chinese sense of superiority.
• The desire to protect itself.
The Opium War
• Despite strict government regulations
foreign trade in China expanded during the
later 18th century and early 19th century.
• As trade grew, the west found themselves
to have a large and rising trade deficit with
China.
• They were increasingly anxious to balance
their trade.
Why opium?
• Yet the Chinese, having a self-sufficient
economy, showed little interest in Western
products.
• Finally, in 1820, the West found a product
which China did not have, opium.
• Between 1829 and 1855, opium smuggling
developed rapidly along China’s South
Coast.
The effect of opium
• In the 1830’s, opium had became a vice in
China.
• Virtually all men under 40 smoked opium.
• The entire army was addicted.
• It affected all classes of people, from rich
merchants to Taoists.
• The total number of addicts in China in the
1830’s was as high as 12 million.
The weakened China
• Due to the smuggle of opium, the trade
deficit Western countries had with China
quickly turned into a trade surplus.
• China could not export enough tea and silk
to balance the trade.
• Instead the difference in trade was made
up by the export of Chinese silver, which
was highly valued for its fine qualities.
Chinese government’s decision
• Faced with this problem, the Chinese
government opened a debate among
Manchus and senior officials.
• The debate lasted for two years, in the
end, a minority group which favored an
uncompromising stand prevailed.
Fighting against opium
• In 1839, the emperor issued 39 articles
which imposed extremely severe
punishments, including death, for smoking
and trading opium.
• Special Commissioner Lin Ze-xu was sent
to Canton to ensure the rules were carried
out.
Lin Ze-xu
• Lin made 1,600 arrests and confiscated
11,00 pounds of opium in two months.
• In June, Lin forced foreign merchants to
hand over 20,000 chests of opium.
• He burned the opium in a public
demonstration and scattered the ashes
across the sea.