Chinas Political Development

1
Chinas Political Development Outside Contacts

• CHs 16 19
• Strd 7.3

2
Govt of Imperial China

• Emperor
• Line of rulers from one family
• Name relative, usually son as next in line
• Mandate of Heaven
• Basis behind right to govern
• Similar to Europeans Divine Right of Kings
• Remain in power as long as rule well
• natl disasters signs Heaven is displeased

3
Govt of Imperial China

• Bureaucracy highly organized body of workers w/
  many levels of authority
• govt officials
• Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE)?
• Corruption/Dishonesty in Bureaucracy
• High taxes, forced labor, attacks from bandits
• Rise of Warlords
• Fall of dynasty separate kingdoms
• Like Europe after Rome fell

4
Tang Dynasty 618 907 CE

• Aristocracy nobles, wealthy and powerful
  landowners who formed the bureaucracy
• Civil Service Examination
• Created by Han emperors
• To test prove qualifications for govt jobs
• Based on teachings of Confucius
• Excludes all but aristocrats
• Need tutors, books, time to study/prepare
• Scholar-Officials those that passed got jobs

5
Tang Dynasty 618 907 CE

• Foreign Contacts
• Welcomed trade visitors
• Travel made safe along Silk Road
• Trade w/ Central Asian Kingdoms, Persia (Iran),
  Byzantine Empire, Korea, Japan, Indonesia,
  India
• Music, food, sports, etc. influenced by foreign
  cultures

6
Tang Dynasty 618 907 CE

• New Religions tolerated but few converts
• Buddhism gains place _at_ center of Chinese life
• Monks/nuns pay no taxes, run schools, public
  baths, hospitals, lodging
• End of dynasty govt needs
• Seizes Buddhist property
• Shift in trade from Silk Road to sea trade
• Compass improved shipbuilding techniques

7
Song Dynasty 960-1279 CE

• Meritocracy rule by officials chosen for their
  merit
• Scholar-officials reach height
• Jobs open to lower classes
• Exams based on neo-Confucian thought
• Blend Confucian teachings w/ Buddhism Daoism
• Produce rational moral officials maintain
  order
• Govt Jobs respected
• Excused from taxes military service

8
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty 1279-1368 CE

• Government by Foreigners
• Mongol title for leader khan
• Like king or emperor
• Mongol Leader Kublai Khan
• 4 Social Classes
• 1 Mongols 2 foreigners from outside China that
  were friends 3 Northern Chinese 4 Southern
  Chinese

9
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty 1279-1368 CE

• Govt positions
• Relatives of Kublai Khan
• Other Mongols
• Trusted foreigners
• Chinese Scholars
• Only teachers and minor officials
• Other Chinese
• clerks

10
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty 1279-1368 CE

• Exam system
• Eliminated Confucian teachings not needed for
  govt jobs
• 1315 reinstated due to lack of capable
  administrators
• Limited mostly to Mongols non-Chinese

11
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty 1279-1368 CE

• Foreign Contacts Welcomed
• Encouraged cultural exchange
• Mongols respect Merchants
• Actively promote trade
• Food lodging set up every 20 miles on Silk Road
• Foreigners
• Brought knowledge special skills
• Architecture, astronomy, mathematics, medicine,
  H2O management, new calendar, observatory

12
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty 1279-1368 CE

• Role of Foreigners
• High status special privileges
• Travel freely, no taxes, speak foreign languages
• Appointed to govt positions
• Marco Polo Merchant from Venice
• Liked by the khan for stories of his travels
• Inspector around China for 17 years
• Returned home wrote of travels further trade
  by Europeans w/ China

13
Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty 1279-1368 CE

• End of the Dynasty
• Fighting among Mongol leaders
• Greed
• Officials corrupt
• Enemies among native Chinese
• Rebellions rose up
• Reestablish own Chinese govt Ming Dynasty
• Chinese suspicious of further foreign contact

14
Ming Dynasty 1368 1644 CE

• Civil Service Exams
• Used again for govt positions
• Lasts into 20th Century
• Provides well organized govt
• Scholar-Officials helped China
• Moral behavior, justice, kindness, loyalty to
  emperor, proper conduct, importance of family
• Values help unify Chinese culture
• Officials trained talented from all classes

15
Ming Dynasty 1368 1644 CE

• Scholar Officials hurt China
• Confucian scholars limited categories of study
• Exams dont test science, math, or engineering
• knowledgeable people kept out of govt
• Little respect for merchants, business, trade
• Business trade not encouraged
• Merchants considered lowest class
• buy/sell instead of produce useful items

16
Ming Dynasty 1368 1644 CE

• Foreign Contacts
• Others should admit Chinas superiority
• Oldest, largest, most civilized
• Pay tribute to Chinese
• Acknowledge their rulers
• Provide military help
• Allow to trade w/ China
• Ambassadors given valuable gifts
• Allowed to buy/sell _at_ official markets
• Kowtow in submission to emperor

17
Ming Dynasty 1368 1644 CE

• Foreign Contacts Cont.
• Search for more tributaries
• To India, Persian Gulf, east coast of Africa
• 30 locations visited became tributaries
• Fleet of 300 ships 27,000 soldiers, sailors,
  officials, translators, merchants, doctors
• Return w/ exotic animals, medicinal herbs, dyes,
  spices, gems, pearls, ivory etc...

18
Ming Dynasty 1368 1644 CE

• Foreign Contacts Cont.
• Mongol Invasions turning point
• Build 2nd Great Wall to protect people
• Scholar-Officials persuade emperor to stop trips
  to find tributaries
• Rulers want to protect people from foreign
  influence
• Forbid travel outside China govt approve
  contact
• Unified state, single ruler, traditional values

19
Ming Dynasty 1368 - 1644 CE

• End of Dynasty
• Trade Business not encouraged
• Huge Bureaucracy
• Set in ways want uniformity
• Too rigid to adapt/change to new conditions
• Peasant rebellions