Essay about Change and Continuity in China

There can be no denying that the first half of the 20th century was such an important period in Chinese history. Within the span of 38 years, China overthrew two different national governments. In 1911, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and the Republic of China (ROC) took its place. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China would replace the ROC. Though both were revolutions, there were significant factors that differentiated the two.

China remains a current world super power that has been around for thousands of years. It was one of the first civilizations ever created and it has evolved into an enormous country. China is a large territory, but only 10% of the land can be farmed on. This continues to be a tremendous problem, especially with the large population that mostly lives in rural areas. In the past China was seen as a fragile nation that was still stuck in the past, although after the Four Humiliations this began to change. The Four Humiliations were a group of events that forced China to modernize due to the losses it faced. After the last of the four humiliations and the fall of the dynasty era during 1911, China began to catch up to the westernized world by modernizing their government, military, and education. The Chinese

The Chinese people have experienced rapid change, in government and culture in the 20th century. Although the common people seemed to have risen up against oppression from the ruling class, liberty and equality often remains out of their grasp. For centuries the dynastic cycle has dominated the culture and collective consciousness of the Chinese people. This process is characterized by unification, followed by prosperity and success, followed by corruption and instability, and finally rebellion and overthrow. This gives way to a new dynasty that was said to have received the mandate of heaven. This cycle, in some ways, ended with the fall of the Qing dynasty. This marked the end of over 2000 years of

The Qin dynasty was perhaps one of the most revolutionary governments in the ancient world, but not in the modern progressive connotation of that concept. The Qin Emperor, Shi Huangdi, and his court executed an unprecedented departure from the Confucian ideals of the Benevolent and unobtrusive ruler and established a much more autocratic and centralized government. This new method of rule and philosophic thought was known as Legalism, which surfaced as a response to a time of great political instability. Therefore, Legalism promoted values that opposed those championed by Confucian thought, such as decisiveness, a lack of trust, and severe punishment, qualities that are reflected in The Legalist Teachings. "Changing the Laws" in one such passage in this document that stresses the importance of acting with confidence stating how "those who hesitate to act accomplish nothing" ¨ (Ebrey, Legalist Teachings, pg. 32).

The 19th century had sparked a time period of bloody revolution, social and political reform, and both economic and financial problems for China. Though the cause of many of these problems could be rooted to internal conflict, foreign influence on Chinese ways proved to be disastrous. During the early 19th century the population was growing, the economy seemed stable and generally people seemed content with China’s economic progress. However these feelings of success would soon end as overpopulation would cause widespread poverty and famine. At that point in time China’s rulers had been Manchu; the Qing dynasty had been in rule but even its

China expanded its RRR a few periods so as to keep its control on expansion ratio as it transformed its RRR ordinarily at 2011 as the Open Market Operations were insufficient to assimilate liquidity.

Under Wu-ti China saw a great cultural flowering and produced China's greatest historian Ssu-man Ch'ien the most estemmed Han poet Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju and the most infulential Han philosopher Tung Chung-shu. Confucian ideals were re-adopted , schools were formed for teaching of Confucian ways, and it was the beginning of the civil service exams. With the end of Wu-ti, the dynasty began to decline and he was succeded by a number of inferior Han rulers, who were often seen as crule. It would seem that

If current trends continue, China may be the world’s largest economy by 2020. Discuss the possible implications of such a development for (a) the world trading system, (b) the world monetary system (c) the business strategy of today’s European and U.S. global corporations, and (d) global commodity prices.

As many other countries around the world China has its long history of a struggle for equality and prosperity against tyrants and dictatorships. The establishment of People’s Republic of China in 1949 seemed to have put an end to that struggle for a better life. “The Chinese people have stood up!” declared Mao Tse-tung, the chairman of China’s Communist Party (CPP) – a leading political force in the country for the time. The people were defined as a coalition of four social classes: the workers, the peasants, the petite bourgeoisie and the national-capitalists. The four classes were to be led buy the CPP, as the leader of the working class.

China has about five thousand years history which is a very long period of time. Also, the Chinese civilization was growing with these periods of time and it will continues greater than ever. Many wars and unhappinesses were happening during this period. Although, the time has passed, the histories and the civilizations have not passed. These family virtues, serious, working attitudes, sense of justice and the great Confucian tradition have been deeply assimilated into the Chinese people. Some Chinese traditions are different from North American’s. The Chinese culture has many special characteristics which are very interesting for people to learn.

China was well-known as one of the longest serving dynasties of the world, and after the end of the Qing Dynasty, it began its evolution into a flourishing economy. During this period where different regimes came into power, three fundamental pillars were used to sustain the imperial system of government. These components contributed to China’s reputation in technological innovations as wells as its economic growth in the earlier centuries (Bergsten, 2008). When the Qing dynasty collapsed as a result of several contributing factors, the Chinese economy was derailed. The government, therefore, found it necessary to identify a working strategy for the development and growth of the economy in response to the growing population needs.

Having a historical record of over three thousand years, China is considered as one of the few countries with a significant continuous civilization. Before the twentieth century, it was under the rule of various dynasties. “The Xia dynasty was the first dynasty to rule in the country” (Tanner 35). The bureaucratic systems of these regimes resulted to the agrarian civilization that was much better off than the existing nomadic cultures. “Through the entire period from the 1990s, the country has regained its effectiveness towards both legal and economic reforms prioritized by the government, enabling it to focus more on the improvement of criminal law system as well as in the modernization of the legal personnel” (Niu and State Information

In Hunan Province in 1893 there was to be the birth of the founder of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong (Britannica, 2014). Known for his controversial methods, he was to be a memorable historical figure, as China entered communism under his rule, with his strategies unforgettable for some. Mao’s communist successor, Deng Xiaoping, was also a very recognisable leader and probably the second most notable leader in China only after Mao (Telegraph, 1997). Deng was born in Sichuan province in 1904 and became a Paramount leader for China in 1978. Both were profound leaders in China’s history and had strong impacts on its society through different reform policies, leading to economic growth and have influenced how China is to this day.

The financial crisis in 2008, having resulted from a tremendous bubble in the real estate market as well as highly leveraged banks and governments, has now become a debt crisis and is still an important in political discussions worldwide. Numerous employees have lost their jobs, many companies went bankrupt; nevertheless, there seemed to be one country that stroke off all difficulties and continued growing at an outstanding rate. In 2009 China’s GDP grew by 9% (www.cia.gov), while all other economies faced severe recessions. For many economists, China is an example for superior economic growth despite state-controlled industries and only limited opening of the market. But recently the number of critics has been increasing and there is much

Since initiating market reforms in 1978, China has shifted from a centrally-planned to a market-based economy and has experienced rapid economic growth at 10%. With a population of 1.3 billion, China is the second largest economy by nominal GDP (IMF estimates, 2017) and is increasingly playing an important and influential role in development and in the global economy. US has played the role of world's largest economy for more than a century. US is a highly developed mixed economy, with the largest nominal GDP (IMF estimates, 2017). However, both the IMF and the World Bank now rate China as the world’s largest economy based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). And it won’t be too long before China’s economy surpasses the US’s by other