China 's Attitude Towards The West

Before the arrival of western powers, China was very stable, agricultural, and ethnocentric. They had many factories that produced silk, cotton, and porcelain with their natural resources: salt, tin, silver, and iron mines. They had no interest of trade or interaction with foreigners. From the early eighteenth century, European and American Imperialism spread throughout China with a goal to extend their nation’s power. China was one of many territories that undertook the changes of New Imperialism. By 1912, the country was governed by outside nations: Great Britain (mostly), Russia, Germany, France, and Japan. Their influence on China resulted malignantly on the country’s economy, political ties, and lifestyle; in spite of the few

While under the rule of the Emperor Qianlong, China’s foreign policy and trade was beginning to unfold and open up to Europe. Qianlong, however, still maintained a strict and regulated administration of all foreign trade and foreign ability to exist within China. “ It is true that Europeans, in the service of the dynasty, have been permitted to live at Peking, but they are compelled to adopt Chinese dress, they are strictly confined to their own precincts and are never permitted to return home.” All outside interactions with China could only be permitted if ‘in the

China has changed in certain ways and remained the same in others from the early Golden Ages to the late 1900s. China has experienced a series of cultural and political transformations, shaping the lives of many Chinese citizens. Culturally, the country’s art and literature hardly changed for almost eight hundred years. Along with their culture, China remained politically the same from the beginning of the Golden Ages all the way until the 1800s. On the other hand, China’s government and society were restructured after new leaders took over. From a monarch to total communism, China’s society had a multitude of new ideas and policies they had to adapt to.

This had led to British completely outmuscling the Chinese with their far superior technology, as well as forcing the Chinese into a treaty that opened up numerous ports in China, allowed Westerners to move to China, as well as pay reparations to the British. This utter defeat showed the Chinese that they needed to adapt, and our second document, a map forecasting the partition of China amongst various nations, showed them that they needed to make those changes quick. All of this led to arguments between groups who felt China needed to self-strengthen and those who feared the increasing influence of Western ideals that could be brought on by learning more about the West in order to better defend against it. This is shown in our third document on self-strengtheners, such as Feng Guifen who argues for youths to be taught in Western languages and sciences in order to best defend against them. This document shows further the nationalism within China, as well as the importance of traditions, ideals, and values, as both sides argue their points based on protecting them from Western

Since 1899, America has maintained an open door policy with China. Throughout the years, relations between the United States and China have changed with several effects on both countries caused by the open door policy.

China has been a communist country. Despite persistent debate over an extended period of time, the question whether which Chinese government is the most responsive to its people has never been permanently settled. However, I dare to claim that Qing Dynasty was the most open and receptive to its people among several Chinese governments. Some people might contend that Republic of China, Warlords, and Chinese Communist Party were the most responsive to its people. However, a close examination throughout this essay will clearly reveal the fallacious nature of their argument. My line of reasoning will derive its support from the most fundamental sources of human wisdom and history.

22.  What political and cultural differences stand out in the histories of fifteen century China and Western Europe?  What similarities are apparent?  Why?

In order to better understand the criticism against these Chinese writers, we must first understand what is meant by orientalist thinking or orientalism for that matter. One of the authorities on the subject, Edward Said explains the term "Orientalism" and tackles the question of East and

McNeil is also critical of Landes’ preoccupation in the happenings of Europe alone, while remaining dismissive of all economic and technological accomplishments of China after 1 000 A.D. While Landes dismisses the economic demise of China as a “weird pattern of isolated initiatives and Sisyphean discontinuities,” McNeil instead portrays the rapid innovations of the Sung era, and how they were damaged and disrupted by Mongol conquests and contained within the Ming dynasty, thereby showing that Europe did not surpass Europe in achievement due to their own pre-eminence.

1. Trade rights and religious perceptions affected how Matteo Ricci viewed relations with china by taking a different strategy than the other missionaries. “…the Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) encouraged his followers to immerse themselves in the language and to become conversant with the rich traditions of Chinese literature (Source 21.2, Ricci, Matteo, in Patterns of World History, Vol. 2, p. S21-4)”. Instead of limiting their training in Chinese language and culture and focusing merely on the conversion of the poor, the Jesuits instead immersed themselves in the Chinese language and high culture of the empire. They gained recognition through their advanced knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, military science and other European learning required by the imperial

China and Japan had similar but different experiences with the Western civilization. China and Japan reacted differently to the Western nations and it was China’s reactions to the West that would break the Chinese’s isolation leaving their traditions behind. The Industrial trade in Europe and the United States had created a gap between Asia and the West, This left china and Japan far behind technologically and they were not able to stand up against the western nations and although at different times China and Japan both ended up having to sign unequal treaties, and to open their ports for merchants.

Both Japan and China lie in the East of Asia. ‪To a certain extent，Japan and China own similar culture background, in the Confucian Cultural Circle. But when we look back into the modern history development, Japan and China made quite different decisions when facing the western countries’ aggression. China suffered the invasion in 1840 after the first Sino-British War. Japan was in a similar situation in the black boat incident in 1853, the Opium War made the West began to pay attention to East Asia. From then on, Japan began to face the western culture. ‬The reactions, as well as the result of Japan and China were quite disparate. This article wants to discuss what lead to the difference. ‬‬

Ho-fung Hung’s work attempts to reconcile the widespread expectation that China’s rise would lead to a fundamental change in the global status quo with the observed fact that China has become increasingly connected to and one with the global status quo. To do this, he must first examine China’s rise and prove that it upholds the global status quo, and further must look into the origins of China’s rise, going back to the 13th century, to understand why this rise seemingly changed so little about the global world order.

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.

East and west. The relationship between the two has never been truly set in stone. Both Europe and Asia have been through many large-scale power shifts throughout the millennia. Empires have risen – and inevitably been razed. If not by conquerors, then by time itself. These empires were often led by those who yearned to increase their land and holdings, and because of this the tendrils of civilization often stretched to seek uncharted territory. This undying curiosity eventually culminated in what is now referred to as the “Age of Discovery,” which spanned from the 1500s to the 1800s. By the beginning of the 20th century, most of the world’s lands had already been discovered. Trade links between China and Europe had been around since the Hellenic Age. And in the year 1900 it had been 124 years since the founding of the United States of America. Cross the Pacific Ocean, and one would find themselves face-to-face with the United States’ distant neighbor, East Asia. In East Asia, two of the most historically significant nations are China and Japan. For a number of reasons, – which will be detailed further later on – the early 1900s were a somewhat tumultuous time for both of said nations. The 20th century was by and large a time of political and economic power consolidation for both China and Japan. It is arguable that the United States played an integral role in this consolidation. The interactions between the United States, China, and Japan highlight a time when the way that