China 's Influence On The China Of The 21st Century

China is a very influential world power and has been for many years. The Classical and Post-Classical years in China were a time of achievement and advancement, especially in the religious movement. Post-Classical and Classical China were very important historical periods, and their religions, and the effect of them on the world around them highlighted that importance.

Throughout the development of Chinese history, dynasties or ruling families, have had major effects on China’s social, political and economic systems. For instance, several notable dynasties include the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasty. Nevertheless, the sentiment favoring a certain dynasty led to debate between individuals. Thus, several individuals avouch that the Han dynasty had the most profound impact on the development of China, while others argue that it was the Qin dynasty who had a greater effect.

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.

Gascoigne, Bamber, and Christina Gascoigne. The Dynasties of China: A History. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003.

The Zhou Dynasty Around 1046 BC, King Wu, the leader of the Zhou (Chou), a subject people living in the west of the Chinese kingdom, overthrew the last king of the Shang Dynasty. King Wu died shortly after this victory, but his family, the Ji, would rule China for the next few centuries. Their dynasty is known as the Zhou Dynasty. The Mandate of Heaven After overthrowing the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou propagated a new concept known as the Mandate of Heaven.

The dynastic system was replaced with a democratic system. This essay is going to discuss whether or not the Mandate of Heaven was present during the Chinese revolution of 1911. Before the Chinese revolution in 1911, “China was ruled by a series of dynasties or royal families, dating back to 1500BC”(Kucha and Llewellyn). A dynasty is a family that would rule China until it loses power. When the emperor dies, most of the time their son would take power and become the emperor.

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

Ancient China’s rich history directly influenced China of the 21st century. The cultivation of rice became a staple source of food in China for centuries. The primary source of accounts of ancient china come from the Shujing, which spanned the Xia, Shang, and Zhou empires. The role of women's reached its heights during the Shang empire, with Fu Hao, and underwent a downward trajectory from the Zhou empire and the beginnings of confucius. The regime changes are unique in China due to the “Mandate of Heaven” which gave new regimes the control over the civilians of the conquered empires, such as the Zhou when it conquered the Shang empire. The decline of the Zhou came about from the various rulers who began seek their local interests. Ultimately,

The main political and social development of the Zhou Dynasty was the knowledge that the emperor rules with the Mandate of Heaven. It was a political concept created during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China in which the people in control believed to have the right to rule with the king serving as a connection between heaven and earth. The Mandate of Heaven became very important for the Chinese culture and it kept the government organized. The Zhou Dynasty increased economic manufacture by creating new iron tools that help produce food. They grew new crops and organized large irrigation works.

China has long since been recognized in the world for its natural and man-made products such as its silks, satins, and its delectable cuisine. During post classical China, China’s influence was not only spreading across the country, but was spreading across the world. Economically the Chinese ideas and innovations began taking full affect across Eurasia. The Chinese art of producing salt by solar evaporation soon spread to the Islamic people, as they began using the technique for themselves. Other Chinese innovations such as papermaking, printing, and gunpowder all began to spread to other civilizations such as Korea, Vietnam and Europe. With the creation of canals, networks commerce, waterways, and technological achievements, the Grand Canal,

The rise of Western power is a relatively recent development in the modern era. Previously the world could be seen as polycentric with overlapping spheres of influence (Marks 34). However, by the fifteenth century, China held considerable economic and military power, leading the world in size, population, agriculture, and commerce (Mungello 1). China also excelled in technology, military strength, learning, and the fine arts (Mungello 2). Leading China through its glory days was the Ming Dynasty which endured more than 250 years until its decline in 1644 (Dardess 1).

China which is located in East Asia, is one of the world’s most oldest and civilized nation, which dates back to around more than 10,000 years. China is also recognized as one of the four greatest civilizations because it contained records that date back 4,000 years ago. China was founded by a group called the Shang Dynasty, one of the three historic dynasties. But the Xia Dynasty were the first group of people to prosper and develop in China. Much of China’s culture, literature, and lifestyles has developed over the years and influenced the world today. Not only that, but it is the world’s most populous country, with over 1.35 billion people.

For many decades, China has always been technologically and economically ahead of Europe. The invention of gunpowder, printing, and the compass started in China and was later dispersed throughout Europe. These inventions changed China as much as they changed Europe. These inventions also caused a gap between China and Europe. By the late eighteenth century, industrial revolution first started its spread from Europe.The transformations within Europe began to further accelerate while China was falling behind. In Europe, economic transformation was accompanied by social transformation. The social and demographic changes that were taking place, created the pressure for political change as well. Europe was expanding both demographically and economically, which strengthening their power in the global order. Conversely, China constrained itself from the outside world and focus on internal progresses ranging from agriculture to social classes. Why were industries in China more labor-intensive than those in Europe? In addition to its diverse geography and the belief of being self-sufficient, China struggled to transition to experiment-cum-science-based invention as well as rejecting the opportunity to create bonds and capital markets with other nations.

Moreover, after setting up economic institutions and an industrial base, Deng Xiaoping established various Special Economic Zones in China that allowed for increased foreign investment, helping to develop China’s commercial growth. As described before, when Deng Xiaoping came to power, his goal was for China to fulfill the Four Modernizations: modernization in agriculture; industry; science and technology; and defense. Deng believed that the only way China could keep up with Western countries was if China achieved the Four Modernizations. Specifically, in order to achieve the Four Modernizations, Deng had to fulfill a two-step goal. The first stage was to build up economic institutions and to set up a strong industrial base, both of which had been denied to China during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. The second stage of the Four Modernizations was China’s emergence from isolation and integration into the global economy, both of which were crucial for China’s commercial economy to develop. Deng Xiaoping’s biggest accomplishment was his achievement of this second goal. Specifically, the period of time when Deng reformed and opened up China to the world is known as 改革开放, which is pronounced Gaige Kaifang. What separated Deng Xiaoping from other leaders in the past was that Deng’s method of thinking was very pragmatic. He recognized Mao as a hero to modern China, but also believed that some of Mao’s policies were wrong. Deng’s famous quote was: “黑猫白猫抓住老鼠就是好猫,” which translates to

Some cities in China like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin were semi-colonized, but most of China wasn't directly controlled by foreign powers unlike India who was under the control of the British empire. China was one country unified culturally, politically and economically thus making it difficult for foreign powers to take control over it. With globalization starting to take place in the Middle East and Asia, certain insular countries like China and Japan started to open up their borders to foreign nations. With globalization, the West started to influence the east in various was one of them was in religion. The West brought Christianity with them and started to actively convert