Chinese Revision Lessons 1 - 14 Beginners

China’s population was growing rapidly, almost doubling between 750 and 1100. Because of this huge population boom, paper money was established, and the trade industry grew. There were many advances that were made, such as technological improvements

Description: Advanced Placement Chinese Language and Culture (commonly known as AP Chinese Language and Culture or AP Chinese) offers high school students an opportunity to earn credit for Chinese courses at the college level. Like other College Board programs, it is available to anyone worldwide who wishes to participate.

| Textbook pages 6-9. We assume that the currency will be stable over time. Inflation is an example.

Wang Xijue, an official in the Ming Dynasty Court, said that the Chinese government required that taxes and tariffs be paid in silver (Document 3). Xijue mentions how China’s silver policy adversely affected grain prices which affected the poor peasant farmers the most. Furthermore, Ye Chungji, a Chinese county official, stated how China’s policy of requiring domestic taxes to be paid in silver may explain order limiting wedding expenses (Document 1). Chunji, as a county official through China’s merit-based civil service system, uses the word “frugal” which justified the limitation on wedding expenses by noting it was in keeping with the Confucian value of frugality. This just proves how paying in silver affected the traditional Chinese culture. Due to this, the traditional Confucian social order was threatened. To add on, Xu Dunqui Ming writes in an essay that seems directed at the general public, of the unfairness of dye shops in the commercial city of Hangzhou and explains Ming China’s conversion from a barter economy to a currency-based market economy as customers now “receive a bill, which must paid with silver obtained from a moneylender” (Document 5). This only silver means of exchange likely harmed lower classes the most by plunging them even further into debt by forcing them to borrow from a money lender to get silver and explains the decline of traditional Chinese society and economy. Furthermore, the increased flow of silver brought inflation in China. He Qiaoyuan, a Ming court official, reported to the emperor that the trade ban should be lifted because of the inflated price of Chinese products in the Philippines by commenting on large supply of Spanish silver in the Philippines that led to massive inflation of 100 to 200 percent for silk yarn (Document 7). However, Qiaoyuan’s motives in his report is suspicious because repealing the ban on

The Han China and Classical Athens’ culture also had a huge different to how the arts were created. The arts of the Athenians were more focus on themselves, the human body. For example, on the front cover page, there is a drawing or statue of a Greek man, the Greek man is standing in a weird position with his arms pointing down, there are a few lines emphasizing his muscles, torso, biceps, etc. (Front Cover). While the art of the Han China were more focus on the landscapes and scenes surround them, along with the serenity and balance of the world drawn on to canvases in great details (document L). In most paintings, the five Chinese elements called Wu Xing will most likely be included in the paintings; the five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Looking at Ch’iu Ying’s painting, you can clearly see the how Wu Xing is being presented in the painting, how the trees and mountains were presented in the background (document L). However, as you can see in the painting, there are only two men in the painting, this could mean that humans were inconsiderable in their arts (document L). As a conclusion, the two artistic styles were complete different from each other, the Han’s arts were more focus on nature in great details, while the Athenians’ art were more focus on the human body.

Wang Xijue writes in a report to the emperor about the reason grain is so cheap. The price is so low because there is hardly any silver in the area to trade with. As he said, “The national government requires silver for taxes but disburses little silver in its expenditures.” (doc. 3) Inflation was also shown in the report to the emperor written by He Qiaoyuan. The report describes how since China will only accept silver in exchange for goods, it makes goods from China more and more expensive as they get traded farther away, “Chinese silk yarn worth 100 bars of silver can be sold in the Philippines at a price of 200 or 300 bars of silver there.” (doc. 7) The point of view in this document is from someone who is trying to repeal the ban on foreign trade. If they get rid of the ban, China can make a lot more money since their products are so desired. These examples show that there is too much silver going into China and not enough coming out. They also explain how people in China are affected due to the scarcity of silver in their towns. Inflation affected the economics of China

form of payment. Before, China was used to exchanging for goods, so now the ones used to

silver into the economy as chinese products were more expensive in other places. Document 8

Prior to Communism in China, it was known to be a chaotic country on the brink of self-destruction. With the emergence of the party leader Mao Zedong, came a new hope, which filled its inhabitants with the belief that China would return to its former historical greatness. American and Chinese relations before 1971 were in simple terms described as “uneasy”, due to the American, Soviet Cold War. It was not until President Richard Nixon visited China and realized the high value of having China as a ally that relations between the two powers began to become positive. Unknown at the time, it is assumed in the book Chinese Lessons written by John Pomfret, that the relationships he formed with the people he met in China would change his outlook on life and Communist China forever.

During the Qin Dynasty, one of the most notable acts done was the standardization of currency,

The combination of increasing unemployment rate and food price created severe poverty across the nation (Goldfinger par. 1-3). The currencies in China, too, went through a lot of changes to accommodate the increasing trade. At first, the silver Spanish dollars became rare and increased in value so much that it was outlawed as a usable currency. However, at the same time, the Chinese copper currency were also being used less due to the fact that the metal was becoming rare and the administration of the currency was extremely poor. The Mexican dollar was introduced but the problem was not solved until paper money were used in 1853 (Goldfinger par. 2). To make the economy worse, during the First Opium War, China had to pay six million silver dollars to ransom Canton, and an additional nine million dollars were paid to foreigner traders for their loss. Later, twelve million taels of silver were paid to Britain and France under the treaties negotiated after the Second Opium War. All of those factors weakened the Chinese economy in the 1800s (Allingham par.5-9). However, the Opium Wars’ impact is everlasting, for “the Chinese have embarked on a long and arduous struggle to expunge the humiliations which they suffered during and since the Opium War…Foreign industrialists may continue to dream of the supposedly unlimited China market, but the Chinese…are determined to keep the 'open door' sufficiently ajar to import vital technologies, while keeping all unwanted

1. What are the implications of China’s exchange rate policy on doing business with and “against” China?

The indirect quote indicates the number of units of a foreign currency that can be bought for one unit of the home currency.

As we all know, China is a traditional country that has over 5000 years experience. This country was separated after a long time United. Also, was did the opposite after an extended period playing before the last Dynasty: Qing dynasty. Hence, we have accumulated much knowledge that beyond our imagine. One of the accumulation is reflected on the Linguistic feature that we called discourse markers in Mandarin. Simple compare to the English discourse marker "like." one as a verb meaning 'enjoy ' and also has a meaning as a pause in a sentence. In Mandarin, there are also have a lot of different meaningful discourse marker, such as Ni Chi Le Ma?(have you eat before?) or Shuo Ni Shen Me Hao Ne?( how can I tell you ?) Unlike the English discourse marker is A word, Mandarin discourse marker is a short sentence. Moreover, the using of the discourse marker depends on the situation that the speakers are in. Based on the 0stman(1981), the first person that come up with the word 'discourse marker. ' Due to the discourse marker was argued with how to defined it, the linguists were more likely to study the grammar, sentence structure, and meaning of the discourse marker. However, as the deep study of the discourse marker, the clearer that the discourse marker was 'In the verbal or conversational communication, it is a very common phenomenon of discourse markers. '(Ran yongping 2000).

Upon thinking of the “Chinese Language” most individuals who are not already familiar with the language or Chinese culture will be thinking about the world’s most commonly spoken language which is Mandarin. “Mandarin is the languages spoken and written by the han Chinese who constitute more than 90% of the country’s populations” (Language and Dialects). So, it is reasonable that many people have a more limited knowledge on this particular subject. However, the history of the languages of China is one of great significance extending far beyond just Mandarin. There is a great history that accompanies the languages in China. When discussing the languages in China one has to keep in mind that it is not just the spoken languages at play here. While the spoken languages are very important, in a way the written language is much more essential. This written language can be broken up into two parts, the characters (汉子＝hanzi) and then pinyin; which is how the characters are pronounced.