Perhaps one of the greatest countries in the world, China, was created through struggle, sacrifice, and much more. Many of the changes in China have affected the way we think, act, and what we consider normal. This most famous, and influential country was formed through wars, governmental change, and the formation of a central religion. Governmental changes have been a huge part of China’s history. The first major government was the Dynasties. This was the period in which groups of monarchies would rule China for a certain amount of time. Next came the Republic of China (R.O.C.) which would be later replaced, but not destroyed with the People’s republic of China (P.R.C.). The People’s republic of China had different views then the Republic of China. The P.R.C. is the government of modern China, and the R.O.C. is the government of Taiwan. …show more content…
The Opium wars have been a marker in China’s history as a point for them to look back on to see how far they have come. The dispute with Great British started over the British illegally selling opium to Chinese. Opium was illegal in China, and when the English would not turn over their opium the Chinese declared war on them. The Chinese got crushed, and had to turn over Hong Kong to Britain receiving only 7 million dollars in return. The next major battle was the civil war between The R.O.C. and the P.R.C. The struggle for governmental control was brutal. The P.R.C. won the war, becoming China’s national government. The last major war was World War II, in which China took the side of the Allies. China lost around 14 million people. If the Axis powers had won the war China could have been destroyed! These three war determined major changes to
China during the classical period, a span of time stretching from 1000 B.C.E.-500 C.E., was ruled by many families, each having their own dynasty. The very first dynasty of this period was the Zhou, coming into power after overthrowing the Shang. The last Shang emperor, Di Xin, had essentially abandoned matters of the state in favor of hedonistic activities, using tax money to fund them and therefore becoming very unpopular. This caused the Zhou uprising which led to the establishment of the Mandate of Heaven, a concept that not only allowed the Zhou to gain and maintain cultural power of the Chinese people, but led to widespread notions in Chinese society of the validity of autocracy and a need for extremely centralized government that would
From 600 BCE to 600 CE, China experienced changes in its political system in terms of the dissimilar ruling styles of different leaders, the rule under Legalism, and the influence of philosophical thinking like Daoism. These changes, influenced by aspects of the world and its own region, shaped China into its Classical state. In contrast, the concept of the Mandate of Heaven, the civil service system, and the significance of unity through a strong central government remained constant throughout China’s Classical period. These continuities followed through, staying essentially the same as an important part of China’s identity.
China has 5000 years of history which experienced wars, collapses, failures and successes. The Opium War in the year 1839 and 1856 marked the changing point of China’s trade policy with foreigners, especially with British in opium and tea. China changed from getting tributes to being forced to sign the Nanjing Treaty and Tianjing Treaty with British and French. Due to China’s over confidence and unwelcome attitude toward foreigners and opium, it caused the British to declare the Opium War to China which made Chinese suffer for many years, but at the same time it also forced China to open its doors to the foreigners.
China and British perspectives on the opium trade were contradistinctive and ultimately became the foundations of the Opium Wars in 1839-42 and 1856-60. The clash of opinions were not based around the narcotic opium itself but stemmed from a misunderstanding of cultures, conflicting economic behaviours and different ethical ideologies.
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.
In 1729 China banned the distribution of opium. This ban was not heavily enforced. At this time Britain began growing opium as a cash crop. In 1773 Britain imported 1,000 chests of opium to China. The Chinese people became addicted. In 1832 Britain imported another 20,000 chests of opium to China. Then in 1836 China closed all main ports as an attempt to keep opium out of the country. Chinese officials then openly burned large amounts of confiscated opium. This sparked The First Opium War. This war lasted 4 years and ended with the Treaty of Nanjing which opened all of China’s ports and made Hong Kong a British colony. This was beneficial to Britain because they made money importing opium to China, as well as forcing China into a war that Britain knew that they could win and gain land from.
Also, citizens became addicted, and the drug eventually killed thousands of people. China’s actions angered Britain politicians even though opium was illegal in Britain as well. But was a result, war started between the two countries. In 1842, the treaty of Nanking ended the war. It was the first unequal treaty with Britain and it said that Chinese had to give up Hong Kong to Britain for ninty-nine years, the British would live in China by extraterritoriality at four ports, distribution of opium would continue and Christain missionaries will be set up throughout China. When China couldn’t meet the ridiculous requirements of the treaty, the second Opium War began in 1956. As a result, Britain won again by the Treaty of Tientsin. The treaty asked to open more ports to outer nations, let foreign leaders into the capital Beijing, and legalized the distribution and use of opium. Their situation was dangerously bad.
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
In 1949, after a long lasting contest for leadership, the Communists were able to gain power. In 1900, China was ruled by the Manchu dynasty, however less than in half a century a completely new government came into power. The Qing government had already been weak due to European countries because they gained great influence in China’s affair by using forces. They became so unpopular that people plotted to overthrow them. Despite the fact that the revolution of 1911 failed to overthrow them, it made the government collapse. People needed changes. But none of the leadership or the Party government could achieve what they promised in order to make the lives of people better in China. The Communist
The Opium Wars were a series of three wars between the Chinese and the British; primarily fought in regard to the illegal trade of opium in China during the 19th century. They manifested the conflicting natures of both nations and demonstrated China’s misconceptions of its own superiority. The Opium Wars resulted in the humiliating defeat of the Chinese to a country they considered to be “barbarians”.
In the early eighteen hundreds, Britain and other European countries demanded more and more Chinese commodities, especially tea and silk. However, only the port in Canton was opened to foreign countries, and Chinese would not take any other form of payments besides silver. The desire to make China into a free market that foreigners have more access to and the increasing, though illegal, European opium import to China eventually created tension between the European countries, especially Britain, and the Chinese government (Allingham Par. 1-2). The two battles fought and won by European powers were known as the Opium Wars. China’s politics, economy, and intellects were both positively and negatively
Write Blocker is a Computer Hard Disk controller made for the purpose of gaining read-only access
In ancient history, weapons carried more importance than they do today. Ranging from maces, javelins, axes, daggers to more technologically advanced bows and arrows, swords, spears, lances, and even sling-shots and battering rams to break into fortresses, ancient Egyptians too had a diverse portfolio of weaponry. Extending beyond as tools to slay enemies, weapons were means to domesticate wild animals, ways to express social and political status, and items to be used in religious ceremonies. Therefore, looking into the developmental history of weapons and their uses provides a unique perspective into the ancient Egyptian culture and society. Two types of weapons are to be examined as spring boards into the ancient Egyptian culture and society:
Opium- an addictive drug originally used as a painkiller. It is obtained from the unripe seeds of the opium poppy and can be made into substances that a person can smoke causing relaxation, alleviated anxiety, and a state of euphoria. Continued use of the drug also induces deterioration to the mind and body of a person eventually causing death. The substance was therefore stated illegal in China during the late 18th Century yet consistently smuggled into the country via British merchant ships. As the Chinese placed more restrictions on trade in an effort to abolish the importation of opium, the battle against the drug raged on until war was unavoidable between England and China. It is this war that lasted from 1839-1842
When searching the word leadership one of the immediate synonyms to appear is control. To me, leadership is nothing about control. Leadership is accepting your role in any situation and still going above and beyond. Being someone who orders others around is not leading, it is dictating. Those getting out in front of others and working just as hard--if not harder--to set an example are true leaders. Leadership plays your strengths while still addressing your weaknesses. Acknowledging both sets up for success. In my life, I definitely have roles with set leadership titles. Although I have these titles, I try to act in ways that do not place me on a higher pedestal than the people I am surrounded by. I act as a humble leader because I know that I have not always been at the leadership level that I currently am. From dance, to student council, to link crew, my age does not give me automatic power. I am looked up to for my experience, but I am a leader for my ability to make connections with those around me. If I lead in ways that just push people around, it won’t be very effective; at a certain point people get fed up with a condescending boss and orders are no longer effective. I do not set out to be a leader only to receive credit, I am a leader to create a lasting impact.