How Did Western Culture Influence Ancient China

Western imperialism in China was very significant, costed the lives of millions of people, but also helped shape China into a much stronger country than it was before, being ruled by the Qing Dynasty. Imperialism is a country extending its power and influence through the use of military force. There were two wars between the imperialists and China, the first and second Opium wars. The result of these wars was the weakening of the Qing Dynasty and led to a time of rebuilding, which was a great struggle, for China. The Europeans wanted to trade with China because of the great opportunity that they saw in the market. China’s population, which was 430 million, was seen as a fast and easy way for the Europeans to make a lot of money. The

Tang and Song China had ideas that were advanced and improved the lifestyles of many. In a chart titled “Cultural Diffusion from China 500-1,000 AD” (Document 1), it states the cultural diffusion of China into Japan. Centralized governments, agricultural technologies, and system of weights and measurements from China were found in Japan. This shows that the ideas from Tang and Song China were so great and helpful, it influenced Japan. In a diagram titled “Geographic and Economic Information” (Document 2), it shows the Silk Road trade route and what items were traded West to East and East to West. Most

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

China had a significantly larger population than Europe, China was the home to one hundred to one hundred thirty million people, whereas Europe had only fifty to fifty-five million people in the fifteenth century (Kennedy 4). China had been severely deterred when the Mongol hordes entered their civilization and in the aftermath of Kublai Khan invading their country. However, the Ming dynasty surfaced in 1368. The Ming were able to bring the empire back together by finally defeating the Mongols, and by restoring old Chinese order and tradition. With the Mongols being defeated, the Chinese made leaps and bounds in the world of technology, creating inventions that were far ahead of their time. From an early time, there were very large libraries in China. In order to create the books that existed those libraries, the Chinese created printing by movable type all the way back in the eleventh century. This segued into the use of paper money, which quickened the flow of commerce, which resulted from the increase of trade due to “… canal building and population pressures…” (Kennedy 6). Perhaps what is most impressive about Ming China was their overseas exploration. The most prominent of

These traders brought with them different views on culture and government to China. One traveler named Marco Polo was hired by Kublai Khan to spread the ways of the Mongols with other tribes and empires. One negative impact of all of this trade was disease. People carried diseases and bacterias with them that were foreign to the new lands. When they reached a new location that disease would wipe out everyone in its path because they weren’t immune to it. Although diseases such as the black plague killed a lot of people, trade had more of a positive effect than a negative effect on the world because it led to new inventions that are still used to this

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

During the rule of Justinian (527-565 CE) this empire was expanded to the greatest size that it would ever reach. Because it was so big, Justinian assigned two capitals for the empire, and as this happened, there was transfer of goods and technologies through both capitals. Because the empire was so big and the amount of merchandise and money that was managed through the empire was so broad, Justinian implemented the use of banking, which changed completely the way people earned money, saved their money, and traded goods to get money from them to bank it. As this happened in the Byzantine Empire, China fell into a cultural exchange of goods, technologies, and ideas that came from the Silk Roads. It was during the Tang and Song dynasties that this trade was at its peak. At the time, besides receiving goods from Europe and other neighbors through the complex routes of trading, the Chinese developed their own technologies for their own exportation. Among these technologies there was large metallurgical production, invention of gunpowder, naval technologies, rapid and cheap printing, and porcelain. These technologies enhanced even more trade for China and due to this, paper money was invented for the purpose of controlling trade; the same thing that occurred with the Byzantine Empire and banking. Even though China invented more technologies than the Byzantine Empire, both became major trade hotspots in their own way and invented systems to

In China, trade had a great effect on the people living there. Document Two, explains how Zheng He first prompted other countries to trade with China by giving them little gifts of what they had to offer. This showed other countries the luxuries and many different goods they could get from China. Demand for Chinese

China exported many goods such as silk, Iron, and bronze (Document 1). This gave china a lot more money to support

This was a result of China being extremely ethnocentric as shown by its nickname, “Middle Kingdom,” which means that China is the center of the world. The products that China exported before the end of trade around the world were silk, iron, and bronze (document 1). The goods that were brought into China were gold, glass, ivory, animal hides, horses, and cattle (document 1). One positive impact that this trade did have on China was that as it traded with places like India, the cultures began to mix, resulting in the introduction of Buddhism to China (document 1), which is now a very popular religion although it was not accepted at first. A negative impact of trade was the bubonic plague or

China was a very advanced civilization during the 16th Century and rose to power. They had large libraries, conducted trade by using a series of canals. They also had large cities and used paper money for trade. The Chinese invented the gunpowder and the magnetic compass. They had a very large navy with over 2,000 vessels in all sizes and they conducted overseas expeditions. After the last Chinese expedition, there was an imperial edict that banned the construction of ships with more than two masts. Warships were put away and not maintained. The navy was too costly and the Chinese wanted to spend their money defending their Northern frontiers from the Mongols. This did not require a large navy. Paul Kennedy stated “that in this Restoration atmosphere, the all important officialdom was concerned to preserve and recapture the past, not to create a brighter

China, like many imperialist nations, created infrastructure in the nation that helped export the resources back to Asia easier. These businesses used Chinese workers and

In china there has been no central rule in China for 70 years until the Song Dynasty created in 960. Things started to change in China, for example, the government started to aid the poor a lot more than what they have in the past. They were getting this money from the newly introduced income tax. This made a lot of people happy and everyone started to have more patriotism and pride. This pride gave the government a feel of legitimacy. Some of the major things the government is paying for is the roads, food, and education. Pottery at this time helps out the economy in China, because the pottery is so advanced that it was being exported for good money and it also led more people to come to China. Even though China was number one in the world for many things like technology and a sophisticated culture they were weak military wise (Holcombe p.127).

China is a very big place and has influenced many other societies. China mostly influenced Korea and Japan but also influenced Vietnam. The Chinese culture had basically taken over Korea and Japan. Of the two Korea had the greater exposure to Chinese culture. Korea had Chinese military colonies there during the time the Han Dynasty ruled.

Early chinese civilization was very well in control of Asia and assumed the role of ‘big brother” to its neighboring Asian countries of Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. Japan, Korea, and Vietnam were absolutely affected by China, being affected by Chinese religion, government, and sky’s the limit from there. Even if you look at current day Asia, those countries still possess a lot of Chinese influence.