Ming Dynasty: European Trade And Ideas

The Tang Dynasty is an important aspect of Chinese history.  Lasting from 618 AD to 907 AD, it received the nickname “The Golden Age of Ancient China” because it was a very prosperous time.  This powerful empire came into control when the reign of the Sui Dynasty before it ended.

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

The Chinese had many reasons to fear and ultimately reject the Westerners. The first anti-Christian movement was in 1616-1621 in Nanjing. This revolt was started by Shen

Great Britain also desired to trade with China but did not respect the restrictions. After the deliverer of a trade arrangement refused to perform the kowtow ritual to Qianlong, the emperor wrote a letter back to King George III and said that “China was self-sufficient and did not need the British.” Because of these events and others, China became more and more isolated from other countries. Later in the 1800s, the British, Dutch, and others attempted to get out of the stronghold that was China’s trade restrictions.

Many European countries such as Germany, France, and Great Britain, as well as Russia, Japan and the United States wanted to gain control of the Chinese market and dominate the trade and goods of that country. The result of

The Next piece is an image form Guo Xi who was a master from the Northern

A. One of the most important public works projects taken on by the Sui dynasty was the grand canal. This canal was so important due to it facilitating trade between north and south China which then allowed rice and other crops to be available in the north.

d. Contact with the West increased in the 17th century, but in the early 18th century, the Qing rulers restricted trade to land outside the walls of . The 1793 British mission to expand trade did not succeed, and the emperor Qianlong explained in a letter to George III that China British manufactured goods.

The family structure of the Ming and Qing dynasty revolved entirely around the concept of Filial Piety. Filial Piety, had a focal point aimed at the relationship between the father and the duties of his children to him. The father was the leader of the house who in turn passed this position to his eldest son. Furthermore, it was the sole responsibility of the children to take care of his or her parents as they grew old in age. Over time these family lines grew and became known as clans. Not only did the clans take care of one another, the also had many members from various ranks within the hierarchy of society. When a member of the clan climbed the ranks in society, it brought great promise and or wealth to the entire clan. However, women

New agricultural techniques, porcelain, metallurgy, printing, and naval technology were few of the technological elements that reinforced the established features of social order. New agricultural techniques helped in the expand of their agricultural potential, the dynasties gained reputation from porcelain technology which moderately diffused to other societies producing porcelain in large quantities, metallurgical techniques as well diffused to lands beyond China, printing produced texts quickly and popular works appeared in huge quantities, and naval technology included of the magnetic compass which soon became common for mariners to use. Population growth, patriarchal social structures, and gunpowder were technological elements reinforcing established features of political order. Population growth reflected the capacity of economy and distribution of food, patriarchal social structures included of concern to preserve family fortunes and foot binding, and gunpowder was an element used for military effectiveness. These aspects provided a fundamental change in traditions because they changed their whole concepts of how to use goods as in previous Chinese eras.

The Han dynasty was a golden era for China. It saw the greatest land confiscation of the nation’s history and economic success. In this paper I will be focusing on the structure of the national government, the monopolizing of iron and salt, the Yumen Pass and the Yellow Turban rebellion. Join me as we take a trip back in time to visit a time in Chinas history that is highly revered.

Wu Zhao belonged to the Tang Empire, which according to the author which “…was a true empire, encompassing many lands, many peoples, and many ideologies. Multi ethnic and cosmopolitan, Tang China was perfectly suited for the ascent of a historical anomaly like Wu Zhao…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 11) In a sense, there was a conflict of traditional Confucian values which promoted a patriarchal society and the liberal Steppe culture which gave women more freedom and rights. China at that time was a cocktail of these cultures which led to a significant impact on the lifestyle and values of peoples in that era. Women were bold and tough, and unlike earlier societies, were no longer confined socially and sexually (Rothschild, 2008, p. 12). While did not exist a perfect equality between men and women, women of that era were allowed to live without hiding under the dominance of the male Yang. As the author talks of the Silk Road, it is mentioned that,”…In this free-wheeling milieu, women donned men’s attire and rode horses…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 15) .This “cosmopolitan” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 16) society was the foundation for the Tang Empire. Another important factor was the prevalence of Buddhism as a religion of the masses. Buddhism, in itself, helped united much of Asia, and was a common platform for men and women, unlike in Confucianism where

China experiences the pressure of the imperialist’s military which China did not have the knowledge or the experience to match. China went from a superior leader, self-sufficient country, that thought that everyone else were barbarians to a torn country. China accepted foreign trade, but they wanted to control and limit how much and with who the trade was used for, they felt that they European trade was unnecessary. They did not allow the western merchants to have any power or privileges and restricted them to Canton, plus they refused to open their trade system beyond Co-Hong which caused china to not become as prosperous as Japan. (Valentini 2013) Because China the believed that they were the center of civilization and that the Western culture was inferior the Chinese government refused to go along with any of the European’s request and the two nations became hostile towards

European trade with China was historically restricted. In 1793, emperor Qianlong denied King George III's request for fewer trade restrictions by declaring, “Our Celestial Empire possesses all things in prolific abundance... There was therefore no need to import

He was the Emperor during East Han, Ming was his name.He had a dream about Buddha.And that the very next day he ordered some his officials to travel west in an attempt to find what had caused his vision. The officials then travel to the west and eventually came upon two Buddhist monks with two white horses. The monks carried with them a picture of Buddha and their horses were carried with holy Buddhist scriptures. The Chinese officials invited the monks to return with them to China 's capital Chang An and introduce Buddhism to the emperor.