Mungello, the Great Encounter or China and the West

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

The region of China is extensive and profound. “In China lay people did not belong to an institutionalized sect, nor did their religious life have anything to do with signing articles of faint. Religion in China was so woven into the broad fabric of family and social life that there was not even a special word for it until modern times, when one was coined to match the Western term” (Thompson, 1). In China, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism are all blended. In the earliest period, Shang Dynasty (2000 BC), people in China had worshipped a lot of different gods (polytheism) such as weather god, river god. People in the Shang Dynasty believed that their ancestors become like gods after they died, so people worshipped their

1. Trade rights and religious perceptions affected how Matteo Ricci viewed relations with china by taking a different strategy than the other missionaries. “…the Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) encouraged his followers to immerse themselves in the language and to become conversant with the rich traditions of Chinese literature (Source 21.2, Ricci, Matteo, in Patterns of World History, Vol. 2, p. S21-4)”. Instead of limiting their training in Chinese language and culture and focusing merely on the conversion of the poor, the Jesuits instead immersed themselves in the Chinese language and high culture of the empire. They gained recognition through their advanced knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, military science and other European learning required by the imperial

When Western nations began making regular diplomatic and economic contact with China, their envoys brought back stories of a “backwards” people who technologically inferior, clung to imperial military rule, and allowed what the Western world would have considered violations of human rights. For years, China attempted to remain resolute against Western influence, fearing it would corrupt their society and lead people to abandon the tenants of Confucianism and other ideals that had been held for generations. Most significantly, they restricted trade with all Western nations to Guangzhou, severely limiting the amount of ships that could come and go from the country, and forbade the British from establishing an embassy, as that

During ancient China, there were two main religions. The two religions were Confucianism and Daoism. Both of these religions did not entirely agree with each other. However, people believed in one or the other, or parts of each. Both of the religions were important to the country of China.

In this letter Long is attempting to politely and respectfully convey why King George’s request for trade privileges cannot be done. That, due to China’s culture and government, Long cannot allow Europeans to retain their own culture if they are to live in China, nor could they ever leave. Long indicates that it is believed that allowing Europeans to not assimilate into Chinese culture could pollute the minds of Chinese citizens. The information Qian Long provides in this source are his and the rest of the Chinese government’s response to King George’s request and why it is not possible to oblige it. Long cites a few of China’s and Europe’s cultural and political differences that make the request impossible. Long also makes a number of assumptions

The traditional Chinese story called Monkey, Journey to the West, is one which reflects well the religious traditions of the country. The story is certainly not associated with one religion, but rather the Chinese culture. There are many references to Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist beliefs, which is what the mass of people in China identify their religious beliefs to be. This paper is going to explore how all three religious traditions are presented in the book, and what does that say about Chinese culture. As a person who is interested in learning about foreign culture, this topic sparked my interest, since it will explore how the Chinese culture is developed in result of the 3 main religions.

Similarly, they also seemed to take advantage of their position and would take advantage of women when they entered confessionals by promising full forgiveness of sins in return for sexual

They first allowed trading to occur but then limited how much the Europeans could trade with them. The most significant contact with Westerners was through the Jesuits. The Jesuits had a tremendous effect on China in terms of bring with them the knowledge of new technology like clocks as well as new advancements in science like astronomy. Although the Jesuits succeeded in converting some Chinese scholars to Christianity, the emperor eventually put a halt to the conversion and banned missionaries from entering China. This resulted in China’s empire to become more isolated and even more

Before European contact China was a wealthy country, isolated and self-sufficient with a highly developed agricultural system. China was not industrialized, but workers in small workshops were able to produce most of the goods the Chinese needed. Because China was practically self-sufficient, its emperors had little interest in trading with Europeans. For decades, Europeans could do business only at the port of Canton. Despite appeals from Britain and other nations, China refused to open other ports to foreigners. The Chinese regarded Europeans and their goods as inferior to their own and bought few goods from the European merchants.

In the 1900’s Chinas view of foreigners was very clear, they didn’t like them. China hated foreigners because of many things, evidence of these can be shown by things that had taken place at the time and cartoon drawings that had been drawn at the time also. Evidence of cartoon’s that showed that China didn’t like foreigners can be found in the “modern world China textbook”; China’s view of foreigners was that they were uncivilized and savage barbarians. They thought that foreigners were cheap, weak and people looking for trouble wherever they could. Evidence of this can be shown by this cartoon which was drawn at the time by China “China’s Fifteenth Century View of a Westerner”

It was not uncommon for women of the past to blame and or shame themselves for their sexual desires as a result of the stigma surrounding nymphomania. Nymphomania was a diagnosis used to explain all types of female sexuality including, homosexuality and prostitution, women who flirted, committed adultery, divorced, felt more passionately than their husbands, even if they showed too much skin . The list goes on. Women were shamed due to an unaccepting culture.

The assigned readings about Asian history lead a unified conclusion that the past (history) of Asia was characterized with chaos and internal divisions. “China, once again entered an era of divisiveness and chaos. Competing warlords dominated China for the next 350 years” (The Golden Age of China: 79). China is a perfect symbol of Asia’s history because if studied from the past, the history of China demonstrates how divisions took place in the country’s political and economic spheres. China’s history reveals how the religion led to emergence of chaos in the country. This shows that religion, in the history of Asia, was more divisive than uniting when individual countries considered their religions as different. Religious harmonization of

The Europeans pushed the Chinese to attain the mindset and anger of having their own country slowly taken away from them, having no other choice but to fight back. The rebellion began in north China in the Shantung Province, the place where Germany dominated the rail lines, factories and coal mines. The Germans made considerable profits while the Chinese workers who worked there were paid very poor wages and lived very poor lifestyles. As a result, gangs of Chinese people roamed the streets chanting “Kill the Christians” and “Drive out the foreign devils”. Germans who lived in Shantung were murdered as were other European missionaries. Those Chinese who had converted to Christianity were also murdered. While Chinese were the victims, the Europeans are

Marco Polo's "discovery" of China which sharpened/interested the People from Europe (desire to eat/desire for something) with old stories/famous people and riches