Essay on The Great Encounter of China and the West

The Chinese and European cultures came together for the first time in the fifteenth century when great Chinese fleets traveled throughout the Indian Ocean and along the coast of Africa. These voyages created much concern for China. They lead to a period of isolation for security reasons. By the time the first Europeans arrived in China there was little to no evidence of these voyages. (Mungello 2005) Fallowing that time the Chinese government proceeded with a policy of containment to the trade merchants and missionaries that would visit them in the coming centuries. This paper will server an explanation to why China and Europe at first embraced each other then rejected each others

In this early time of the missionary work, late Ming China was in a state of being more culturally open. During this period the Jesuits had successes converting prominent scholar-officials. The Jesuits learned they couldn’t convert people to Christianity if it was presented as an independent concept, so they came to blend Confucianism (the religion most popular to the literati) with Christianity. Culturally during this time the Ming dynasty possessed a lesser sense Confucian orthodoxy. They were willing to synthesize various teachings of the different religions into a harmonious unity. The Jesuits used the open spirit of the Ming to blend Christianity with Confucianism. Combining religions gave an advantage to the Jesuits because they could present Christianity as something already familiar in some concepts as the religion already practiced by the literati. Even while blending Confucianism with Christianity, they also criticized Buddhism and Daoism religions that were seen as lower class. By appealing to the upper class in this was they gained a few prominent converts in the 17th century and even Xu, one of highest official member of the Ming dynasty. As a testament to the effect this

Chinese has always been a confident nation most of the time. As they believe that China is the Celestial Empire of the world, Chinese rulers and scholars are reluctant to accept heterodox knowledge, especially religion. For hundreds of years, Confucianism had been the essence of Chinese Philosophy. However, By the middle of the second century A.D, the great Han Empire was on the edge of disintegration. “The upper level of Han socio-political order was riven by conflict

Classical China was a breeding ground for new ideas, inventions, and most importantly, religions. Although Classical China was littered with different religions and beliefs, Confucianism was the most prominent. Confucianism is based on the teachings of a philosophical

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

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

Many Ming Dynasty officials resisted European trade and ideas because of four reasons. First, China was at the height of its power at the time that the Europeans came to China. Because of this, the Ming officials thought that China wouldn’t benefit from accepting the European’s request to trade. Second, China thought that the Europeans were barbarians, and the Ming officials didn’t want to trade with uncivilized people. Third, China’s main philosophy, Confucianism, influenced people into not trading with outsiders. Confucius taught that “people should place loyalty to society ahead of their own desires” (pg. 286). This meant that people shouldn’t trade in order to keep harmony. Lastly, Ming officials didn’t want Chinese people to adopt Christianity.

In Rome and China, the rise of two religions started towards the end of each empire. In Rome, there was an introduction to Christianity, in China, there was an introduction to Buddhism. As for philosophies, China was much more influenced by them than Rome. For example, Han China relied greatly on Confucianism and Legalism for pointers on how to run the government. Both philosophies were extremely different. Confucianism was used much more at first. This philosophy was based off of the belief that “people are basically good.” Confucianism convinced the administration to take it easy on punishment. For example, Confucianism taught that if a person messes up or goes against the law, they shall be educated, not only punished. Negating Confucianism were the ways of Legalism, which was used later and specified that “human nature is selfish.” Legalism persuaded the government to discipline civilians for their actions on much harsher terms. All of these religions and philosophies altered the way the government was

Although the Westernization movement has shown deep influence upon Chinese people’s exploration of the modernization of China, it finally failed to accomplish the Chinese

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

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cold War was over, making the U.S. the only superpower left in the world. This has made the international system much more tranquil, and relaxed. The only country potentially powerful besides the U.S., is China. Many Americans fear China, not only because they are communist, but also because of their huge population. Their population is 1.3 billion people, which accounts 1/5th of the world’s population. As one of the only potential superpowers in the world, it would be in the best interest of all Americans if the U.S. and China became allies, instead of enemies. Peace and development, economic prosperity and social progress, are goals that both of

China has about five thousand years history which is a very long period of time. Also, the Chinese civilization was growing with these periods of time and it will continues greater than ever. Many wars and unhappinesses were happening during this period. Although, the time has passed, the histories and the civilizations have not passed. These family virtues, serious, working attitudes, sense of justice and the great Confucian tradition have been deeply assimilated into the Chinese people. Some Chinese traditions are different from North American’s. The Chinese culture has many special characteristics which are very interesting for people to learn.

Worthy of mention is the Christianity in China. Dubois explains that the advent of Christianity in China was not solely to spread the religion, but was majorly concerned with economic matters. “the age of exploration. This is the time of Christopher Columbus, Vascode Gama and Ferdinand Megallan,

1. Why are the centuries of the Tang and song dynasties in China sometimes referred to as a “golden age”?

As many other countries around the world China has its long history of a struggle for equality and prosperity against tyrants and dictatorships. The establishment of People’s Republic of China in 1949 seemed to have put an end to that struggle for a better life. “The Chinese people have stood up!” declared Mao Tse-tung, the chairman of China’s Communist Party (CPP) – a leading political force in the country for the time. The people were defined as a coalition of four social classes: the workers, the peasants, the petite bourgeoisie and the national-capitalists. The four classes were to be led buy the CPP, as the leader of the working class.