The Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty lasted for 268 years and was the last dynasty in China and was declared in 1644 by the Manchurian people of outer China after the conquest of the Ming Dynasty. It fell in 1849 to the Chinese communist party (CCP) led by Mao Zedong. Throughout the beginning of the Qing dynasty, the public confusion in regards to the new “Alien Rulers” caused havoc and widespread chaos, small anti-Qing efforts were formed in order to secure surviving Ming princes and restore the Ming Dynasty, this of course failed. Despite the issues that arose in the first forty, starting years of the dynasty in regards to rebellions and rejection towards the new government through;

The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 B.C. until 220 A.D., making them one of China’s longest lasting empires. Their power and reputation rivaled that of the Roman Empire, which was also around at the same time. With only a few moments when they had some difficulties, they lasted four centuries that went through the times of B.C. and through the A.D. times. The Han Dynasty was thought to be the golden age of the Chinese, with their main points of development being in politics, technology, and the arts. Every following Chinese dynasty looked to the Han dynasty as their role model.

The Han Dynasty, dating from 206 BCE-220 AD, was founded by Liu Bang who was the winner of the civil wars that followed the collapse of the first Imperial dynasty in China (Qin Dynasty). The Han dynasty is considered an influential empire that created a spiritually and philosophically enlightened nation through the teachings of Daoism, Legalism and Confucianism. At the time that Liu Bang first founded the Han dynasty the basic structures of the Qin state were retained, and the ideology of the Qin state initially drifted deeper and deeper into a Legalist and Daoist union. Many elements of these ancient philosophies can be distinguished in the religious and superstitious beliefs and practices that were performed in Han China. The implementation of these three philosophies during a time of political corruption, and spiritual chaos helped to create an overall calmer and intellectual society. The philosophical and spiritual movement of this time and in turn shaped modern religions, state ethics and beliefs.

The first Cultural Revolution of China’s 20th century began with the May Fourth Movement on May 4th, 1919. The May Fourth Movement in China was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement. Although it physically began on May 4, 1919, it actually lasted from about 1917 until 1923. It marked the rapid rise of Chinese Nationalism as well as a re-evaluation of Confucianism. The movement was sparked by the dissatisfaction with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles settlement regarding China. The treaty endorsed the Japanese takeover of the German concessions in the Shandong peninsula. The movement was an attempt to redefine the culture, political, and intellectual state of China. The movement

Many people argued that Empress Dowager Cixi accelerated the speed of the demise of the Qing dynasty. Cixi might be a blasting fuse but she was not accounted for the final fall of the dynasty. The actions Cixi took had profoundly changed the foundation of feudal China so as to push China forward into a modern stage. Although many historical data suggested that whatever Cixi had done were to consolidate her authority and personal status. But no matter what, the impact on the country was obvious. Cixi broke the previous traditions from Confucianism that had been lasted for centuries. Tensions between the Manchus and Han Chinese had been greatly improved, which made a great contribution to China for later unification. Under the reign of the Empress Dowager, the social structure had undergone a series of changes. Qing 's demise is doomed, this was resulted from issues that had stacked up from previous generations. Moreover, Cixi did her best to secure China’s status in the world in such a chaotic period in history. She made undeniable contributions to China.

Imperialism, capitalism, and anti-imperialism played a role in the revolutions that changed China. In 1919, Lenin founded the Comintern, “to help the national struggles of the oppressed nations”. (Zarrow, p.190) Russia wanted to show the Chinese that their revolution could be copied. After the May Fourth movement, two political parties formed. The Chinese Communist Party and the Guomindang. The Guomindang (GMD) was a Nationalist party, however, both parties were more disciplined, structured, and valued loyalty to their respective leaders than groups before them. (Zarrow, p.192)

The "New Culture" movement began in China around 1916 following the unsuccessful activities of the 1911 Revolution to establish a republican government, and continued through the 1920s. The May Fourth Movement, which took place on May 4, 1919, was a demonstration led by students at the National Peking University against the government, in which they protested the abolition of Confucianism and changes in

The Tiananmen Square Protests, otherwise known as the June Fourth incident, was a series of student led protests and demonstrations in Beijing, China during the spring of 1989. The protests were driven by goals to eliminate corruption within the Communist Party and promote democratic ideals such as freedom of speech, freedom of press and social equality. At the height of the protest from June 3-4, hundreds of thousands of students gathered around Tiananmen Square to protest, prompting military mobilization and resulting in unprecedented bloodshed. Though deemed by the Chinese government as a counter revolutionary act, the Tiananmen Square Protest remains an important event in shaping the political and social state of China today. Not only was the the protest instrumental in exposing the deep division within China’s political leadership, it also revealed that the future of China, comprised of students and intellectuals, was striving for a more democratic nation. With that being said, a highly debated question remains as to whether the Tiananmen Square Protest has led to more democracy in China, and how the event has influenced China’s political progress. On the contrary, the protest had a rather paradoxical impact on China’s regime. Rather than ending the rigid regime in place and bringing rise to democracy, Tiananmen led to the strengthening of the Communist party. The protests resulted

Founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan, a family of Manchu rulers, is the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Nurhachi founded the Latter Jin regime. Nurhachi' son, Huang Taiji moved the capital to Shenyang and renamed the regime into the Qing. At that time, the empire was divided into the eighteenth provinces we now know today. The Qing dynasty was China's last imperial dynasty. They ruled from 1644 to 1912, by the Manchus. The Qing dynasty is also known as the Manchu dynasty. The reigns of the first three monarchs, which persevered for 133 years, were a time of accord and success for China.

Every country consists of significant histories of art, writing and myth that are known and unknown but those arts, writings and myths truly narrates each countries story completely. Chinese Tang Dynasty, which was approximately from 618 – 906 A.D. It was an era of sophisticated figure painting. The primary subject matter of Chinese painting in this era was the landscape. Through the painting of landscapes, story was told. Especially during the Song Dynasty where the first half of the era had great philosophical and artistic development in the second half, the psychological effects of devastating upheaval are apparent in Sung paintings. Misty, ethereal landscapes reflected conflicting emotions of regret, acceptance, and longing. In China, landscapes had always been a huge subject.

Modern China has drawn the attention of the world with what appears to be aggressive actions beyond the border of China, one such action being the construction of an island in the South China Sea. One issue that connects modern China to the Qing dynasty is the Daili Lama and Tibet. The Qing dynasty expanded the Chinese empire through conquests after conquering the Ming dynasty, and this leaves scholars to argue whether or not Qing conquests

China has not always had a centralized system of power. From 1766 BC to 1045 BC China was under the rule of the Shang Dynasty. From there on the ruling of China was in the hands of many dynasties. Dynasties were overthrown and a change in power happened constantly. China was under the rule of the Ch’inf, MIng, Yuan, Sung, T’ang,Han, and many other dynasties. The earliest cities in China formed around 2000 BC to 1000 BC. Chinese cities contained temples and palaces and many were walled. The purpose of having a walled city was for protection from invaders. The most famous and commonly known wall is the great wall of China. The great wall of China is a 5, 500 mile long wall that was constructed by joining walls from different cities in the Chinese

As of 2009, The Chinese Communist Party has allegedly tortured and killed approximately 2,000 (Jacobs, 2009 pg.1) people who practiced Falun Gong. Falun Gong is a peaceful group. They don’t quite consider themselves a religion, but the CCP has deemed them a “cult” (Chang, 2004 pg.96). What is it about this organization that threatens the CCP so much, that they feel the need to imprison them, torture them, and sometimes execute them? To answer that question, you must first look at China’s traditional and political history, and also examine objectively, the history and ideals of Falun Gong.

The history of China is as complex as its citizens. There are many people in China and they offer insight into China’s history. These people have different perspectives based on their status and power. People with different status and access to power very depending on the section of Chinese history, during the twentieth century the people with different stations are Communist Party members and the average working class citizen. These different view points help explain the difference power makes in a person’s life. The stories of Communist Party members and average working citizens help one to understand China’s history under the Communist Party, especially, during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.

Born in 1899 to parents of Manchu descent, Lao She was brought into the world of the late Qing dynasty and, due to his ethnicity, experienced childhood as part of the ruling elite. His father was killed in a street fight by Eight-Nation forces during the Boxer Rebellion in 1901. Quoted as saying ‘I didn 't need to hear stories about evil ogres eating children and so forth; the foreign devils my mother told me about were more barbaric and cruel than any fairy tale ogre with a huge mouth and great fangs’ as a result of his father’s death, he developed a strong sense of nationalism at a young age. Lao She remained a great supporter of the May Fourth Movement - which favoured national independence and rebuilding Chinese culture and society – later claiming that it gave him a ‘new literary language’. In travelling to London in his 20s to work as a teacher, Lao She only further strengthened his sense of pride and value of Chinese cultural traditions, his love for China and desire to rebuild the country and educate youth grew. Following the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Lao She became hugely radicalised as anti-Japanese. He headed the All-China Anti-Japanese Writers Federation, which encouraged writers to produce nationalist writings, and his own work subsequently became vehemently patriotic and propagandistic. The two texts on which this essay is focused, Black Li and White Li and An Old and Established Name are both prime examples of writings of this nature.