When China Ruled The Seas Discussion Questions

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

We should recognize them because of the scale, skill, and significance of the journeys taken

In the late 17th century to the early 18th century, two powerful monarchs who ruled over their own magnificent empires. These monarchs were Peter the Great, the tsar of Russia, and the emperor of China, Kangxi. At the time of their rules, an economic system called mercantilism formed. This system allowed societies to benefit off of influx of goods from merchants trading. Using this system, in China, the Canton system was formed to open up ports to western societies. Even though, both Kangxi and Peter the Great shared similarities in the way they ruled, they had a variety of differences, which were caused by their background and their country’s interests. On the other hand, the diverse backgrounds and experiences of the empires caused them to also have differences in their ways of ruling. These differences could be categorized into two overarching topics, economy and education. Their economies had varied taxation systems and were structured differently. As far as education, the rulers differed in the ways they spread knowledge and the type of knowledge they taught.

In order to seek for profit, British merchants never stopped illegal behavior in China. Even after Lin Zexue sent a letter to Queen Victoria, British merchants still continued their business regardless of the laws in China2. During the process of prohibiting the opium trade in some of Chinese coastal cities, the conflict of interests between Chinese government and British merchants had become more and more severe. According to the document, British troops started to attack the forts at Taikok and Shakok [paragraph 2, line 3 to 4], and they invaded the inner river and besieged the provincial city [paragraph 3, line 1 to 2]. Taking into account of the lives of Chinese people, the emperor made an unusual concession, hoping that British troops would abstain from creating further troubles [paragraph 3, line 7 to 9]. However, contrary to Daoguang’s expectations, the British troop continued to offend Chinese territories [paragraph 4, line 2 to 4]. In Daoguang’s view, it was their concession at the beginning that led to the invasion of the British troop. Whereas he neglected one of the important reasons of the British invasion: Britain’s desire of opening the Chinese market in search for higher profits was restricted by the Chinese laws and policies3. In response to the British invasion, Chinese government dispatched Yikin and others to defend British troops with their own troops [paragraph 5, line 1].

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

Imperialism is a important period for China because it protected natural resources, and gave the economy a boost it needed. The European countries were looking to exploit the vast natural resources China had and without a strong government and no political power they could have gotten walked all over. From there this boosted the economy to the point where they could produce materials the European countries were looking for. They also had the ability to sell the natural resources straight up which brought more money into the nation. With the boost in the economy education and culture were able to flourish throughout which led to a positive influence for the future. Imperialism created many great things in China and resulted in them flourishing into a powerhouse.

Timothy Brook’s book, The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China is a detailed account of the three centuries of the Ming Dynasty in China. The book allows an opportunity to view this prominent time period of Chinese history. Confusions of Pleasure not only chronicles the economic development during the Ming dynasty, but also the resulting cultural and social changes that transform the gentry and merchant class. Brook’s insights highlight the divide between the Ming dynasty’s idealized beliefs, and the realities of its economic expansion and its effects. Brook describes this gap through the use of several first hand accounts of individuals with various social statuses.

The isolationism brought about dislike of the navy and suspicion for traders. The mandarin "bought cheap and sold dear", meaning they bought cheap goods and sold their own goods for high prices. Admittedly, the reasoning for isolation became evident, as the empire was under pressure from the Mongols. Unfortunately, China could not concentrate extra resources into naval defense due to the fruitless attempt at expanding into modern-day Vietnam. Be that as it may, the Ming Empire adhered to the Confucian ideals, "According to the Confucian code, warfare itself was a deplorable activity and armed forces were made necessary only by the fear of barbarian attacks or internal revolts" (Kennedy 4). Due to this principle, the Chinese abandoned their impressive naval army, leaving it to decay. Be that as it may, Kennedy stated that "It must be noted, however that the Chinese apparently never plundered or murdered" (Kennedy 3). Unfortunately, the neglect paid to the navy led to the super power's downfall. Due to the Ming's edict banning ships with more than two masts, the empire was at a severe naval disadvantage. The Chinese coastline was being attacked by Japanese pirates, but there was no move made to repair their army to prevent further attacks. The decline of the Ming Empire's military paired with the isolationism they adopted created a nation that would not be able to move on with the rest of the world. Isolationism does not breed the innovation or necessary improvements to keep up with the burgeoning West. Due to the lack of enterprise and expansion and the ever-growing population, it became increasingly difficult to keep the intensive farming up to pace with the nation's need. The Ming Empire was replaced by the Manchus in the mid 1600's, but that could not help the rapid decline of the Eastern nation as it fell from

During this time, Henry the V was King of England and the world was still considered to be flat. The Ming Dynasty ruled from 1368-1644, and the third emperor had a goal to enhance the prestige of his throne, he wanted to expand trade and diplomatic contacts with the outside world through a Tribute System. The Tribute System was the traditional Chinese system for managing foreign relations by establishing the rules and controlling the means by which foreign countries entered into and conduced their relations with China. The Chinese found the tributary system an effective mechanism for exacting compliance from neighboring states and peoples on important matters of political, defensive, economic, and diplomatic concern to China. It served as “pulling power” to the Chinese. The emperor planned a series of voyages to win tribute and allegiance from the rulers of the Indian Ocean. He was particularly keen to recruit Arabs since they had always played a big role in links between east and west. It was claimed that the last great Ming voyage was a global exploration venture that took the Chinese to every continent except

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

When Admiral Zheng He was first commissioned to bring the people of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, India, Arabia, and East Africa to China for the tribute system. He never thought of the impact it would cause within his own country. The Chinese Emperor Yongle launched the expeditions in 1405 with the help of his most trusted men the eunuchs. These men were very much disliked by the official bureaucrats.

Zheng He’s story is remarkable since he was amongst the first to own the largest fleet during the 1400s, also raised his status from a foreigner taken hostage by the Chinese army to commander of one of the largest Navy fleets along with a personal ally to the emperor, Zhu Di. In addition, He increased the Chinese’s economy through trade of Chinese goods such as silk and copper in exchange for tropical spices and precious gems from the surrounding nations (Viviano

Imperialism’s effects on China has always been controversial and debatable. Andrew Nathan’s article on Imperialism’s Effects on China explains imperialism’s positive contributions to modern day China and defends the theory that China’s difficulties are caused by internal factors rather than external. On the other hand, Joseph Esherick’s Harvard on China: The Apologetics of Imperialism argues that China’s economic and social disruptions are caused by imperialism. However, when one examines the evidence chosen and rhetoric of both sides, one may realize the faults in Nathan’s essay which are not shown in Esherick’s. Esherick, as opposed to Nathan, delivers his arguments and defends his stance in a well-rounded manner along with wise usage of

In this picture, the Chinese man seems to be shouting and throwing his arms up to stop the European and Japanese imperialists to stop cutting or slicing into the “pie” of China. England and Germany are fighting each other on which slice is theirs and Russia, France, and Japan are considering on which section to cut. Germany has the knife in the pie, symbolizing Germany’s aggressive inclinations, and the French female puts her hand on Russia’s arm, guiding him on what part to get.

He exposed numerous Europeans to the Eastern world with the book “The Travels of Marco Polo”. For many Europeans this was the first time they got to get an idea of what China and other Eastern countries were like. This is what many people think of when they think of Marco Polo. Yet many do not know that there is a debate between scholars and historians. This debate asks “Did Marco Polo even go to China?”