Gold, silver | Livestock: horses, cows, pigs | 3. Diseases | Tobacco | 2. China started to decline due to Mongol rule and after a revolution that ended with the rise of a new dynasty, the Chinese stayed out of the world spotlight to help revive the Chinese kingdom. During the Ming dynasty the whole focal point was about getting rid of the Mongol culture and going back to being Chinese and Chinese alone. After the Ming dynasty declined due to civil unrest, led to the destruction of Ming Dynasty.
They stayed independent, but in order to do that they had to pay tribute or extra tax money. Rebellions, drought, and economic challenges lead to the Tang downfall. But in 960 a general named Zhao Kuangjin reunited China under The Song Dynasty, which was conquered by the Mongols in 1279. Confucianism beliefs controlled society. Tang rulers believed in a civil service system.
The generally chaotic nature of the Empire following Alexander II’s death was suggestive of the need for strong leadership to stabilise the country. Alexander III made a series of conservative adjustments to his father’s reforms through his stern, authoritarian policies between 1881 and 1894. Radical changes to local government took place through the introduction of Land Captains in 1889, which had total authority in local administration and could override the authority of the zemstva. The introduction of Land Captains strengthened the autocracy and the position of the nobility in the countryside, giving peasants less freedom, contradicting the reforms in which Alexander II put in place. The increase of central control through the introduction of Land Captains establishes his power rather than benefiting the people of Russia, therefore making Alexander III a reactionary.
However after Karakazov attempts to assassinate the Tsar in 1866, he becomes much more autocratic, revealing that he had no intention of significantly developing politics, his use of the Zemstvas were in fact to help sustain autocracy, through making local administration more efficient. It can be suggested from this that Alexander II had put the Zemstva Act in place to appease the nobles angered by the Emancipation Act. Alexander III was much more of a successful autocrat. His reactionary attitude led to the reversal of many of his father’s liberal reforms, and was in some cases angered by them. Alexander III re-implements Tsarist form, through the use of repression and terror.
He went on to battle the Dzungars in Dzuunmond to attain Outer Mongolia as part of the Qing dynasty. As well, he liberated Tibet in 1717 who was under Dzungar control. Tibet was now part of China and the Dalai Lama, an inspiration to the world was unharmed. Second change was when Opium was introduced to China in 400 A.D by Arab traders. Opium was used as medicine to relieve pain and ease the transition to death.
The Sui Empire was not able to maintain their authority in China because they could not support the massive undertakings in military expansion and public works that was required. This overextension led to the transition to the Tang Empire. The changes in this period of Chinese history was the reunification of China, and the massive public works projects that they undertook including the Grand Canal, irrigation projects and improvements to the Great Wall. The continuity that took place during this era was a return to the Confucian state philosophy and the strong political influence of the Buddhist philosophy. In 618 the powerful Li family ended Sui rule and created the Tang Empire.
Jonathan Fenby argues that the revolution of 1912 brought great opportunity for the prospect of a turning point but the regimes that came directly after “lacked the tools with which to bring about the scale of change required”. The fall of the Qing impacted on a social, political and economic level, not always in a positive fashion but great decisive change nonetheless. Qing China was a time of great political and social repression. However there was some attempt within the Qing period to reform, for instance in the year 1905 the degree system was transformed, ending a thousand-year tradition. Examples like this and the introduction of provincial assemblies in 1909 indicates that social and political reform was happening under the Qing.
The British government retaliated with much force, resulting in Chinese defeat, which then forth became the Treaty of Nanking. The Treaty of Nanking is labeled as one of the “Unequal Treaties” for many reasons. When Britain implemented the Treaty of Nanking, much of the life that China knew would soon be no more, the island of Hong Kong was forced over to British ownership and control, rights were taken away, tariffs implemented, and the destruction of Opium by Lin caused a six million dollar “refund” to England. Since China was a closed nation, with an old-fashioned way of life and military technology, this caused a great disadvantage for them, trying to fight against what British was doing to their country. China had no say or control to what Britain was doing to them, and no way of fighting back or retaliating.
After several victories and captures of cities by the Taipings the Chinese government eventually got tired of it and sent out for help from the west. They contracted a man named Frederick Townsend Ward and another named Henry Andreas Burgevine to form a mercenary force of people to assist the Chinese government force (FTW). With the help from the west, the Chinese government was able to stop the Taiping Rebellion. But what if the west hadn’t of helped? If the west hadn’t of helped I think that the Taiping Rebellion would have continued to take over provinces and eventually the Chinese government.
It had a strong and peaceful government during the Qing Empire and imperial powers such as Britain and the U.S. were interested in Chinese goods. By the late 1700s, however, China was experiencing internal strains with the population and with the government (columbia.edu). China had often looked down on foreigners and did not accept their cultures, but in 1793, the Chinese emperor agreed to meet with an English ambassador. The ambassador brought with him modern gadgets of that time such as clocks and instruments (Beck 371). The emperor was not interested and then the British realized they would have to find a product to trade with China so they could balance out the trading with China; that product was opium (Beck 371).