A Brief History of the Chinese State and its Politics
Created | Updated May 1, 2003
Around the year 2200 BCE the original Chinese culture developed. An aristocratic, agricultural, and pagan society sprang up under the rule of the Shang monarchs. This unexceptional, though historically early, civilization changed little until 1000 BCE.
The Roots of Empire
The Zhou dynasty overthrew the Shang in the first of China’s many coups. In order to control so vast a region, the empire was divided up and put under the regional control of local lords, creating an almost feudal aristocracy of tangled alliances. In 771 BCE, the invasion of the Chuanrong in the middle of a succession dispute disrupted the power of the Zhou kings, leaving the local lords to do whatever they pleased.
After hundreds of years of chaos, the semi-Chinese province of Qin, structured on strict authoritarian government, overran the Zhou countries by 220 BCE and began a new dynasty with Zheng, the first emperor. While the dynasty fell apart by 202 BCE, the title and position of emperor remained.
The new Han dynasty, created by Liu Bang, further changed the government with the creation of a civil service made up of the middle class gentry. During this prosperous period, the Han family sucked up all power in payment for the security received. Trade and immigration moved westward into central Asia. China spread to northern Korea and Vietnam under the strong Han family. Yet, ineffectual monarchs arose, monarchs unable to tackle the difficult problems at the heart of China’s government and religions. Conflicts with Confucians led to civil war. Wars freed up land and ended the economic pressures on the Chinese populace for a while. The Hans held on into the second century CE, a weak family in command of the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The Three States and Feudal China
Again, local warlords came into power by 200 CE. Bitter wars between differing factions led to the split of the empire into three kingdoms: Wei, Shu, and Wu. After decades of war, Wei conquered all by 280 CE, only to have the throne of Wei disputed into the next century. Just as the Jin family gained control, the barbaric Xiongnu invaded from the north. They seized gigantic areas of the empire, including the capital, for occupation, forcing the Jins to consolidate power in the south. The Xiongnu eventually settled, integrated into Chinese society, and became Buddhists. As the southerners retook the north in 417 CE, both the southern Jins and the northern Lius were deposed from their own realms, leaving control of the empire up for grabs.
A succession of families withered on the throne, each eventually murdered and cast-off by the usurpers. The Sui family held on until a failed war in Korea caused another civil war in 618 CE, when the Tang dynasty began. Failing to hold onto western trade, losing the Silk Road to Islamic forces in 751 CE, and unable to control the lords, the Tangs fell in 907 CE. The next fifty years saw five failed dynasties, civil war, and foreign invasion from the kingdom of Liao. The emperor Taizu, first of the Song dynasty, settled the state in 960 CE. Barely holding onto power, the family ignored defense and let foreigners consolidate power over occupied China.
The Golden Horde and Empire Recovered
The power of these foreigners was united under the power of one overlord. Not an emperor, but a Khan. Kublai Khan overran China, becoming the first Mongol emperor in 1294 CE. Rebellion began only after the Mongols deteriorated in 1387, setting up the Ming dynasty and a period of isolationism in a backlash against the outside world.
While art flourished and Ming rule survived, the outside world began to batter at the gates. Mongols continued to raid the borders and the first Europeans, the Portuguese, landed at Canton in 1517. While the Jesuits had free reign to build up 300 Roman Catholic churches by 1610, the Manchus of Manchuria, a mostly non-Chinese group, looked greedily at the empire. They seized the throne in 1644, beginning the last dynasty, Qing. Not only was this the last dynasty, it was the second non-Chinese dynasty. Consolidating power, and taking it away from the Chinese, was the Manchu goal. Advances in manufacturing were ignored as increasing poverty increased the amount of cheap labor. Anti-Manchu revolts in 1796 and 1813 all failed to unseat the unpopular monarchs.
Western Intrusions
Still, foreign power was minimal until 1839. The British, hoping to rectify the trade imbalance with China caused by tea imports, starting dumping opium, an illegal substance, on the Chinese market. When the Chinese responded by destroying the British stores, they were attacked and defeated. The Treaty of Nanjing was forced on them in 1842, forcing China open and giving westerners special rights, including the Russian stranglehold on Manchuria. The people, angered by the Opium War and the loss of Korea to Japan in 1894, rose up in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900-1901.
The people, often led by students who began studying abroad, began to rebel again against the autocratic monarchy, a monarchy that had hinted at a constitution in 1905. Men like Sun Yat-sen pushed the provinces into repudiating the Manchus by 1911 and forcing Pu-yi, the last emperor, to abdicate. Into this power vacuum, Yuan Shikai became provisional president of the republic with the support of Sun’s Guomindang party. Eventually, Yuan turned against the democratic government, assumed dictatorial powers, and attempted to gain the title of emperor. He was opposed by Sun and a mix of unruly warlords out for power.
Japan Strikes and Communism is Born
At this time, Japan became convinced that they needed China. In 1915, they forced Yuan into a treaty giving Japan special rights, which they were forced to give up by the Washington Naval Conference. Sun’s Guomindang, along with the fledgling Chinese Communists, took Shanghai and forced Yuan out of power. Sun, and later Chiang Kai-shek took over the country in an attempt to realize their nationalist government. At this time, Mao Zedong organized peasant revolts that caused his rift with Chiang. While trying to destroy the Communists, Chiang was stabbed in the back by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, allowing the formation of Mao’s Red Army. While, Chiang made a brief peace with the Communists during WWII, confrontation was coming. Talks broke down in 1946 and led to a civil war that exiled the Nationalist government to Taiwan and the creation of the People’s Republic of China (Communist) on October 1, 1949.
Initially, Mao took his cue from Stalin’s Soviet Union. They supported the Communist cause in Korea. Later, Mao was disenchanted by the Soviet Union’s level of communication with the west. Mao ostracized from the world as he attempted such failed reforms as the “Great Leap Forward.” Mao even supported a nuclear weapons program over the objections of Krushchev. Eventually, the world got in. Using the fabled “Ping-Pong diplomacy,” China was recognized by Nixon and joined the United Nations in 1971. Over time, pro-western sentiment and entrepreneurship began to take hold. The massive demonstrations in Tiannamen Square show the rising discontent among the younger generations to this day when China is more of a player in the world economy.
Sources:
Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/chinhist.html>
The History of China. <http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/welcome.html>
The Opium War and the Opening of China. <http://historyliterature.homestead.com/files/extended.html>
Smitha’s World History. <http://www.fsmitha.com/index.html>
World History. Glencoe McGraw-Hill Company, 2003.
(This paper's factual data is based solely on the sources cited here. They were corollated and paraphrased into an original essay by the writer. Standard methods of obtaining this information legally were maintained at all times.)
The Roots of Empire
The Zhou dynasty overthrew the Shang in the first of China’s many coups. In order to control so vast a region, the empire was divided up and put under the regional control of local lords, creating an almost feudal aristocracy of tangled alliances. In 771 BCE, the invasion of the Chuanrong in the middle of a succession dispute disrupted the power of the Zhou kings, leaving the local lords to do whatever they pleased.
After hundreds of years of chaos, the semi-Chinese province of Qin, structured on strict authoritarian government, overran the Zhou countries by 220 BCE and began a new dynasty with Zheng, the first emperor. While the dynasty fell apart by 202 BCE, the title and position of emperor remained.
The new Han dynasty, created by Liu Bang, further changed the government with the creation of a civil service made up of the middle class gentry. During this prosperous period, the Han family sucked up all power in payment for the security received. Trade and immigration moved westward into central Asia. China spread to northern Korea and Vietnam under the strong Han family. Yet, ineffectual monarchs arose, monarchs unable to tackle the difficult problems at the heart of China’s government and religions. Conflicts with Confucians led to civil war. Wars freed up land and ended the economic pressures on the Chinese populace for a while. The Hans held on into the second century CE, a weak family in command of the richest and most advanced nation in the world.
The Three States and Feudal China
Again, local warlords came into power by 200 CE. Bitter wars between differing factions led to the split of the empire into three kingdoms: Wei, Shu, and Wu. After decades of war, Wei conquered all by 280 CE, only to have the throne of Wei disputed into the next century. Just as the Jin family gained control, the barbaric Xiongnu invaded from the north. They seized gigantic areas of the empire, including the capital, for occupation, forcing the Jins to consolidate power in the south. The Xiongnu eventually settled, integrated into Chinese society, and became Buddhists. As the southerners retook the north in 417 CE, both the southern Jins and the northern Lius were deposed from their own realms, leaving control of the empire up for grabs.
A succession of families withered on the throne, each eventually murdered and cast-off by the usurpers. The Sui family held on until a failed war in Korea caused another civil war in 618 CE, when the Tang dynasty began. Failing to hold onto western trade, losing the Silk Road to Islamic forces in 751 CE, and unable to control the lords, the Tangs fell in 907 CE. The next fifty years saw five failed dynasties, civil war, and foreign invasion from the kingdom of Liao. The emperor Taizu, first of the Song dynasty, settled the state in 960 CE. Barely holding onto power, the family ignored defense and let foreigners consolidate power over occupied China.
The Golden Horde and Empire Recovered
The power of these foreigners was united under the power of one overlord. Not an emperor, but a Khan. Kublai Khan overran China, becoming the first Mongol emperor in 1294 CE. Rebellion began only after the Mongols deteriorated in 1387, setting up the Ming dynasty and a period of isolationism in a backlash against the outside world.
While art flourished and Ming rule survived, the outside world began to batter at the gates. Mongols continued to raid the borders and the first Europeans, the Portuguese, landed at Canton in 1517. While the Jesuits had free reign to build up 300 Roman Catholic churches by 1610, the Manchus of Manchuria, a mostly non-Chinese group, looked greedily at the empire. They seized the throne in 1644, beginning the last dynasty, Qing. Not only was this the last dynasty, it was the second non-Chinese dynasty. Consolidating power, and taking it away from the Chinese, was the Manchu goal. Advances in manufacturing were ignored as increasing poverty increased the amount of cheap labor. Anti-Manchu revolts in 1796 and 1813 all failed to unseat the unpopular monarchs.
Western Intrusions
Still, foreign power was minimal until 1839. The British, hoping to rectify the trade imbalance with China caused by tea imports, starting dumping opium, an illegal substance, on the Chinese market. When the Chinese responded by destroying the British stores, they were attacked and defeated. The Treaty of Nanjing was forced on them in 1842, forcing China open and giving westerners special rights, including the Russian stranglehold on Manchuria. The people, angered by the Opium War and the loss of Korea to Japan in 1894, rose up in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900-1901.
The people, often led by students who began studying abroad, began to rebel again against the autocratic monarchy, a monarchy that had hinted at a constitution in 1905. Men like Sun Yat-sen pushed the provinces into repudiating the Manchus by 1911 and forcing Pu-yi, the last emperor, to abdicate. Into this power vacuum, Yuan Shikai became provisional president of the republic with the support of Sun’s Guomindang party. Eventually, Yuan turned against the democratic government, assumed dictatorial powers, and attempted to gain the title of emperor. He was opposed by Sun and a mix of unruly warlords out for power.
Japan Strikes and Communism is Born
At this time, Japan became convinced that they needed China. In 1915, they forced Yuan into a treaty giving Japan special rights, which they were forced to give up by the Washington Naval Conference. Sun’s Guomindang, along with the fledgling Chinese Communists, took Shanghai and forced Yuan out of power. Sun, and later Chiang Kai-shek took over the country in an attempt to realize their nationalist government. At this time, Mao Zedong organized peasant revolts that caused his rift with Chiang. While trying to destroy the Communists, Chiang was stabbed in the back by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, allowing the formation of Mao’s Red Army. While, Chiang made a brief peace with the Communists during WWII, confrontation was coming. Talks broke down in 1946 and led to a civil war that exiled the Nationalist government to Taiwan and the creation of the People’s Republic of China (Communist) on October 1, 1949.
Initially, Mao took his cue from Stalin’s Soviet Union. They supported the Communist cause in Korea. Later, Mao was disenchanted by the Soviet Union’s level of communication with the west. Mao ostracized from the world as he attempted such failed reforms as the “Great Leap Forward.” Mao even supported a nuclear weapons program over the objections of Krushchev. Eventually, the world got in. Using the fabled “Ping-Pong diplomacy,” China was recognized by Nixon and joined the United Nations in 1971. Over time, pro-western sentiment and entrepreneurship began to take hold. The massive demonstrations in Tiannamen Square show the rising discontent among the younger generations to this day when China is more of a player in the world economy.
Sources:
Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/chinhist.html>
The History of China. <http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/welcome.html>
The Opium War and the Opening of China. <http://historyliterature.homestead.com/files/extended.html>
Smitha’s World History. <http://www.fsmitha.com/index.html>
World History. Glencoe McGraw-Hill Company, 2003.
(This paper's factual data is based solely on the sources cited here. They were corollated and paraphrased into an original essay by the writer. Standard methods of obtaining this information legally were maintained at all times.)
