East Asia
During the years between 1000 and 1400 the East Asian region saw extensive change and development concerning the nature of the elites that ruled respective countries. In China there was the growth of the examination culture, Japan experienced the emergence of the Samurai, Korea saw the growth of the Yangban, and Vietnam became content with a tribute system to China. Each of the respective countries grew and developed independently and for the most part were able to distance themselves from China and begin to form their own national identity along with their own system of ruling elites.
In China there is a definite beginning to the new political elite which stems from the transition from the Tang to Song dynasties culminating in 960. The Zhao Brothers, who are the leaders of the revolution and the only one's able to consolidate power, know that they are only military strong men and realize that they need a system that will help prevent them from loosing power. As a result they look away from the landed aristocracy, that had previously ruled China and in the fighting has been greatly weakened, and focus their attention on creating a new political structure to develop government officials. The Zhao brothers institute the Confucian Examination System (CES), which no longer relies on recommendation but is merit based. The provincial exams are held every three years, with the number of people passing the final exam (Jinshi) being around 100-150 out of the original 100,000. Around this examination system there was now a rise of a new elite, the Literati. With the beginning of the CES there began a steady decline of military power in China and the emergence of the Literati. During the Mongol invasion the exams we...
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In all, great transformations in East Asia's political power structure took place during this time. There are two things that tie all the changes in the region together, the desire for emerging dynasties to legitimize and consolidate there power and China primarily in the form of the Confucian Examination System. The emergence of so many new dynasties in this period inherently leads to new political systems to govern new dynasties. The CES began in China also, in countries that adopt it, directly starts the emergence of a the Confucian scholar as a political official and creates a whole culture around the examinations themselves. The last unifying trait between all of the changes is that they all remain individual to their respective nations borrowing heavily at times from China but imprinting their own cultural identity on them at the same time.
In the book The Examination by Malcolm Bosse two brothers travel across China in their journey to pass the Imperial Exam. The brother’s names are Chen and Hong. Chen is very intelligent and is taking the Civil Service Exams hoping to pass. Hong on the other hand, is a known cricket fighter and joins the White Lotus Society along with the army. The Examination takes place in Song Era and is very accurate about what Chinese life and society was like in that time. This book depicts ideas and technologies and religious structure of ancient China. In the book The Examination by Malcolm Bosse, the author depicts ideas and technologies such as the civil service exam, junk ships, and porcelain as well as the religious structure of
From 100 CE to 600 CE the Chinese had many cultural and political life changes and continuities. A political change was in the end of the Classical Chinese period when the Han Dynasty fell. A cultural change during 100 CE to 600 CE was the paper invention that led to passing down cultural rituals. Not only were there changes but there was also continuities in the Chinese political and cultural life. An example of a cultural continuity is the increasing power of Buddhism.
In “Père du Halde: The Chinese Educational System”, (Document 3), Pere du Halde talks about the Chinese Education system. In the document, he says, “That boys should not learn is an improper thing; for if they do not learn in youth, what will they do when old?” This shows that the educational system in China was very hard and strict and the students learned a lot. Since the boys that were going to school were one day going to be men, those men were going to have to make many decisions for China. In order to make sure China was on the right path to great rulers and government workers, the schooling system was very prestigious and difficult. This is an example that China needed a good educational system so they would have strong, future rulers. In my opinion, the Chinese learning system was hard because everyone wanted to have great leaders and they knew that the students who were going to school were going to be future leaders. As it says in “Matteo Ricci: On Chinese Government”, (Document 5), “It may be said in praise of the Chinese that ordinarily they would prefer to die an honorable death rather than swear allegiance to a usurping monarch.” This is an example that the people of China wanted a strong ruler/rulers and would rather die than be ruled by a weak leader. The statement shows that all of China, not just government officers,...
Post Classical politics first came to be when Kong Fuzi or Confucius brought it up during the classical era. Confucius was an educator and a political advisor. At the time, China was experiencing problems and Confucius helped to settle everything. He passed his knowledge on to students who then created analects which are political and cultural traditions that Confucius had taught. Confucius was a very wise man. He did not answer philosophical questions because it did not help to solve the problems at hands and he refused to answer religious question because it was too complex for mere human beings to understand. He believed that political and social harmony came from appropriate arrangements of human relationships with one another. To him, the country should not have been ruled by someone born into power, but to someone who was erudite and incredibly meticulous. When the post classical era came around Yang Jian brought China back to an un-centralized rule after their collapse during the Han dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty they came up with the “bureaucracy based on merit” (Bentley and Zeigler, p. 378) or by recruiting government officials.
In the middle of the 19th century, despite a few similarities between the initial responses of China and Japan to the West, they later diverged; which ultimately affected and influenced the modernizing development of both countries. At first, both of the Asian nations rejected the ideas which the West had brought upon them, and therefore went through a time period of self-imposed isolation. However, the demands that were soon set by Western imperialism forced them, though in different ways, to reconsider. And, by the end of the 19th century both China and Japan had introduced ‘westernizing’ reforms. China’s aim was to use modern means to retain and preserve their traditional Confucian culture. Whereas Japan, on the other hand, began to successfully mimic Western technology as it pursued modernization, and thus underwent an astounding social upheaval. Hence, by the year 1920, Japan was recognized as one of the world’s superpowers, whereas China was on the edge of anarchy.
Today I will be discussing china’s classical age to 256 B.C.E, East Asia and the spread of Buddhism from 256 B.C.E. to 800 C.E., and continue East Asia ‘s history to 1400. China’s classical age consists of its emerging civilization, the early Zhou dynasty, the warring states period, Confucius and the several different schools of thought. From the period of 256 B.C.E and 800 C.E. China was expanded and Buddhism began to spread rapidly. It was also during this period that China shaped much of eastern Asian culture. During Eastern Asia’s period of 800 CA to 1400 CA was marked by the medieval Chinese economic revolution, Japans Heian period, Song dynasty and the Samurai and Kamakura Shogunate.
Major changes in political structure, social and economic life define the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. Each period laid the foundation for the next, with changes and improvements to create a new order.
The East Asians, mostly China and Japan, both were trying to become or stay a great power, and did it different ways. Japan tried to isolate themselves by only allowing limited contact and no spreading of Christianity, as was talked about in document sixteen. China tried to keep up with them by using a strong legal system as was mentioned in document six, and government set up like the monarchs of Europe, in that the power is passed from father to son, as seen in document five.
In spite of this, China, by not being able to withstand western influence, incorporated imperialism and obtained a modern military and technology from the favored nations. Albeit, the western powers forced imperialism in East Asia differently than the rest of the world. Modern East Asia still emerges with parts of its ancient culture still intact. The unequal treaties, extraterritoriality, and other forms of discriminatory decrees created the Westernization of China, Japan, and Korea and gave these nations hope for the future that Western dominance would soon pass. Works Cited Ebrey, Patricia, Anne Walthall, and James Palais.
3.) The Ming restoration brought about the rebirth of powerful Neo-Confucians. The scholar-gentry once again held much power in the empire. Along with this came the reinstating of the examination...
The samurai of Tokugawa Japan, the yangban of Choson Korea, and the gentry of Ming China were three very powerful and elite groups of East Asia. These groups consisted of high ranking government officials with judicial power and influence. Although the groups were located in the same region they had their similarities and differences in how they obtained power and how they used their power. Japanese samurai were military nobility who had almost as much power as the emperor, but were not the highest ranking officials whereas the yangban officials of Korea were the highest ranking rulers. The gentry of the Ming period of China were once high ranking rulers; however, the gentry were defined as retired Chinese bureaucrats. Socially, all of these groups, at one point or another, were high ranking officials with power in office. The elite groups ruled in different areas of Asia, but they had similarities as well as differences in sources of power, functions as officials, and the problems they faced as elite groups in Asia.
... the collective work more compared to the individual merit. As Confucianism is still very important in this state, so is the respect to the elders, especially to the teacher, which is just like a parent, who cannot only guide his student through the particular training, but influence the whole life course.
Confucian culture has persistence, so it does not disappear with the annihilation of the old system. Confucian culture, formed under two thousand years of feudal autocratic rule, not only exists for a long time, but also still has important influence on Chinese contemporary political life and political culture with its strong vitality. The theme of moderation is to educate people consciously to self-improve, self supervise, and self educate, and train themselves have the ideal personality. Fundamentally, the Confucian thinks that the root of governing revolution lies in the will of people, therefore, it should govern from the will of people if it wants to achieve the social governance, which has its profound meaning (Chan, Cho, 2014). The emergence of a lot of social problems, in the final analysis, is due to the lack of governance...
From covering Japan’s perilous imperial rule to analyzing Korea’s ambivalent adoption of democratic governance, Modern East Asia explored a broad range of subjects important for one who aspires to understand Asia holistically. Much time was even spent examining China’s horrid history at the hands of foreign meddling, giving insight into a nation feared as the future #1 economic power of the world. Although we covered a broad range of topics, each was given particular attention, never skipping major events or characters which shaped Asia’s history over the last several hundred years. Essentially, this class provided an open atmosphere for students to learn the intricate history of major Asian countries in addition to sharing ideas on the effectiveness of their pre-modern governance.