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The economic impact of the industrial revolution
The economic impact of the industrial revolution
The economic impact of the industrial revolution
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China was once the center of the world. Any other country in the world could not match China’s political prowess and economic strength. However, as time progressed China stagnated while other powers, especially those in Europe, were going through their industrial revolution were growing more powerful and were eager to break into the Chinese market. Great Britain was one European power that was eager to break into the Chinese market since China was one of the few if not only country that had a trade surplus with Great Britain. Great Britain then decided to sell non-textile products to China and started selling them opium. China was not pleased that their people were being exposed to addictive drugs that rendered their working class unable …show more content…
Qiu Jin was a female revolutionary who died fighting the Qing Empire. In Qiu’s piece, An Address to My Two Hundred Million Women Compatriots in China, she addresses her 200 million strong female audience. Qiu tells her female audience that change is needed, “But I hope that from now on we sisters will do away with the state affairs from the past and exert ourselves to create new circumstances. It is as if we had died and been reborn as human beings.” . This message was progressive, as women in China at tis time did not have many rights. They were treated as second hand citizens in the eyes of most men. This call for equality that was coming from Qiu reached many women and recruited them to the communist cause. At the end of her piece, Qiu says something else that shows the importance of women in the communist revolution, “Men cannot be sure of their own survival, so how can we continue to rely on them? If we do not lift ourselves up now, it will be too late once the nation has perished” . Qiu made it clear that without the women’s help the fight for freedom would not be achieved. It was not only the female members of the communist party that were calling for equality for women. Mao Zedong wrote social reforms that explicitly gave women more rights. One that strands out is, “18. A women can dispose of her land the way she wishes when she is married” . The leader of the communist party made it clear that women need to have more rights. Hearing it from one of the major players of the communist movement reassured women that if this revolution were indeed to take place and succeed, then they would have more rights. If women were treated as equals they would be more willing to fight for Mao and the communist revolution. There were other factors that contributed in people joining the
At the end of the eighteenth century, China’s goods were much desired by Britain. However, the Chinese saw Europeans as savages and did not want to trade with them. During trade, there was an imbalance in China’s favor, because the Europeans were forced to buy Chinese goods using silver. The Western Imperialists began to grow opium poppies from in India, and then smuggle them into China. China soon became addicted to the drug and spent most of it’s money on the purchase of it from the Europeans and Americans. This shifted the balance of power to be in Europe’s favor.
As stated before, many women who felt that they were involved in nationalist movements saw these opportunities presented to women. In document 4, Teodora Gomes is able to provide us with information about the opportunities of roles in nationalist party leadership for women. In document 1, Manmohini Saghal shows increased public participation of women. In document 2, Song Qingling even shows that women have taken place in military efforts during this time. In document 1, Manmohini Saghal shows increased public participation of women. These documents clearly show how women saw these movements as opportunities to change th...
Later, the Qing refused to accept European goods and demanded bar silver as payment. As a result, The Western powers began experiencing an outflow of silver to China. The countries, especially Britain, needed to find a way to reverse the flow of silver so the trade was even. So the British resorted to opium, a drug from the sap of the opium poppy. Originally used as medicine in western countries, opium was sold to China as a recreational dr...
Liberation in China means two different things for a man and a woman because of the gender differences that are prevalent. In traditional China women are treated unequally and are simply seen as a piece of property to their husband. They must abide by his demands and remain a slave to his family and traditions. As Yu-I told her niece, "You must remember this. In China, a woman is nothing." For a Chinese man, liberation means becoming stronger, more powerful, and of higher prestige. While with a Chinese woman, liberation means being equal to that of a man and being able to live a life on her own terms rather than that of her husband's.
There were many problems with the system of trade in China; even before opium trading began. China, believing herself to be the most civilized and advanced country, did not feel the need to satisfy Britain, a “barbarian” country’s request for freer trade and were concerned the British wanted land. Britain however, had no desire for land and only wished to trade, believing it was their right to do so. These misunderstandings and differing opinions were only the start of more to come. They set the foundations to the British and Chinese hostilities.
Gender equality has been an issue in the world for the past century. The contrast between men and women in China begins at home and translates into workplace expectations. In China, the expectation in the home is that men are superior to women and that she should be obliged to serve her husband. According to the Passport to China, “Confucianism is still a major factor in Chinese culture. A direct quote from the Passport to China represents this well. “The Confucian husband rules over his wife as a lord rules his people.” This essentially means that the husband is superior to the woman entirely in households that still maintain the Confucian attitudes of the past.
The Opium War not only embarrassed China, but as a consequence, it also had a lot of dramatic social and economic effects as well. China’s view of the Western world along with the relationship changed drastically. Due to the war, there were a lot of internal battles and struggles as well as economic downfall especially in Canton where a lot of trading was focused on prior to the war. This left a lot of people in China without jobs, which resulted in China completely losing all power and control that it had to the Western nations. This allowed these nations to gain power over them, which was not foreseen prior to the war. As a result, China’s goal of abolishing the trade of opium throughout their country resulted in many “unfair treaties” being signed and a drastic change in their economic and social development.
“Catastrophe, riots, factories blowing up, armies in flight, flood - the ear can detect a whole apocalypse in the starry night of the human body (Cocteau).” China is the human body of this metaphor, as Cocteau points out the destruction and chaos opium can cause in the body of man; it does the same to the well-being of China during the early to mid eighteen-hundreds. The aim of this paper is to discuss a key issue in which plagued China in their opposition to opium trade leading up to and during the Opium War. While there are many important issues related to China’s opium problem, the scope of this paper will be strategic errors. It is important to note that if improvements were made in this field, it does not guarantee that the
According to Confucius, a Chinese teacher and philosopher of the period of Chinese history where he created a patriarchal society that woman had to obey their husbands and grown sons. Therefore, during the early times, people in China are generally gender stereotype. Women were discriminated because they were deemed as weak, submissive, passive and dependent on men which only capable of doing house chores and taking care of children comparing to the males who is seen as the core of the family because they were dominant, independent, assertive and usually the one who provides financial support to the family. Women do not have legal rights in making decisions and most of them were illiterate and only educated on self-discipline, etiquette, relationships with in-laws, household management, humility and chastity. Women being lesser than men were considered to be natural and proper. This in turn caused gender inequality and it is not unusual to see males dominate the business world in the early days as well. However, in the modern days now, China has become more of a communism where everyone, regardless of gender, receives equal shares of benefits derived from labour. This led to a rise of the general status of women and they were given more opportunities for education. This is due to the president of China, Mao Zedong who utters the memorable phrase “Women hold up half of the sky” which changed the perceptions towards women in China. According to the study produced by the Beijing arm of accounting firm, Grant Thornton, the proportion of women in senior management in China has climbed to 51% at the year of 2013, up from 25% in 2012 and outpacing the global average of 21%. In a survey of 200 businesses in China, 94% of them employed wo...
The British wanted to increase the west influence in China, and shake it up from its ideal that it was the most important country in the world. The objective was to make China recognize the equality among other countries, such as England, France, Russia and USA. (Alexander, 1896). Some of the treaties made after the Opium Wars were abolished during World War II, when China became a member in the Security Council of the UN. It was complete with the return of Hong Kong in 1997.
Allingham,, Philip V. "England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 24 June 2006. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
"1750-1919: China and the West: Imperialism, Opium, and Self-Strengthening (1800-1921)." Afe.easia.columbia.edu. Columbia University, 2009. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.
The geography of China was something like a fence. This isolation made the people of China feel like their country was prestigious and secluded from the rest of the world. With deserts and the Himalayas running along most of the border, it was extremely difficult to cross over one of the most dangerous mountain ranges in the world and a few other scorching deserts with the little transport they had during that time. The only way merchants could come into the country was the southeastern coast of China where most of the prosper cities resided. What led China to become conceited was because they had an abundant of goods that most of the world wanted. In 1760-1830s, China was famous for its porcelain (rich Europeans loved it), silk, and of course, tea. Since this Eastern Powerhouse’s goods were so popular, therefore, there were only a few things that interested them to trade with. It seemed as if tea was a drug for the Europeans because for them it was just so addicting, to the point they would do anything just to get more and more. The only things that were worthy for trading with the Chinese were gingko (type of plant), shark fin, a soft type of wood (used for incense) and silver. As the demand for tea rose, Britain gradually ran out of silver to trade with, and was desperate to find what China wanted. Then, the British resorted to trading opium. China was very picky of their opium. There was a certain kind of make they wanted, it was a compact ball wr...
Women usually worked as secretaries or on the assembly line because “bosses felt that young women were more diligent and easier to manage” (p. 56). Men, however, were either in a high managing position in the factory or worked in the lowest of jobs available, such as a security guard or driver. It was interesting to learn that about one-third of all of China’s migrants are women. These women go to the factory towns to work, but also, a majority of them leave their homes to see the world and experience life on their own for the first time. Chang makes a point that “to some extent, this deep-rooted sexism worked in a woman’s favor” (p. 57). The statement is supported by the idea that women are less treasured in their families; therefore, they had more freedom to do what they wanted with little care from the family. Shockingly, Chang noticed that no woman ever complained about unfair treatment. “They took all of these injustices in stride” (p.58). The women were grateful for the opportunity leave home and gain a sense of freedom; injustice was not a prominent
According to Kenneth Pletcher he had said “The first Opium War (1839–42) was fought between China and Britain, and the second Opium War (1856–60), also known as the Arrow War or the Anglo-French War in China, was fought by Britain and France against China.”(Opium War, 2015) The British had so an opportunity that growing Opium in Shanghai would be great opportunity because they saw that people in China was using Opium. According to Kenneth Pletcher “Foreign traders (primarily British) had been illegally exporting opium mainly from India to China since the 18th century, but that trade grew dramatically from about 1820. The resulting widespread addiction in China was causing serious social and economic disruption there.” China really didn’t like what the British was doing to their country and how the drug was affecting the people in China. Opium is a type of drug that would make you high. Opium is similar to heroin. Since the China Government didn’t like what was going on decide to destroy all of the drugs that was stash away. According to Kenneth Pletcher “In March 1839 the Chinese government confiscated and destroyed more than 20,000 chests of opium—some 1,400 tons of the drug—that were warehoused at Canton (Guangzhou) by British merchants. The antagonism between the two sides increased a few days later when some drunken British sailors killed a Chinese villager. The British government, which did not wish its subjects to be tried in the Chinese legal system, refused to turn the accused men over to the Chinese courts.” In my opinion I feel like the British should have giving their man to the chines because it was very wrong that they kill one of the villagers for no reason. Another thing about this war is the Americans and the French was all in because they want to have a part of the territory so they would could trade also. The British had the first settlement in 1845, the Americans had the second settlement in 1848, and the French and the