The way the Chinese have conceived of their past, and of themselves, was profoundly shaped by the Shiji. The Shiji, or Historical Records, was a monumental work composed of 130 chapters written during the Han dynasty by Sima Qian. It presented the past from several perspectives: a chronological narrative of political events; topical accounts of key institutions; and biographies of individuals that Qian saw as important. The political narrative began with the Yellow Lord and continued through the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, down to the Han dynasty and Emperor Wudi of Sima Qian's day. Chronological charts with genealogical data and information on government posts came next, such as the calendar, state ritual, the construction of waterworks, and government finance. Thirty chapters were devoted to the ruling houses of the states of the Zhou period, recounting the reigns of successive rulers. These were supplemented by seventy chapters on other important individuals, including not only great officials and generals, but also people not associated with the government, both the famous and infamous including: philosophers, poets, merchants, magicians, and even rebels. Even non-Han people along the frontiers were described in narrative accounts. The emergence of a unified empire out of the warring States of pre-Qin China, the consolidation of the former Han, and the relations between the empire and the surrounding people groups were major themes in the Shiji. Qian’s records also offer insights through his role as a historian and his attempt to resolve a life changing experience he distinguished in his own life. Equally important, Sima Qian, by writing so well on so much, had a profound impact on Chinese thinking about government, pers...
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...u wavered between an essentialist reduction of their nature to those aspects of it that the Chinese found particularly shameful and a more favorable appreciation of their intelligence and flexibility. Likewise, some Xiongnu customs, such as their preference of the young over the elderly, are depicted as simple reversals of Chinese customs. The description of the political organization of the Xiongnu, for example, gives an impression of efficient government rather than backward tyranny. In fact, its sophisticated combination of centralized control and decentralized administration seemed well suited to provoke the admiration of Sima Qian’s Chinese readers, many of whom were critical of the unwieldy governmental bureaucracy of the Han. His descriptions of the Xiongnu underlined the limits of the expansion of Han civilization in the steppe regions of northern Asia.
There are little to no direct accounts of how individuals’ lives were a couple thousand years ago in Ancient China. With a wealth of information on the rise, decline, and fall of empires, Michael Loewe, a sinologist who specializes in oriental studies and theology, writes an imaginary story about a hero named Bing set around 70 BCE. Bing: From Farmer’s Son to Magistrate in Han China is Loewe’s fictional portrait of life during the Han Empire. It is by no means a comprehensive historical account of Han times, in fact, it was written with those readers who are not familiar with Chinese in mind, however through the life of Bing we can gage how the lives of laborers, those involved in military service, merchants, and government officials might
Qianlong’s education started at a very young age and was said to have been a child prodigy that by the age of six had learned Chinese characters, and commence his study under a tutor at the age of seven and studied all the Chinese classics with Hanlin scholars. As well as legendary rulers of the Chinese antiquity, Qianlong’s models were those of highly educated, usually referred to literati. Literati were scholars with high intelligence that aimed for ‘ya’, which meant elegance of thought, strong sense of character with the goal of living a simple life . Dressed in tradition Ming style clothing and headwear, Qianlong is portrayed as what he fantasies himself to be, a scholarly literati with an identical portrait of him in the background,
Shortly after, Tzi-hsi was forced to give up her regency and retired to a summer palace, but she soon resumed rule over China. From that moment on until her death in 1908 she ruled China, instilling new policies and reforms into Chinese culture. There have been many assertions and assumptions about Tzi-hsi’s policies and their value to the history of China and her popularity among Chinese citizens (her tomb was raided and destroyed). Regardless of these opinio...
The rise and fall of the Roman and Chinese empires are one of the most well know and well documented events in human history. The Roman Empire lasting from 27 BCE – 476 CE, and the Chinese Empire from 202 BCE to 220 CE. Each lasted for roughly 400 years. As more and more information about the two empires is uncovered, there have been a number of striking similarities and differences between the two realms. What especially stands out between the two empires is there system to govern, and their methods of political theologies to govern. Each empire were similar with a well-organized bureaucracy, but they differed in how they functioned and how their governments controlled their land.
Cao Xueqin’s Story of the Stone is a classic in Chinese literature, showcasing the life and exploits of the wealthy Jia clan during the feudal era. Through Cao’s depiction, the reader is afforded a glimpse into the customs and lifestyle of the time. Chinese mode of thought is depicted as it occurred in daily life, with the coexisting beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism. While the positive aspects of both ideologies are presented, Cao ultimately depicts Taoism as the paramount, essential system of belief that guides the character Bao-yu to his eventual enlightenment.
Li, K., & Mengyan, F. (2013). A historical survey on modernization of Chinese culture. Asian Social Science, 9(4), 129-132. doi:10.5539/ass.v9n4p129
China has gone through many changes in its history. Changes include economic, political, and social. In the early 1500 and throughout history, mostly all social classes followed Confucianism. Confucianism is a type of religion based on an ideal society (Chang 2012, 22). China was molded though Confucianism but that slowly deteriorated as years went on. One main group that has been a main part in these changes is the Chinese literati. The Chinese literati include the higher-class people such as officials and scholars. The Chinese literati were the dominant social class during the 1500’s but their power slowly decreased throughout history. Throughout my paper, I will explain the Chinese literati involvement as centuries passed.
Of the many dynasties that make up China’s history, one of the most notable is the Han Dynasty, which lasted from 206 BCE to 220 CE, under the rule of numerous emperors. It made many contributions to China’s history and made lasting changes, some of which remained for millennia following the dynasty’s collapse. They made changes to China’s economy, technology, social order, religion, philosophy, and education that revolutionized the way China operated. Also, as the Han Dynasty expanded greatly during its rule, many of the territory that the dynasty conquered became part of what would later be modern day China. These changes helped to shape the country that China became.
...e seen as angry manifestations of heavens, of divine powers. After this things began to unravel. Eunuchs obtained more power turning court officials into a bloody political field. Peasant uprising called the Yellow Turban Rebellion threatened the imperial Capital. Then in 190 CE a war lord, Dong Zhou, took control of the imperial capital and placed a child, Liu Xie, as ruler. Although Liu Xie was a member of the Han family as he was placed there by Dong Zhou he was the one with true control. He killed the eunuchs and burned Luoyang. After time battle after battle to the imperial order until Liu Xie was removed from the throne in 220 CE, the last years of the Han dynasty. Wars continued and China would not be unified for another 350 years. This was the vast history of the Han dynasty that had unified china for over 400 years and paved the way for future generations.
Pu Yi, Henry, and Paul Kramer. The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China. 4th ed. New York: Skyhorse, 2010. Amazon.com. Amazon.com. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
The Qing Dynasty prospered well into the 20th century despite the numerous problems the administration faced. However, during the early days of the 20th century, civil disorders continued to grow in such unmanageable factions that the administration was pushed to do something about it. The high living standards of the previous century had contributed to a sharp increase in China’s population, there was approximately 400 million people living in China around the nineteenth century. This spike increased population density, it also created a surplus of labour shortages, land shortages, inadequate food production and several famines. As an attempt for a solution, Empress Dowager Cixi proclaimed a call for proposals for reform from the generals and governors. There were three reform movements between 1860-1911, “ the Qing court and Chinese provincial officials had tried to adapt a wide range of Western techniques and ideas to China’s proven needs: artillery, ships, the telegraph, new schools, factories, chambers of commerce and international law” (Spence, 234). The first reform being the Self-strengthening Movement the second was the Hundred Days Reform and the last is regarded as the Late Qing reform. These three reforms were similar in the fact that the main objective was to strengthen China. However, there were multiple reasons for the failed plans of the reforms. Analyzing certain individuals and events during the late Qing dynasty will help determine if the Manchus would have been viable leaders for modern China.
The Warring States is the subject and title of Griffith’s third chapter, which gives an enlightening look at the life and times in China after the defeat of the rule of Chin at Ching Yang in 453. (p. 20) The country was divided into eight individual warring sects (with the exception of Yen...
Confucius played a major role during the time of the Zhou dynasty. “Confucius was a thinker, a political figure, an educator” (“Confucius”). The Analects of Confucius contain information on how one should interact with others and conduct their daily lives, and how deeply people should participate in society and government. These ideas then spread to his students, and eventually to many regions of Asia. This
In 1911, a nationalist political party was founded by Sun Yat-sen, but was governed in China by Chiang Kai-shek. Sun wanted to make China free, strong, and successful by following his three principles. “Our Party [the Guomindang] takes the development of the weak and small and resistance to the strong and violent as our sole and most urgent task. This is even truer for those groups which are not of our kind if they are not our kind, their hearts must be different”. What Zuo Zhuan is trying to say is that we, the Guomindang, take in the defenseless, hopeless, and feeble and transform them into powerful figures. If you don’t join our organization than you would be considered a weakling. This caught the Hui peo...
The title of Ray Huang’s book 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty Decline suggests that this book is a work based on a single year in which little occurred. But in reality, Huang’s look at the events of 1587 demonstrate the complex workings of the leadership during the decline of the Ming dynasty, giving the reader an insight into the societal structure, the governmental process, and the mistakes that occurred systematically to enhance the progression towards the seemingly inevitable downfall. Though nothing of historical significance occurred during the year 1587, Huang is able to demonstrate the way in which the existing culture and the smaller, more systematic elements of political leadership can be understood within the context of a seemingly unimportant period of time.