China Overview Mr. Parker IBH2 Source: Michael Lynch - China: from Empire to People’s Republic 1900-1949
Traditional China A Closed Society Geography Mountains, deserts and ocean isolated China from the rest of the world China was isolated for centuries Indigenous Development China developed independently Unique Greatness Inward versus Outward Looking
Dynasties Han (206 BC - 220 AD) Ming (1398-1644AD) Qing / Manchu (1644 - 1911AD) Non-Han Seen as foreign influence on China Nationalism and anti-Manchu sentiment
Confucianism Importance of social and political harmony Conformity deference Obedience Mandate of Heaven Imperial Authority Minimal Contact with outside world Shattering Impact of West on China Bureaucratic and political elites - a self-serving and self-perpetuating elite
China and Historians What might be the challenges for the historian of China Access to sources Through the prism of other nations - Japan, USSR and US/GB All interpret China from own perspective and to justify their role in Chinese history Japan USSR US/GB Viewed through Japanese aspirations - economic Japanese sense of superiority Greatest range of sources Relations with GMD and CCP Role in Civil War Role in WW2 and War in the Pacific Impact of the West on Chinese History China shaped by Western forces - not much history prior to 1840’s China as passive victim
Chinese Views Very different approach to historical study History is political History is written in present tense - emphasizes continuity Very different from western belief in objectivity and balanced analysis Post-1949 - CCP took control of historical narrative Hagiography of the leadership and the party Mao - the Great Helmsman - was/is he capable of mistakes?