Presentation on
Chinese History
Andrew Morris
History Department
14 April 2006
“This is Shanghai, a big city on Chinese soil.
How dare you call us Communist China.
Communist China has become history.
Such a term no longer exists.”
– PRC Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan,
to Taiwanese reporter,
2001 APEC Meeting, Shanghai
“The Slumbering Red Giant”?
• Western obsession/ fantasy that China
has to “catch up” to superior West
• Chinese certainty that the Middle
Kingdom’s 2000 years of economic/
cultural/political superiority is more
historically authentic than USA’s 60 years
as #1
“Foreign languages and
Shakespeare will be taught at
Cal Poly over my dead body.”
– unnamed Cal Poly President,
1960s
The Grand Canal
Built 7th century
(Sui Dynasty),
1200 miles long
A “wonder of the
world” to
Europeans 1000
years later …
The Cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty:
Chang’an
• Cosmopolitan city of 1 million – world
center of politics, culture, learning
• Multiethnic cities: capital, Guangzhou
• Influenced by Central Asia
• Influence spreading all over Eurasia
• (1000 years later, the biggest European
cities have population of 100,000)
Example: Religious Diversity
Historical
Implication:
Linguistic
Diversity
“Modern China” and
the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
• Problematize notion that “modern” = Western
• Emergence and growth of middle classes –
social mobility:
• Merchant power: chambers of commerce,
foreign sea trade
• Emergence of industry
• Money economy (incl. paper money)
• Expansion of exam system
• Social legislation by state and Buddhists
• Invention of paper money:
~700 years before it
appears in Europe in late
17th c.
• National credit market
• Yearly trade in capital
Kaifeng, 11th c. = 50%
more than London trade
18th c.
• 11th c. industry not
matched by any European
state until the 18th century
Military Technology
• (At right) Composite
crossbow from Song –
some are mounted and
operated by 100 men
• [By the 2nd century BCE
the Han Dynasty had
fashioned long-range
repeater crossbows with
trigger mechanisms on
rotating bases]
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
The Yongle Emperor, Beijing and the
return of the Middle Kingdom
Zheng He (鄭和, 1371-1433)
Muslim, eunuch, admiral
(Ma Sanbao, Hajji Mahmud)
Zheng He’s Ming Armada
“Treasure Ships”:
440 feet in length, 2500 tons capacity
Zheng He’s Ming Armada
• Seven voyages: 1405-1433
• First fleet: 317 ships, including 62 in
Treasure Ship class
• Smaller ships range down to 200 feet
• (Spanish Armada 1588 has 137 ships,
7 of 1000 ton burden)
• Manufacture causes great deforestation up
Yangzi Valley
The Tributary System
Recognition of “Middle Kingdom” = TRADE!
1960s: Maoist version of the “Middle Kingdom”
(2000s-: Global capitalist version …)
Power of the High Qing
(late 17th – early 19th c.)
“Everything which the people need for their
well-being and sustenance, whether it be
for food or clothing or even delicacies and
superfluities, is abundantly produced
within the borders of the kingdom and not
imported from foreign climes.”
- 17th-century European assessment of
Chinese wealth and self-sufficiency
The Opium War
Resulting hostility
towards West, not
“foreigners”
Feng Guifen - “There
is only one thing to
learn from the
barbarians, and
that is strong ships
and effective guns.”
The Rise of Market-Leninism
“Mao offers you enterprise management tips you can’t
get from any other business studies, especially
Western ones.”
– China Business (2003)
“Acclaim from the leader is a
great source of affirmation and
identification for the lower levels.
– Mao Zedong Teaches us About
Personnel Matters (2003)
“The books can help enable someone seeking selfimprovement to learn from a person who has already
notched up such great success.”
– Central Party History Publishing House, 2003
Cui Jian
“The Elvis, Beatles
Dylan, Springsteen
and Cobain of China”
My stomach is full now
My brain is clear now too
But don’t say this is a great favor
That can never be repaid
We are no longer pawns in a chess
game
Following lines drawn by others
We try standing up ourselves
Get moving and take a look at
everything
Reality is like a stone
Spirit is like an egg
Although stones are hard
Eggs are life
Mother is still alive
Father is a flagpole
If you ask us who we are
We are balls under the red flag
“Eggs Under the Red Flag”
“The Two Wangs,” April 2001
Wang Zhizhi,
China’s first NBA
player
Wang Wei,
pilot of downed fighter jet
that collided with EP-3
spy plane
Zheng He, Part 2:
Mythology, Nationalism
(and Profit)
“The Great Mall of China”
“1 billion souls to save; 2 billion armpits to deodorize”
Profit = Democracy?
Or Profit vs. Democracy?
Justifications?
“Our continued engagement with China is
the best (and perhaps only) way for Google
to help bring the tremendous benefits of
universal access to all our users there.”
– Google, 2006
“One could walk away. But that would also
be turning our back on the problem.”
– Microsoft, 2006
“The Workshop of the World”
• Manufactures two thirds of the world’s copiers,
microwave ovens, DVD players and shoes
• World’s largest producer of coal, steel, cement
• 2nd largest consumer of energy
• 3rd largest importer of oil
• Exports to US have grown by 1,600 percent over the
past 15 years
• 2004 exported $18 billion worth of goods to WalMart (China has 5,000 of Wal-Mart’s 6,000 suppliers)
• Intel Science and Engineering Fair, 2004:
Americans participating: 65,000
Chinese participating: 6 million
Taiwan: The Renegade Province
• Facing 700+ nucleartipped PRC missiles
• 2006: PRC military
budget increased by
14.7% (to US$35.3
billion) - because of
efforts of “Taiwanese
independence
secessionist forces”
What’s at stake with Taiwan?
• (Recent panda politics)
• PRC’s historical
supremacy & legacy
• “Domino effect” –
Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner
Mongolia
• Japanese, US influence
st
21
The
Century as
“The Chinese Century”?
Ted Fishman, 2005
Sun Yat-sen, 1912