Big Picture: China• G–Problems with nomads (north)–Large, filled with resources–Influences neighbors
• R–Confucianism–Buddhism comes in and out
Big Picture: China• A–Continuous civilization–Inventions–Core of world trade
• P–Dynastic cycle–Civil service exams
Big Picture: China• E–Agricultural–Public works–Little respect for trade
• S–Confucianism–Peasants are poor, but important–Scholar-gentry
Zhou Dynasty
• Invent Mandate of Heaven and Dynastic Cycle• Essentially feudal system• Expand to Yangtze River
Han Dynasty
• True Classical China• Embrace Confucianism• Create civil service exams• Expand empire and trade West
How China Works• Central authority –Appoints local officials, but strong local
units keep order–Bureaucracy is large, people pay taxes,
follow law, provide labor• Upper class is landholders and bureaucrats• Family is the social order• Stay agricultural
Tang Dynasty• Restores and modifies civil service exams• Conquers northern nomads, Korea, and the
west (largest dynasty)• Eventually boots out Buddhism• Links rivers with Grand Canal• Urbanization, trade, women’s rights
expand• Tons of new technologies
Song Dynasty• Takes the worst of the Tang features–Overexpanded bureaucracy (higher
status)–Embraced Neo-Confucianism•And only Chinese things
–Weakens military – consistently losing ground to nomads–Stops trade
Yuan Dynasty• Kublai Khan conquers the Song• No civil service exams, only Mongols in
bureaucracy–But, Kubilai had Chinese advisors
• Chinese banned from learning Mongol language• Bring in Muslim scholars to supplement
Chinese science, which stagnated
Ming Dynasty• Eliminate Mongols• Reinstate civil service exams – scholar-
gentry status raises again• Landlords still powerful, came from
bureaucratic families • Neo-Confucianism deepens• Trade grows, but invest in land and not
manufacturing
Qing Dynasty• Manchu nomads from the north override Ming
weakness• Not Chinese, but become Chinese–Adopt Confucianism, bureaucracy, civil service
exams– Chinese can serve
• Landlords still exploit peasants• Bureaucracy becomes corrupt, ignored public works
and Europeans• Opium War, rebellions…collapse
Chinese Civil War• Qing dynasty collapses under pressure
of Western interference, rebellions• Nationalist party (Sun Yat-sen, Chiang
Kai-shek) want a Western-style state–A.k.a. Guomindang/Kuomintang
• Communist party (Mao Zedong) want communist peasant revolution
Communist Party
• Emphasized return to Confucian social values – meaning peasants good, merchants and outsiders bad, collective welfare• Talk about power to the people –
killed a lot of people with Mao’s policies
Chinese Civil War• Communists use guerrilla warfare, Nationalists ally
with warlords and make gains• Long March: communists escape to the north• Japan invades: force Chinese to fight together–War weakens Nationalist armies and economic
bases– Communists gain power, practice
• 1949: Nationalists move to Formosa (Taiwan), Communists officially take over China
Communist China• Expand boundaries• Violently redistribute land to peasants–Mao collectivized agriculture, wanted small
local factories (Great Leap Forward)–Failed here, too
• Pragmatists pushed out Mao after the “Cultural Revolution” which attacked his rivals and bureaucrats–Open economy, but not politics
Major Events• Zhenghe Expeditions• Russo-Japanese War• Opium Wars• Commodore Perry• Meiji Restoration• Boxer Rebellion• May Fourth Movement• Chinese Civil War
• WWII – Rape of Nanking– Pearl Harbor–Midway–Hiroshima and
Nagasaki• Korean War• Tiananmen Square
Classical Japan
• Tribes and farming• Regional states• Create emperor as religious figure• Shintoism• Connection to China
Japan in Tang Times
• Borrowed a lot from China, but Buddhists and aristocrats prevented full reforms• Local estates ignored the empire,
peasants became serfs (and Buddhists), estates hired samurai, embraced warrior culture
Feudal Japan• Fighting between warlords–Decline in central authority–Less Chinese influence–Feudal lords – shoguns – take power
• Daimyos, powerful local landlords, tried to develop economies
Japan in Ming Times
• Shoguns overpower daimyos–Imported Western technology
(guns)• Tokugawa Shogunate controls
daimyos, destroys Buddhist power, and closes Japan to foreign influence
Opening Japan• Commodore Perry shows up with US ships and big
guns (1850s)–Forced to open trade ports
• Meiji emperor takes over, Meiji Restoration–Abolish feudalism, defeat samurai–Create parliament and bureaucracy–State-led industrialization
• Avoid total domination, but still depend on West for technology and resources
Imperial Japan• For resources, take Korea from
Russia/China in Sino- and Russo-Japanese Wars• Strong nationalism prevents revolutions
despite strains of modernization–Military crept into power, took over with
strong response to Depression• Expand into China and Taiwan
Post-War Japan• Westernize and democratize during
occupation, eliminate military• Government-business cooperation to
promote stability and growth–Major educational expansion provides
the engineers, US provides the defense• Huge economic expansion into the 90s
Korea
• China conquers it, loses it, conquers it…it’s a cycle• Strongly influenced by China and
Buddhism–Almost don’t have their own
culture, just mirrors of China• And that’s everything until Unit 5