Historical Development of China

China’s first documented imperial dynasty, the Shang, was centered in the central Huanghe Basin. The Shang rule produced an early urban society, and is credited with the creation of magnificent bronze vessels, the develop­ment of horse-drawn war chariots, and establishment of a system of writing. Since the Shang dynasty, China’s his­tory has been characterized by half a dozen great dynasties, most of which were accompanied by periods of stability and progress. Between each has been an interval of chaos and transition.

Over the millennia of Chinese history a unique and fairly uniform culture spread first over most of middle Huanghe basin and later to other parts of China; and its history can be viewed as a continuous de­velopment with certain repetitive tendencies. The western margins of the Huanghe basin became the heartland of the Chinese culture; from there it moved to the lower Chang Jiang basin and Guang­zhou, and eventually to the southwest.

The area of control of the central author­ity would wax and wane depending on the pressures exerted by the nomadic Mongols and Manchus at different intervals from the north and northwest. While the em­peror, as the “Son of Heaven” was the source of all central authority, during peri­ods of weak administration the local chieftains broke loose of the central ad­ministration in the “Chinese heartland” (Middle Huanghe basin).

The Zhou people of western China overthrew the Shang and established their rule on North China that lasted for nearly eight centuries (c. 1027-256 B.C.). During the Zhou rule, Confucius, Lao Zi and Mencius, the greatest of the Chinese phi­losophers lived.

Chinese literature that later became the basis of traditional Chi­nese education was composed during this period, and the use of iron was first intro­duced during the Zhou regime. In 221 B.C. the Qin dynasty took con­trol over the administration and established a centralized imperial system. The construction of the Great Wall of China had been started by the Zhous was extended, and feeder, shorter walls con­structed to keep the invaders out. The Han dynasty gained control in 202 B.C. and ruled for nearly four hundred years.

The Han period in Chinese history is generally considered as China’s imperial age, notable for long, peaceful and prosperous rule, ex­tension of the empire and for great artistic and cultural achievements. Confucianism became the philosophic basis of govern­ment. Buddhism which had earlier arrived from India and Daoism (Taoism) also pros­pered. Indian advances in medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and architecture were accepted.

During the Hans, China be­came one of the strongest empires in the world. The Hans introduced several changes in the systems of landownership as the fendal order broke down and private property rights recognized. The silk trade with the West became the first, large exter­nal link of commerce. Han period in Chinese history to this day symbolizes the spirit and glory of China, and most Chi­nese call themselves as the “People of Han”.

By the early 3rd century, the Han Em­pire had fallen, and disintegrated. A series of short-lived non-Chinese dynasties ruled, and the short-lived Sui dynasty reunified the country. The Tang dynasty that re­placed the Sui in 618 ruled the nation for nearly three hundred years. The Tang pe­riod was an age of prosperity and great cultural accomplishments.

Containing over a million inhabitants, the city of Changan (Xian) became the largest city in the world and attracted traders, diplomats, poets and scholars from throughout Asia and the Mediterranean region. Art, par­ticularly figure painting, flourished. Buddhism exercised an enormous cultural influence and a distinct Chinese school of Buddhism was evolved. The civil service, based on an examination system on the Chinese classics and a renaissance of Con­fucianism were other important develop­ments of this brilliant era.

After the Hans, dynasty that ruled for about three hundred years between the 10th and 13th centuries were responsible for two major changes of great importance for the empire: the firm establishment of the existing civil service examination, and the development of neo-Confucianism which combined the moral standards of traditional Confucianism with elements of Buddhism and Daoism.

Gunpowder began to be employed for military expeditions. On the material side, early varieties of rice were introduced that made it possible to grow two or three crops a year in the south, an area that had become a part of a large empire.

During the 1200s Mongol warriors had moved into China from the north. Their leader, Kublai Khan, established the Yuan dynasty, under whose rule the most cele­brated of the Italian travelers, Marco Polo, traveled widely in China and described in his writings in glowing terms the high level of civilization that prevailed in the country.

Improved roads and canals were the dynasty’s main contributions to China. After the overthrow of the Mongol rule, the Ming dynasty was established in the later part of the 14th century which lasted until the middle of the 17th century. The Ming rule was marked by stability, peace, and prosperity. Literature and art flourished again.

By the early 15th century, however, European trade and infiltration had begun. The Portuguese established a settlement at Macau in 1557 on the coast, despite the Chinese suspicion and hostility of the for­eigners. Meanwhile, the Manchus from the north invaded China and established the Qing dynasty and ruled the country until the early 20th century. Like the Mongols earlier, the Mings had adopted many traits of Chinese culture.

They propagated strong neo-Confucianism and retained the political system that the Ming rulers had set up. The Qings extended the empire into Mongolia, Tibet, and Central Asia. During their rule commerce, agriculture and handicrafts prospered and China’s population expanded rapidly—from 150 million in 1700 to over 400 million by 1850.

The Qings initially opposed to foreign trade, relaxed ultimately, and in 1834 opened Canton (now Guangzhou) to lim­ited overseas trade. Great Britain dissatisfied with trade arrangements pro­voked the Opium War and obtained commercial concessions. Other foreign powers interested in reaping the benefits of commercial deals made similar demands, and eventually succeeded in obtaining sev­eral areas of influence along the coast for trading purposes.

Meanwhile, Chinese re­sentment of foreign pressure continued to grow. Several uprisings against the foreign­ers and a disastrous war with Japan (1894-1895) forcing the Chinese to recog­nize Japan’s control over Korea, and Taiwan, and later the seceding of Hong Kong in 1897 to the British contributed to the weakening of the Manchu rule.

Since the defeat of China at the hands of Japan a movement to set up a republic had been growing, and in 1905 a republi­can revolutionary organization under the leadership of Sun Yat-Sun was formed. The organization was responsible for establishing the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party).

The end of the imperial rule had ush­ered in a protracted period of internal turmoil when the central government eventually began crumbling. Russia had forced substantial territorial concessions in the north; British, French, Russia, Ger­many, and others competed with one another for control of ports, trade, rail­ways, and natural resources. While the rulers continued to hold office in Beijing, the real power was in the hands of war­lords (local military leaders). By 1922, the republic had failed and civil war had started.

Chinese intellectuals began search­ing for reasons to explain the inability of the country to set up a national govern­ment and sought inspiration in either western society or Marxist philosophy. Marxism was particularly attractive to many as it attributed China’s several prob­lems to the degradation of European imperialism.

Despite the spread of Com­munist ideas among the intellectuals and youth, however, a young non-Marxist by the name of Chiang Kai-shek was able to at least nominally reunify several regions of China although order was never fully re­stored and the warlords continued their hold over independent bases throughout the country, diverting scarce resources and the support so crucially needed to develop a strong, national state.

The Nationalist government was a one-party dictatorship that never gained full control of China. By 1931, the Com­munists had established a rival government in southern and central China. In 1934 the Chiang Kai-shek government forced the Communists to leave their bases and began their long march.

While Chiang was fight­ing the Communists, the Japanese had occupied Manchuria. After World War II against Japan in 1945, the Communists held an area in northern China with a population of about 100 million, and claimed to have an army of 900,000 sol­diers.

By mid-1946 a full-scale fighting between the Nationalists and Communists had begun, which eventually resulted in the flight of Chiang Kai-shek to the island of Taiwan, and the Communists estab­lished the People’s Republic of China over the Mainland in 1949.

From 1949 to 1952, the new Commu­nist government firmly established its control over the entire country and pro­moted the recovery of the nation’s economy. It seized farmland from warlords and redistributed it among the peasants. In 1953, the administration began its First Five-Year Plan for economic reconstruc­tion, and brought all industries under its control, and farmers were persuaded or forced to combine their landholdings into agricultural cooperatives.

During the Sec­ond Five-Year Plan (1958-1963), this so-called “Great Leap Forward” the coun­try experienced economic depression, food shortages, and a decline in industrial out­put due to mismanagement, lack of incentives and tight state controls.

During the 1960s when the Soviets be­gan steadily adopting the policy of peaceful coexistence with the West, China accused the USSR of betraying the aims of Com­munism, and the USSR stopped its technical assistance to China. China broke off its relations with the Soviets, and only after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 China began to establish relations with the former Soviet republics.

In 1966 Mao Zedong supported the radicals in the Communist which led to what he termed the “Cultural Revolu­tion.” The radicals spearheaded by semi-military organizations, called the “Red Guards” who took control of univer­sities, major cities and several provincial administrations triggering violence as com­peting radical groups struggled for power.

Their activities had a severe and disastrous effect on the economy. The Red Guards were not, however, entirely successful, and in 1967 the government had to call out the army to restore order.

In the early 1970s the emphasis of China’s foreign policy also changed from revolutionary to diplomatic, and new con­tacts were developed and efforts were made to improve relations with many gov­ernments. China continued to strengthen its influence with other underdeveloped nations.

In the early 1980s, the Commu­nist party began economic reforms that led to less government control over business activity and price. By the 1990s, numerous privately owned and operated businesses had been established. Many experts believe that policy of privatization and liberaliza­tion has contributed greatly to the present economic progress in China.