From the time periods of 1450-1750 and 1750-1900, China endured several political, economic, and social changes that had positive and negative effects. The fight against the resurgence of Western Mongols made the outward expansion of China a necessary move to defend the borders, as well as give the Chinese a sense of purpose as a nation, that they would then begin to identify themselves as Chinese. Politically, many elements of the Chinese government stayed the same, as the ruling dynasty was still Manchurian, a civil service exam was used, and the Manchu ruled under the dynasty of Heaven. Economically, China received major changes when the influx of silver became a commodity within the Chinese government, causing a massive period of deflation.
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The first major continuity was the fact that China experienced no wholesale Industrial Revolution, which can partially be blamed on European treaties imposed in order to block China from industrializing. However, a larger majority of the blame falls on the Manchurian government, who tried to suppress any forms of radical change within China, as they were afraid of what industrialization would do to the political system of China, as people would gain the rights that modernization brings to industrializing nations, This continuity actually caused many of the economic changes experienced in China. China became far more dependant on the European marketplace and European manufacturers, as China was dedicated to gorging upon any silver that Europe had to offer. Desperate, the Chinese government consolidated the scattered taxes and created one massive tax imposed on the citizens of China, which had to be paid in silver. The frantic Chinese became intensely regionally specialized, to the point where citizens had to completely change what they manufactured in order to keep up with the insane tax for silver. Once again, this regional specialization had a drastic change on China, this time in the shape of forests, The massive deforestation of China was a direct result of the silver craze, as China failed to impose any environmental regulations like Japan’s. At …show more content…
In terms of religion, Christianity went through three phases in China. Before the 1700’s, Jesuit priests were allowed into China, as the Manchurian leaders found them to be useful scholars. While the priests ultimately failed in their mission to convert China to Christianity, they did have some influence that had an impact later on. However, when the Pope challenged the authority of emperor Kangxi in the early 1700’s, Christianity became controversial religion to be associated with. In 1724, Christianity was legally “kicked out” of China altogether by Kangxi’s successor, Yongzheng. Local religions and ideologies such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism were encouraged and widely practiced until the Taiping rebellion came into occurrence. This rebellion rejected all ideologies except a particular form of Christianity, where the leader, Hong Xiuquan is actually the brother of Jesus Christ. The earlier influences of Christianity by the Jesuit priests come into play here, as the Taiping rebellion actually took root within the peasants of China. The Taiping rebellion called for radical social changes that were previously unheard of in China, such as the abolition of private property, redistribution of land among the proletariat class, social equality among men and women, and the end of prostitution for starters. While the rebellion reached for these social changes, they were unable
The first major continuity was the fact that China experienced no wholesale Industrial Revolution, which can partially be blamed on European treaties imposed in order to block China from industrializing. However, a larger majority of the blame falls on the Manchurian government, who tried to suppress any forms of radical change within China, as they were afraid of what industrialization would do to the political system of China, as people would gain the rights that modernization brings to industrializing nations, This continuity actually caused many of the economic changes experienced in China. China became far more dependant on the European marketplace and European manufacturers, as China was dedicated to gorging upon any silver that Europe had to offer. Desperate, the Chinese government consolidated the scattered taxes and created one massive tax imposed on the citizens of China, which had to be paid in silver. The frantic Chinese became intensely regionally specialized, to the point where citizens had to completely change what they manufactured in order to keep up with the insane tax for silver. Once again, this regional specialization had a drastic change on China, this time in the shape of forests, The massive deforestation of China was a direct result of the silver craze, as China failed to impose any environmental regulations like Japan’s. At …show more content…
In terms of religion, Christianity went through three phases in China. Before the 1700’s, Jesuit priests were allowed into China, as the Manchurian leaders found them to be useful scholars. While the priests ultimately failed in their mission to convert China to Christianity, they did have some influence that had an impact later on. However, when the Pope challenged the authority of emperor Kangxi in the early 1700’s, Christianity became controversial religion to be associated with. In 1724, Christianity was legally “kicked out” of China altogether by Kangxi’s successor, Yongzheng. Local religions and ideologies such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism were encouraged and widely practiced until the Taiping rebellion came into occurrence. This rebellion rejected all ideologies except a particular form of Christianity, where the leader, Hong Xiuquan is actually the brother of Jesus Christ. The earlier influences of Christianity by the Jesuit priests come into play here, as the Taiping rebellion actually took root within the peasants of China. The Taiping rebellion called for radical social changes that were previously unheard of in China, such as the abolition of private property, redistribution of land among the proletariat class, social equality among men and women, and the end of prostitution for starters. While the rebellion reached for these social changes, they were unable