print | close Overview of Chinese History

Teachers are also referred to the resource on Confucian Thought in the Religion and Philosophy section for a discussion of the Confucian tradition and its importance to the traditional Chinese state.

Ancient Civilization and Dominant Cultural Center

Chinese civilization is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. Civilization developed in China from earliest times in the valleys of three major rivers,  the Huang He (Yellow River), the Chang Jiang (Yangtze), and the Xi Jiang (West River). These river systems, running west-east, have shaped agricultural development and population growth throughout China's history. The Chinese coastline and the Grand Canal (first constructed in 605 A D.) were important for providing north-south communication, furthering unification of the country, and mitigating the regionalism fostered by the intersection of mountain chains.

Mountains and deserts in the west of China limited its contact with other major centers of civilization in the Middle East and South Asia.  Elements of Chinese civilization - literary Chinese and its writing system, Confucian thought, and Buddhism (in forms developed and refined in China after its origination in India) - dominated the high culture of East Asia, creating a cultural sphere that encompassed what are today Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. China's traditional self-image was as a cultural center of the world. Zhongguo, which we pronounce "China" in English, means Middle Kingdom or Central Kingdom. The Chinese thought of their culture as universalistic, that is, outsiders could join or become assimilated into it. This strong identity as a universalistic civilization has been an important unifying factor throughout China's history, even during times when the country was divided. The Chinese written language, which transcends dialects, has also been an important element fostering China's cultural unity throughout history.

China was unified by its first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi (Ch'in Shih Huang-ti), who established the Qin (Ch'in) dynasty in 221 B.C. Consolidated under the Han dynasty (206 B.C. 222 A.D.), the empire was comparable in dates, size, and strength with the Roman Empire. The Roman and Chinese empires traded through intermediaries on an overland route through Central Asia; Chinese silk was an especially prized commodity in Rome.

Poetry, fine porcelain, calligraphy, landscape painting, philosophy, political thought, historical writing, scientific advances in astronomy, chemistry, and medicine, and the production of fine silks and teas all flourished in China from earliest times, but particularly during the 7th to 12th centuries, China's "golden age," under the Tang and Song (Sung) dynasties.

Medieval China

China's stable social and political institutions spawned great scientific achievements, intellectual and artistic developments. The "golden age" of the Tang (618-907) and Song (Sung) (907-1127/ 1279) dynasties was followed by the commercial expansion and economic prosperity of the Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (Ch'ing) (1644-1912) dynasties. Marco Polo, travelling to China during the Yuan dynasty when the Mongols controlled China (1279-1368, between the Song and Ming) commented with amazement on the contrast between its civilization and that of Venice, an advanced enclave in Europe at the time. His tales of the Chinese cities were dismissed as fantasy by most Europeans.

China in the 18th and 19th Centuries, at the Time of European Economic Expansion

In the 16th century, the Chinese economy was still the most sophisticated and productive in the world, and the Chinese probably enjoyed a higher standard of living than any other people on earth. The Qing (Ch'ing) or Manchu dynasty (1644-1912) continued this splendor. Contemporary Chinese called the 18th century, when all aspects of culture flourished, "unparalleled in history." China was a prosperous state with abundant natural resources, a huge but basically contented population, and a royal house of great prestige at home and abroad.

The Chinese state, responsible for popular welfare, controlled commercial development and emphasized the production of staple food crops; merchants were viewed as unproductive and constituted the lowest class in the traditional Confucian hierarchy. From the Tang dynasty (618-907) onward, however, with growing population and expansion of territory, state control of the economy was gradually reduced. Except for strategic goods like salt and certain metals like copper and lead needed for currency, the state did little to control commerce. (This contrasts with European states, where cities were required to be chartered by the royal house, and with Japan, where cities were allowed to develop only in the castle towns of the daimyo and in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, which had special functions in the central government.) Moreover, the Chinese government did not rely very heavily on commercial taxation; its main sources of income were land and salt taxes. (This contrasts with Western Europe, where government taxes on commerce were heavy.) This environment fostered the development of an intricate market network which extended deep into the countryside and which was comprised of periodic village markets with links to regional markets. A number of factors, including China's size, the difficulties involved in conducting long-distance trade using metal currencies, and the minor role played by government in regulating the economy, help explain why China was the first country to develop paper money, sophisticated brokerage practices, and banking institutions.

Individual and Society

The relation between the individual and the state was understood not in adversarial terms, as is characteristic of the modern West, but in consensual terms.  Therefore, China did not develop an elaborate system of civil law. Instead, mediation between aggrieved parties was prescribed, with local leaders emphasizing negotiation, compromise, and change through education rather than

Neo-Confucian ideals held that: 1) the educated individual had a responsibility to serve the state; 2) a morally upright official should courageously remonstrate with the ruler if his policies are damaging to the state; 3) the state could prosper only if the people prospered; and 4) any disruption in the economy or social order was probably due to corrupt political institutions. These ideas contributed to the longevity, strength, and adaptability of traditional Chinese political institutions. The best people were motivated to serve in government. While corruption was not uncommon, the ideal of public service and responsibility for the people's welfare remained strong. A powerful tradition of remonstrance and reform helped to insure that the system adapted to change. In fact, this tradition has been carried through, in a somewhat different form, to the communist era.