Andrew MorrisHistory Department

14 April 2006

Presentation on Chinese History

“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

HistoricalImplicatio

n:LinguisticDiversity

“Modern China” andthe 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 WarResulting 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 self-improvement to learn from a person who has already notched up such great success.”– Central Party History Publishing House, 2003

Cui Jian

“The Elvis, BeatlesDylan, Springsteenand Cobain of China”

My stomach is full nowMy brain is clear now tooBut don’t say this is a great favorThat can never be repaidWe are no longer pawns in a

chess gameFollowing lines drawn by othersWe try standing up ourselvesGet moving and take a look at

everything Reality is like a stoneSpirit is like an eggAlthough stones are hardEggs are lifeMother is still aliveFather is a flagpoleIf you ask us who we areWe 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

Wal-Mart (China has 5,000 of Wal-Mart’s 6,000 suppliers)

• Intel Science and Engineering Fair, 2004:Americans participating: 65,000Chinese participating: 6 million

Taiwan: The Renegade Province

• Facing 700+ nuclear-tipped 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

The 21st Century as“The Chinese Century”?

Sun Yat-sen, 1912

Ted Fishman, 2005