Ming and Qing Dynasty’s1369-1911 C.E.and the West

• Successfully kicked out the Mongol Yuan dynasty• Re-established the rule of a ethnically Han-Chinese Dynasty (the Ming – “Brilliant”)

Zheng He

What happened to Zheng He, the Ming fleet and exploration? Why?

Tributary States

• Neighboring states that paid tribute to the all powerful Middle Kingdom

• Usually gave gifts to honor the Emperor• Like a Confucian younger brother showing respect to

the head of the family• The leader or ambassador of the must kow tow• Korea, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma

Kow Tow

• Deep bow, head touching the floor

• Sign of deep respect

Chinese Tribute States

The Qing/Manchu Dynasty

• Manchurian conquest – 1644• Manchus – Non Han Chinese Ethnic Group • Established the Qing Dynasty• Adopted Chinese political system and values• Relative tolerance of Christian missionaries,

especially Catholic Jesuits

Problems• The empire was overextended

1

Arrival of European Powers

• Viewed European nations as new tributary states

• Europeans refused to kow tow• Failed to see the superiority of European

military

2Cultural misunderstanding

Arrival of the British• They want new markets• They want Chinese tea and

silk and porcelain• First trading post – Canton

1699• British confined to an island

outside city walls

“As Your Ambassador can see for himself we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange and ingenious and have no use for your country’s manufactures.”- Emperor Qianlongto Lord George Macartney 1792 (on a British mission for trade and commerce with China)

• No interest in British manufacturing goods• Trade imbalance• British request trade liberalization (free

trade) in 1793• Ships, guns and new products from the

West showed the weakness of the Manchu

Western Imperialism• Why did Westerners come?• Did it bring new ideas to China?• Were the Christian missionaries agents of positive change?• Was increasing trade with the West inevitable?• Did the West impose its ideas on the Chinese?• Did Western imperialism merely accelerate modernisation?• Contact with the West – boon or bane?• See “World of History” pp. 613-14

Next Time: 3 episodes

•The Opium Wars: 1839-1842

•The Boxer Rebellion: 1900

•The Revolution of 1911-1912