Marco Polo's First Impressions Of China As The Other?

CAUSES: The most significant cause of European Imperialism in both Africa and China was the belief that one country was superior in comparison to another. In Africa, the belief that one country was superior in comparison to another led many European countries to justify their reasonings for colonization. They believed that the African countries would benefit from them sharing their way of life. In fact, Chamberlain states in his speech to the Royal Colonial Institute, “I maintain that our rule does, and has, brought security and peace and comparative prosperity to countries that never knew these blessings before” (Chamberlain 1897). In China, the belief that one country was superior in comparison to another led the Chinese to refuse

Unit 7 is a rather long section covering both Rome and China 's powerful and expansive empires during the time period 300 BCE - 300 CE. The Han Dynasty and Imperial Rome were very similar in their unprecedented scale and duration. Although they did operate in differing ways, for example, Rome relied on slaves to expand its workforce, while the Chinese 's economy lived off of free peasant farmers. The Chinese benefited from having an overwhelming population that would benefit the bureaucracy and supply political stability for the Hans. When it came to the Roman Empire, religion did not have the same impact that Confucianism had on the dynasties in China.

The British territorial possessions and existing control of India had enabled them to expand their influence in the region. The tea and opium trade performed by the British could be encapsulated as the driving forces of the British Empire in Asia. The trades influenced how the British implemented the rules in India and engaged in business transactions with China in order to generate profits for themselves. Therefore, tea and opium cannot be disaggregated from the British imperial history since the two commodities had practically expanded the empire to its greatest

Ancient China was the center of the ancient world because they saw themselves as the middle kingdom. Influence of 2 ancient Chinese dynasties, the Qin dynasty and the Han dynasty, was astounding, as they made new innovations and techniques in their government. Their success was largely due to access to immense amounts of resources and innovative technologies that both dynasties used to have leverage civilizations nearby, and use for trade on the silk road. Quality of life for people living under the Qin dynasty wasn’t as good as compared to people living under Han rule.

The Mongols had a lasting impression on the Chinese. The Yuan emperors had “improved upon the canals, transportation, and communication” to have a better outcome on trade profits (Doc 6). The Chinese hadn’t thought of boosting up their economy in this way; their idea was to produce more not make it easier to travel. In addition, the Mongols has a great system to get the word out to people the “messengers travel throughout his dominions more than 200,00 horses” (Doc. 8). How the Mongols thought through things was amazing, they planned out how to get the word out instead of she said he said bases.

This society authored by the Chinese had its benefits and its drawbacks. To begin with, the Chinese society had many positive attributes which greatly shaped classical China. Firstly, slavery in China was found within the aristocratic estates, but the Chinese did not really rely on slavery as the engine to its economy, so relatively the slave population in China was small. Secondly, the Chinese people were “religiously” diverse by accepting belief systems from Confucianism, to Daoism, to Legalism, and even the polytheist religion during the prime of the Zhou dynasty.

For a brief time in world history, China dominated maritime exploration. Even though quite unintentionally, a previous century’s invention of the magnetic compass played a pivotal and facilitating role and provided Chinese sailors a two-hundred-year head start over their European counterparts. However, it was not until blending those navigational advancements of the day, together with nautical technologies of shipbuilding architecture and propulsion found China readily thrust to the forefront. Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty desired to leverage those technologies to construct an immense armada attesting to the court’s military prowess. Supported by a backdrop of politically favorable winds and a generous endowment, the Emperor commissioned the undertaking of explorations to an experienced Admiral named Zheng He.

During the age of exploration, Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama was the first to sail from Europe to India; which opened up a new world of trade for Europe and Asia. As the discoveries of his voyage caused many European nations a desire of luxury goods from Asia such as spices, silks, jewels, and textiles. This new desire of trade eventually encouraged more nations to find trading routes to Asia, ultimately reaching China and Japan where the Europeans acquired an even stronger desire for trade. However, the Chinese were very wary of foreign trade and only accepted silver as means of exchange; which eventually created a massive global flow of silver for European nations to be able to trade with China, where Japan and the Americas were the main

To What Extent did interference from European nations contribute to China’s problems in the nineteenth and early twentieth century? The Europeans contributed to China’s problems in nineteenth and early twentieth century to an extent that caused China to rise up and modernize. China for many years was an imperialist ‘nation’ with different dynasties that ruled for thousands of years. For most of the 18th century, the Qing emperors claimed that China was superior to other nations.

Ming China and Mughal India were two great empires in the period of the 1600s. Both had cultural and technological advancements. And both were very different,yet both declined due to their political vulnerability which left them completely open to invasions by other countries. Their Government and society was very different. In both empires women were treated inferior.

The Huns were encouraged by a realization of the civilizations weakening. Another similarity emerged with taxation issues. In China, the already heavily taxed free peasants were burdened with new taxes and many lost their farms and became day laborers on large estates, making the upper class even wealthier. While in Rome, tax collection became difficult

The spread of Islam and China greatly contributed to world development during the 1500’s. Christendom in Europe enhanced Christianity throughout the Byzantine Empire. The European forces of Christendom established new colonies, but Muslims easily invaded them. The European’s technological advancements were inferior to Chinese and Islam officials. European civilizations expanded trade routes throughout China and Islam.

Where Asia or more specifically the Chinese had an abundance in resources and a vast network of merchants, the structures which secured their society faltered in the face of adversity. Abu-Lughod’s central premise runs counter to the popular idea of Europeans becoming the de facto world power by the age of colonization or the sixteenth century, where it . The overarching historical themes in Abu-Lughod’s Before European Hegemony are the prevalence of economic trade, the culture and society which existed within these nations, and the events which shifted the necessary influence to tip the balance of power in favor of Europe’s nations. The theme of trade being the cornerstone of the then sovereign powers is discussed and detailed by Abu-Lughod, often citing instances of where it became absent or or less maintained being the signs of weakened and vulnerable nation.

America knew they needed to be able to trade with China, so the Open Door Policy was created. This policy insured that all nations had the right to trade with China. Up until this point China was an independent nation, however they were very weak and poor due to European dominance. They were not thrilled about the Open Door Policy but they accepted it because they in turn were able to trade openly which expanded their influences. Guam had been acquired in the Spanish American war and having it gave us yet another port.

Gabriella Estrada Mr.Stano AP World History October 7, 2015 An Empires Fight For Centralization Ancient China’s history is a colorful story that Mark Edward Lewis makes comes to life in “The Early Chinese Empires : Qin and Han”. In this book Lewis sets put an end to the false perceptions spread in western society of Ancient China by setting the record straight. Lewis explain presents a clear and obviously well researched explanation of why and how things happened in Ancient China during The Classical Age, through several key events and leaders. This book explores the underlying challenges of this period