Discuss the reasons why an Industrial Revolution did not occur in China during the Ming/Qing period.
I. Introduction
Industrial revolution refers to an era of large scale industrialization and rural societies became industrial and urban. During the period, a revolution in power induced the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines such as mechanization of agriculture and special-purpose machinery for textile manufacturing. Besides a greater range and volume of manufactured goods, it also brought about significant impacts on social cultural and economics conditions such as improved living standard and systems of communication.
Before 1800, China was ahead of the other nations in terms of technology, trade and political power. Although
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The term “Great Divergence” used by Pomeranz in his book was coined by S.P. Huntington which marks the shift of dominance, from the East to the West, in terms of technological, economic, political and social advancement during the Modern …show more content…
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The era of the Han dynasty in China, simply referred to as ‘Han China,’ was an extremely prominent one, with power that almost rivaled the Romans themselves. During this period of China, achievements and accomplishments reached new heights as the Silk Road opened, which allowed connection with the western world. However, even with all this, Han China still fell, thanks to opposing forces in the form of nomadic tribes, several natural disasters that were interpreted as angry messages from the gods, and internal/political unrest. During the Han dynasty and the opening of the Silk Road, there were several aggressive, nomadic tribes that centered around the Asian area.
Before Industrialization the world functioned off of the Biological Old Regime. Places functioned off of trades and labor that had to be done by hand. This being the case agriculture was the most prevalent and important means of survival and trade for each place around the world, but with agriculture limits were at hand at each place on what and how much could grow there. China and India became increasing powerful doing this time. China developed a rich powerful economy from trading its silk and India developed the same for its trades in its spices.
From 1450 to 1750, global networks began to expand. Though not every part of the world was involved in these expanding global networks, countries like China were. This was the time period of the Ming and the Qing Dynasties. There were changes and continuities with China’s participation in the global networks around this time period. During the time period between 1450 and 1750, China limited outside influence and their participation in the Silk Road Trading remained constant in global network trading, while there were significant changes in China’s participation in global networks such as Chinese converts to the Christian religion and China’s demand for an alternative medium of exchange.
The Industrial Revolution, which took place from the 18th-19th centuries rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. Before the Industrial Revolution manufacturing was often done in people’s homes, using hand tools or simple machines. Industrialization created a shift to powered machines, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industries, along with the steam engine, played certain roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw improved ways of transportation, communication and banking.
The Industrial Revolution shaped the growing economy at the time in many positive and negative aspects. The Industrial Revolution took place during the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s and was considered to be the “New Industrial.” Many things were brought to the economy at the time due to this occurring; some in which being machinery, technology, production of goods, and even performance. The economy was not the only thing greatly affected by this revolution but the farmers, the working-class, and the middle-class were also affected to a deep extent.
Michael Szonyi’s book, Practicing Kinship: Lineage and Descent in the Late Imperial China, was hardly critiqued when knowledgeable Asian historians James L. Watson and Pamela Kyle Crossley reviewed his work. Both Watson and Crossley believe that Szonyi’s has a modern perspective and he presented an abundance of information to the reader. However, the reviewers analyzed and reported on different aspects of the book. Ultimately, Crossey’s review proved most insightful, while she provided a plethora of evidence to support her argument, while Watson veered off subject and praised the field of Asian studies more than Szonyi’s book.
The industrial revolution was an impactful era for humanity’s advancement, all over the world. People becamse eager to find faster and easier ways of doing everyday tasks, and began inventing in the 1760’s. England was the first to begin the textile revolution, which was the mass production of cloth in mills and factories. The role of women in the textile industry was significant because of their agility and smaller hands. Soon after England’s revolution, Japan followed along, about a century later in the late 1800’s; through their emperor:
The Chinese Dynasties are some of the most well-known empires in history. The topic of this report is on the book, ‘When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of The Dragon Throne’ by Louise Levathes. This book was written to narrate the history of China’s gigantic treasure fleet and the policies and events that changed the Ming Dynasty and eventually reached a global influence. Unfortunately, this book also gives a plethora of historical tidbits which the author could’ve explained all at the beginning at the book so she didn’t have to constantly look back at another event for reference and explain why she bought it up.
Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo are both known for being the world’s greatest long distance travelers, however, because of their different backgrounds it had influenced the way in which each traveler wrote about their experiences in China. This contrast is dominantly believed to have been influenced by their different religious backgrounds, and how each had viewed the world. This was ultimately is influenced by ones cultural and religious background. In this essay I will examine the different experiences that both Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo had experienced during their visits in China. Ibn Battuta, a well-educated Islamic scholar born and raised by a wealthy family in Tangier, Morocco, he had begun his journey at the age of 21.
Although China did not become industrialized, pushing the limits of the old biological regime with old technology and their growing population size forced China to become a very labour-intensive agricultural giant in order to support themselves. Overall, although the world had left behind an old and insufficient biological regime, the Industrial Revolution brought with it its own challenges for mankind. Things like cotton, tea, silver, opium, iron, and steam were all items that dominated the Industrial Era. Tea and opium were mass produced by the Chinese, and England stripped silver from the New World to pay for these goods.
By tracing trends across the Qing’s illustrious history, it allows the reader to better grasp the revisionist interpretation that he posits, instead of simplistically allocating the award of most influential factor of leading to China’s modernisation as well as the Qing’s fall to the Western powers. It is notable, however, to observe that, despite his revisionist view, Rowe still titles his book China’s Last Empire. The Great Qing. By using the term ‘last’, Rowe seems to still be close to the implicit narrative of China’s ‘failure’ as seen in other orthodox interpretations such as Frederic Wakeman’s ‘The Fall of Imperial China. Despite this seeming setback however, Rowe’s book is extremely useful in exploring the binary of historiography and history, while elaborating immensely on the Qing’s
What are the causes of the Industrial Revolution? How and why the Industrial Revolution began in England? Introduction :- The Industrial revolution is a historic transformation that changed traditional societies into modern societies.
The most important event in history: Industrial Revolution Context The industrial revolution was the most significant event in history, which started around the eighteenth century towards the nineteenth century in Europe. This great event was the fastest spreading event in human history. The capacity of economy and population growth was unexpected especially at the areas in which it flourished. The industrial revolution benefited almost everyone around the world and brought about new social classes, large cities and countless new innovations including medical discoveries especially in Britain, which based its scientific innovations on experiments and practical work rather than theories and logic, are the great outcomes of this still going event.
How was the world interconnected in the early modern period, according to the introduction by Pomeranz & Topik? In what ways did the non-Western “peripheries” still have influence in their economic roles? The world was interconnected in the early modern period by trade. Many different countries traded goods with each other, and adapted different cultures and traditions.
The Industrial Revolution can be argued to be one of the biggest advances to mankind, as it had far reaching impacts on various parts of the world (Angeles, 2016). Due to these various impacts, it paved the way for one of the greatest revolutions, which changed the world to facilitate what we see as “Modern Day Advancements”. In this essay I will be discussing why the Industrial Revolution had started in England and the effects of the revolution around the world. There is a confluence of reasons as to why the Industrial Revolution had begun in England. The Agricultural Revolution had led to an increased food production and increased population overall in England (Beck).