The Chinese development of technological advances, allowed the era of the Tang, and the Song dynasty to bring about a social, political, and urban change. The Chinese found new techniques in Agriculture and farming rice. This allowed for more growth and spreading of population in the regions. As the population grew, people were interest in new jobs and careers in the markets. So, they sought out jobs such as shop sellers, blacksmiths, metallurgy, fishing, and government work.
The natural features of geography protected the Chinese and influenced the way they lived through rivers that provided rich soil for growing crops, mountainous regions providing protection/isolation and the growth of a new crop to China, deserts veering off invaders and a major ocean border. The first natural feature of geography that influenced the Chinese way of life is the Yellow River, or Huang He, a river that travelled across the agricultural land of China, collecting rich and fertile soil along the way. This soil, loess, would sink to the riverbed, creating a thick layer of silt that would allow Chinese people to grow staple foods and catch fish. In the North the staple was wheat and in the south, rice. An example of the Yellow River influencing the way the Chinese people lived is in the map in source 1, drawn by cartographer Cha Yun in 1861-1875, as it shows the river with roots coming out in all directions of the land, conveying how the river provided food and life to the Chinese people.
According to Kenneth, China was very successful in agricultural aspect and she was more capable in cultivation of land than the European though the livestock per capita of China may not be as high as the European. He also compared the various aspects between Europe and China, which are considered as the advantages for having
Ancient China was Successful Ancient China was one of the most successful empires ever, there are lots of reasons to it’s success. Inventions like paper not only helped Ancient China, but other countries. The Chinese culture was very steady, it prevented lots of wars which are caused by different beliefs. There are several large rivers in China which not only helped transportation, but also in trades. Ancient China was a very successful empires due to lots of reasons.
Before imperialism, life in China was simple and self-sufficient. Agriculture was a major part of most Chinese people’s daily life and they were satisfied with their lives. Many people did not want to be influenced by industrialization and the western ways of Europeans. This did not matter to the Europeans however, as they wanted the silk, tea and porcelain that was only coming from China. According to Tao He’s article, British Imperialism in China,
The Gobi desert, high Himalayas, and the surrounding seas isolated China, which obviously and greatly impacted early civilization. In all the land that China offered, only a small amount of the land was able to support crops, the land in the North Plain. Naturally, early settlers chose this land where crops thrived because of the loess that was left there by floods that the Huang He caused. Since China is a land with many hills, they had to cut terraces into yellow slopes to create leveled land before being able to settle there. Because of the limited fertile land, early settlers could not raise any cattle so they did not eat meat very often.
The problems emerged as the population grew massive in china during the 18th and 19th centuries. The growing had a pressure on land which cause deforestation, there were not enough food for everyone so smaller farms were given to peasant population. There were a lot of increased corruption including poorly maintained public work and loss of impoverishment, misery, and starvation. Since there were too many people, the government did not expand they were able to performed effectively on flood control, famine, rebellion, etc. In mid-19th century a majority population of China are addicted to opium drug which cause a major threat to their economy and social order.
Key things that helped the Manchurian people take over Beijing was death and disaster from the Bubonic Plague, earthquakes, and climate changes. The Qing dynasty, just like the Ming, had issues from natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. This caused their forces to be impacted and allowed for extended wars to take even more of their troops. In conclusion, The Ming and the Qing dynasties were the las two dynasties of China. They both lasted close to 300 years each.
Series of reforms were implemented; Juntian Zhi (Land Equalization System), Zuyongdiao System (peasant’s burden was lessened, and production efficiency was improved. Farm tools and agriculture technique was enhanced, and many of the irrigation works were finished). Commercial sites were opened during the Tang dynasty, Lanzhou, Chengdu, Guilin, Hangzhou, Chang’an (currently Xian), and Luoyang (the auxiliary capital). The opening of the Silk Road introduced foreign merchants and ambassadors encouraged marine trade. The economy was extremely damaged after the AnShi rebellion.
In 1750, Britain, the world’s financially most created nation at the time, had a per capita GDP of almost $1,200 (in today’s dollars). Sometime recently the to begin with Opium War (1839-1842), too known as the Anglo-Chinese War, the Qing royal government permitted outside trade — counting the apparently illegal opium imports—only at the seaport of Guangzhou (Canton) and limited contact between going to Westerners and the local Chinese. Royal authorities dreaded that the presentation of Western realism and commercialism, as well as the nearness of crusading Christian ministers from the West, would disturbed the conventional Chinese way of life and weaken the ancient Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist standards, values and customs.1 The Qing tradition, which had ruled since 1644, lived beneath the self-delusion that semi-feudal China could stay until the end of time in amazing separation from the rest of the world, counting from an industrialized West which was clearly exceeding