China
has over 5,000 years of civilization. Starting
with First
Emperor of China (about 259 BC) or even
earlier, almost all Chinese emperors had an
official historian (of course with favorable bias towards the current
government). With few explanations, most recorded texts (carved on bamboo until
paper was invented) can be understood today as the traditional Chinese language
has very minor changes until recently. Traditional Korean and Japanese
adopted Chinese written language.
China’s long history indicated she seldom colonized
countries even China had the power to do so. In recent history, many times
China has been a victim from foreign invasions. The modern history affects our
current life and many of China’s actions today.
This article is very concise for easy reading with
my comments. Click the link or use Wikipedia to explore specific topics that
are interesting to you.
1800
In 1800, China was the richest country on earth. The country included Tibet, Mongolia and Xinjiang
with a population of about 328 million. It also accounted for about one quarter
of the world output. The emperor showed the Brits that China had nothing they
needed from the west. Qing (1636-1912) is the last dynasty of
China under Manchurian rule.
First Opium War (1840)
I define the First Opium War as the start of
China’s modern history and everyone’s definition is different.
The Brits had nothing to trade but opium they found
in India. Opium killed millions of Chinese addicts. In the revenge of burning
chests of opium by Chinese hero Lin Zexu, the British East India Company
sent gunboats to Canton with a victory.
Brits received vast compensation and five more ports were opened. Hong Kong was ceded to Britain.
Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) was a civil war against Qing under
Hong Xiuquan. It further weakened Qing even the rebellion was suppressed with
millions killed.
Demanding more ports, the second opium war was
started and lost to Britain and France. The emperor fled from Beijing.
During the Second Opium War (1856-1860), the French and Brits looted
and set fire to the Old Summer Palace. The loots are displayed in
these two countries’ museums to remind us of their crimes. China opened Tianjin
as a treaty port, legalized opium trade, and a good chuck of Manchuria was
given to Russia.
It woke up China. China wanted reform in her
military, but paid less attention to other areas such as politics, government,
etc.
China did build a remarkable fleet. However, it was
demolished by Japan, a country had been looked down by Chinese in her long
history. It really woke up China. Radical reforms were started but were suppressed
by Empress Dowager Cixi. Ironically, Cixi followed some
of the reforms.
The Eight-Nation Alliance suppressed the Boxer Rebellion, semi colonized China in the name of opening
trade and bankrupted China. Chinese called this “century of humiliation”.
Oct., 10, 1911
Wuchang Uprising
The revolution was led by Sun Yat-Sen marking the end of Qing
Dynasty and beginning of ROC (Republic of China). Sun’s interim government
could not control the country which was divided by war lords. Sun gave up his
power to Yuan Shikai who controlled the
northern China. Yuan wanted to be an emperor. Ten years of bloody wars between
the war lords followed. Sun fought successfully against these war lords. When
Sun died, the leadership was passed to Chiang Kai-shek. In Oct., 1928, China
was united under ROC. With the fall of Qing, Mongolia declared independent setting up
a buffer zone between China and Russia.
The May Fourth Movement (1919) marked the first
important protest started with students against the government allowing Japan
to receive the territories in Shandong.
Rise of Chinese
Communist Party (CCP)
CCP was founded in 1921 under the
leadership of Mao Zedong. Chiang had purged many
communist members. WW2 forced the two parties united to fight against the
Japanese, who committed a lot of war crimes against Chinese including the Nanking Massacre.
After the war, the two parties fought against each
other. Mao won with the famous Long March and drove Chiang to Taiwan.
People’s Republic of China (PROC
or PRC) was formed in 1949.
Mao’s poor
governance (1949-1978)
Mao was a great revolutionist but a poor governor.
During these years, China had major setbacks as evidenced by Big Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Millions starved to
death and many more suffered. It marked the end of tough times in modern China.
Mao is still respected by most Chinese.
Deng’s reform
(1978-2008)
US played China card against Russia. Deng led the real and fruitful reform
in her modern history. China took off under his guidance by turning a fishing
village in Shenzhen into a special economic zone.
Hong Kong and Macau were returned to the motherland
with his famous “One Country, Two Systems”.
Tiananmen protest by students was caused
by the parity of benefits from the rich and the poor in general. After this, US
and EU banned arms sales to China. Chinese students in US were allowed to stay
resulting a mild brain drain, and later some returned home with working knowledge
learned in US. From then on, students
are concentrated in their studies and citizens on making money in this
authoritative and capitalistic society.
China today
(2018)
After years of unprecedented,
double-digit growth, China becomes the second largest economy. She is moving
from “Made in China” to “Designed in China” as described in this book.
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