Chapter 1. China

CHAPTER 1 China THE FOUNDATIONS PEOPLE AND GEOGRAPHY China is the most populous country in the world (1.39 billion people) and the second largest in land area (3.6 million square miles, after Russia). Its territory covers vastly different typographies and climates. Over 90 percent of its population lives on the eastern half of the country, which consists of fertile lowlands and is the origin of Chinese civilization. Major river systems such as the Yellow River (Huang He) in the north, the Long River (Chang Jiang) in the middle, and the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) in the south provide key lifelines for irrigation and transportation but may also cause floods leading to significant loss in life and property. The mountain ranges in the southwest (the Himalayas and the Altai) and the desert in the northwest (Xinjiang region) are difficult to cross and form natural geographic barriers. The Qinling mountain range, extending east from north of Tibet, divides China into north and south. Farmers of the northern plains produce millet and wheat in a dry climate, while farmers in the south grow rice and tea in fertile plains and hills. The north, where Chinese civilization first originated, is connected to the south through the Grand Canal. Dug in the 7th century and extended in the 13th century, it brought rice from the southern plains to supply the armies and the government in the north. The confluence of size, geography, and resources historically contributes to a Sino-centered worldview for its people. The name China, meaning the “Middle Kingdom” in Chinese, reflected the Chinese perception that they were at the center of civilization. Even when the country had been weakened by internal conflicts, natural barriers provided security protection to the Chinese in the premodern era. The majority of the people in China are the Han ethnic group. Approxi- Do notmately 8.5copy, percent of the total populationpost, (or 115 millionor people) distribute belong to 55 government-designated minority nationalities, who are concentrated in the border regions that are rich in natural resources such as oil, coal, gold, and 17 Copyright ©2021 by SAGE Publications, Inc. This work may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without express written permission of the publisher. 18 Rising East Asia other minerals. The largest groups are Zhuang in the southwest, Hui (Muslim) in the west and northwest, and Manzu in the northwest. Because arable land accounts for only 15 percent of China’s territory, the pressure to produce enough food to feed the population has been a chronic challenge for China throughout its history. The nature of China’s population challenge, however, has changed significantly in the past several decades. In 1953, according to the first population census, the total population was 582 million. By the late 1970s, the number had nearly doubled, leading to fear that the runaway population growth would produce economic stagnation and social instability. To counter the growth trend, the government instituted in 1979 the one-child policy that limited urban couples to a single child. The policy effec- tively reduced China’s fertility rate from 2.8 children per woman in 1979 to 1.6 in 2016. Nevertheless, the steep decline in the fertility rate, which is below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman needed to maintain population size, contributes to the aging of the population and increases burdens in health care and social welfare (China Power Team 2017). Although the government in 2015 replaced the one-child policy with a two-child policy, the action might be too late to reverse the demographic trend. The projection is that the Chinese population will peak in the late 2020s or early 2030s, followed by a steady decline thereafter. THE HISTORICAL ROOTS The ancient Chinese civilization dates back to the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE), as evinced in archaeological excavations of the weapons, oracle bones, and bronze vessels from that period. Shang was an agrarian, feudal society controlled by an aristocracy that maintained a standing army of cavalry and chariots. Inscriptions on oracle bones and tortoise shells rep- resented the priestly attempts to seek divination from the spirit world and were the earliest known form of the written Chinese characters. Shang was succeeded by the Zhou dynasty (Western Zhou, 1046–771 BCE; Eastern Zhou, 770–256 BCE). It was during the formative years of Zhou that a number of enduring governing ideas and institutions emerged. Mandate of Heaven Emperors of Zhou, bearing the title of the “Son of Heaven” (or Tianzi in Chinese), purported to rule based on the “Mandate of Heaven.” They justified their military actions against Shang on grounds of change in mandate, pointing to social disorder and natural disasters in the late Shang dynasty as evidence that the original mandate had been shattered by morally corrupt Do notShang emperors, copy, hence the disharmony post, between Heaven orand Earth. distribute Although the myth of mandate intended to lend legitimacy to the ruler, it implicitly created a performance standard by which rulers were judged. While Copyright ©2021 by SAGE Publications, Inc. This work may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without express written permission of the publisher. Chapter 1 China 19 Chinese emperors faced no formal legal constraints on their ruling power, the concept of mandate formed the moral basis for justified rebellion to depose a ruthless tyrant. During the latter reign of Eastern Zhou, the state affairs degenerated into the period of disorder as feudal lords fought with one another to expand their domains and spheres of influence. Ironically, it was at this time that Chinese civilization and intellectual tradition first developed and grew. The strong Chinese influence on the region was in large part due to its ability to develop institutional innovation early on, such as sophisticated governance structures and practices, including specialized state functions and coherent political philosophy. Confucianism Competing schools of thoughts flourished during the latter era of Zhou when the imperial control weakened, as people aspired to establish an ideal social and political order. The instructions of Confucius (551–479 BCE) laid the philosophic foundation of Chinese political order. Confucius, a teacher and a philosopher living in a time with widespread political instability and disorder, believed that the best way to achieve an orderly and harmonious society was to cultivate ethical and virtuous behaviors such as humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and integrity. For Confucius, proper behaviors, manifested in relationships between emperor and subject, father and son, as well as husband and wife, led to enduring social and political order. Subjects should be loyal to their emperor, the emperor righteous and just toward subjects. Sons and daughters should show filial piety toward their parents, and parents should show kindness to their children. Husbands should provide for wives, and wives should be faithful and obedient to husbands. The teaching provided practical codes of ethics and conduct for different roles in the society. Emperors and political leaders had moral obligations to be just and responsible, acting as guardians of the public interest and welfare. Even though such expectations were never codified in law or enforceable at court in premodern China, they became an institutional constraint to manage public affairs fairly and wisely. More than any other individual in Chinese history, Confucius offered a code of conduct and ethics with broad applications in all aspects of the society. With its implicit emphasis on social harmony, deference to authority, and hier- archical nature of society, Confucianism is seen as a conservative belief system in support of existing political order and power. Political Centralization Do notDivision copy, and disorder in Zhou post, ended when the ruthless or Qin Firstdistribute Emperor (Qin Shi Huang Di, 221–210 BCE) conquered his rivals with an efficient military machine in 221 BCE. After unifying the country, he constructed a Copyright ©2021 by SAGE Publications, Inc. This work may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without express written permission of the publisher. 20 Rising East Asia governance structure comparable to a modern state in its ability to extract resources and control people’s behaviors, laying down the foundation of the Chinese imperial system. Under Qin, people had to pledge their allegiance to the central government, not to their traditional masters such as the landowners or feudal lords. The measure gave the government a huge reservoir of work force for military service and public projects such as roads, canals, royal tombs, and sections of the Great Wall. To centralize political power, Qin First Emperor created regional administrative units, appointed nonhereditary officials, implemented uniform laws and taxes, as well as promoted standardized weights, measures, and written characters. Since then, for more than two thousand years and with more than 20 dynastic turnovers, the form and substance of the core governing institutions within a single, centralized Chinese empire were remarkably stable and remained essentially unchanged. In an attempt to clean up the past and create new loyalties, Qin went to the extremes to order the burning of all books, except those in agriculture, medi- cine, and divination. Scholars who disobeyed the command were executed or buried alive. Qin’s cruel and totalitarian control of public affairs led to widespread uprisings that quickly ended the regime in 206 BCE. Meritocratic Bureaucracy The Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) that succeeded Qin was comparable to its contemporary, the Roman Empire, in area and population. To enhance the governing capacity of the emperor, imperial leaders developed a selec- tion system to recruit and promote officials based on merit and experience.

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