DOCSLIB.ORG

The Influence of History on Modern Chinese Strategic Thinking

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Influence of History on Modern Chinese Strategic Thinking THE INFLUENCE OF HISTORY ON MODERN CHINESE STRATEGIC THINKING By S. Elizabeth Speed, Ph.D. 106 - 1386 West 73rd Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., V6P 3E8. February '5'&5''&& PWGSC Contract Number: WW7714-15-6105 Contract Scientific Authority: Ben Lombardi – Strategic Analyst 7KHVFLHQWLILFRUWHFKQLFDOYDOLGLW\RIWKLV&RQWUDFW5HSRUWLVHQWLUHO\WKHUHVSRQVLELOLW\RIWKH&RQWUDFWRUDQGWKH FRQWHQWVGRQRWQHFHVVDULO\KDYHWKHDSSURYDORUHQGRUVHPHQWRI'HSDUWPHQWRI1DWLRQDO'HIHQFHRI&DQDGD +HU0DMHVW\WKH4XHHQLQ5LJKWRI&DQDGDDVUHSUHVHQWHGE\WKH0LQLVWHURI1DWLRQDO'HIHQFH7 6D0DMHVWpOD5HLQH HQGURLWGX&DQDGD WHOOHTXHUHSUpVHQWpHSDUOHPLQLVWUHGHOD'pIHQVHQDWLRQDOH7 1 Note to Readers This paper represents the first section of what was supposed to be a much larger study to examine the influence that history has on modern Chinese strategic thinking, including contemporary force development considerations. Unfortunately, the author, Elizabeth Speed, was unable to complete the project due to health concerns. Rather than toss aside the useful analysis that was already prepared when she had to withdraw, the decision was taken to publish the portion of the project that was completed. The focus of this project was always very ambitious. With a recorded history of nearly three millennia, any attempt to derive “lessons” from such a record would be extremely difficult. As Dr. Speed indicates in this paper, it would also likely fail. Nevertheless, it is probable that the enormity of China’s national history is why so many people have resorted to cherry-picking that record. At no time is this more evident than in our own age when, as China regains a leading position in global affairs, observers are actively endeavouring to understand what this might mean for the future. What can that country’s past tell us – many of whom are not Sinologists – about its likely actions in the future? It is a truism to assert that history influences the current generation of Chinese leaders. The questions are how and to what degree. Identification of analogous situations – linking past and present – can often be useful but they come with a caveat to those who would rely upon them. Analogies should not be viewed as decisive for any understanding of the contemporary behaviour of countries, particularly those (like China) with such a vast well of history to draw from. And, after all, we cannot be certain that the analogies we identify are the same ones that Chinese leaders would deem most relevant. We know, of course, that history forms the envelope in which regimes exist and leaders make policy. Awareness of that national history should, therefore, inform our analysis. In the Introduction, Dr. Speed explains her approach to the study of China and China’s interactions with the world-at-large, subjects to which she has devoted a great deal of study. She notes that only by seeking “a broad understanding of China’s long history” can we in the West make sense of what we sometimes are inclined these days to see as “unscrupulous, hyper-sensitive, incomprehensible or just plain wrong” policies by the country’s current regime. The pursuit of insights (not lessons) derived from the sort of deeply-rooted expertise that Dr. Speed advocates is very likely the best means of achieving that. This paper should be read in light of that perspective. It is narrative rather than conceptual, but in adopting this approach it tells a story of China’s past up to the establishment of the current regime in 1949 that might help us better understand how Beijing today views its place in the world. - Ben Lombardi 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Note to Readers ……………………………………………………………………….. 2 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………... 4 The Historical Narrative ……………………………………………………………… 10 Chapter One: Shang through Han (1570 BCE - 220 CE) ………………………………… 13 Chapter Two: Three Kingdoms through Northern Song (221 - 1127) ………………… 22 Chapter Three: Southern Song through Early Ming (1127-1435) ………………………… 28 Chapter Four: Middle Ming to the Founding of the Peoples' Republic (1435-1949) … 40 Meanings ………………………………………………………………………………… 61 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………….. 63 3 Introduction China is at the heart of any contemporary Asian security assessment. It is frequently portrayed as the most likely potential or actual threat to regional security and the only state which has both the purported capacity and interest in altering the still US- dominated global security structure. For decades now, China has devoted considerable attention and resources to the development of modern naval weapon systems and platforms with greater reach, fourth generation fighters with advanced air and land attack weapons, and ballistic missiles capable of targeting throughout Asia (and North America), as well as a medium-range missile - the DF21D - which purportedly can hit an aircraft carrier at sea (or at least an immovable target such as Guam). China previously adopted an offshore defence strategy which has taken on new meaning. No longer is China content to put at risk those forces operating on, under and over regional seas, but is seeking to deny others - notably the United States - from deploying its forces with impunity throughout the Western Pacific. This begs four key questions: (1) What does China really want? (2) Does China pose a direct or indirect challenge to the Western-based international order? (3) Will its continuing so-called "peaceful rise" (Zhongguo heping juiqi) indeed be peaceful or will its quest for security and apparent suzerainty within Asia produce the kind of chaos and violence experienced with Germany in the first half of the twentieth century? (4) Is China set to become the predominant power in Asia and beyond or is it simply seeking to defend itself against intrusive powers - much as it has done for the past 150 years - within what China regards as its traditional sphere of influence? This paper cannot begin to answer these questions, but it can hopefully provide a framework for future research on the historical origins of many of China's fundamental strategic concerns - some real, some fictitious, the latter reflecting generations of "patriotic education" taught at all levels of the Chinese educational system. In broad terms, the modernization drive and accompanying reforms launched by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 produced one of the most remarkable economic transformations in human history. Since the early 1990s, the Chinese government has sought to develop "comprehensive national power" (zhonghe guoli) such that the other great powers and neighbouring states will refrain form implementing any major policy contrary to China's declared interests. China's ongoing military modernization and offshore strategy have been designed to ensure Chinese access to and influence (if not control) over regional seas. China has thus re-emerged as a key great power and poses the only viable alternative to the US global pre-eminence at least through the medium term. China's self-professed "peaceful rise" has enormous potential repercussions for international economic and security relations. However, the trajectory for international economic and security development could be altered by its still problematical internal situation (socio-economic, political, environmental, etc.) and whether it will remain a "peaceful rise" depends to a large extent on how Sino-US relations are managed in the future. It is thus timely to consider China's role within the international system in more broadly historical terms. Despite more than 400 years of Western engagement with China, in broad terms the West's understanding of China still appears to be muddled and frequently wrong. Conceptions of China quite naturally focus on recent events - those 4 since China took off economically and/or events both before and since the Communist victory in 1949. Moreover, and given China's long history, and given the tendency of Chinese leaders to use aspects of that history to explain or defend China's positions or various issues with others, China's history has been used and distorted for political ends. Analysts have been equally guilty of using history to bolster some generalization about Chinese behaviour for similar ends. In both these cases it could be said that Chinese history has and continues to be used instrumentally. All too often, the contemporary conception of China is based on a misreading and/or use of history - where events are "cherry-picked" to reveal some purported cultural truth or historical precedents with application to the current period. China's written record goes back at least two and a half millennia, and there is an abundance of events and historical material. Indeed, there is so much history available that almost any generalization can have some evidential basis. However, most generalizations appear to be derived from the late Ming and Qing dynastic periods which witnessed direct contacts between Western states and China and the resulting imperial clashes culminating in the so-called "century of humiliation" (hainian guochi) which commenced in the mid- nineteenth century. There is, in short, a tendency to apply perspectives derived from more recent history (i.e., the late Qing and post-Imperial periods) to prior events as if China was part of some long historical continuum or of a recurrent pattern. Such generalizations have led to the traditional conception of China as a continentally-focused largely self-sufficient and inward looking state which shunned trade and foreign contacts, refused to modernize when confronted with Western power and frequently
Load more

Recommended publications
  • National Lineage Reinvented
    chapter 3 National Lineage Reinvented In the early 1940s, Nishikawa shifted his attention to Taiwanese history. From “The Red Fort” (Sekikanki 赤嵌記), which focused on the shifting fortunes of the family of Zheng Chenggong (郑成功 1624–1662), to Tale of the Dragon’s Pulse (Ryūmyaku ki 竜脈記) in which Nishikawa describes the difficulties that Liu Mingchuan (刘铭传 1836–1896), the first governor of the province of Taiwan, encountered during the Qing dynasty when he undertook the build- ing of a railway, to his Railway across Taiwan (Taiwan jūkan tetsudō 台湾縦貫 鉄道), which describes Japan’s railway construction after the colonists occu- pied Taiwan, Nishikawa’s works mainly took the form of novels about historical events in Taiwan.1 According to his biography, in 1941, entrusted by the colonial government, Nishikawa even started writing a new story exclusively on Zheng Chenggong.2 Why did history become important to him at this juncture, and to what extent was his identity further revealed in this shift in literary emphasis? Answers to these questions can be gained through a reading of “The Red Fort”, which is Nishikawa’s first attempt to explore Taiwanese history and colonial realities, and at the same time, his foray into historical fiction created to serve the real political propaganda of Japanese imperialism in the 1940s. “The Red Fort” was the author’s attempt to justify Japan’s colonisation of Taiwan and its further incursion into Southeast Asia. It demonstrated how local history was re-imagined as a part of Japanese history and how local history helped Nishikawa identify with the Japanese empire.
    [Show full text]
  • Eastern Zhou Dynasty \(770 – 221BC\)
    Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 – 221BC) The long period during which the Zhou nominally ruled China is divided into two parts: the Western Zhou, covering the years from the conquest in c. 1050BC to the move of the capital from Xi’an to Luoyang in 771BC, and the Eastern Zhou, during which China was subdivided into many small states fro 770BC to the ascendancy of the Qin kingdom in 221BC. The Eastern Zhou period is traditionally divided into two: the Spring and Autumn period (770 – 475BC) and the period of the Warring States (475 – 221BC). These names are taken from contemporary historical documents which describe the periods in question. After the conquest of Xi’an by the Quanrong, the Zhou established their capital at Luoyang. No longer did they control their territory as undisputed kings, but now ruled alongside a number of other equally or more powerful rulers. In the centre and the north, the state of Jin was dominant, while the states of Yan and Qi occupied the present-day provinces of Hebei and Shandong repectively. Jin disintegrated in the fifth century BC, and three states, Han, Wei and Zhao, assumed its territory. In the west the Qin succeeded to the mantle of the Zhou, and in the south the state of Chu dominated the Yanzi basin. During the sixth and fifth centuries BC, Chu threatened and then swallowed up the small eastern states of Wu and Yue, as well as states such as Zeng on its northern boundary. Although for much of the period Chu was a successful and dominant power, in due course it fell in 223BC before the might of Qin, its rulers fleeing eastwards to Anhui province.
    [Show full text]
  • Hwang, Yin (2014) Victory Pictures in a Time of Defeat: Depicting War in the Print and Visual Culture of Late Qing China 1884 ‐ 1901
    Hwang, Yin (2014) Victory pictures in a time of defeat: depicting war in the print and visual culture of late Qing China 1884 ‐ 1901. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18449 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. VICTORY PICTURES IN A TIME OF DEFEAT Depicting War in the Print and Visual Culture of Late Qing China 1884-1901 Yin Hwang Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the History of Art 2014 Department of the History of Art and Archaeology School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 2 Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person.
    [Show full text]
  • Conceptualizing the Blue Frontier: the Great Qing and the Maritime World
    Conceptualizing the Blue Frontier: The Great Qing and the Maritime World in the Long Eighteenth Century Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultüt der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Vorgelegt von Chung-yam PO Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Harald Fuess Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Joachim Kurtz Datum: 28 June 2013 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgments 3 Emperors of the Qing Dynasty 5 Map of China Coast 6 Introduction 7 Chapter 1 Setting the Scene 43 Chapter 2 Modeling the Sea Space 62 Chapter 3 The Dragon Navy 109 Chapter 4 Maritime Customs Office 160 Chapter 5 Writing the Waves 210 Conclusion 247 Glossary 255 Bibliography 257 1 Abstract Most previous scholarship has asserted that the Qing Empire neglected the sea and underestimated the worldwide rise of Western powers in the long eighteenth century. By the time the British crushed the Chinese navy in the so-called Opium Wars, the country and its government were in a state of shock and incapable of quickly catching-up with Western Europe. In contrast with such a narrative, this dissertation shows that the Great Qing was in fact far more aware of global trends than has been commonly assumed. Against the backdrop of the long eighteenth century, the author explores the fundamental historical notions of the Chinese maritime world as a conceptual divide between an inner and an outer sea, whereby administrators, merchants, and intellectuals paid close and intense attention to coastal seawaters. Drawing on archival sources from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and the West, the author argues that the connection between the Great Qing and the maritime world was complex and sophisticated.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Southwestern Silk Road in World History By
    China's Southwestern Silk Road in World History By: James A. Anderson James A. Anderson, "China's Southwestern Silk Road in World History," World History Connected March 2009 http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/6.1/anderson.html Made available courtesy of University of Illinois Press: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/ ***Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction is authorized without written permission from the University of Illinois Press. This version of the document is not the version of record. Figures and/or pictures may be missing from this format of the document.*** As Robert Clark notes in The Global Imperative, "there is no doubt that trade networks like the Silk Road made possible the flourishing and spread of ancient civilizations to something approximating a global culture of the times."1 Goods, people and ideas all travelled along these long-distance routes spanning or circumventing the vast landmass of Eurasia. From earliest times, there have been three main routes, which connected China with the outside world.2 These were the overland routes that stretched across Eurasia from China to the Mediterranean, known collectively as the "Silk Road"; the Spice Trade shipping routes passing from the South China Sea into the Indian Ocean and beyond, known today as the "Maritime Silk Road"; and the "Southwestern Silk Road," a network of overland passages stretching from Central China through the mountainous areas of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces into the eastern states of South Asia. Although the first two routes are better known to students of World History, the Southwestern Silk Road has a long ancestry and also played an important role in knitting the world together.
    [Show full text]
  • Feng Guifen and His Contributions to Tax Rationalization in Southern Jiangsu in 1853-74
    ß Protecting Regional Interests: Feng Guifen and His Contributions to Tax Rationalization in Southern Jiangsu in 1853-74 Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde des Doktors der Philosophie der Universität Hamburg vorgelegt von Mingxin Xiong aus Hubei Hamburg 2017 I Angenommen vom Fachbereich Orientalistik (Asien-Afrika-Institut) der Universität Hamburg Erster Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Michael Friedrich Zweiter Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Kai Vogelsang Datum der Disputation: 9.12.2015 II Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Friedrich for the continuous support of my Ph.D study, for his patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me throughout researching and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Ph.D study. I am deeply indebted to thank my advisor Prof. Zhu Weizheng who passed away three years ago for guiding me into the field of intellectual history and for enlightening me to deal with Feng Guifen study. I would like to thank Prof. Vogelsang, who provided me an opportunity to join his textual criticism work of Jiaobinlu kangyi. My sincere thanks also goes to my friends Yaxinlinglong, Dong Lihui, Yuan Yi, Ma Yunhui, Wang Ying, Daisy Cheung, Li Mengyan, Fu Chong, Yuan Wenjun, Liu Haibin, Alice Chang, Christian Textor, Max Jakob Fölster, Wang Bin, Zhu Wenjin for their kind assistance, encouragement and companionship. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. III CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE: The Grain Tribute Tax in Southern Jiangsu ..........................
    [Show full text]
  • The Chinese Navy: Expanding Capabilities, Evolving Roles
    The Chinese Navy: Expanding Capabilities, Evolving Roles The Chinese Navy Expanding Capabilities, Evolving Roles Saunders, EDITED BY Yung, Swaine, PhILLIP C. SAUNderS, ChrISToPher YUNG, and Yang MIChAeL Swaine, ANd ANdreW NIeN-dzU YANG CeNTer For The STUdY oF ChINeSe MilitarY AffairS INSTITUTe For NATIoNAL STrATeGIC STUdIeS NatioNAL deFeNSe UNIverSITY COVER 4 SPINE 990-219 NDU CHINESE NAVY COVER.indd 3 COVER 1 11/29/11 12:35 PM The Chinese Navy: Expanding Capabilities, Evolving Roles 990-219 NDU CHINESE NAVY.indb 1 11/29/11 12:37 PM 990-219 NDU CHINESE NAVY.indb 2 11/29/11 12:37 PM The Chinese Navy: Expanding Capabilities, Evolving Roles Edited by Phillip C. Saunders, Christopher D. Yung, Michael Swaine, and Andrew Nien-Dzu Yang Published by National Defense University Press for the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs Institute for National Strategic Studies Washington, D.C. 2011 990-219 NDU CHINESE NAVY.indb 3 11/29/11 12:37 PM Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Defense or any other agency of the Federal Government. Cleared for public release; distribution unlimited. Chapter 5 was originally published as an article of the same title in Asian Security 5, no. 2 (2009), 144–169. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Used by permission. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Chinese Navy : expanding capabilities, evolving roles / edited by Phillip C. Saunders ... [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
    [Show full text]
  • Sino-US Relations and Ulysses S. Grant's Mediation
    Looking for a Friend: Sino-U.S. Relations and Ulysses S. Grant’s Mediation in the Ryukyu/Liuqiu 琉球 Dispute of 1879 Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Chad Michael Berry Graduate Program in East Asian Studies The Ohio State University 2014 Thesis Committee: Christopher A. Reed, Advisor Robert J. McMahon Ying Zhang Copyright by Chad Michael Berry 2014 Abstract In March 1879, Japan announced the end of the Ryukyu (Liuqiu) Kingdom and the establishment of Okinawa Prefecture in its place. For the previous 250 years, Ryukyu had been a quasi-independent tribute-sending state to Japan and China. Following the arrival of Western imperialism to East Asia in the 19th century, Japan reacted to the changing international situation by adopting Western legal standards and clarifying its borders in frontier areas such as the Ryukyu Islands. China protested Japanese actions in Ryukyu, though Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) leaders were not willing to go to war over the islands. Instead, Qing leaders such as Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) and Prince Gong (1833-1898) sought to resolve the dispute through diplomatic means, including appeals to international law, rousing global public opinion against Japan, and, most significantly, requesting the mediation of the United States and former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885). Initially, China hoped Grant’s mediation would lead to a restoration of the previous arrangement of Ryukyu being a dually subordinate kingdom to China and Japan. In later negotiations, China sought a three-way division of the islands among China, Japan, and Ryukyu.
    [Show full text]
  • Chen Gui and Other Works Attributed to Empress Wu Zetian
    chen gui denis twitchett Chen gui and Other Works Attributed to Empress Wu Zetian ome quarter-century ago, studies by Antonino Forte and Richard S Guisso greatly advanced our understanding of the ways in which the empress Wu Zetian ࣳঞ֚ made deliberate and sophisticated use of Buddhist materials both before and after declaring herself ruler of a new Zhou ࡌʳdynasty in 690, in particular the text of Dayun jing Օႆᆖ in establishing her claim to be a legitimate sovereign.1 However, little attention has ever been given to the numerous political writings that had earlier been compiled in her name. These show that for some years before the demise of her husband emperor Gaozong in 683, she had been at considerable pains to establish her credentials as a potential ruler in more conventional terms, and had commissioned the writing of a large series of political writings designed to provide the ideologi- cal basis for both a new style of “Confucian” imperial rule and a new type of minister. All save two of these works were long ago lost in China, where none of her writings seems to have survived the Song, and most may not have survived the Tang. We are fortunate enough to possess that titled ๵ complete with its commentary, and also a fragmentary۝ Chen gui copy of the work on music commissioned in her name, Yue shu yaolu ᑗ ஼૞ᙕ,2 only thanks to their preservation in Japan. They had been ac- quired by an embassy to China, almost certainly that of 702–704, led టԳ (see the concluding section of thisضby Awata no ason Mahito ொ article) to the court of empress Wu, who was at that time sovereign of 1 See Antonino Forte, Political Propaganda and Ideology in China at the End of the Seventh Century (Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale,1976); R.
    [Show full text]
  • Portfolio Investment Opportunities in China Democratic Revolution in China, Was Launched There
    Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Investment Strategy The Great Wall of China In c. 220 BC, under Qin Shihuangdi (first emperor of the Qin dynasty), sections of earlier fortifications were joined together to form a united system to repel invasions from the north. Construction of the Great Wall continued for more than 16 centuries, up to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), National Emblem of China creating the world's largest defense structure. Source: About.com, travelchinaguide.com. The design of the national emblem of the People's Republic of China shows Tiananmen under the light of five stars, and is framed with ears of grain and a cogwheel. Tiananmen is the symbol of modern China because the May 4th Movement of 1919, which marked the beginning of the new- Portfolio Investment Opportunities in China democratic revolution in China, was launched there. The meaning of the word David M. Darst, CFA Tiananmen is “Gate of Heavenly Succession.” On the emblem, the cogwheel and the ears of grain represent the working June 2011 class and the peasantry, respectively, and the five stars symbolize the solidarity of the various nationalities of China. The Han nationality makes up 92 percent of China’s total population, while the remaining eight percent are represented by over 50 nationalities, including: Mongol, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Kazak, and Dai. Source: About.com, travelchinaguide.com. Please refer to important information, disclosures, and qualifications at the end of this material. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Investment Strategy Table of Contents The Chinese Dynasties Section 1 Background Page 3 Length of Period Dynasty (or period) Extent of Period (Years) Section 2 Issues for Consideration Page 65 Xia c.
    [Show full text]
  • Ming China As a Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, and Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 Weicong Duan Washington University in St
    Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations Arts & Sciences Winter 12-15-2018 Ming China As A Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, And Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 Weicong Duan Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds Part of the Asian History Commons, and the Asian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Duan, Weicong, "Ming China As A Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, And Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620" (2018). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1719. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/1719 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY Dissertation Examination Committee: Steven B. Miles, Chair Christine Johnson Peter Kastor Zhao Ma Hayrettin Yücesoy Ming China as a Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, and Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620 by Weicong Duan A dissertation presented to The Graduate School of of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2018 St. Louis, Missouri © 2018,
    [Show full text]
  • Mythical Image of “Queen Mother of the West” and Metaphysical Concept of Chinese Jade Worship in Classic of Mountains and Seas
    IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 21, Issue11, Ver. 6 (Nov. 2016) PP 39-46 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org Mythical Image of “Queen Mother of the West” and Metaphysical Concept of Chinese Jade Worship in Classic of Mountains and Seas Juan Wu1 (School of Foreign Language，Beijing Institute of Technology, China) Abstract: This paper focuses on the mythological image, the Queen Mother of the West in Classic of Mountains and Seas, to explore the hiding history and mental reality behind the fantastic literary images, to unveil the origin of jade worship, which plays an significant role in the 8000-year-old history of Eastern Asian jade culture, to elucidate the genetic mechanism of the jade worship budded in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, so that we can have an overview of the tremendous influence it has on Chinese civilization, and illustrate its psychological role in molding the national jade worship and promoting the economic value of jade business. Key words: Mythical Image, Mythological Concept, Jade Worship, Classic of Mountains and Seas I. WHITE JADE RING AND QUEEN MOTHER OF THE WEST As for the foundation and succession myths of early Chinese dynasties, Allan holds that “Ancient Chinese literature contains few myths in the traditional sense of stories of the supernatural but much history” (Allan, 1981: ix) and “history, as it appears in the major texts from the classical period of early China (fifth-first centuries B.C.)，has come to function like myth” (Allan, 1981: 10). While “the problem of myth for Western philosophers is a problem of interpreting the meaning of myths and the phenomenon of myth-making” as Allan remarks, “the problem of myth for the sinologist is one of finding any myths to interpret and of explaining why there are so few.” (Allen, 1991: 19) To decode why white jade enjoys a prominent position in the Chinese culture, the underlying conceptual structure and unique culture genes should be investigated.
    [Show full text]