CHINA

BEFORE THE DYNASTIES

Ancient China

1. Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) – first to have historical records.

2. Zhou Dynasty (1045-221 BC) – Confucianism and Taoism

Imperial China

3. Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC) – “Qin Shi Huang” first emperor

4. Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) – “Liu Bang”

- was known for starting the Silk Road trade and connecting China with Central Asia and
Europe.

Dark Ages

5. Three Kingdoms Period (220–265)

6. Jin Dynasty (265–420)

7. Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589)

China's Middle Ages

8. Sui Dynasty (581–618)

- One of Emperor Wen’s most prominent achievements was to create the imperial examination
system to select talented individuals for bureaucratic positions.

9. Tang Dynasty (618-907)

- the golden age for poetry, painting, tricolored glazed pottery, and woodblock printing.

10. Song Dynasty (960–1297)

- The "four great inventions" of the Chinese people in ancient times (paper, printing, the
compass, and gunpowder) were further developed in the Song Dynasty.

11. Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368) – Mongol Rule

- Conquered by Kublai Khan, a Mongolian

- He made Dadu (modern-day Beijing) the capital of the first foreign-led dynasty in China
The Final Dynasties

12. Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) - Zhu Yuanzhang

- very supportive of international trade and sponsored several voyages to the West.

- due to natural disasters and greedy leadership, as had so many dynasties before it,
eventually, the Ming Dynasty fell due to the frequent peasant rebellions and Manchu attacks.

13. Qing Dynasty (1644–1912)

• Emperor Kangxi - the Qing Golden Age Begins (ruled 1661–1722)

- Restricted foreign trade. Allowed Cities (Guangzhou, Xiamen, Songjian, and Ningbo

• Emperor Yongzheng - The Golden Age Continues (ruled 1723–1735)

• Emperor Qianlong - End of the Golden Age (ruled 1735–1796)

- His court was successful early in his reign, but he later his greed set the empire on an
unfavorable course.

 China's Huge Prosperity and Growth

 Huge Growth in Chinese Literature

- he tried to conquer the kingdoms of Burma and Vietnam from 1765 to 1769 and failed at a
great cost to the empire.

THE WARS
QING DYNASTY -The last dynasty in China
Internal conflicts such as corruption, population growth and peasant unrest played a major role
in the dynasty’s downfall.

- China was ruled by emperors of the Manchu Qing (Ch’ing) Dynasty from 1644 to 1911.

External conflicts also played a huge role in the decline of the Qing dynasty happened because
of western nations.

- Opium War.

- Unequal Treaties

- Extraterritoriality

- Sphere of influence

- Open Door Policy

The empires inability to control the Europeans resulted in the fall of Qing dynasty and the
collapse of entire imperial system.
The Opium Wars - 1839-1842.
- Chinese vs. British.

- China is willing to trade tea and other goods with Britain, but they do not want to receive any
payment other than silver.

- They found a solution to an anesthetic from India, the opium. In the years that followed, the
number of opium smuggled in China increased dramatically.

- Millions of Chinese become addicted to smoking opium

- China demanded that opium sales stop, but the British did not comply. This led to the Opium
Wars.

-Britain won

• the Opium Wars brought an end to the isolation of the ancient Chinese civilization and
introduced far-reaching social, economic and cultural ideas to the Chinese.

• Significance of Opium Wars

-Weakened Qing Dynasty

-opened China to Western exploitation.

Treaty of Nanking
- The Treaty of Nanking was signed between Britain and China

- a peace treaty which ended the first Opium War.

- The Chinese suffered many casualties and were forced to surrender on August 29, 1942

- Hong Kong- Southern China seaport given to Britain as a lease in the Treaty of Nanjing.
Later lease was extended. Not returned to Chinese control until 1997.

•Extraterritoriality

Foreign citizens were only subject to their own nation's laws & courts. A British subject that
committed a crime in China would be tried in a British court in Britain.

•Spheres of Influence

-Areas in which economic interests of foreign nations took precedence over the nation's
(China).

Foreign nation controlled all trade into & out of treaty ports from these areas.

- China was controlled by European economically.

 -The balance of trade favored Europe

Open Door Policy

The open door policy (1899 and 1990) opened up China’s “door” to merchants from all nation.
This policy was made by the U.S Secretary of State John Hay and was sent to the United
kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Japan.

Taiping Rebellion (1850)

• Led by Hong Xiuquan

• During the rebellion slavery, prostitution, opium smoking, and the use of tabacco and alcohol
were prohibited.

• one of the longest, most devastating war in Chinese history

- spread rapidly throughout the countryside. Was an attempt to overthrow the Qing
dynasty

• The Taiping was bloodiest peasant rebellion that ever took place in China. Over 50 million
people were killed.

Boxer Rebellion
 An uprising known as the Boxer Rebellion erupted in Northern China in the late-1800s

 They wanted to get all the foreigners out of china

 British actions highlighted just how weak China was.

• The Boxer Uprising was ultimately suppressed by the Western powers

Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)

 A conflict between Japan and China that marked the emergence of Japan as a major
world power and demonstrated the weakness of the Chinese empire.

 The main cause was over control of Korea

 Korea had long been China’s most important client state, but its strategic location
opposite the Japanese islands and its natural resources of coal and iron attracted
Japan’s interest. In 1875 Japan, which had begun to adopt Western technology, forced
Korea to open itself to foreign, especially Japanese, trade and to declare itself
independent from China in its foreign relations.
Treaty of Shimonoseki
The Treaty of Shimonoseki, also known as Treaty of Bakan in China, was a treaty on 17 April
1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China, deeming japan the winner of the sino-
Japanese war.

Terms:

 China recognizes independence of Korea in which it had previously held control over.

 china was then cede Taiwan, the Liadong Peninsula, Port Arthur and the Pescadores
peninsula, to japan.

FORMOSA
- China also lost control of the island of Formosa to Japan.

• it was then to open the ports of Chongqing, Hangzhou, Shashi, and Suzhou to Japanese
trade.

• ending the First Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

• Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937

• 7 July 1937 to 2 September 1945.

• Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931.

• China, it is known as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression

• China fought Japan with aid from the Soviet Union and the United States

• After the Japanese attacks on Malaya and Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war merged with
other conflicts of World War II as a major sector known as the China Burma India
Theater

• largest Asian war in the 20th century.

• "the Asian holocaust."

• In 1944, Japan launched the invasion, Operation Ichi-Go, that conquered Henan and
Changsha. However, this failed to bring about the surrender of Chinese forces.
 • In 1945, the Chinese Expeditionary Force resumed its advance in Burma and completed
the Ledo Road linking India to China. At the same time, China launched large
counteroffensives in South China and retook West Hunan and Guangxi.

• Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945. China regained all territories lost to
Japan.

After Wars
-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT)

-The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army
(NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the
Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to
reunify China, which had become fragmented in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1911.

-The CPC joined the KMT as individuals, making use of KMT's superiority in numbers to help
spread communism. The KMT, on the other hand, wanted to control the communists from
within. Both parties had their own aims and the Front was unsustainable. In 1927, KMT leader
Chiang Kai-shek purged the Communists from the Front while the Northern Expedition was still
half-complete.

-August 1927 to 1937, the KMT-CPC Alliance collapsed during the Northern Expedition, and the
Nationalists controlled most of China

-The revolution began in 1946 after the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) and was the
second part of the Chinese Civil War

-The Chinese Communist Revolution, known in mainland China as the “War of Liberation”

-Battle of Liaohsi, in 1948

-Mao Zedong- proclamation of the People's Republic of China, on 1 October 1949 at Tiananmen
Square.

-Chiang Kai-shek, 600,000 Nationalist troops and about two million Nationalist-sympathizer
refugees retreated to the island of Taiwan

-An attempt to take the Nationalist-controlled island of Kinmen was thwarted in the Battle of
Guningtou

-The last direct fighting between Nationalist and Communist forces ended with the Communist
capture of Hainan Island in May 1950, though shelling and guerrilla raids continued for several
years.
CHANGES

Effects of WW1 to China

• China profited economically from the First World War

• Chinese bourgeoisie and Japanese companies more opportunities for development

• The war drastically reduced the foreign competition that Chinese firms confronted

• slowed railroad growth and the network only expanded from 8,000 kilometers in 1912 to
12,000 kilometers in 1927

• traditional-style or “native” private banks (qianzhuang) also increased in number and

amount of credit given

• it was also a step towards domination by Japan

Effects of WW2 to China

1. civil war that had begun in the late 1920s but had been put on hold while the country
struggled with the Japanese occupiers

2. Communist Chinese forces resumed their civil war

3. The Chinese Communists established credibility as a national force in the eyes of many
Chinese

4. Communist gained more esteem and legitimacy in the eyes of many people.

5. Prices of consumer goods fell

6. Water travel was tremendously limited

7. The modern economy was in ruins

8. China had to deal with a large number of stranded foreigners

South-East Asia
Timor Leste Portugal (16th century)

 East Timor was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century and was known as

Portuguese Timor until 28 November 1975, when the Revolutionary Front for an
Independent East Timor (Fretilin) declared the territory's independence.

Myanmar British (1824 to 1948)

 from the successive three Anglo-Burmese wars through the creation of Burma as a

Province of British India to the establishment of an independently administered colony,
and finally independence.

Brunei British (19th century)

 Brunei Darussalam Empire had been whittled away by wars, piracy and the colonial
expansion of European powers.

Laos France (1893-1945)

  Laos becomes a French protectorate until 1945, when it is briefly occupied by the
Japanese towards the end of World War II.

Vietman France (late 1880s)

 Vietnam were controlled by France and collectively referred to as Indochine

Français (French Indochina).

Cambodia France (1887)

 France viewed Cambodia as a buffer zone between southern Vietnam and the British-

aligned Siam. They hoped that by signing the treaty they would be protecting their own
interests in southern Vietnam.

Malaysia Britain (Late 1700s-1800s)

 Britain establishes colonies and trading ports on Malay peninsula; Penang is leased to
the British East India Company. 1824: Anglo-Dutch Treaty sets boundaries
between British Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies, which is present-day
Indonesia.
Philippines Spain (1521)

 Spain had three objectives in its policy toward the Philippines, its only colony in Asia: to
acquire a share in the spice trade, to develop contacts with China and Japan in order to
further Christian missionary efforts there, and to convert the Filipinos to Christianity.

Thailand was never colonized

 thai kings had good diplomat with foreigners. Iran and Arab were the first group of
foreigners in thailand history. cultural and trade relations with Southeast Asia date back
far into the pre-Islamic period. 

Indonesia Dutch (1595)

 The Dutch arrived in Indonesia in 1595 looking for natural resources and a place to take
over.

Attack on Pearl harbor

Pearl Harbor= Japan and the Path to War
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but Japan and the United States had been
edging toward war for decades.

• The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly belligerent attitude
toward China.

• Japan declared war on China in 1937, resulting in the Nanking Massacre and other
atrocities.

• American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and
trade embargoes.

Where is Pearl Harbor?

• Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is located near the center of the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000
miles from the U.S. mainland and about 4,000 miles from Japan.

• American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place
in one of the (relatively) nearby European colonies in the South Pacific: the Dutch East
Indies, Singapore or Indochina.

• To the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was an irresistibly easy target.

Impact of the Pearl Harbor Attack
• The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and
more than 300 airplanes.

• Most important, 2,403 sailors, soldiers and civilians were killed and about 1,000 people
were wounded.

• The Japanese had failed to cripple the Pacific Fleet.

• The Pearl Harbor assault had left the base’s most vital onshore facilities—oil storage
depots, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks—intact

South-East Asian Theatre of World War II

Philippines
• On December 07 1941, Japanese attack the Philippines

• The surrender of United States-Philippines forces on Bataan Peninsula and on Corregidor

• “Death March”

• October 20 1944- Land Battle of Leyte

• Navy Battle of Leyte

• Defeat of Japanese at Leyte

• Battle of Luzon

• Battle of Manila

Comfort Women
Maria Rosa Luna Henson (Lola Rosa)

Singapore
The Japanese occupied Singapore from 1942 until 1945.

• On December 8,1941, Singapore was attacked by Japanese aircraft

• Singapore fell under the Japanese invasion on 15 February 1942.

• Thousands of Chinese were executed at Sentosa and Changi Beach; Malays and

Indians were subject to systematic abuse.

• Governor Thomas cabled London that "there are now one million people within

radius of three miles.

• On the evening of February 15, at the Japanese headquarters at the Ford factory in
Bukit Timah, Yamashita accepted Percival's unconditional surrender.

BURMA
 The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma
campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took

place over four years from 1942 to 1945

• the Japanese Army, drove British Empire and Chinese forces out of

Burma

• Before the Second World War broke out, Burma was part of the British

Empire

• Burma was formed into a separate colony under the Government of India

Act 1935.

• Burma had been regarded as a military "backwater"

DUTCH EAST INDIES(INDONESIA)

• March 1942 until Mid - August 1945

• The Dutch East Indies were a valuable prize for the Japanese

• Invasion of Borneo, Island of Celebes, Sumatra and Java

• Battle of Java Sea happened witnessing the defeat of American, British and Dutch. It
breaks Allied Defensive perimeter ( Malay Barrier)

• The Dutch finally ended all resistance to the superior Japanese forces on March 8,
surrendering on Java.

• Sukarno and Hatta agreed in 1942 to cooperate with the Japanese

• The Japanese also used thousands of Indonesians as manual laborers(Romusha) to

build roads and railways in Southeast Asia. They participated in the building of the
bridge over the River Kwai.
 • Indonesia was not a major military theater( Colonial Period) but it became severe and
suffering for Indonesians

 women became sex slaves

 starvation

 forced labors and enslavement

• In early 1944, the Allied forces under General MacArthur, launched an operation from
what is now Papua New Guinea to liberate the Dutch East Indies from Japanese
occupation.

Why did Japan invade so many countries and territories in Asia and the South Pacific
during the Second World War?

• They faced severe shortages of oil and other natural resources

• driven by the ambition to displace the United States as the dominant Pacific power

• to create what they called the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"

POSITIVE IMPACTS
• Social and Economic Development

• Makes the region more liberated

• Availability of Skilled Labor

• Modernization

• Establishment of businesses

NEGATIVE IMPACTS
• Sino Japanese war and the Russo Japanese war were triggered by the failure by the
Qing dynasty

• Japan’s imperialist policy exposed the people in South Asia to many challenges

• Political approach of Japan

• Japan’s failure to develop an effective social structure

• “quasi hegemony”

• Japan created a powerful economic powerhouse but with a weak political infrastructure.