Ming and Qing Analysis

The Ming and Qing are two very interesting dynasties of Chinese history. These two dynasties are similar and different to the Europeans. They are similar and different intellectually and economically.

Firstly, they both are very similar and different intellectually. The Chinese, for thousands of years, embraced the idea of Confucianism, which stressed respect and the mandate of heaven. However, during the same time, the Europeans were experiencing changes in their thinking. They went from ardent Christians to people being influenced by the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. However, the Christianity was a salvation religion and people were very crazy about it. Likewise, the Hongwu emperor actually started the Ming dynasty through the Red Turbans, a salvation religion, in 1368. Salvation religions never really had mass influence in China however. Although Buddhism grew during the Tang dynasty, it never grew past the Tang. Moreover, the Yongle Emperor in the Ming had a huge influence on China. Like an Enlightened Despot in Europe, he was interested in intellectual themes and really believed in supporting the people. He rebuilt the Great Wall, fabricated the Forbidden City, and sent out Zheng He on his voyages. He even had scholars create the “Yongle Encyclopedia” which was a 50 million word narrative of history. It is ideally similar to Diderot’s “Encyclopedie” during the Enlightenment period in the sense that both captured the fact that history should be remembered. Additionally, Zheng He encompasses the meaning of being Confucian. Although he was a Muslim, he illustrated Confucian values. Firstly, he would always be considerate and hospitable with people he met on his voyages. On the contrary, when explorers like Columbus encountered people, they were immediately slaves and Catholicism was implemented. Zheng He however respected people’s ideas, while the Catholic Church supported the death of anyone who was not Christian as early as 1301 with the Unum Sanctum, and later with the Romanus Pontifex. On a different note, by the 16^th century, Jesuits came in who sought to convert locals. But, they also brought new implements and ideas from the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. One of these Jesuits was Matteo Ricci. He actually worked in the Imperial Court because he reconciled Confucianism and Christianity, unlike most westerners who would negate any religion other than their own.

The advent of the Qing Dynasty came with the introduction of Manchu rulers. However, the people accepted the Manchurians because they practiced the Mandate of Heaven. The rulers realized the people must be put before themselves, which was contrary to many Europeans at the time which practiced absolutism. It wasn’t until about the early 18^th century that Enlightened Despots were prevalent in Europe. The first Qing Emperor, Kanxi, changed the influence of the Jesuits in China. Because Matteo Ricci reconciled Confucianism and Christianity, the opinionated Catholic Church stated that Catholicism should remain Catholicism. The Church also looked down upon Confucian rituals, and therefore Kangxi eradicated Catholic influence in China by getting rid of the missionaries. Additionally, the Opium War began the Century of Humiliation in China. Thus, for the next century, people detested foreign influence which was depicted through the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Finally, the Qing began to Westernize in the late 1800’s. They had a self-strengthening movement, which was similar to Peter the Great because both nations wanted to westernize to become more powerful militarily.

Second, they were very similar and different concerning their economies. During the Ming dynasty, the Chinese employed the tribute system which comprised of largesse and tribute. During the same era in Europe, feudalism started to become replaced by mercantilism and the cornerstones of capitalism. But, Europe and China had very different ways of treating the economy. The Confucians always looked down upon profit-seekers while the West glorified getting rich and greediness, especially with the advent of capitalism. Because of this, the voyages of Zheng He and of Columbus could be compared. Zheng He did not seek money, or profit. He went around the world exploring and making peace, while Columbus just wanted the natives for their gold, and making a profit. European nations for hundreds of years put there benefit before any others, unlike the Chinese who would treat everyone with respect.

During the Qing dynasty, the tribute system was in place until the late 1800’s. By the late 1800’s, the Europeans experienced many innovational economic ideology like imperialism, capitalism, and socialism. When the Europeans found China, they were eager to trade with them. Countries like Portugal attained ports like Macao to trade. However, other nations had to resort to the Canton system to trade. The Canton system stated that foreigners could only trade through one port in China. The Chinese were not eager to trade with these foreigners because they were not profit-seekers like they were. The Chinese wanted to live their conventional lives. By 1795, McCartney visited China seeking more ports to trade with, and making an embassy. However, nothing happened. But, China was forced to give privileges to other countries after the Opium Wars with treaties like Nanking and Tianjin, and new ideas like extraterritoriality. At the same time, Europeans were definitely obsessed with the new idea of imperialism. In “the Scramble for Africa” for example, Bismarck of Germany defined who could have what provinces, essentially dividing up Africa. As stated before, China had its own self-strengthening movement which essentially was futile because they were defeated by their other Asian contemporary, Japan.

Therefore, the Chinese and Europeans were similar and different concerning their intellectualism and economies. In consequence to the bad reputation of the Qing Empire by the Europeans, the Republic of China was formed in 1911.