1. China:
A Civilisation or Nation-State?

2. “Civilisation”
• network of cities that emerge from pre-urban
cultures, and are defined by the economic,
political, military, diplomatic, social, and cultural
interactions among them
• There is a tendency to use the term in a less
strict way, to mean approximately the same
thing as “culture”
• A culture that is complex in terms of technology,
science, and division of labor. Such culture is
generally hierarchical and urbanized

3. Nation-State
• A concept developed since 1648 in
Europe
• Constitution that justifies/legalises the
existence and rights of a particular group/s
of people within a geographical area
• “sovereign territorial unit”
• A nation-state can be homogenous or
multinational

4. Xia Dynasty 2100 BC -1700 BC

5. Shang Dynasty 1700 BC -1027 BC

6. Western Zhou Dynasty 1027 BC - 771 BC

7. Eastern Zhou Dynasty 770 BC - 221 BC
Spring and Autumn Period 770 BC - 476 BC
Warring States Period 475 BC - 221 BC

8. Qin Dynasty 221 BC - 207 BC

9. Han Dynasty 206 BC - 220 AD

11. The Three Kingdoms 220 AD - 280 AD

12. Western Jin Dynasty 265 AD - 316 AD

13. Southern & Northern Dynasties 420 AD - 588 AD

14. Sui Dynasty 581 AD - 617 AD

15. Tang Dynasty 618 AD - 907 AD

16. Northern Song Dynasty 960 AD - 1127 AD

17. Southern Song Dynasty
1127 AD - 1279 AD

18. Yuan Dynasty 1279 AD - 1368 AD

19. Ming Dynasty 1368 AD - 1644 AD

20. Qing Dynasty 1644 AD - 1911 AD

21. Europe
China
•
•
1500s – Ming China
(Superpower of the World)
•
1600s – Collapse of Ming and
Rise of Qing
•
1700s – Qing China
(Superpower of the World)
•
1800s – Internal disorder, bad
governance and weakening of
Qing
•
By 1900 – rapid and advance
decay of Qing China
•
•
•
•
1500s – Religious and
political tensions across
Europe (Dark Age)
1600s – Birth of nation-states
and decline of Church’s
power in Europe
1700s – Age of
Enlightenment/Reason;
Overseas exploration and
expansion began
1800s – Industrialisaion;
overseas exploration and
expansion gathered speed;
competition among western
powers
By 1900 – heighten period of
imperialism

22. Decline of Qing China
(100 Years of Humiliation)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1839 – First Opium War
1860 – Second Opium War
1894 – 1st Sino-Japanese War
1898 – Boxers’ Rebellion
1911 – Collapse of Qing Dynasty
1927 – KMT Govt in Nanjing
1930 – Manchuria Incident
1937 – 2nd Sino-Japanese War

23. Concessions to
Foreign Powers

24. Republic of China 1911
Sun Yat Sen

25. KMT Government: The
Nanking Decade 192737
Chiang Kai Shek

26. Period of Warlords
1913-1927

27. The Communist Party
of China
Mao Zedong

28. 2nd Sino-Japanese War
(WWII)

29. The Chinese Civil War

30. Birth of People’s Republic of
China 1st Oct 1949

31. Now PRC was establised..
• But how should the country develop?
1.Gradual (reformists) or rapid (Maoists)
move towards collectivisation and
industrialisation?
2.Focus on economic reconstruction
(reformists) or continued revolution
(Maoists)?

32. Korean War 1951-53

33. Mao’s Great Leap Forward
(1958-1961)
• Economic and social campaign
• Use China's vast population to rapidly transform
the country from an agrarian economy into a
modern communist society through the process
of rapid industialisation and collectivisation
• ended in catastrophe, resulting in 18m to 32.5 m
deaths
• Mao’s power decline & rise of reformists

34. Mao’s Cultural Revolution
(1966-1976)
• to enforce communism in the country by
removing capitalist , traditional and cultural
elements from Chinese society
• to impose Maoist orthodoxy within the Party
• marked the return of Mao Zedong to a position
of power after the failed Great Leap Forward
• The movement paralyzed China politically and
significantly affected the country economically
and socially.

35. Mao’s China
(Cultural Revolution)

36. Nixon Visit to China 1972

37. Post-Mao China1976

38. Post-Mao China 1978

39. Post-Deng China