China in the 1900's

Life in China during the 18th

century

This is a basic guide on how China was in the 18th century.

It includes:

 How China was governed during the 18th century.
 The different types of technology which existed during the 18th

century.
 The different types of religions that were followed in China in

the 1900’s.
 The life of Chinese women during the 1900’s

How was china governed at the beginning of
the 18th Century?

 In 1900, ChIna’s glory days were behInd her. ChIna was a
nation in decline. In 1900, China was heavily controlled by
foreign nations who tended to dominate the ports such as
Shanghai. China was ruled by the Qing family, though the
famIly Is better known as the manChu’s.

 The Nineteenth Century has seen a marked involvement in
China by European powers. Wars – the so-Called “opIum
wars” – between China and Britain and France led to
defeats for China. She also had to hand over to Britain the
strategically important port of Hong Kong. In 1894-95,
Japan attacked China. This also led to defeat and Japan
took from China Korea, Formosa (Taiwan) and Port Arthur.

 One consequence of these wars, was that China lost
effeCtIve Control of her luCratIve sea ports. 50 of ChIna’s
most prosperous ports were deemed “treaty ports” whICh
meant that they were open to foreign trade and residence.
European nations also divided up China into spheres of
influence and in these spheres the European nation involved
all but ran it. The wishes of the Chinese were ignored. This,

understandably, created a great deal of resentment
amongst the Chinese.

 The Manchu dynasty took the blame for this situation. Their
posItIon was unaffeCted by the european ‘take-over’ of
China. There were rebellions against the rule of the
manChu’s. the most Infamous – the Taiping Rebellion – lasted
from 1850 to 1864. In this time 600 cities were ruined and as
many as 20 million people were killed. Vast areas of fertile
land were destroyed – land China could not afford to lose.
the manChu’s only restored theIr power wIth the help of
European nations. Though this was successful, it made the
manChu’s even more hated by the ChInese people.

 The Manchu family could not allow this hatred to continue.
In 1898, the emperor Guangxu introduced a batch of reforms
during the so-called Hundred Days of Reform. These
introduced new schools and colleges to boost the
educational system in China corrupt officials were removed
from courtthe financial structure of the government was
reformed and modernised.

 However, these reforms which could have led to China
becoming a more modern state, were never introduced. A
rebellIon at Court, lead by guangxu’s aunt, CIxI, led to hIm
being imprisoned. Cixi was given the power to rule China in
his place. She opposed these reforms and they were never
introduced.

 Acknowledgement- Thanks to
(http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-
history-1918-to-1980/china-1900-to-1976/china-in-1900/)

What types of technology were there in
china in the 19th century?

 Ancient Han Chinese scientists, engineers,
astronomers, philosophers, mathematicians and
medical doctors made significant innovations,
scientific discoveries and technological advances in
science, technology, engineering, medicine, military
technology, mathematics, geology and astronomy.

 Among the earliest inventions were the abacus, the
"shadow clock," and the first items such as Kongming
lanterns.[1] The Four Great Inventions: the compass,
gunpowder, papermaking, and printing, were among
the most important technological advances, only
known to Europe by the end of the Middle Ages 1000
years later. The Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 906) in
particular, was a time of great innovation.[1] A good
deal of exchange occurred between Western and
Chinese discoveries up to the Qing Dynasty.

 The Jesuit China missions of the 16th and 17th
centuries introduced Western science and astronomy,
then undergoing its own revolution, to China, and
knowledge of Chinese technology was brought to
Europe.[2][3] In the 19th and 20th century the

introduction of Western technology was a major
factor in the modernization of China. Much of the
early Western work in the history of science in China
was done by Joseph Needham.

 Acknowledgement- thanks to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and
_technology_in_China
By milind.b

Religion in China during the 1900’s.

China has been a multi-religion country since the ancient
times. It is well known that Confucianism is an indigenous
religion and is the soul of Chinese culture, which enjoyed
popular support among people and even became the
guiding ideology for feudalism society, but it did not
develop into a national belief. It makes the culture more
tolerant to others, thus, many other religions have been
brought into the country in different dynasties, but none
of them developed powerful enough in the history and
they only provide diverse people more spiritual support.

According to a latest survey, 85% of Chinese people have
religious beliefs or had some religious practices and only
15% of them are real atheists. The real atheists here
refer to those who lack belief in the existence of deities
and do not join in any religious activities. 185 million
people believe in Buddhism and 33 million have faith in
Christianity and believes in the existence of God. Only 12
million people are Taoists, although more than one
hundred million have taken part in Taoism activities
before. Thus, it is obvious that the Buddhism has the widest
influence. The other major religions are Taoism,
Confucianism, Islam and Christianity.

Buddhism

Buddha Statue, Yungang Grottoes, Datong

Buddha Statues in Yungang Grottoes, Datong

Chinese Religion Pictures Being brought into China 2,000
years ago, it was gradually widely accepted by most
Chinese people and developed into three sections, namely
the Han, Tibetan and Southern Buddhism. Buddhism not only
brought a different religion, but also brought a
different culture. It influences the local culture on
three main aspects: literature, art and ideology. Many
famous poems have ideas from Buddhism and many Buddhist
stone statues can be found, which show its huge influence.
It also promotes the CountrIes’ InterCultural
communications with foreign countries. In Tang Dynasty
(618 - 907), Jianzhen traveled to Japan to spread Buddhism
as well as Chinese culture. Xuanzang, who traveled to
India to learn Buddhist doctrines, brought a plenty
information on the language of the countries he had been
to.

Now, Buddhism has developed into the most important
religion in the country. The latest survey shows that 31%
of the people who do not believe in this religion have
participated in some Buddhist activities and about 17
million people have already become converts. Now more of
those followers come from different walks of life such as

the intellectuals, business elites and the common people.
Recently, there is a new report, The Chinese Luxury
Consumer White Paper 2012, jointly published by the
Industrial Bank and Hurun Report, which shows that 39% of
the intellectuals and businessmen have faith in Buddhism.
Not only the number of the followers is increasing, and
the education of Buddhism obtains more attention from
the society. Under the Buddhist Association of China, 34
different levels of Buddhist academies as well as almost
50 magazines can be found. Now in mainland China, there
are about 13 thousanConfucianism, not a real religion, is
just an ethical and philosophical system, which developed
from ConfuCIus’ thoughts and later was treated as a kInd
of belief to educate common people. It obtained its stable
position under the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty
(202BC-220AD), and became the ideology of the society in
the feudal system since then. Based on the Four Books and
Five Classics, the traditions and principles in the
Confucianism played an important role in the formation of
ChInese people’s thInkIng patterns and teaChIng methods.
For instance, Doctrine of the Mean can be seen on
communications among people. Now, to some extent, where
Chinese people stay or live, there will be Confucianism.

Confucianism has worldwide influence. In many countries
and regions of world such the UK, USA, branches of
Confucius Institutes are established in recent years to
spread Chinese culture and expand the language. In China,
you can find many Confucius temples, which is an important

place for the candidates for important exams. In Beijing,
They hang some red wooden plates with lucky words in the
Confucius Temple in the hope of gaining high marks and a
good future.d temples and 180 thousand monks and nuns.
Taoism, with more than 1,800 years’ hIstory orIgInated In
the Warring Period and came into being in Eastern Han
Dynasty (25 - 220). Now about 300 Taoist Temples are
scattered around China, in which about 30 thousand
Taoists lived in. Around 5 Taoist schools exist in the
country and two main sections are included in Taoism. In
the 1,800 years, Taoism influenced the local culture
deeply, especially on traditional medicine and literature.
Based on some theories of alchemists such as Wei Boyang
in Eastern Han Dynasty, different kinds of medicine
prescriptions were created by Sun Simiao and many other
doctors. In literature, many fictional characters are
closely related with Taoism, such as the Jade Emperor.
Apart from Mainland China, many Taoists live in Hong
Kong, Macau and some foreign countries. BY OM GHULE.



the lIfe of ChInese women durIng the 1900’s

Earlier in history, men dominated the Chinese society while
women were deprived of all rights and were present
mainly to serve men, they had to subordinate to their
fathers, husbands, brothers and sons. Arranged
marriages left women with virtually no voice in the
society. Chinese women did not have rights and privileges.
Women in Chinese society occupied a low and degraded
status. They were customarily assigned the most despised
and least important jobs and positions. The male child
was looked upon as a "gift" from the gods, and treated
accordingly. As for the female child, she had to endure
multiple hardships, like the binding of her feet in order to
cripple her from running.
Traditional Chinese society has always been male-
centred. Sons were preferred to daughters. Throughout
the thousands of years of Chinese history, it was common
for rich Chinese men to have a wife and
various concubines. Women were treated like slaves
before the 1900s. Before the establishment of
the People's Republic of China, when Mao Tse-Tung and the
communist party took power in 1949, it was lawful to have
a wife and multiple concubines within Chinese marriage. He
pushed for gender equality and created policies to
eliminate the oppression of women and he also outlawed
many of the old Chinese laws and traditions that they
viewed as not benefiting the state.
In ancient China women were mere daughters, sisters,
wives, mothers, mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law and
they had to be obedient in three situations and posses
four virtues. The three aspects of obedience were: to

obey their father before marriage, their husband during
married life and their sons in widowhood. The four virtues
were: integrity, pleasant appearance, propriety in speech
and be a skilled needlewoman. in the Chinese patriarchal
society women had no right to voice their own opinion but
submIssIvely aCCept men’s deCIsIons. In the past, ChInese
women in China had a very low social status. Many cruel
things were done to women in ancient china that are
considered unfathomable in other countries. Women were
only considered property and had to obey their brothers
and fathers no matter what. Fathers also despised their
daughters to the point where instead of being named they
were considered daughter number one and daughter
number two, etc. Once the woman was married instead of
being property to her brother and father, she was now
property to her husband and mother in law.Ever since
ancient times, there has been a saying that the three
most delightful moments in one's life come with success in
the imperial examination, marriage and the birth of a son.
Parents in China would customarily arrange marriages
for their daughters. In feudal society, a marriage would
be decided not by a young couple's love, but by their
parents' desires. The ancient Chinese did not think it was
important to educate women. Women also did not practise
ancestor worship as once they married their loyalties
would lie with the families of their husbands. Ancestor
worship was important to men as they remained loyal to
one family. Most girls did not go to school. Some girls who
had scholars as fathers could learn from them, but
female scholars were very rare. Women's work was
centred on the home. Tasks such as preparing food,
cleaning and looking after children were the norm for

the majority of women in ancient China. They were
expected to have many children and most women felt the
pressure to bear a son. It was common for women to take
up manual labour in the home. Spinning, weaving and
sewing were common occupations. Some peasant women
worked in the fields with their husbands.

http://chinesewomenslife.blogspot.in/2010/10/traditional
-role-of-women-in-china.html

By gayatri.m

How the Chinese spent their leisure time
during 1730 and 1830

There is a Chinese term used to describe the streets
crowded with shoppers, especially during the holidays,
"ren shan ren hai." This translates to "people mountain
people sea." Women in particular take pleasure in this
pastime, and consider a day of trying on multiple outfits
and haggling over prices without purchasing anything a
productive day.

Mazhang is a favorite cultural activity for many Chinese
people, specifically the elderly. It is played by four
people sitting around a square table. Tiles are used in
place of traditional playing cards, and the goal is to be
the first player to get a complete hand by making four
sets of three and a pair.

Mazhang is played casually and also competitively, by
placing bets on each hand. In China, it is common to see
tables erected in shady village squares or in parks.
Business-minded families set up Mazhang tables in their
homes to rent out to players.

Many Chinese people enjoy spending their free time
outdoors. Parks are filled with people from dawn until
dusk engaging in Chinese chess, Mazhang, kite flying, tai
chi and public dancing.

If you are lucky, you may see the ancient art of
calligraphy being practiced in a public park. Painters
draw traditional Chinese characters using a long brush
pen soaked in black ink or water. Sometimes outdoor
calligraphy contests will be organized.

A game similar to soccer was first recorded in China
during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220). Called cuju (“kICk
ball”), It was played by both men and women wIth a
leather ball filled with hair and other soft materials. It
was used as a form of military training and as a pastime
to keep the soldIers’ morale hIgh. today, playIng soCCer Is
a popular Chinese sport, although the country is not
competitive on an international level. This is a strategic
board game commonly played by elderly Chinese. While
also played at home, people will often gather in the park
to play. The game may seem confusing at first and it helps

to have a good memory. In the end, however, luck often
proves more important than skill. Some view the game
critically as it can be addictive and some players bet
money on it. Others just treat it as light entertainment
and an opportunity to socialize with friends.

By Vedant.m