Modern China
Table of Contents
Following the demise of the Qing, the new and fragile Chinese Republic fell victim to warlordism, Japanese aggression and civil war between the Chiang Kai-Shek’s nationalists and the communists under Mao Zedong’s leadership.
Republic of China 中華民國 (Mainland – 1912-1949; Taiwan 1949-?)
It all started with Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911, when an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang, Hubei became the first domino to fall in the run-up to the founding of the Republic of China.
Sun Yat-sen telegrammed Yuan Shikai to promise that, should Yuan agree to the formation of a republic, the position of president would be his. With the military position of the Qing weakening and provisions made for the maintenance of the royal family at court, the emperor and the royal family abdicated the throne in February of 1912.14
Treasures – Gilt Woodcarving Large Shrine (Republic of China) - A traditional craft from Chaozhou, these woodcarvings are a beauty to behold. Continue Reading
Treasures – Marriage Certificate (ROC) - We have played alongside millions of lovers, shared in the same shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of… Continue Reading
Though the new government created the Republic of China and established the seat of government in Nanjing, it failed to unify the country under its control.15 The 1911 revolution was only the first steps in a process that would require the 1949 revolution to complete.
Modern Day – People’s Republic of China 中華人民共和國 (1949-?)
On October 1, 1949, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).16 Three decades of turbulence followed, until, following Mao’s death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping began to open China to trade and foreign investment.
Treasures – Yangchun Malachite on Carved Wooden Stand (Modern) - Natural occurring malachite voted as one of the Top 10 treasures of Guangdong Museum. Continue ReadingThis was to prove a new dawn for China, and since that time the economy has grown to become the world’s second largest. Political power is still firmly in the hands of the Communist Party, but the standard of living has increased enormously and China has now resumed its position as a global superpower.
Footnote
- Sites of Hongshan Culture: The Niuheliang Archaeological Site, the Hongshanhou Archaeological Site, and Weijiawopu Archaeological Site https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5804/ ↩︎
- https://www.chinesehistorydigest.com/xia-dynasty/overview-xia-dynasty ↩︎
- 夏朝（約前2070年－約前1600年）是中國歷史記載的第一個中原部族世襲制朝代。 一般認為夏朝的政治形態是由多個部落聯盟或複雜酋邦形式聯合組成，其主體部族稱為夏人。 根據史書記載，禹傳位於子啟，改變原始部落的禪讓制，由天下為公轉變為家天下，開創中國近四千年世襲王位之先河。 ↩︎
- The project was directed by professor Li Xueqin of Tsinghua University in Beijing, and involved around 200 experts. It used radiocarbon dating, archaeological dating methods, historical textual analysis, astronomy, and other methods to achieve greater temporal and geographic accuracy. Preliminary results were released in November 2000 and the final report was published in June 2022. Among other findings, it dated the beginning of the Xia to c. 2070 BCE, the Shang to c. 1600 BCE, and the Zhou to c. 1046 BCE. However, some scholars have disputed several of the project’s methods and conclusions. Wiki extracted 11.1.25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia–Shang–Zhou_Chronology_Project ↩︎
- 商朝延續500 餘年，(約公元前1675年-前1046年），始於商湯，終於商紂，共17世31王，商朝的君王，分別是：成湯->太乙 -> 太丁 -> 外丙 -> 中壬 -> 太甲 -> 沃丁 -> 太庚 -> 小甲 -> 雍己 -> 太戊 -> 中丁 -> 外壬 -> 河亶甲 -> 祖乙 -> 祖辛 ->沃甲 -> 祖丁 -> 南庚 -> 陽甲 -> 盤庚 -> 小辛 -> 小乙 ->武丁 -> 祖庚 -> 祖甲 -> 廩辛 -> 武乙 -> 太丁 -> 帝乙 ->帝辛，末代君主帝辛於牧野之戰（根據利簋銘文記載，公元前1046年）被周武王姬發前（公元前1076年—前1043年）擊敗後自焚而亡。帝辛也就是人人皆知的紂王。因此還有一個成語叫做：助紂為虐。但是帝辛是否真的是暴君，歷史評論並不一致，因為還沒有確鑿的歷史證據。 ↩︎
- The history of modern archaeology in China began during the 1920s when Western researchers like J.G. Andersson (1874-1960) discovered remains of the prehistoric past. Twenty years earlier, the findings and excavations of oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang period 商 (17th-11th cent. BCE) revealed that the oldest dynasties described in the ancient Chinese history books had in fact existed, and were not pure mythology. Wang Guowei 王國維 (1877-1927), Luo Zhenyu 羅振玉 (1866-1940), and Gu Jiegang 顧頡剛 (1893-1980) therefore began to critically evaluate ancient historiographical sources and tried to separate prehistory and early history from mythology. https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/the-lost-world-of-sanxingdui/ ↩︎
- 鸿门宴，指前206年（汉元年）十二月在位于故秦都城咸阳郊外的新丰鸿门（今陕西省西安市临潼区新丰街道鸿门村）两位楚将会饮，由项羽宴请刘邦。此前楚后怀王熊心曾与诸将约定“先入关中者王之”，刘邦因率先进入关中灭秦，欲以秦王子婴为丞相，在关中称王，引发实力强大的项羽不满，刘邦因自度实力不及项羽，于是让出关中的统治权给项羽，项羽最终满意，打消了讨伐刘邦的打算，并为后来几个月后分封诸侯创造和平条件。
此次宴会对楚汉战争及以后中国历史皆发生重要影响，结果虽然项羽获利最大，但此后分封汉中郡给刘邦，后来雍王章邯、翟王董翳、塞王司马欣等三秦未能抵抗住刘邦，使得刘邦吞并关中，并为日后楚汉相争埋下伏笔。 ↩︎ - 《平复帖》是西晋华亭人陆机写给友人的信札，因内容有病体“恐难平复”，故名平复帖、是中国传世最早流传有序的名家法帖，有“墨皇”之称。Written by Lu Ji 陆机 (a native of Huating in the Western Jin Dynasty) to one of his friends, the Recovery Lefter 《平复帖》got its name because it mentioned that “it might be hard to recover” “恐难平复” from illness. As the first identified masterpiece of calligraphy handed down from ancient times in China, it’s also known as King of Calligraphy “墨皇”. ↩︎
- Upon Liu Cong’s death, his cousin Liu Yao 劉曜 (r. 318-329) renamed the kingdom Zhao 趙. Historians refer to these continuous state as Han-Zhao 漢趙 or Former Zhao dynasty 前趙 (304-329). ↩︎
- 五胡十六國時期是西晉滅亡到北魏統一華北期間，涵蓋華北、華中北部和四川等地區的北方諸國的概稱，相對於南方的東晉時期。「五胡」即匈奴、羯、鮮卑、氐、羌五个民族，代表統治北方諸國的民族。實際上，北方諸國的統治者還包含漢人（前涼、西涼等等）、丁零人（翟魏）、盧水胡（北涼）與匈奴人鐵弗（胡夏）等民族。而地方人民也遺留不少漢人，與統治民族形成合作關係。「十六國」則是源自北魏末年的史官崔鴻私下撰寫的《十六國春秋》而得名。他自北方諸國中選出國祚較長、影響力大、較具代表性的十六國（“五凉、四燕、三秦、二趙，成漢、胡夏为十六”），共有：成汉、前赵、后赵、前涼、前燕、前秦、后燕、后秦、西秦、後涼、南涼、西涼、北涼、南燕、北燕及胡夏等國；實際上，北方諸國還包括冉魏、翟魏、西燕、仇池、譙蜀等等國家。總之，五胡十六國只是北方諸國的概稱，並不是北方諸國只有五個民族統治，以及只存在十六個國家。 ↩︎
- Southern Tang (937-976) was a dynastic state of China that existed during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Located in southern China, the Southern Tang proclaimed itself to be the successor of the Tang dynasty, although none of the emperors were related to the Li Tang dynasty. The capital was located at Nanjing in present-day Jiangsu Province. Southern Tang was annexed by Song in 976. ↩︎
- Although Genghis Khan’s enthronement as Khagan in 1206 was described in Chinese as the Han-style title of Emperor and the Mongol Empire had ruled territories including modern-day northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Han style, and the conquest was not complete until 1279 when the Southern Song dynasty was defeated in the Battle of Yamen. ↩︎
- In 1368, following the defeat of the Yuan forces by the Ming dynasty, the Genghisid rulers retreated to the Mongolian Plateau and continued to rule until 1635 when they surrendered to the Later Jin dynasty (which later evolved into the Qing dynasty); this rump state is known in Chinese history as the Northern Yuan. ↩︎
- Sun Yat-sen led the amalgam of groups that together formed the Revolutionary Alliance or Tongmenghui. The Revolutionary Alliance advocated replacing Qing rule with a republican government; Sun himself was a nationalist with some socialist tendencies.
Both the revolutionary leaders and the overseas Chinese bankrolling their efforts had their roots in southern China. The Revolutionary Alliance attempted seven or more different revolts against the Qing in the years leading up to the revolution, most of which originated in south China and all of which were ultimately stopped by the Qing army.
Finally, in the autumn of 1911, the right set of conditions turned an uprising in Wuchang into a nationalist revolt. As its losses mounted, the Qing court responded positively to a set of demands intended to transform authoritarian imperial rule into a Constitutional monarchy. They named Yuan Shikai the new premier of China, but before he was able to retake the captured areas from the revolutionaries, the provinces started to declare their allegiance to the Revolutionary Alliance. Dr. Sun was in the United States on a fundraising tour at the time of the initial revolt; he hastened first to London and Paris to ensure that neither country would give financial or military support to the Qing government in its struggle. By the time he returned to China, the revolutionaries had taken Nanjing, a former capital under the Ming Dynasty, and representatives from the provinces began to arrive for the first national assembly. Together, they elected Dr. Sun the provisional president of the newly declared Republic of China. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/chinese-rev ↩︎ - The Qing withdrawal led to a power vacuum in certain regions, resulting in the rise of warlords. These warlords often controlled their territories without acknowledging the nationalist government. Additionally, the reforms set in place by the new government were not nearly as sweeping as the revolutionary rhetoric had intended; unifying the country took precedent over fundamental changes.
International reaction to the revolution was guarded. Foreign nations with investments in China remained neutral throughout the upheaval, though they were anxious to protect the treaty rights they gained from the Qing through the first and second opium wars. Still, the United States was largely supportive of the republican project, and in 1913, the United States was among the first countries to establish full diplomatic relations with the new Republic. Britain, Japan, and Russia soon followed.
↩︎ - The announcement ended the costly full-scale civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), which broke out immediately following World War II and had been preceded by on and off conflict between the two sides since the 1920’s. The creation of the PRC also completed the long process of governmental upheaval in China begun by the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The “fall” of mainland China to communism in 1949 led the United States to suspend diplomatic ties with the PRC for decades. ↩︎