Essay Topic:

The analysis of the impact of the Empire of China on the worlds trading and the historical development of Chinese Dynasties.

Essay Questions:

What was the contribution of the Qin Dynasty to the prosperity of China?

Why is China considered to be one of the world’s greatest Empires?

Thesis Statement:

Due to the importance of China’s territory in terms of trade a lot of countries had nominally “good” relations with China, which gave China the opportunity to develop throughout out the time.

China Empire: Chinese dynasties Essay

Introduction: China has always been one of the most powerful world’s empires. Its ancient history proves it by each and every event. China’s imperial system from the very beginning was based on the tributary system. As China was one of the oldest empires in the world its development had certain peculiarities. China’s imperial system started in 221 BC with Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor. Each other Emperor “symbolized” the ruling of the dynasty he belongs to. Imperial China existed till the year of 1912 when it stopped its existence under the Qing dynasty. All these period was concentrated on China trying to have control over more territories and protecting itself from becoming a vassal territory. One of the major China’s accesses to the external world was trade. Due to the importance of China’s territory in terms of trade a lot of countries had nominally “good” relations with China, which gave China the opportunity to develop throughout out the time.

The Qin Dynasty was established in 221 BC and ruled until 205 BC. The Qin dynasty with the First Emperor at the throne replaced the old feudalistic system by a completely new non-hereditary bureaucratic system. It was a consolidation aspect for China’s development. The administration during the ruling of Qin Shi Huang was very centralized. It territory significantly expanded. Nevertheless the process of centralization was not achieved gradually but very brutal methods. The appearance of numerous bureaucratic procedures complicated the life of ordinary Chinese people. Confucians greatly criticized this ruling and the emperor killed many of them and their books were forbidden and destroyed. So, the system new system developed but the ideology of the country was weak. Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty or simply Han Wudi was the emperor who managed to build a strong ideology in China. One of the most consolidation factors of his ruling was that he recognized only Confucian schools of thought and truly believed that these schools correspond to China’s state ideology. He basically converted Confucianism into the leading school for centuries creating the famous Chinese philosophy that is now known all over the world. Han Wudi also continued the “tradition” of territorial expansion – as he became the one who moved the Hun into far Gobi and managed to make the Hexi Corridor safe for displacements. As Han Wudi desperately wanted to protect China from the foreign aggressors started the construction of the legendary Great Wall. He also opened a conservatory “Yuefu” and the Imperial College which started the epoch of quality education.

Conclusion: The most important additions of the Song dynasty was that the officials started being centrally appointed. It was the beginning of the civilian rule. The dynasty developed the cities and towns of China. It converted them into good administrative centers and prepared them to be competitive at trade or industry. The officials of the cities started being much closer to the ordinarily citizens – they lived nearby and participated in all the public meetings. Another addition was the appearance of a completely new class – the mercantile class, which was the result of developed merchant relations between throughout China. The imperial China of that period did not have a fixed system of taxation and its trade influence all over the world grew. The Song Dynasty produced the ideal of a man Tang ideal of the universal man who possessed the next qualities - scholar, poet, painter, and statesman, able to do historical painting, calligraphy, writings and work with porcelain. This put education and philosophy at a higher level. The interest in Confucianism was renewed.