Chinese Culture and Recent Economic Development ( Part I) By Dr. Ming Men Visiting Fulbright Scholar

Chinese Culture and Recent Economic Development ( Part I) By Dr. Ming Men Visiting Fulbright Scholar

Chinese Culture and Recent Economic Development The land of China A glance on Chinese history Chinese culture traits Chinese culture roots

Chinese Culture and Recent Economic Development Family life Education Cultural attitudes Tips for doing business with China

The land of China

The land of China China s culture, like all others, was conditioned by the land which nurtured it. A large, disparate resource-rich physical setting produced a large, disparate, selfsufficient society.

5000 years history The land is the stage; The people are the cast.

Ancient civilization In pre-modern times, technological inventions and scientific discoveries depended on the experiences of craftsmen and farmers, and the enlightened genius casual observations of nature.

Advanced technology Owing to a large population, there were many able craftsmen, skillful weavers and geniuses in China. The country thus made many splendid contributions to science and technology.

An example

The prosperous nation China held a leading position in the fields of scientific discovery, technological invention, productivity improvement and wealth creation, and was the most prosperous economy in the world.

Ancient Chinese inventions Compass Dynamite Paper making technology Printing technology

Earthquake forecasting apparatus

Ancient Chinese computer

The closed China During the Qing Dynasty before 1840, China was closed, or more accurately, it highly controlled its contacts with the outside world.

Vigorous trade control The western merchants could only deal with a group of government appointed merchants called Gong Hang. The volume of the trade and the prices as well as the personal activities of western merchants were also regulated by the Gong Hang.

Why did China impose such limitations on trade? Chinese sense of superiority. The desire to protect itself.

The Opium War Despite strict government regulations foreign trade in China expanded during the later 18 th century and early 19 th century. As trade grew, the west found themselves to have a large and rising trade deficit with China. They were increasingly anxious to balance their trade.

Why opium? Yet the Chinese, having a self-sufficient economy, showed little interest in Western products. Finally, in 1820, the West found a product which China did not have, opium. Between 1829 and 1855, opium smuggling developed rapidly along China s South Coast.

The effect of opium In the 1830 s, opium had became a vice in China. Virtually all men under 40 smoked opium. The entire army was addicted. It affected all classes of people, from rich merchants to Taoists. The total number of addicts in China in the 1830 s was as high as 12 million.

The weakened China Due to the smuggle of opium, the trade deficit Western countries had with China quickly turned into a trade surplus. China could not export enough tea and silk to balance the trade. Instead the difference in trade was made up by the export of Chinese silver, which was highly valued for its fine qualities.

Chinese government s decision Faced with this problem, the Chinese government opened a debate among Manchus and senior officials. The debate lasted for two years, in the end, a minority group which favored an uncompromising stand prevailed.

Fighting against opium In 1839, the emperor issued 39 articles which imposed extremely severe punishments, including death, for smoking and trading opium. Special Commissioner Lin Ze-xu was sent to Canton to ensure the rules were carried out.

Lin Ze-xu Lin made 1,600 arrests and confiscated 11,00 pounds of opium in two months. In June, Lin forced foreign merchants to hand over 20,000 chests of opium. He burned the opium in a public demonstration and scattered the ashes across the sea.