Chinese Empire
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Chinese Empire (or the Empire of China) is a term referring to the realm ruled by the Emperor of China during the era known as Imperial China. It was coined by western scholars and used to describe the Ming and Qing dynasties (or imperial Chinese dynasties in general). Another term was "Celestial Empire", in reference to the status of the emperor as the Son of Heaven. In 221 BC, China was unified under an emperor for the first time, and various dynasties or empires founded by hereditary monarchs ruled China for most of its history.
Etymology and usage
The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century. China was previously known to Europeans as Cathay, as used in Marco Polo's book on his travels in the 13th century (during the Yuan dynasty), and it took a while for most Europeans to be convinced that Cathay referred to China or North China.
Ming dynasty
As European explorers came into direct contact with the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) of China during their voyages in the early 16th century, the European intellectual community began to update its concept of the Chinese political system. Initially however the vast majority of them considered Ming China a kingdom rather than an empire. It appeared that it was Maximilianus Transylvanus who first considered China an empire in his work. In 1585, Juan González de Mendoza pointed out that Ming China was at the imperial level based on the multi-level system of the tribute system. Afterwards, Europeans like Matteo Ricci, Álvaro Semedo, Martino Martini and Philippe Couplet gradually constructed the name "Chinese Empire" by comparing the empire-kingdom level, translating European and Chinese concepts and constructing genealogies. However, popular adoption was a slow process. Even the 1615 book De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas by Matteo Ricci (one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions) more often referred to Ming China as a kingdom than an empire. By the last decade of the Ming dynasty though, an increasing number of Europeans began to refer to the Ming dynasty as "Chinese Empire".[1]
Qing dyansty
With the transition from Ming to Qing, Europeans began to apply the name "Chinese Empire" to the Qing dynasty (1644-1912).[1] "Chinese Empire" (or "Empire of China") was commonly used during that period, most notably in the western maps and international treaties. The Tsardom of Russia began official communications with the Qing dynasty in the 1650s, and Russian documents from that period referred to Qing China as "Empire of China", "Chinese state" or the state of Bogdo.[2] In the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk, the authoritative Latin text used the name "Imperii Sinici" (meaning "Chinese Empire") to refer to the Qing realm.[3] While the Qing dynasty tried to maintain the traditional tributary system of China, by the 19th century it had become part of a European-style community of sovereign states.[4] In the process, Qing dynasty's geographical boundaries were redefined by western powers and Japan through diplomacy and warfare. The Qing administration made an effort to effectively manage its borders while modernizing itself. Although it lost its tributary overlordship over its neighbors such as Korea and Vietnam, its dependencies in Inner Asia were internalized and integrated into China's imperial dominion as accepted by the western countries. Throughout the 19th century, western cartographers commonly included Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet, along with China proper separated by lines, as part of the "Chinese Empire" in published maps. In the last decade of the Qing dynasty, maps published in China caught up with Western cartography, and China's Inner Asian frontiers were enclosed by fixed international boundaries and not separated from China proper by special demarcations.[5]
General history
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While the term "Chinese Empire" was often used to specifically mean the Ming or the Qing dynasties (especially during the existence of these dynasties), it could also refer to other Chinese imperial dynasties in general, especially since the end of Imperial China. For example, the Qin dynasty has been referred to as "the First Chinese Empire" in modern sources.[6][7] The defining characteristics of all Chinese Empires were their large scale and the diversity of their peoples.[8]
Originally emerged as a loose collection of various Han Chinese-speaking entities during the Warring States period, the Qin's wars of unification brought most of the Huaxia realm into one single dynasty, establishing Qin as the first imperial dynasty in 221 BC, the year where the first Chinese empire was established.[9] Imperial China would continue to expand even after the collapse of the Qin dynasty, with the Han dynasty expanding to the north, south and west.[10] During the Tang dynasty four centuries later, China achieved a golden age in terms of its economic, military and political power. Tang's territory spanned Central Asia, Northeast Asia and parts of Southeast Asia, until the dynasty ended following the An Lushan rebellion in the eight century.[11][12][13][14] Imperial China marked its revival under the Mongol-based Yuan dynasty, when Inner Asian territories such as Tibet and Mongolia were incorporated. The Qing dynasty, founded three centuries after the fall of Yuan, laid ground to most of China's modern border with its re-expansion into Inner Asia.[15][16]
One year after the 1911 Revolution, the Qing monarchy was abolished following the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor, thus putting an end to the era of Imperial China.[17] Three years later, Yuan Shikai restored imperial rule with himself as the emperor. It lasted only 83 days before his own abdication due to mounting disapproval and revolts as well as Yuan's declining health.[18][19]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b "西方"中华帝国"概念的起源（1516—1688）". Retrieved June 5, 2024.
- ^ Kuzmin, Sergius L. "Dmitriev, S.V. and Kuzmin, S.L. 2012. What is China? The Middle State in historical myth and real policy, Oriens (Moscow), no 3, pp. 5-19". Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
- ^ Hayton, Bill (2021). 製造中國：近代中國如何煉成的九個關鍵詞. 麥田. p. 23. ISBN 9786263100275.
- ^ —— (2009). China's Last Empire: The Great Qing. History of Imperial China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-674-03612-3.
- ^ Kirby, William C. (2020). The People's Republic of China at 60: An International Assessment. History of Imperial China. Brill. p. 308. ISBN 9781684171217.
- ^ The New York Times, ed. (2011). The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 513. ISBN 9781429950855.
- ^ Dietmar W. Winkler, ed. (2013). From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. Lit. p. 126. ISBN 9783643903297.
- ^ Mark Edward Lewis, ed. (2010). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Harvard University Press. p. 2.
- ^ "Qin Shi Huang | Biography, Accomplishments, Family, United China, Tomb, & Facts | Britannica". 8 April 2024.
- ^ "Expansion and political transition of the Han Empire". Early China. New Approaches to Asian History. Cambridge University Press. 2013. pp. 256–281. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139034395.015. ISBN 978-0-521-89552-1.
- ^ https://www.ushistory.org/civ/9d.asp
- ^ Pan, Yihong (1997). "Son of Heaven and Heavenly Qaghan: Sui-Tang China and its Neighbors". East Asian Studies Press. Studies on East Asia, Volume 20. Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University. doi:10.25710/vs3m-gw59.
- ^ "Northeast Asian History Network".
- ^ "Sinification of East and Southeast Asia".
- ^ "Overview and expansion of the Qing dynasty - the Qing dynasty - KS3 History - homework help for year 7, 8 and 9".
- ^ "Qing dynasty (1644–1911)".
- ^ "The abdication decree of Emperor Puyi (1912)". 4 June 2013.
- ^ Zhengyuan Fu. (1994) Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics, Cambridge University Press. pp. 153–154. ISBN 0-521-44228-1.
- ^ Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern China, p. 282.
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