|
Qing Dynasty ~ 1644 - 1911
| Major Advancements: The Imperial
Workshops, The Mass Export of Chinese Arts and Crafts to the
West, and The End of the Imperial System of Government |
| Major Public Works: The Qing
Tombs |
| Shunzhi |
1644-1661 |
Kangxi |
1661-1722 |
| Yongzheng |
1723-1735 |
Qianlong |
1736-1795 |
| Jiajing |
1796-1820 |
Daoguang |
1821-1850 |
| Xianfeng |
1851-1861 |
Tongzhi |
1862-1874 |
| Guangxu |
1875-1908 |
Puyi |
1909-1911 |
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After the suicide of the last Ming Emperor, there
was a struggle for control of the kingdom. The Manchu armies
were enlisted by the Chinese to help overthrow the rebels that
had seized power in the capital. After successfully defeating
the rebels, the Manchu decided to stay for a while and keep China
for themselves. Once again China was to be ruled by outsiders.
Unlike the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty, the Manchus adopted the
Chinese culture and customs as their own. Before long they were
unrecognizable from the native Chinese. The Qing Dynasty was
a time of great expansion. After years of being closed off to
the rest of the world, China was finally open again for trade.
The spice trade in the East Indies was flourishing. Merchant
ships from Portugal, England, and the Netherlands made frequent
trips to the Far East to trade western goods for cinnamon, pepper,
and nutmeg. Many attempts were made to trade with mainland China,
and after many years the ships began to visit the ports of Southern
China. It was quite a unique experience for the western traders
for they were buying items the Europeans had never known. They
could only guess what the value of the goods would be when they
resold them. The most important of these items was tea.
As the Emperor of China was taking his first snuff of tobacco
brought from Europe, the Queen of England was sipping her first
cup of tea. Tea quickly spread throughout Europe and in less
than 100 years, England's import of tea rose from 100 pounds
a year to over 5 million pounds per year. This demand for tea
meant many voyages to bring shiploads of tea from China. Along
with the tea, came porcelain. To stablize these large ships they
required ballast. ( heavy objects or weights in the lowest section
of the hull of the ship to counterbalance the weight of the masts
and sails) On their journey eastward, the ballast consisted of
lead and sulpher which was traded to the Chinese for tea. They
needed something cheap and of equal weight for the journey home.
Porcelain goods were the perfect solution. Unlike tea, which
took time to cultivate and could only be grown in certain climates,
the only requirement for porcelain was clay and craftsmen. Both
of which were abundant in China. The Chinese were eager to supply
porcelain goods to the west, as they could turn dirt into gold
with the addition of labor. By the end of the 18th century, millions
of pieces of porcelain were being produced for export. This mass
production caused the quality of the craftsmanship to decline
considerably. At the same time the quality of European porcelain
began to rival the best of the Chinese goods. As quickly as it
had begun, the mass export of porcelain had stopped.
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