3 ms·

And you could look at lots of other issues too. Like the fact that the Qing dynasty was still viewed as a bunch of foreign barbarians by many meant that they ha

by kyllo 12y ago

And you could look at lots of other issues too. Like the fact that the Qing dynasty was still viewed as a bunch of foreign barbarians by many meant that they had to be very traditional, and didn't have enough legitimacy to spend on modernization. Not just the Qing. China's entire history for the last 2,000 years is basically one of an agricultural society being repeatedly conquered and subjugated by foreign invaders. For a long time it was pastoral "barbarians" from the north, but then it was Japan and the European powers. There are all kinda of theories on why the West became hegemonic instead of China, but China's geography likely had something to do with it. Raids from the north resulted in constant upheaval and frequent wars. Hence the building of the Great Wall as an futile attempt to keep the northern invaders out.

Symmetry 12y ago
Sometimes. Sui, Tang, Qin, and Zhou fit that pattern. But the Ming, Tang, Song, and Han all started when someone led a successful rebellion or otherwise conquered China from within. As far as I can tell the Great Wall was more about stopping raids than invasions.
- kyllo 12y ago
  Sui, Tang, Qin, and Zhou fit that pattern. Can't forget the Jin, Liao, Xia, and Yuan. Also, another geographic factor I forgot to mention was the fact that much of China's land is just unsuitable for the kind of modern farming technology that was developed in the west. (Try running a harvesting combine over this: http://www.jacobsexposure.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MJP_5596.jpg http://www.jacobsexposure.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MJP... or, for another matter, this: http://i.imwx.com/web/multimedia/images/content/China_drought.jpg http://i.imwx.com/web/multimedia/images/content/China_drough... ) South China is too hilly and has too much water, meanwhile North China has never had enough water. The relatively poor rice/grain farming productivity in China was a pretty major obstacle to technological progress. Too much of the population had to rely on subsistence farming, and famine was a constant threat from time immemorial up until about the 1980s.

by kyllo 12y ago

Symmetry 12y ago

Sometimes. Sui, Tang, Qin, and Zhou fit that pattern. But the Ming, Tang, Song, and Han all started when someone led a successful rebellion or otherwise conquered China from within. As far as I can tell the Great Wall was more about stopping raids than invasions.

kyllo 12y ago
Sui, Tang, Qin, and Zhou fit that pattern. Can't forget the Jin, Liao, Xia, and Yuan. Also, another geographic factor I forgot to mention was the fact that much of China's land is just unsuitable for the kind of modern farming technology that was developed in the west. (Try running a harvesting combine over this: http://www.jacobsexposure.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MJP_5596.jpg http://www.jacobsexposure.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/MJP... or, for another matter, this: http://i.imwx.com/web/multimedia/images/content/China_drought.jpg http://i.imwx.com/web/multimedia/images/content/China_drough... ) South China is too hilly and has too much water, meanwhile North China has never had enough water. The relatively poor rice/grain farming productivity in China was a pretty major obstacle to technological progress. Too much of the population had to rely on subsistence farming, and famine was a constant threat from time immemorial up until about the 1980s.