Which Of The Chinese Minorities Influenced The Han Chinese The Most - Essay Example

Which of the Chinese minorities influenced the Han Chinese the most Introduction The definition of the Han Chinese comes from the Han dynasty.It has been widely disputed that the influences of Chinese minorities on the Han Chinese varied through out the dynasties socially, politically and economically. Table 1 - Chinese Minorities (Population in the descending order) Minority Name Minority Name Minority Name Minority Name 1. Zhuang 11. Dong 21. Lahu 31. Kirgiz 2. Manchu 12. Yao 22. Dongxiang 32. Daur 3. Hui 13. Korean 23. Wa 33. Jingpo 4. Miao 14. Bai 24. Shui 34. Salar 5. Uygur 15. Hani 25. Naxi 35. Bulang 6. Yi 16. Li 26. Qiang 36. Maonan 7. Tujia 17. Kazakh 27. Kazakh 37. Tajik 8. Mongolian 18. Dai 28. Du 38. Pumi 9. Tibetan 19. She 29. Xibe 39. Achang 10. Bouyei 20. Gelao 30. Mulam 40. Nu There are approximately 56 official ethnic minorities in China. Table 1 listed the top 40 chinese minorities. According to Table 1, the most notable ones are the Mongolians and Manchus who conquered China and set up the Yuan dynasty and Qing dynasty respectively. Even though they became the rulers of China, the influence of them on the Han Chinese was not as strong as the reverse. This is because the foreign ethnic rulers adopted the appeasement policy in an attempt to please the Han Chinese people, the majority which formed 98% of the population in China. They in turn, adopted quite a few customs of the Han Chinese. As such, in this paper, we analysed the type of influences the Manchus had on the Han Chinese people. 2. Manchu The Manchus first conquered China in 1644 by over throwing the Ming dynasty, marking their first political dominance and forming the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty, which was the last dynasty ruled by a non-Han Chinese emperor, lasted for less than 300 years and ended in 1911. The influences of the Manchus on the Han Chinese were then inevitable, as they became the rulers of the country.1 Since the Qing dynasty was longer than the Yuan dynasty (set up by the Mongolians), the direct impact by the Manchus on the life of the Han Chinese and the development of China was naturally larger than the Mongolians. In this paper, we also analysed mainly on the major events during the Qing Dynasty whereby the Manchus had influenced the Han Chinese both directly and indirectly. 2.1 Origin of Manchus The Manchu are the tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's Northeastern China). It is believed that they are descended from the Jurchens who in turn, are decended from one of the tribes of the Mohe, the Heishui tribe. 2.1.1 Economic The economic influence of the Manchus on the Han Chinese is in the late era of the Qing dynasty. During the later part of the Qing dynasty, the Manchu emperor adopted a closed-door policy which indirectly led to the lack of the technological advances in China and in turn caused the fall of the Qing dynasty and invasions by the western powers2. The Mongolians was the exact opposite. When Kublai Khan became the first ruler of the Yuan dynasty in China, he encouraged the Silk Road trade network, allowing the transfer of Chinese technologies to East Europe. The chinese technologicies included gunpowder and paper, etc. This was the first centralised economic system. If he had not implemented the policy and spread the technology, the honour of discovering gunpower and paper might not have been given to the Han Chinese. He also allowed foreign merchants to travel in China without any restrictions. One good example of foreigners is Marco Polo, a native Italian from Venice. The expansionist policy during the Yuan dynasty also saw more cultural exchanges due to its large continuous territory under their control. Its territory included Eastern Europe, China, India and Tibet. Amounts of spices and medical materials were imported from Arabia, Persia and India. Silk and porcelain were exported to Eastern Europe. If the Manchus had adopted the same economic policy as the Mongolians, the history of China would be changed and the Han Chinese might not have to tolerate the bullying of the western powers.3 Opium was also introduced into China by the westerners at this time. Opium prohibition began in 1729, and was followed by almost two centuries of exponentially increasing opium use. China had a healthy balance sheet in trading with the British which led to a decrease of the British silver stocks. Therefore, the British tried to make the Chinese dependent on opium to enhance their balance, they delivered it from Indian provinces under British controle. A massive confiscation of opium by the Chinese emperor, who tried to stop the opium deliveries, led to two Opium Wars in 1840 and 1858, in which consequence Britain suppressed China and traded opium all over the country.3 The effects of the opium on the Han Chinese's way of life was big, which we will discuss in the next section. 2.2.2 Social When the Manchus became the ruler of China, an imperial edict was announced that the Han Chinese had to follow the Manchurian tradition dressing. The Han Chinese were then forced to wear the Manchurian attire. For the men, they were forced to shave the front of the head and tie their hair into a braid which was named as a "pigtail". This was considered against the Han Chinese's traditional Confucius values. For the women, they were forced to wear the cheongsam which was also known as the "Qi Pao" (as illustrated in Figure 1). After several centuries, the cheongsam went through numerous changes and evolutions to become the national costume of China and the Han Chinese. It was so popular that the tradition remained even after the Qing dynasty had fell. Until this day, the cheongsam is still worn by some upper class Chinese in China during formal occasions. Therefore, we can say that the Manchus had a great influence on the Han Chinese women's fashion.4 By contrast, the Mongolians did not leave a legacy in this area. Figure 1 - Cheong Sam in the early days Because of the defeats during the 2 opium wars, the Manchu emperor was forced to allow the imports of opium into China. Therefore, the recreational smoking of opium continued to increase with widespread domestic production in China, until more than a quarter of the male population was addicted by 1905. (as illuatrated in Figure 2) Families were broken because of the lack of financial support from men who used their money on expensive opium. Crimes like stealing and robbery were mostly attributed by people who were addicted to opium. Figure 2 - Chinese Men smoking opium In addition, because of the defeated opium wars, the western powers became to dominate the Han Chinese's way of life because they demanded concessions and got to enjoy the extra-territorial rights in China. The life of the Han Chinese was worse after the invasion of the eight countries which included Japan, Russia, the United States, and European countries like Austria, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.5 They were named as the "Eight-power Allied Forces". The Manchu government were forced to sign unequal treaties and leased ports to the eight countries. In terms of religions, there was also the introduction of Christianity into China as more westerners came to China to preach the Christian gospel. Missionaries was established and intended to change the Chinese beliefs. This was, again caused by the treaties signed between the westerners and the Manchus. However, a positive aspect that came with it was the knowledge of astronomy, mathematics and the canon making which came with them. The knowledge was essential to the further development of China and the Han Chinese's way of life.1 Further more is the Taiwan issue during the Qing dynasty. In 1624, Zheng Cheng Gong, a Chinese loyalist of the overthrown Ming dynasty escaped to Taiwan who chased the Dutch away. This was the first wave of Han Chinese migration to Taiwan. The Manchu government caused the second wave. In 1683, the Qing dynasty seized Taiwan. Some of the Han Chinese were not happy with the Manchu's policies and thus, decided to migrate to Taiwan. The unpopular Manchu policy was thus, the push factor in causing the wave of migration. The Hokkiens and the Hakkas made up the bulk of the Han Chinese. In the next section, we shall discuss the Taiwan issue further in the political aspects During the Yuan dynasty, one of its major influences was in religions. The Mongolians were tolerant of religions and cultures. Therefore, this marked the beginning where the religion of Islam was introduced into China. Their open trade policy encouraged many intermarriages. Due to high influx of Muslim men entering China from the east, there were intermarriages between Muslim men and Chinese women. The Chinese women were then, converted to Muslims and their children as well. Therefore, these women became the first Muslim Chinese in china. In contrast, the Manchus did not allow any marriages to take place between the Han Chinese and the Manchus. Any interaction between them was also taboo. Comparing the social influences made by the Manchus and the Mongolians on the Han Chinese, the Manchus obviously have a greater impact in the area of costumes and the way of life, which was caused by the emperor's policies. 2.2.3 Political Due to the more superior technological advantages of the west in the later Qing dynasty, China had to give away concessions and extra-territorial rights. The Boxer rebellion was started to drive away the foreign powers. It triggered the invasion of the eight countries, namely Japan, Russia, the United States, and European countries.5 They were forced to sign unequal treaties and lease ports to the eight countries. For the first time in the history of china, a part of China land was leased to foreigners. This is in contrast to the Mongolians during the Yuan dynasty, the time when China had the largest continuous land in China history. In addition is that the Manchu's dynasty also marked the end of the imperialist system in China. After which followed was the unstable period of civil wars and the World War 2 which was triggered by the Japanese invasion in Manchuria. The Manchus policies caused the backwardness in the politic, economic and technology area, which in turn attributes to its defeat in the opium wars. Similar to the ambiguous Taiwan issue in the last section, the unpopular Manchu policy was a push factor in causing the wave of migration. The Hokkiens and the Hakkas made up the bulk of the Han Chinese who later on, becomes the Taiwanese in modern days. When the Qing dynasty was overthrown by the Republic of China (ROC) which was headed by Sun Yat Sen, the ownership of Taiwan became ambiguous. This was the beginning of the awkward status of Taiwan.6 The Taiwan issue became more ambiguous after Chiang Kai Sheik, the successor of Sun Yat Sen escaped to Taiwan after losing in a China Civil War. The issue of Taiwan ownership is still not resolved up to this day. Therefore, we can say that the issue has been partially contributed by the Manchus. 3. Conclusion Even though the Manchu has the most influence among the other Chinese minorities, it is undeniable that the rest do have their influence as well. In addition is that because of the large Han Chinese population, the Manchus did lose their own customs. One example is the Manchu dialect. We can also conclude that the Han Chinese did resist influences and tried to retain most of their customs. 4. References. Edward J. M. Rhoads, Manchus & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China China, 1861-192, University of Washington Press, 2000 John G. Adair, David Blanger, Kenneth L. Dion, Advances in Psychological Science: Congress Proceedings, XXVI, Psychology Press, 1998 S. C. M. Paine, The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy, Cambridge University Press, 2003 Ju Brown Brown, Ph.d., PhD & John, Ju Brown, China, Japan, Korea Culture and Customs, Ju Brown, 2006 Michael Yih-chung Shen, How to Do Business in China, Dorrance Publishing Co ., Inc., 2004 Terry Cannon, Alan Jenkins, The Geography of Contemporary China: The Impact of Deng Xiaoping's Decade, Routledge, 1990 Read More