Economy of Qing Empire

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

 

 

 

COURSE WORK

on topic

“Economy of Qing Empire”

 

 

 

 

Made by:

Supervisor:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALMATY - 2012

CONTENTS

Introduction

 

Main Part

1. Economy of Qing  Empire

• Economy during the early Qing

 

2. State control of the economy

• Isolationist trade policy

• The  Opium Wars

 

3. Qing Empire in the system of world trade

• Russian-Qing economic relation

• Enforcement of a foreign sector

 

4. Economical crisis (1909-1913)

 

Conclusion

 

References

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The Qin dynasty, after unifying the territory later known as "China", took some contradictory measures to enhance the economical productivity of the empire. On the one side, money and weights and measures were standardized throughout all commanderies, leading to smoother transactions over longer distances. On the other side, the First Emperor and his successors ordered gigantic construction work in the Capital Xianyang and its surroundings as well as in other parts of the empire. The tomb of the First Emperor, the Epang Palace and the Great Wall are the most famous examples. Higher taxes and intensive corvée labour required from the peasants prevented the "national economy" from reposing after decades if not centuries of permanent warfare.

The economic policy of the Qin was compared by the early Han period writer Jia Yi with that of a wartime economy kept running even in peacetime. The exploitation of the peasantry finally lead to uprisings that would bring the downfall of the dynasty. The economic history of China stretches over thousands of years and has undergone alternating cycles of prosperity and decline. According to the book 'China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st century', China was for a large part of the last two millennia the world's largest economy, even though its wealth remained average. China's history is usually divided into three periods: The pre-imperial era, consisting of the era of before the unification of Qin, the early imperial era from Qin to Song, and the late imperial era, marked by the economic revolution that occurred during the Song Dynasty.

By roughly 10,000 BCE, in the Neolithic Era, agriculture was practiced in China. Stratified bronze-age cultures, such asErlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang (c. 1600–1045 BCE) and Zhou (1045–771 BCE), a dependent labor force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy supported these early handicraft industries as well as urban centers and considerable armies. This system began to disintegrate after the collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty in 771 BCE, preceding the Spring and Autumn and Warring states eras.

As the feudal system collapsed, much legislative power was transferred from the nobility to local kings. A merchant class emerged during the Warring States Period, resulting in increased trade. The new kings established an elaborate bureaucracy, using it to wage wars, build large temples, and perform public works projects. This new system rewarded talent over birthright; important positions were no longer occupied solely by nobility. The adoption of new iron tools revolutionized agriculture and led to a large population increase during this period. By 221 BCE, the state of Qin, which embraced reform more than other states, unified China, built the Great Wall, and set consistent standards of government. Although its draconian laws led to its overthrow in 206 BCE, the Qin institutions survived. During the Han Dynasty, China became a strong, unified, and centralized empire of self-sufficient farmers and artisans, though limited local autonomy remained. The Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) brought additional economic reforms. Paper money, the compass, and other technological advances facilitated communication on a large scale and the widespread circulation of books. The state's control of the economy diminished, allowing private merchants to prosper and a large increase in investment and profit. Despite disruptions during the Mongol conquest of 1279, the population much increased under the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, but its GDP per capita remained static since then. In the later Qing period, China's economic development began to slow and Europe's rapid development since the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance enabled it to surpass China—an event known as the Great Divergence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAIN PART

 

1. Economy of Qing  Empire

A handful of factors lead to a fast population growth during the mid of Qing period. The first source for the population growth was of course the economical prosperity under the century of the three Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong (abbreviated to Kang Yong Qian Sanchao 康熙雍正乾三朝). During the whole course of Chinese history, the lack of arable land in the densely populated areas made it necessary to invent new techniques of agriculture to harvest as much as possible from a small amount of land. In the 18th century, Chinese agriculture was the most advanced of the world - but the cheapness of labour force in a densely populated land was an impediment for the widespread use of machinery on the countryside - until nowadays. New fruits from the Americas helped the Chinese population to obtain a better nourishment: potoatoes (tudou 土豆), peanuts (huasheng 花生), sorghum millet (gaoliang 高粱), corn (mais; yumi 玉米 or bangzi 棒子). Additionally, crops that can be used in industrial agriculture (plantations), like tea (cha 茶; Fujian dialects: dé), cotton (mian 棉), and sugar cane (jian 薦), stimulated private entrepreneurship and employment.

Until 1770, the tax for the small peasants was the lowest of the whole history of China, and the whole countryside during the mid-Qing period seemed to be blessed with a relative high living standard and an education system that allowed many wealthy peasants to learn the basics of reading and writing. The crafts and minor industries in the cities were equally much higher developed in China than in Europe. Textile industry first provided an extra income to the peasant families, but later developed to a separate industrial branch with factory workers, especially in Songjiang 松江 near later Shanghai, Suzhou 蘇州/Jiangsu and Hangzhou 杭州/Zhejiang - a city famous for its silk production. Tea plantations in Zhejiang and Fujian did not only deliver their products to all places in China, but produced also goods for export to Europe, especially England.

The Qin dynasty, after unifying the territory later known as "China", took some contradictory measures to enhance the economical productivity of the empire. On the one side, money and weights and measures were standardized throughout all commanderies, leading to smoother transactions over longer distances. On the other side, the First Emperor and his successors ordered gigantic construction work in the Capital Xianyang and its surroundings as well as in other parts of the empire. The tomb of the First Emperor, the Epang Palace and the Great Wall are the most famous examples. Higher taxes and intensive corvée labour required from the peasants prevented the "national economy" from reposing after decades if not centuries of permanent warfare.

The economic policy of the Qin was compared by the early Han period writer Jia Yi with that of a wartime economy kept running even in peacetime. The exploitation of the peasantry finally lead to uprisings that would bring the downfall of the dynasty. The economic history of China stretches over thousands of years and has undergone alternating cycles of prosperity and decline. According to the book 'China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st century', China was for a large part of the last two millennia the world's largest economy, even though its wealth remained average. China's history is usually divided into three periods: The pre-imperial era, consisting of the era of before the unification of Qin, the early imperial era from Qin to Song, and the late imperial era, marked by the economic revolution that occurred during the Song Dynasty.

By roughly 10,000 BCE, in the Neolithic Era, agriculture was practiced in China. Stratified bronze-age cultures, such asErlitou, emerged by the third millennium BCE. Under the Shang (c. 1600–1045 BCE) and Zhou (1045–771 BCE), a dependent labor force worked in large-scale foundries and workshops to produce bronzes and silk for the elite. The agricultural surpluses produced by the manorial economy supported these early handicraft industries as well as urban centers and considerable armies. This system began to disintegrate after the collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty in 771 BCE, preceding the Spring and Autumn and Warring states eras.

As the feudal system collapsed, much legislative power was transferred from the nobility to local kings. A merchant class emerged during the Warring States Period, resulting in increased trade. The new kings established an elaborate bureaucracy, using it to wage wars, build large temples, and perform public works projects. This new system rewarded talent over birthright; important positions were no longer occupied solely by nobility. The adoption of new iron tools revolutionized agriculture and led to a large population increase during this period. By 221 BCE, the state of Qin, which embraced reform more than other states, unified China, built the Great Wall, and set consistent standards of government. Although its draconian laws led to its overthrow in 206 BCE, the Qin institutions survived. During the Han Dynasty, China became a strong, unified, and centralized empire of self-sufficient farmers and artisans, though limited local autonomy remained. The Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) brought additional economic reforms. Paper money, the compass, and other technological advances facilitated communication on a large scale and the widespread circulation of books. The state's control of the economy diminished, allowing private merchants to prosper and a large increase in investment and profit. Despite disruptions during the Mongol conquest of 1279, the population much increased under the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, but its GDP per capita remained static since then. In the later Qing period, China's economic development began to slow and Europe's rapid development since the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance enabled it to surpass China—an event known as the Great Divergence.

Another item exported to Europe was chinaware or porcelain (ciqi 磁器; often called "earthenware" taoqi 陶器), produced in the state-owned kilns in Jingdezhen 景德鎮/Jiangxi, or in private porcelain producing cities like Lijiang 醴降/Hunan, Zibo 淄博/Shandong, or Dehua 德化/Fujian. Paper, hempen cloth, lacquerware, and metal objects also belonged to the early industrially produced commodities. Wuhu 蕪湖/Jiangsu was a center of steel production. "International" trade exists since we find states in human history, but China never had a system of import taxes, or customs convention. Trade and traffic with foreign countries originated already in the period of Warring States between China and the Inner Asian nomad tribes, later with the Korean kingdoms, with Japan, South East Asia, Tibet and India. The high export rates of tea, porcelain and other agricultural or industrial products to Europe were rewarded with a very positive balance of payments (if this modern term may be allowed to use) - Chinese merchants and the state were payed with silver coins made of silver from the Americas. To provide the whole country with good and items needed, an intense trade system was necessary since the Sui Dynasty, when the Great Imperial Canal was dug.

In China, the waterways had always had a much higher importance for trade and commerce than the land routes or the sea traffic along the coast. Until today, the canal system in the Yangtse area serves as the main transport medium. Since the days of Tang Dynasty, merchants and traders took over the responsibility to transport not only wares of private origin, but also commodities that were subject to state monopoly, like salt and liquor. Last but not least, we can see that from the Manchu conquest of whole China until the First Opium War, there were almost no military conflicts with foreign powers or inside the empire - a long period of peace.

While the first half of the 18th century was a time of prosperity, corruption and favoritism at the end of the century helped to create hopeless situations for peasants in many areas. The White Lotus Sect (Bailian Jiao 白蓮教) was revived and helped to launch peasant uprisings in territories where the mismanagement of local magnates and magistrates had neglected the maintenance of dikes and waterways and had lead to flood disasters. Other peasant uprisings followed a secret society named Triad Sect (Sanhe Hui 三合會). The suffering of peasantry in many areas was worsened by the demographic increase of population during the 18th century. The economical and technical standards of the 18th China were quite high, but they did not fit the needs and demands of an increasing population. Qing China did not make use of paper money but instead relied on copper and silver coins. When the import of silver decreased - or rather the export of silver increased - at the begin of 19th century, the small copper coin ("cash") suffered depreciation: a fatal situation for the lower classes of society. Corruption, favoritism, and nepotism within the Chinese officialdom has two sources.

The first can be seen in the exaggerated centralism of Qing administration. Governmental posts in the territorial administration were occupied by officials that came not from actual province, but the magistrates had to rely on the help of local secretaries and the local gentry and therewith had personal relations to these people. The second reason for the spoliation and nepotism mentality is the fact that - after passing the difficult state examinations and obtaining a post as local governor - the newly posted official had to reward his sponsors and his family as long as he was sitting on his post. Additionally, the daily flood of paperwork in a centralized bureaucracy lead to severe cautiousness and inflexibility of the officialdom. Paralyzed by administratorial instructions and controlled by censorate inspectors, local officials were unable to cope with new challenges in a changing environment.

The state itself run into financial crisis after decades of prosperity, and the requirements for financial stability within an unstable economy were to high at the begin of 19th century. While the small states of Europe could develop an industrial and capitalist economy, the agronomical background and the loss of monetary investment could not help China in her backwardness that became so obvious when the aggressive European merchants tried to enter the Chinese market.

 

• Economy during the early Qing

The Qing Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Qing or Great Qing, was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China.

The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in contemporary Northeastern China. The Aisin Gioro leader,Nurhachi, who was originally a vassal of the Ming emperors, began unifying the Jurchen clans in the late sixteenth century. By 1635, Nurhachi's son Hong Taiji could claim they constituted a single and united Manchu people and began forcing the Ming out of Liaoning in southern Manchuria. In 1644, the Ming capital Beijing was sacked by a peasant revolt led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who became the leader of the peasant revolt, who then proclaimed the Shun dynasty. The last Ming ruler, theChongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when the city fell. When Li Zicheng moved against Ming general Wu Sangui, the latter made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Manchurian army. Under Prince Dorgon, they seized control of Beijing and overthrew Li Zicheng's short-lived Shun Dynasty. Complete pacification of China was accomplished around 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor.

Over the course of its reign, the Qing became highly integrated with Chinese culture. The imperial examinations continued and Han civil servants administered the empire alongside Manchu ones. The Qing reached its height under the Qianlong Emperor in the eighteenth century, expanding beyond China's prior and later boundaries. Imperial corruption exemplified by the ministerHeshen and a series of rebellions, natural disasters, and defeats in wars against European powers gravely weakened the Qing during the nineteenth century. "Unequal Treaties" provided for extraterritoriality and removed large areas of treaty ports from Chinese sovereignty. The government attempts to modernize during the Self-Strengthening Movement in the late 19th century yielded few lasting results. Losing the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 was a watershed for the Qing government and the result demonstrated that reform had modernized Japan significantly since the Meiji Restoration in 1867, especially as compared with the Self-Strengthening Movement in China.

The 1911 Wuchang Uprising of the New Army ended with the overthrow of the Empress Dowager Longyu and the infant Puyi on February 12, 1912. Despite the declaration of the Republic of China, the generals would continue to fight amongst themselves for the next several decades during the Warlord Era. Puyi was briefly restored to power in Beijing by Zhang Xun in July 1917, and in Manchukuo by the Japanese between 1932 and 1945.

Both in honor of the earlier Jurchen Jin dynasty in the 12-13th century and his Aisin Gioro clan (Aisin being the Manchu for theChinese 金 (jīn, "gold")) Nurhachi originally named his state the Great Jin (lit "Gold") dynasty, afterwards called the Later Jin Dynasty by historians. His son Hong Taiji renamed the dynasty Great Qing (lit "Clarity") in 1636. The name "Qing" was selected in reaction to the name of the Ming Dynasty (明) which consists of the characters for "sun" (日) and "moon" (月), both associated with the fire element. The character Qing (清) is composed of "water" (氵) and "azure" (青), both associated with the water element. This association would explain the Qing conquest through defeat of fire by water. The water imagery of the new name may also have had Buddhist overtones of perspicacity and enlightenment and connections with the BodhisattvaManjusri.

The state was known internationally as China, or the Chinese Empire and considered to comprise China proper or the Eighteen provinces, Chinese Tartary, Chinese Turkestan, and Tibet. It was also known in the romanization of the time as the Ta Tsing Empire from the Chinese for "Empire of the Great Qing" (大清帝国, p Dà Qīng Dìguó).

 

2. State control of the economy

The Qing Dynasty was founded not by Han Chinese, who form the majority of the Chinese population, but by a semi-sedentary people known as the Jurchen, a Tungusic people who lived around the region now comprising the Chinese provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang.What was to become the Manchu state was founded by Nurhachi, the chieftain of a minor Jurchen tribe – the Aisin Gioro – in Jianzhouin the early 17th century. Originally a vassal of the Ming emperors, Nurhachi embarked on an inter-tribal feud in 1582 that escalated into a campaign to unify the nearby tribes. By 1616, he had sufficiently consolidated Jianzhou so as to be able to proclaim himselfKhan of the Great Jin in reference to the previous Jurchen dynasty.

Two years later, Nurhachi announced the "Seven Grievances" and openly renounced the sovereignty of Ming overlordship in order to complete the unification of those Jurchen tribes still allied with the Ming emperor. After a series of successful battles, he relocated his capital from Hetu Ala to successively bigger captured Ming cities in Liaodong Province: first Liaoyang in 1621, then Shenyang(Mukden) in 1625.

Relocating his court from Jianzhou to Liaodong provided Nurhachi access to more resources; it also brought him in close contact with the Mongol domains on the plains of Mongolia. Although by this time the once-united Mongol nation had long since fragmented into individual and hostile tribes, these tribes still presented a serious security threat to the Ming borders. Nurhachi's policy towards the Mongols was to seek their friendship and cooperation against the Ming, securing his western border from a powerful potential enemy.

Furthermore, the Mongols proved a useful ally in the war, lending the Jurchens their expertise as cavalry archers. To cement this new alliance, Nurhachi initiated a policy of inter-marriages between the Jurchen and Mongol nobilities, while those who resisted were met with military action. This is a typical example of Nurhachi's initiatives that eventually became official Qing government policy. During most of the Qing Dynasty time, the Mongols gave military assistance to the Manchus.

Some of Nurhachi's other important contributions include ordering the creation of a written Manchu script based on the Mongolian so as to avoid the earlier Jurchen script which had been derived from Khitan and Chinese and the creation of the civil and military administrative system which eventually evolved into the Eight Banners, the defining element of Manchu identity and the foundation for transforming the loosely knitted Jurchen tribes into a nation.

Nurhachi's unbroken series of military successes came to an end in January 1626 when he was defeated by Yuan Chonghuan while laying siege to Ningyuan. He died a few months later and was succeeded by his eighth son, Hong Taiji, who emerged after a short political struggle amongst other potential contenders as the new Khan.

Although Hong Taiji was an experienced leader and the commander of two Banners at the time of his succession, his reign did not start well on the military front. The Jurchens suffered yet another defeat in 1627 at the hands of Yuan Chonghuan. As before, this defeat was, in part, due to Ming's newly acquired Portuguese cannons.

To redress the technological and numerical disparity, Hong Taiji in 1634 created his own artillery corps, the ujen chooha, Chinese from among his existing Han troops who cast their own cannons in the European design with the help of captured Chinese metallurgists. In 1635, the Manchus' Mongol allies were fully incorporated into a separate Banner hierarchy under direct Manchu command. Hong Taiji then proceeded in 1636 to invade Korea again.

This was followed by the creation of the first two Han Banners in 1637 (increasing to eight in 1642). Together these military reforms enabled Hong Taiji to resoundingly defeat Ming forces in aseries of battles from 1640 to 1642 for the territories of Songshan and Jingzhou. This final victory resulted in the surrender of many of the Ming Dynasty's most battle-hardened troops, the death of Yuan Chonghuan at the hands of the Chongzhen Emperor (who thought Yuan had betrayed him), and the complete and permanent withdrawal of the remaining Ming forces north of the Great Wall.