Characteristics Of Chinese Emperors

1)

As source B states that Chinese Emperors were rulers who ruled with an iron fist, rulers who used the means of ‘tyranny’ and ‘war’, to gain power. One Emperor called Qin Shihuangdi was an extremely ‘ruthless’ king when it came to battle; he was clever and had the ability to slaughter his enemies without any real hassle. One can infer from this source and the behavior of this particular emperor and others that the kings of China really had a large dynastic sense, with the large tombs and huge terracotta army that he was buried with really shows how these people believed they were G-ds, and they lived ruled and died like G-ds too. Another example of how ruthless and power hungry these Emperors were, is seen by The Youngzheng Emperor, who killed all of his brother bar one to ‘assure his own rule’, one could say they exhibit animalistic qualities. These war hungry Emperors were not all bad they did to some good for the country. For example The Youngzheng Emperor improved the conditions for the social outcasts of China and prevented corruption in the land by increasing the salaries of the government officials. After the death of the final Emperor in 1911/12 the Chinese moved towards bureaucracy. The first people to do this were the Mandarins. This was a system that chose power not on who you were and where you came from but on skill and education. This worked, we know this as source C states that it was a ‘well organized administrative system run by scholars and bureaucrats’. But this system did not always work. The bureaucrats acted as tax collectors and local leader who answered to the Emperors. This worked in times of good, but when the going got tough, corruption, natural disaster and war got the better of them and the system failed. One of the main reasons why the system failed was due to the fact the leader were not strong and the system was only restored when a strong leader emerged. Under this particular system Chinese society did not change a lot. This was due to the fact the government was unresponsive and was not representative of the people and therefore was out of touch. Throughout the history of the China foreign intervention has played a key role in the running of the country. As stated in source A in 1842 China signed the Treaty of Nanjing, this was one of the first ‘unequal treaties’ seen to be rather ‘humiliating for China. This treaty opened five ports of the use of the British to trade in, also it gave the British Hong Kong and some say the power of the Chinese economy and its military. The British were in full control of China and were above in Chinese people in trade, accommodation and the law. Plus all people that traded from the west with China had the same authority and benefits in China as the British.

2)

One of the main reasons why China was so weak and unstable was due to the fact that the government did not have the ability to rule its country fully due to the fact that the British had a rather strong hold on the country. For example as stated

in source A after the ‘Treaty of Nanjing’ was signed, the British had full control of China’s industry. One of the main reasons for this was because five main ports were opened for the British to trade freely in and Hong Kong was given over also. This therefore meant that the government was weak as they were loosing land and money from trade. This loss of

Show More

Related Documents: Characteristics Of Chinese Emperors

Course Study Guide Essay