Most foreigners who come to China have a superficial knowledge of the country and its people. Besides some important dates such as 1927, 1949 and 1989, outsiders usually do not know much about early Chinese history. Much of the what people happen to know about China falls under the category of selective perception.
One has to admit that one can get easily lost when looking for example at an entry about Chinese history in an encyclopedia. Wikipedia is not helpful either. A helping hand comes from the acclaimed British historian Arnold Toynbee. In his work “Mankind and Mother Earth”, Toynbee outlines the history of the world, including insightful chapter on China.
Toynbee begins his description of Chinese history by noting that around 1500 – 1000 B.C. a new regional civilization came up in what would later be called “China”. Under the Shang dynasty, which is also known as the Yin dynasty, China made the transition from the neolithic age and joined the ranks of other civilizations. What distinguished China from other societies making the transition was that the former allowed a small minority to be well off while the majority of the people were only marginally better off. In other words, in early China the community’s aggregate did not increase, whereas in other societies the rich benefited a lot but also improved the whole community’s welfare. But in China, there was not so much a creation but rather a re-distribution of income and wealth from the bottom to the top.
The innovations which accompanied the appearance of Chinese civilization were three-fold:
- use of horse chariots
- use of script
- use of bronze for making tools.
(According to Toynbee and others, all of these came from the West.)
After the Shang dynasty, the Chou dynasty appeared to be dominating (roughly 1000 – 500 B.C.) This dynasty is important because Confucius (551 – 479 B.C.) falls in this time frame and because Chinese society moved from being rigid, with only two classes (peasants and nobles), to become somewhat more fluid.
In 771 B.C. China broke up into seven competing states: the ‘Period of the Warring States’ commenced. These are the formative years of early Chinese history since one player, the Ch’in state, will emerge from the struggles and give China the name it would later be referred to. Within the period of the Warring States, the key to beat and to prevail against the other states was political absolutism. This means that it was essential for a local ruler to acquire effective command over his subjects and his resources in order to be well equipped against attacks from the enemy.
Next to political violence being centralized within each state, each ruler had to prepare for war by achieving military efficiency. This was done by (i) replacing hereditary office holders by men who had proven their ability to serve (even though they were not from an aristocratic background), and by (ii) replacing hereditary offices holders by commanderies which were subdivided into prefectures. Thus, an old feudal aristocracy was replaced by a central non-hereditary bureaucracy.
Here one recalls Weber who argued that a certain level of bureaucratization and rationalization is necessary for development to occur. Indeed, the biggest changes in the administrative reorganization occurred in the Ch’in state under Prince Hien who allowed people with talent a career in the military. Moreover, in order to foster the military, Hien advanced the agricultural sector by making land a privately owned, marketable commodity. The changes in the political economy would further and encourage agricultural production and provide an incentive for individuals to invest in their land. (Some weeks ago, ‘The Economist’ argued that recent changes in private property rights might bring about a likewise ‘revolution’ .)
Then, between 230 – 221 B.C. the Period of the Warring States came to an end when the Ch’in state emerged as the dominant power and unified the Chinese world. It is most likely that the Ch’in state gave China its name.
The results of the above economic and administrative changes were, firstly, an increase in agricultural production and, secondly, a rise in the distribution of income, which was nonetheless accompanied by the creation of mass, landless proletariat.
The main social changes were, as argued above, the opening of a military career to anyone regardless of their background. Through this, a meritocratic element was introduced into a mostly hereditary society. What resulted from this was the spawn of two new classes, one being professional administrators and military officers, and the other one being private ‘educators’ which offered vocational training to aspiring governmental people. Confucius became one of the educators after failing as an administrator.
Ever since then China stayed united as a state. This is, as Toynbee argues, because of China’s already existing cultural unification upon which a political polity can be built. After 221 B.C., China went through several periods of disunity and also rule by non-Chinese, but eventually retained its unity.
The coming decades will change the face of China, and it will be interesting to see how China will deal with the challenges that lie ahead. Maybe by knowing where China has come from, will make it easier for the outsider to understand where China is heading.
Although it is a de-briefing, this does not mean that my interest or engagement with China and the Far East in general will seize. Rather it’ll be a opportunity to reflect on the three weeks spent in Beijing this summer.
