Guest Lecture: Patricia Ebrey

Six major dynasties: Han. Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing.

Term dynasty is misleading. All dynasties are very dynasties.

Some dynasties have ruliners that are not Han Chinee (called Alien dynasties)

States were often so reduced that next dynasty largely built up from scratch

Empires claim authority over smaller polities, and often rule different people differenty. BUT tributary
empires demand only tribute from subordinate polities, generally alow them to retain taher own
customs and rulers – Ruler-vassal relaitons. Major (Han) dynasties sought to rule everyone same way.

Roman Empire similar in organisation, but still very iddfferent

Book Recommenation : Gunpowder Age – Tonio AndradeI

No serious divergence in standard of living/military technology between China and Europe till 18th
century

Recurrent elements of dynasties/monarchies – succession issues, who can succeed and how that’s
decided. In China, monarch’s mother or widow would often pick the successor.

Always some level of elite – hereditary aristocracy, local powerholders, literates (exam grads)

Founders are usually military men – but rarelry a long lasting military elite – relatively minor role after
founding

State Building:

 Requires armies and means to support them (raising revenue)

 Means to deliver justice

 Some degree of popular acceptance

Tang-Song transition –

Old narrative: from primus inter pares (first among equals) to autocracy – Tang to song

New narrative : Song era office holders had considerable power and little sign of rulers acting
autocratically

From 750 – 1100 AD population doubled (50m – 100m) due to economic growth and farming
developments
Defending borders – during Tang dynasty – territorial states- Silla, Bohai, Tibet, Uighers, Nanzhao -
ENCIRCLMENT AND wei qi principle

‘China among equals’ period

Positive side of strong centralised states? :

 Internal peace and defending borders

 Can build infrastructure to ^ econ growth (e.g. coinage, money supply, roads and canals,
irrigation/flood control, disaster relief and redistribution, keep local elites in check, extract revenue
to keep govt going,

Negative:

 ^ ability to apply coercion

 Hereditary military families

 Penal-military complex

Secrets of long-lasting success?:

 Jared Diamond ‘Guns Germs & Steel ‘ east-west argument of geography, climate etc

 Written language and literacy – allows for large area communication

 Some historians reject geographic – say that during Warring States period the idea emerged that
stability depends on unity - could unification by alien rule be advantageous enough to outweigh
the alien influence?

Confucian-Legalist state – relied on Legalist measures to rule society and based its legitimacy on
Confucian morality

What actually kept it going (Ebrey view):

 Innovative, adaptable statecraft

 Subordination of military

 Relativey civilty of government (no assassinations)

 Mature monarchy – peaceful transiitons of power

 Non-state factors like migration (often encouraged by the state) – expanding Chinese or assimilated
Chinese population
Dynastic states didn’t last forever: During most long dynasties, gets harder to raise revenue over time as
corruption sets in – harder to raise revenue etc

Inner Asia as part of Eurasia:

What is the relationship of the Manchu, Mongolians, Tibetans etc to the ‘Chinese identity’

Chinese colonialism – is migration within greater China could be considered Chinese colonialism? – Qing
Dynasty imperialism?

Often, Qing dynasty encouraged hna people ot immigrate to southeastern regions (Yunnan etc( which
resulted in conflicts with native people. Han Colonialism?

Zhongguo is an ancient concept that as only recently been used as name of a sovereign state. Many
changes in population, geography, culture etc over time.

What is China?

What is China:

Under surface of China’s unified imperial system, always been changes wrought by differences within
and between state organisaitons, social, groups, regions, ethnic groups and religious faiths etc.

How do different ‘foreign dynasties’ transform themselves into Chinese dynasties?