Write About China From Late-Imperial to Post-Mao Periods

China from late imperial to post-Mao periods
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China from late imperial to post-Mao periods
China is rich in history and historians have found recorded evidence to suggest that the country dates back more than 5000 years ago. The vast amount of history has made the country an attraction to historians, and this has increased the number of academic materials that dwell on China. People have written about the country’s transition from the era of dynasties to the current political systems, and in all these eras, the country’s economy experienced different changes leading up to the modernization period that completely altered the state of the country. China’s imperial history mainly includes the era when dynasties rose and fell due to the constant warring as well as when the waves of reform and modernization swept throughout the country. The late imperial periods primarily includes the country’s history from the 16th century to the early 20th century. During this time, two dynasties, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty respectively ruled over the land.
The Ming Dynasty was founded by Zhu YuanZhang. Unlike his predecessor, Zhu despised foreign influence in China’s affairs and thus moved fast and tightly closed any doors that had been opened during the Yuan Dynasty. He created an autocratic government and adopted the isolationist policy. Trade and diplomatic relations were stopped and with the Great Wall’s completion, China had stopped any imminent invasion from the North. Cultural interactions were an impossibility during this era. Corruption flourished, and the rise of incompetent leaders and emperors ultimately led to the rise of peasant uprisings that ended the Ming Dynasty in 1644.
The Ming Dynasty plunged the country into economic and cultural poverty due to the isolationist policy, but the rise of Qing Dynasty marked the start of a new era. The Qing Dynasty began with the promise of an economically prosperous China because agricultural production increased and the government was involved in some public works projects, for example, the flood control project. China grew in wealth and expanded but this growth was short-lived, and the country’s increasing population coupled with land and food shortages soon proved to be a tall order for the ruling party. Pressure from the Western traders to transform or to conform China to modern practices were growing despite the isolationist policy and rebellions soon rocked the ruling class. China had been under the imperial rule for more than 2000 years but according to the history books, the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 marked the end of imperial domination.
After the fall of the imperial rule, Sun Yatsen assumed power as the first president of the Republic of China, but pressure from Yuan Shikai, the then military leader, ended Sun’s tenure after only two years. Yuan helped to hold the country together, but his death in 1916 plunged the country into an era of infighting between the regional warlords. However, historians often describe this era as the time when China allowed Western...