Topic 3 - China Vocabulary

Confucius: a sixth century BCE Chinese sage who stressed the need for harmony and balance in human affairs and whose teaching provided moral, ethical code of behavior that endured for centuries in China

Qin Dynasty: (221-208 BCE) a short dynasty which followed the legalist principles in imposing a harsh rule of law over northern China

Opium Wars:

Boxer Rebellions:

Warlords:

Treaty of Versailles: Chinese expectations for generous treatment were dashed when former German concessions were granted to Japan rather than being returned to China

4 May 1919: young intellectuals rose in protest that the government could accept these humiliating terms.  The eventual success of the demonstrators in forcing the central government to repudiate the treaty signaled the emergence of a political role for students.

Comintern: the Communist International founded by the USSR by Lenin to spread Communism throughout the world.  A number of Comnitern agents worked with the Communist and Nationalist parties prior to the CCP victory

Jiang Jieshi: Nationalist commander-in-chief

Northern expedition: a military campaign from 1926-28 undertaken by Jian Jieshi to defeat the warlords and unify China.  Its success brought Jiang the presidency of China.

‘White terror’: violence carried out by conservatives in a counter-revolution that targeted socialists and communists

Invasion of Manchura: Japan invaded China in 1931 resulting in a truce

Mao Zedong: founder of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and chairman of CCP

Long March: the journey of the CCP in retreat from the Jianxi Soviet base after repeated attacks by the GMD, from October 1934 to December 1935.  High attrition rates reduced the marchers from 100,000 to 80,000 by the time they reached Yanan, in northern China.

Rape of Nanjing: he assault on the civilian population of Nanjing by the Japanese army Decmber 1937

Civil War: after WWII, efforts at mediation between the two leading parties in China failed and from 1946 to 1949 China experienced a Civil War which ended in CCP victory

People’s Liberation Army: official name of China’s communist armed forces

Taiwan: island off the eastern cost of China, on which the Republic of China is based and where Jiang retreated

China’s main problems under Jiang’s leadership:

o      Although central government in Beijing continued to proclaim its authority, power quickly developed to regional military leaders (warlords)

o      Domestic problems of rural poverty and economic decline

o      Treaty of Versialles affired European clonial possessions and privaledges

o      After Sun’s death in 1925, Jiang dissolved the Nationalist alliance with CCP

o      White Terror attempted to eliminate communists

o      By summer 1928 Jiang had defeated or co-opted warlords and central China was reunified under his control

o      Reunification didn’t resolve major issues – weak economy, great rural poverty, and widespread corruption and crime

Japanese invasion:

o      Jiang’s military campaigns against communists was his top priority

o      Left northeastern China open for invasion

o      Japan invaded Manchuria 1937

o      Jiang signed a truce with Japan, enabling him to continue with his campaign

o      Cost him Manchurian region, one of China’s most industrially advanced areas

Taiping Rebellion: widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, against the ruling Manchu-lead Qing Dynasty.  It was lead by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having claimed to have received visions, mainitained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ

Sino Japanese War (1894 - 95): war fought between Qing China and Meiji Japan over control of Korea, which was a Chinese tribute state.  Many foreign observers expected China to win, but it couldn’t match the rapid progress made in Japan under the Meiji Restoration

Extra Territoriality: as early as the ninth century, the Chinese allowed Arabs to reside and trade along the coast of Chekiang province and to govern themselves under their own headman. When the Portuguese arrived in Macao in 1557, the emperor permitted them to live according to their own customs and laws. In the first treaty with Russia in 1689, China agreed that each nation would be responsible for its own subjects.  The Chinese exempted foreigners from their law in part because they believed that foreigners lacked the capacity to understand the complex rules of Chinese society; in part because such exemption freed the Chinese from the difficulty of trying to govern aliens who had strange customs, language, and traditions; and in part because the Chinese felt the barbarians should be given a chance to observe their civilized way of life and, by so doing, eventually become assimilated.

Most favoured nation status: in international economics and international politics is a stauts of treatment accorded by one state to another in international trade. 

Spheres of influence: Britain’s victory in the Opium Wars resulted in the formation of unequal treaties leading to the formation of six SOI, controlled by English, French, Germans, Russians, etc

Queue (hairstyle): long braid compulsory for all males as it showed respect to leading emperor

Sun Yat-Sen's 3 Principles of the People: political philosophy to make China free, prosperous, and powerful.  They are nationalism, democracy, and the livelihood of the people.