Footnotes -- China

Spelling and Pronunciation

Chinese words in these pages are spelled in pinyin. Suggested pronunciations correspond to the Mandarin dialect as spoken in the capital. I supply alternate spellings for some words (e.g. Peking, Confucius, Canton) which are common in English. Simplified English pronunciations (in brackets) are provided in the text. Inside brackets, pronounce [oo] as in "food," [~u] as in "foot," and [ao] as in "how." The following table may also be helpful. 
(consonants)          (vowels)
C  - "ts" (its)       A - "father"  AI - "kite"   UI - "way"    IAN - "yen"
Q  - "ch" (chin)      E - "but"     AO - "how"    UAI - "wide"  IN - "in"
X  - "sh" (she)       O - "foot"    OU - "joe"    UA - "waft"   ING - "sing"
Z  - "dz" (odds)      U - "zoo"    
ZH - "j"  (joe)       I - "she"; "it" (very short) after c,ch,r,s,sh,z,zh

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Early dynasties

Shang rulers used weapons and sacrificial vessels made of bronze; kings were buried with mass sacrifice of horses, chariots, and prisoners. During the later Shang period the capital was at Anyang, and Oracle bones were inscribed with the earliest written form of the Chinese language. Kings Wen and Wu established the Zhou dynasty; the Duke of Zhou, Wu's brother, established the feudal system. In 771 nomads ransacked the Zhou capitol, killing the king. The crown prince moved to Loyang, but subsequent kings of "Eastern" Zhou were largely figureheads.

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Qin

The Western word "China" is derived from the name of Qin which defeated the other Warring States in 221 BC. The Qin rise to power was fuelled by the iron in their hearts as well as in their swords: their totalitarian philosophy of Legalism submitted all to the unbending rule of the State.

The Chin ruler who unified China, "First Emperor" Chin Shih Huang, soon ran afoul of the more humane and compassionate traditions of Confucian scholarship. His response was to burn the Confucian books, and to bury the Confucian scholars alive.

Chin Shih Huang ordered the building of the Great Wall, which may have been constructed as much for geomantic as for pragmatic reasons. Built to exclude both the Northern demons and the Northern barbarians, the Wall incorporated the bones of its builders: when a worker died, as untold numbers did, the Wall itself became his tomb.

Chin Shih Huang eventually descended into a mad quest for personal immortality. The alchemical potions he swallowed to increase his life probably shortened it. He died while touring his kingdom in search of the fabled Elixir of Immortality. His body, hidden in a reeking fishcart to mask the odors of decay, was returned to Xian and interred in a fabulous tomb which has never been excavated. However, archaeologists have uncovered an army of thousands of full-size terra-cotta soldiers, each one an exquisite life portrait, faithfully guarding their emperor in death as in life.

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Tang

The Tang were an aristocratic, horse-loving culture. The dynasty's founder, Li Shimin, did evil in his rise to power but is considered a good emperor. Li Shimin was the second son of Li Yuan, the nominal founder of the dynasty. After retiring his father and murdering his brother and nephews, Li Shimin became an enlightened monarch in an age of military expansion. Artistically the Tang era is renowned for its drip-glaze "tricolor" porcelain which portrays realistic horses and camels in beautiful shades of green, yellow, and brown glaze. Chinese Opera, the great classical poetry of Li Bai, and the first woodblock printing also date from this time. The particular significance of printing is that cheap editions of the classics became available, so that literacy increased and even the sons of the poor could rise through study to the civil service.

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Song

The Song paid tribute to the Khitai tribe (origin of the name "Cathay") who dominated Manchuria. An age of technical and cultural brilliance but military weakness. Song is famous for its Celadon porcelain, and is considered the Golden Age of landscape painting.

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Ming

Politically the Ming dynasty is considered oppressive. Initially vigorous, the early Ming emperors fought the Mongols, extended the Great Wall, built the Forbidden City, occupied Vietnam, and commissioned extensive trading expeditions to the Indian Ocean. However, in the mid fifteenth century a succession of weak Ming emperors, overextended and increasingly under the control of the court eunuchs, turned decisively inward. Sea travel was forbidden, He's charts were burned, and the dynasty began its long, slow decline. In a sense the Ming dynasty was perhaps too powerful, too rich, and too stable; having no obvious need to innovate (in contrast, particularly, with the unstable but dynamic polities of the European Renaissance), the Ming stood still for centuries until they eventually found themselves unable to meet the challenge from their Northern frontier.

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Expeditions Of Admiral Zheng He

In the early fifteenth century, the court eunuch Admiral Zheng He led seven great expeditions of exploration, trade, and discovery. His armadas visited Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and Zanzibar. Himself a Muslim, seven of his compatriots managed to visit Mecca. If Zheng's lead had been followed up by the later emperors, it is possible we would all in the West be speaking Chinese today. However, He's voyages brought no profit and the Ming turtle soon pulled its head back inside its shell.

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Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion (the word "boxer" refers to the Chinese martial arts) protested European influence in China. In 1900 a Chinese siege of the Legation Quarter in Peking was lifted by European troops. The Chinese court thereafter fled Peking amid looting and raping by the Europeans, and China was forced to pay a large indemnity.

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