The goals of the western powers were not strictly economic, but also prescribing to their ideas of Christian exceptionalism. As stated by Thomas David Dubois, “during the late eighteenth and especially nineteenth centuries, Catholic and Protestant missions from throughout Europe and North America brought their faith and civilization to every corner of the globe. This reach was facilitated by the penetration of imperial military power, leading to the frequently evoked image of the missionary arriving with the Bible in one hand and a gun in the other” (Dubois 127). This was the situation in China which eventually incites the Boxer rebellion and showdown at Peking. Yang simplifies the imperial conflicts in China through the symbolic events in Bao’s life which lead him to fight.
In Gabriel’s Rebellion: The Virginia Conspiracies of 1800 & 1802, Douglas R. Egerton examines the events that led Gabriel to form his emancipation plan, and the subsequent aftermath that resulted. Through the use of a variety of primary sources—most notably trial records—Egerton paints an extensive and well written narrative. His account stretches from the American Revolution and the promise of freedom, to the end of the 1802 conspiracy and the Virginia Assembly’s bitter intentions to curtail the possibility of future rebellions. Yet, Egerton includes a wide assortment of asides, different characters, background information, and quotes that blend together to form a cohesive story. Through this book, Egerton argues that Gabriel, and consequently
Therefore they felt that it was their responsibility to stop the spread of communism. To stop Russia and China, the United States
Each country had very different responses towards the European scientific Revolution. China had a strong rejection towards the scientific revolution because the Europeans had failed to leave a good impression. According to the video, “Empires in Collision” China was a well-advanced country that had a rich economy also China was a nation that envisioned themselves as above everyone else. When the Europeans showed their inventions, China looked at them like “toys” it was never enough to persuade the Chinese. Out of the three countries China was unyielding to European’s scientific revolution.
A beneficial act on China’s part was that because of their desire for luxury goods, it caused them to start a trade with other lands and allowed them to grow economically (Doc. 7). The corruption of Spanish officials and suffering of Indians gave a good example of the effect from selfishness and want for more goods. The Spanish would abuse the labor and earnings of the Indians, take the money for themselves, and give little back to the Indians for the work that they provided (Doc. 6). As the trade of luxury went on, priests began to realize and do their best efforts to encourage officials about how wrong it is to take advantage and grow needy for materialistic things, and how the government should distribute the goods fairly between their people who had a hard time in debt (Doc. 3). The a better description of how the priests encouraged the officials to act fairly upon the goods along with add a point of view of the people suffering would’ve gave a better understanding of the
Others tried to lift Buddha to the other ideas of Chinese philosophers so they could all rule China. Examples of people who sided with Buddhism are documents 2 and 3. Document 2 talks about the advantages of converting to Buddhism. When someone of this religion dies, the will be inputted into Nirvana, a heaven
Unfortunately, this thinking prevented the Chinese from learning from western technology and science. As a result the West was able to easily defeat the Qing in key battles such as the Opium War in 1839 to 1841. In contrast to the Ottomans, the Qing was unable to compromise with the West and Europe forced its way into China. However, both societies were influenced by Western methods, despite attempts to restore traditional ideology and campaigns by both Chinese
Luther’s radical new ideas regarding religion excited the peasants of the German states and his ideas stated in documents such as his 95 theses acted as a catalyst for the revolts that erupted in the lower class between the years 1524 and 1526. Peasants believed the cause of these revolts were the mistreatment they received from their lords and ruling princes. Their acts of revolution were largely based on new radical ideas surrounding religion, and some even saw it as God’s will. A third cause cited by the peasants was a need for their release from serfdom.
It also shows, since the writer is a Confucianist, that some did not believe that the ideologies could coexist or be mutually accepted. The notion that anything foreign isn’t trustworthy or applicable to Chinese life suggests that China believed it was the center of the universe and was superior to surrounding nations. The author’s point of view must be taken into account, however; Han Yu, being a Confucian scholar, likely spent long hours examining Confucian text and was unfamiliar to ideas that contradicted those beliefs. Therefore, he might not be open to receiving new ideas.
The Boxer Rebellion was an uprising that took place in 1898-1990 from the Chinese society against U.S Foreigners and as a result, the United States interfered and their interference was backed up with reasons and and resulted in many outcomes. Reasons that the United States was in favor to participate in the Boxer Rebellion included: The siege of the American Consulate in Beijing, the US was apart of the Eight Nation Alliance, and the United States believed war was a threat to its global trading empire, so they had to act or let everything fall. The U.S involvement was needed in the Boxer Rebellion for its strong, united military aid and resources. The U.S. involvement was necessary in the Boxer Rebellion for American wanted to keep control over the Philippines, they wanted to have a good presence
Buddhism influenced the people, majority of them changing their lifestyles of the monks. Although most of the people converted to Buddhism, some resented it. China had gone through a tough struggle in both politics and the people. In Document 6 an emperor talks about how Buddhism is posing the people of China by making them forsake their lords and steal their wealth. The emperor goes farther by saying how monks rob people from food and clothes by not working.
China is also portrayed as realistic because people are still being persecuted, also the country is still a Communist country and the government does not care about human rights. Therefore, the readers can take into consideration the suffering Christians are going through in other countries. Also, this book gets the readers to become more grateful that America is a free country and Christians question their faith because you think about questions such as “Would I die for my faith?” “Would I have signed the paper and give up or stay strong like Quan?” The most valuable lesson Quan taught us is “Temporary suffering is a small price to pay for eternal happiness” (Alcorn, 316).
In 1895, Japan took over a large part of China and so did the Europeans in the late 1890s due to China’s leaders’ lack of power to control their nation by opening up its doors for them to trade and them taking an advantage of it. Many of the US business and government leaders worried they were not give equal opportunity to trade with them so they proposed the Open Door Policy with China. The policy stated all nations will be allowed to trade freely in and with China. Europeans this to be the benefit of the US and would take away their power in China so they did not accept. Later European accepted the Open Door Policy after more than 200 foreigners were killed in the Boxer Rebellion.
Agriculture was a major part of most Chinese people’s daily life and they were satisfied with their lives. Many people did not want to be influenced by industrialization and the western ways of Europeans. This did not matter to the Europeans however, as they wanted the silk, tea and porcelain that was only coming from China. According to Tao He’s article, British Imperialism in China,
some of us know, the Crusades is not something that we enjoy discussing, but they were a big part of religious history. The Crusades were what the pope called “holy wars or expeditions,” that knights or people of their religion went on to gain control over holy land. Each Crusade had a social, economic, and/or political goal and aimed for one land at a time. The pope even exclaimed that if you went on a Crusade that you were assured a place in heaven. These Crusades, or “holy wars”, were driven by religious faith within varieties of religion like Muslims and Christians.