History

Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860)

(Opium Wars, 2020)
Britain was spending huge amounts of silver on imports from China, but China didn't need anything Britain was selling.
Opioids were grown in Britain, controlled in India and sold to China, which fixed the trade imbalance.
China tried to introduced regulations on opioids, but the United Kingdom dominated them, and China ended "carved up like a melon"
China now refers to the wars as "Century of Humiliation" at the hands of a foreign power.
(2020)

Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)

(Taiping Rebellion, 2020)

The loss of the first opium war fueled the Taiping Rebellion.
The Taiping rebellion taught China the dangers of allowing religious movements
Millions of people staged an anti-government rebellion.
The rebellion wasn't put down until 20 million Chinese had been killed on both sides.
(2020)

The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

(Rare Chinese revolution photos, 2020)

The Revolution was launched after Mao Zedong was aiming to restore capitalism.
In order to dominate his rivals, Mao insisted on brutal, violent class struggle and encouraged students to drop out of school and join the military.
Millions of people were subjected to humiliation, arbitrary imprisonment, torture and hard labor.
Historical artifacts, relics, and religious sites were destroyed in the process.
("The Cultural Revolution, China - Timeline Index", 2020)

Confucius or Kongzi (551 - 479 B.C)

(Confucius, 2020)

Chinas most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist.
The recognized founder of Confucianism- as a system of social and ethical philosophy rather than a religion.
Confucius did not see society as an equal system, he saw many different relationships between people and distinctly important roles.
He believed that obedience to these social rolls would allow society to function harmoniously and peacefully.
("Confucius | Chinese philosopher", 2020)
("An Introduction to Confucius and His Teachings | The Chairman's Bao", 2020)
(2020)

Papermaking (50-121 AD)

(Paper Making, 2020)

People used wood, stone, and bone to write on before the invention of paper
The first use of paper in China was by the military, they used bark from the mulberry tree and pounded it into fibers, dried into a sheet.
The word "paper" was derived from the word "Papyrus".
They found out paper could be improved by adding hemp and old fish nets to the pulp.
(Adhikari & Pear, 2020)