Refuting Qing Chinese Isolationism, 1650-1911.

Paper Summary:

This paper refutes the old notion that it was Chinese cultural isolationism that caused Qing China to evade European influence. This paper provides a full exploration of the connections to other regional powers during the Qing period. The paper further discusses the bordering areas that were a grave concern to the Qing Dynasty as a foreign Manchu entity that had usurped Ming power. The paper provides examples of the complexity of East Asian and other Asian relations, Qing strategies, and the natural response to European involvement of trying to close China's borders. The paper also reviews domestic problems that threatened Qing power.

From the Paper:

"A mistake was made for many years of seeing China - or all of East Asia -- as isolated from outside influence, as part of a Eurocentric view of world history. The idea of China as especially stagnant and backward, and thus, unwilling to open her doors to Western business activities, helped a number of rationales for European imperialism, in ideas of what might be for China's own good, or the irrationality of permitting Western permanence in the region. In contrast, one can see how Chinese influence extended through most of Asia and far beyond, especially after the 16th century, as a result of the Qing consolidation."

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