On the basis of Pegolotti’s report, I would characterize the various commercial, financial, and economic risks faced by Europeans in China as a few that are minor. There are a few things that may seem silly or like an inconvenience, but the merchants enjoy a smooth journey traveling on a safe road whether it be day or night. Once in Cathay, there is a multitude of cities full of people, houses, and dwellers from where the merchants can trade. The risk Pegolotti first speaks about can be easily avoided. For example, in the report, Pegolotti says, “You should furnish yourself with a dragoman [guide and interpreter]...it will be well to take at least two good men servants who are acquainted with the Cumanian tongue.” He advises that when looking
There are little to no direct accounts of how individuals’ lives were a couple thousand years ago in Ancient China. With a wealth of information on the rise, decline, and fall of empires, Michael Loewe, a sinologist who specializes in oriental studies and theology, writes an imaginary story about a hero named Bing set around 70 BCE. Bing: From Farmer’s Son to Magistrate in Han China is Loewe’s fictional portrait of life during the Han Empire. It is by no means a comprehensive historical account of Han times, in fact, it was written with those readers who are not familiar with Chinese in mind, however through the life of Bing we can gage how the lives of laborers, those involved in military service, merchants, and government officials might
...had gotten a document about China from the Europeans, and that wasn't just about their type of government, but what the government did, and what their economy and social life was like.
Before the emergence of silver, Chinese society isolated themselves from the global economy. Due to Confucian teachings and heavy voyage expenditures, Chinese officials restricted foreign interaction and trade. Also, being
In the rough and tropical island of Papua New Guinea, lived an exceptional aggregation of individuals called, The Gebusi. In the 1980's, The Gebusi tribe was anything besides up to date and acculturated. The Gebusi had their own particular singular and special customs and conventions that they rehearsed and accompanied. The Gebusi tribe took part in custom homosexuality, divination or witchcraft was exceedingly respected and polished, and they partook in particular sister-trade relational unions. By 1998-99, The Gebusi tribe had made another lifestyle. The Gebusi had gotten accustomed with new social convictions, modernization due to “western ways” that had changed their lives until the end of time especially changing their ways and view on gender roles and sexuality.
There is a debate whether or not Marco Polo truly went to China. The side that does not believe Marco Polo traveled to China has this view because Marco Polo did not mention the Great Wall. In addition, the Chinese culture was not noted of. Being a foreigner, Marco Polo did not write about these strange things such as foot binding, calligraphy and etcetera. Not only that, but Marco Polo did not catch onto and learn the Chinese language due to the time he was there. Also, Marco Polo was not mentioned or documented about directly in the Chinese writings. However, three Venetians were written about.
The first large number of Chinese arriving in America in the mid-1850s, like many other immigrants to the new land, found no "gold mountain" from which instant wealth could be attained. However, America's expansion to the West and the economic boom of the Gold Rush era did provide particular employment possibilities for the Chinese. They quickly became an inexpensive but formidable work force for the construction of the western portion of the transcontinental railroad system. They also played an important ...
After receiving a job in a minor administrative position for the Mongol ruler, Marco Polo stayed in China for another seventeen years. Throughout this time he wildly traveled across the Chinese land and collected stories about his experiences in the foreign country. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo helped to shape Western European culture, though scholars question the legitimacy behind his stories since he left out many prominent features of the Chinese life.
All trade in China was channeled through the city of Canton and was regulated by a group of Chinese merchants known as the “cohong” who imposed irregular taxes. No direct contact between the foreigners and Chinese were allowed. Such limitations and conditions caused dissatisfaction among the foreign merchants, in particular the British, who ...
The article has two parts, the first part is ““A Response to Mary Gordon” by Sally Mann,” she protects her family pictures from critics that are against her work such as Mary Gordon. (p. 228 - 229). Sally Mann is a photographer that takes pictures of her children and a series of her pictures, her children are nude and the way that they are posing makes some critics question her work. Pictures tell a lot but can be misread between the person behind the camera and the one that see’s the photograph. (p. 229) She looks at her pictures and see’s her children’s innocence while others see it in a sexual way with her children’s poses and gazes. (p. 229) The critics against her work think that it is bad to expose her children in that manner. Mary Gordon does not like Sally Mann’s photo of “The Perfect Tomato”, Gordon thinks that Mann staged the photo, she thinks that all Mann’s photos are always structured and that her children are posing through her commands. Mann claims that in the “tomato” picture, she captured it just in that moment and it was
Accompanied by 27,000 men on 62 large and 255 small ships, the Chinese eunuch Zheng He, led 7 naval expeditions to Southeast Asia, Middle East and east coast of Africa in the span of 28 years during the Ming Dynasty. The scale of Zheng He’s fleet was unprecedented in world history. The large treasure ships used during the expeditions were purported to be 440 feet long and 180 feet wide (Dreyer, p. 102). Throughout his travels, Zheng He brought Chinese tea, porcelain and silk products to foreign countries and also brought back exotic goods to the Ming court such as spices, plants and leather. Although his voyages fostered commercial trades and cultural exchange between China and foreign countries, the goal of his expeditions stemmed from the political motivation to maintain the tributary system and his voyages had important political implication of causing Neo-Confucian opposition and suspension of the expedition.
The Chinese empire had once been one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the world. Before the 19th century, China had a large population and was ruled by families or dynasties. It was considered technologically advanced as China had a history of many miraculous inventions, such as: writing, magnetic compasses, movable sails, porcelain, abacus and paper money. Although China was isolated from the rest of the world, it coped well on its own, and saw no need to begin trading with the west, (as Lord McCartney proposed in 1793), since it was a self-sufficient nation. At that particular time, the Chinese empire was still able to exclude the ‘barbarians’, thus forcing them to only trade at one port. However, China soon took a turn for the worst as important ...
It should be noted that only a very small number of Chinese immigrants came to the United States prior to 1850. This number began to increase dramatically between the year 1850 and 1882, when the news of the discovery of gold mines in California reached China. At that period of time, western invasions and civil unrest had led to inflation, starvation and loss of land in southern China. Therefore, many young men sailed for the "Gold Mountain" ...
The Chinese did not immigrate only because of the new opportunities, despite the fact that Canada was a flourishing country. Political, social, and economic changes stimulated the immigration of Chinese to Canada. Their homeland, China, was growing to be an overpopulated country. From 1787 to 1850, the population of China skyrocketed from 16 million to 28 million. Natural disasters prevented successful harvests. Floods, earthquakes, and droughts ruined crops. Food supplies dwindled, leaving the Chinese citizens hungry, many dying of hunger. Famine became widespread. Many Chinese died from hunger and the plague. The Pearl River Delta, specifically, suffered from 7 typhoons, 14 floods, 4 earthquakes, 2 droughts, 5 famines, and 4 plagues. In addition, when China was defeated in the Opium War of 1842, five new international trading ports were opened. The new trading ports greatly weakened trade in China’s major southern port.
On the other hand, the company interests are at risk. In China the main key to success is to maintain good relations with the Communist parties, which they mainly control the economy. For multinational corporations they have to spend many years creating good connections in China for their business to function. For example, General Motors, Motorola, and Hewlett-Packard are conscious that they risk billions of dollars if they take a posit...
With deserts and the Himalayas running along most of the border, it was extremely difficult to cross over one of the most dangerous mountain ranges in the world and a few other scorching deserts with the little transport they had during that time. The only way merchants could come into the country was the southeastern coast of China, where most of the prosperous cities resided. What led China to become conceited was because they had an abundance of goods that most of the world wanted. In the 1760-1830s, China was famous for its porcelain (rich Europeans loved it), silk, and of course, tea. Since this Eastern Powerhouse’s goods were so popular, therefore, there were only a few things that interested them to trade with.