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The Foundation of Chinese Maritime Power 93 chapter 3 The Foundation of Chinese Maritime Power The shift of the economic, political, and demographic centers of gravity from the hinterland of the Northwest to the coastal regions of the Southeast was but the physical force that moved the Chinese during the Song, Yuan, and early Ming periods to expand out to sea. Coincident and concomitant with the environmental changes there took place a fundamental transformation of the ethos of the Chinese people that inspired them to embark upon maritime enterprises. Many factors were responsible for the mental readjustment of the Chinese people. The epoch was one of wars and disorders, the magnitude and violence of which were unprecedented in the annals of China’s history. The generally disturbed conditions resulting from foreign invasions and civil strife, and from the social dislocations and economic distress, had the effect of jolting the minds of the Chinese people by stimulating a spirit of enterprise and expansion. The close contacts with foreign peoples extended the intellectual horizon of the Chinese, and the wars of survival and the wars of conquest quickened men’s initiative and imagination and compelled them to pay attention to the practical problems of the day. This changed China’s world view, especially the Chinese people’s attitude toward foreigners. It was a dynamic era and the genesis of a new age, not only of the history of China but also of the history of Eastern Asia. Contact with foreign lands, however, did not mitigate the feeling of the Chinese of pride of their race and culture. The intimacy of contact with less tutored peoples on their borders often served to heighten China’s pride in its race and culture. Some also adopted the belief that China should remain aloof from foreign peoples. But the attitude of isolationism of the early Chinese were not so pronounced and well-defined as in the late Ming and Qing periods when they crystallized into an ethnocentric philosophy 93 China_Sea Power Chap3.indd 93 2/13/2012 1:11:35 PM 94 China as a Sea Power which, at the government level, incumbered diplomatic intercourse between China and other nations, and which, at a popular level, inhibited the overseas expansion of the Chinese people. Absolutism and Centralization of Political Power The establishment of autocratic governments has been, according to naval historians, a factor directly responsible for the creation of sea power, for navies were built to serve as instruments of policies of strong governments.1 But, China’s centralized power under a strong emperor could also negatively influence China’s foreign relations. The movement to exalt the Chinese emperor had its origin in antiquity. As far back as the sixth century B.C., when the rulers of such “semi-barbarian” states as Chu, Wu, and Yue, the naval powers of the south, and Qin in the west, assumed the title of king, which rightfully belonged to their suzerain, the King of Zhou, there were attempts to elevate the title of King of Zhou to that of “Heavenly King” (t’ien-wang 天王), but this title never acquired currency. It was not till the king of Qin had destroyed the feudal states and unified the empire in 221 B.C. that he made himself emperor (huangdi) to signify his sway over a wide domain composed of many states and many races of people.2 But gradually, particularly during periods when China was weak as in the late Tang and the division of the Five Dynasties, the title of emperor lost its attribute of majesty. It became an honorific term denoting the political head of the state. It also became commonplace, and the founder of the Khitan state of Liao, named “A-pao-chi,” further elevated himself by assuming the title of “Heavenly Emperor” (t’ien huang-ti 天皇帝).3 Like the Zhou thinkers, the Song philosophers of the Neo-Confucian School sought to restore political order by exalting the dignity of the Chinese emperor.They worked out a political and social system that stressed the reverence of the father in the family and reverence of the emperor in the state.4 Elaborating on the dichotomized relations of human society which 1 P.A. Silburn, The Evolution of Sea-Power (London: Longmans, Green, 1912), p. 199. 2 Lei Haizong, “The Rise of the emperor system in ancient China,” Chinese Social and Political Science Review [hereafter abbreviated as CSPSR] 20, 2 (July 1936): 257–261. 3 Toqto et al., ed., Liao...

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