Economy/Foreign Relations

QIN

• Land is not owned by the government but by an individual. Taxes are collected by acres.
• Measurements unified -- eased trading.
• Currency unified.
• Traffic rules unified.

HAN

• the establishement of the silk road enabled exchanges between different countries

Sui, Tang

• Travelling by the sik road or by sea, many foreigners came to China
• During Sui, there were more than 10 foreign business partners.
• In Tang, the number increased to more than 70
• Tang's government encouraged foreigners to open up businesses in China, allowed to to stay for an indefinite period, allowed intermarriages between races, and allowed them to take official positions
• China during Tang was famous throughout the world. Foreigners started to call Chinese "the people of Tang" instead of the former "the people of Han"
• countries of exchange were Japan, peninsula of India, Afghanistan, Byzantine Empire, and various countries from Southeastern Asia, Western Asia, Europe and Africa

Yuan

During the Yuan Dynasty, foreign exchanges in economy and culture were frequent. The Yuan Dynasty and the Gaolu Empire did a lot of trading with each other. It also had frequent communication with Japan, which resulted in the prevailing of Buddahism and the custom of drinking tea. They also hired people from China to develop the printing industry in Japan.

Ming

During the early stage of the Ming, because of prosperity in economy, diplomatic cam paign was very frequent. China had many friendly ties with a number of countries around the globe. From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He sailed to the West Sea 7 times, reaching more than 30 countries and bringing China's local products in exchange with the local products of the places he visited. It was a great undertaking in the history of seafaring that was more than half a century earlier than the voyages of Europe.

Qing

The Qing was the last feudal dynasty in the history of China and the peak of feudal economic development. Rulers from early Qing tried to make wastelands useful and renovated river courses. Agriculture was thus able to achieve great development and production increased. The seed of capitalism also was able to get further development. Because of production increase, export to the West also increased. Up until the Opium War, China was very strong in foreign trade. But because of heavy taxation on merchandise and the "closed" policy, the development of capitalism was serious obstructed and China fell behind.