16Was China ever a superpower? If you
asked many Chinese people, they might
say that the Tang dynasty (618–907)
would qualify. That dynasty united large
swathes of territory, and also saw China
influenced by, and influencing, the
central Asian states around it, with
emperors taking the title ‘Khan’ to show
their dominance over the wider region.
Nearby societies such as Japan that were not part of China’s
political system were also shaped by language, religion and
ideas from the mainland.
More controversial, but perhaps the most worthy of the title
‘superpower’, was the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Founded by
Kublai Khan, its rulers were not ethnic Chinese but Mongol.
His empire’s control over the states to the west of China was
somewhat nominal, but did show how far Beijing’s influence
could extend. Even though Kublai Khan was not Chinese, he
drew on China’s traditions of Confucian thinking to shape his
government – a sign of the power of that culture, even in the
thinking of a conqueror.
The definition of China has changed hugely over the years.
The small group of states centred around the Yellow river has
expanded over the years to become today’s territorial behemoth
that dominates the map of east Asia. Yet, for much of that
time, China was divided politically. It was culture that united
it, and culture that gave it its greatest power.
The territorial reach of China has rarely been its most
important quality as an aspirant to superpower status. Just
as the United States remains a superpower in large part
because the world’s default language is English, so China
dominated minds in east and central Asia for much of two
millennia because of its ability to shape the way that people
lived and thought, even when it had little direct political
control over them.
It may be that in the 21st century, as China seeks to create
a ‘new Silk Road’ through international investment in Africa
and Asia, that it creates a new influential role for itself.Rana Mitter is professor of the history and politics of modern China at
the University of Oxford. His books include China’s War with Japan,
1937–1945: The Struggle for Survival (Allen Lane, 2013). Turn to page 6
for his insights on the troubled history of US-Chinese tradeRana Mitter“China dominated minds
in Asia for much of two
millennia because of its
ability to shape the way
people lived and thought”
Zheng Yangwen is professor of Chinese history at the University of
Manchester, and author of Ten Lessons in Modern Chinese History
(Manchester University Press, 2018)In 1600, China was “the largest and most sophisticated of
all unified realms on earth”. So wrote Sinologist Jonathan
Spence, reflecting the achievements of the Ming dynasty
(1368–1644), when China wielded huge influence interna-
tionally, in part because of the boom in global trade. But do
cultural influence, trade and wealth equate to ‘superpower’?
Historians have used the term ‘dynastic cycle’ to character-
ise the waxing and waning of China’s fortunes. This
framework may help us probe whether China has always
(or ever) been the greatest global superpower.
Various dynasties have been lauded by different
historians. Mark Edward Lewis labelled the Tang
(618–907) a “cosmopolitan empire”, while John Fairbank
called the Song (960–1279) “China’s greatest age”. The
epic voyages of Admiral Zheng He (sailing 1405–33)
suggested to some that the early Ming was “when China
ruled the seas”, whereas Charles Hucker concluded that the
reign of three great Qing emperors during the late 17th and
the 18th centuries constituted “China’s last golden age”.
One source of power was trade, in three commodities
in particular. Silk spread the gospel of early imperial China
during the Han–Tang era, through central Asia, the Middle
East and Europe. Porcelain defined China’s relationship
with the world from the Tang–Song to the Ming–Qing
dynastic eras; international thirst for ‘china’ was boosted in
the 17th and 18th centuries when tea was added to the menu
of goods traded globally, and Chinoiserie [a style of art,
furniture and architecture] swept through western Europe.
Trade, then, made China rich, particularly from the 17th
century as it absorbed much of the world’s silver supply. But
it was also trade – particularly the growing shortage of silver- that led to the Opium Wars and the decline of the Qing
dynasty in the 19th century. That marked the end of China’s
last ‘golden age’, and was followed by the so-called ‘century
of unequal treaties’ that led to the concession of autonomy
and territories such as Hong Kong.
Each dynasty, then, rises and amasses power, but
ultimately wanes. The post-Mao ‘peaceful rise’ may have
impressed many around the world, but the communist
regime is unlikely to escape the inevitable dynastic decline.
Zheng Yangwen“Trade made China rich,
particularly from the 17th
century as it absorbed
much of the world’s silver”
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