This document summarizes a lecture on European imperialism in India and China between the 15th-19th centuries. It discusses the rationale for imperialism including religion, resources and racism. It provides examples of European conquest in India, including the Portuguese capturing Goa in 1510 and the British establishing direct rule in 1857. China was defeated in the Opium War of 1839-42 and forced to open ports to trade, though it was not fully colonized like India. The lecture contrasts the prosperous maritime expeditions ordered by Chinese admiral Zheng He from 1405-1433 with later European voyages of exploration and conquest. It analyzes how new European technologies like steamships allowed them to colonize parts of Asia

1. Professor Chee
Lecture on European Imperialism –
India & China Examples

2. What is Imperialism?
Imperial powers (such as Europe, the U.S., and
Japan) dominate other lands, who become their
subjects, by military force, economic
influence/coercion, religious or cultural coercion,
so that imperial powers benefit or profit from
their subject territories.

3. Rationale for Imperialism
Christians, Spices, Gold…
Raw materials
Religious Zeal
Racism – “scientific” or popular…

4. Joseph Arthur de Gobineau.
Essays on the Inequality of the
Human Races.
1851-53
Imperialism – both a product
of and a generator of virulent
racism!
Pseudo-scientific racism with
a racial hierarchy

5. Joseph Arthur de Gobineau.
Essays on the Inequality of the Human Races.
1851-53
Pseudo-scientific racism
with a racial hierarchy

6. Orientalism
Edward Said – makes a powerful
and compelling argument.
Oriental (East) vs Occidental
(West) depends on who is at the
center. As Europeans were
conquering territories, they
thought of themselves at the
center. He argues that
orientalizing or the othering of
peoples allows them to kill,
enslave and conquer people, as the
“other.”

7. India & China are two
different examples
o India is conquered by mostly the British
and established as a colony
o China is defeated in the Opium War but
not colonized (except for Hong Kong &
Macau)

8. Europeans Start Conquering Territories in the Indian Ocean
1510 Portuguese conquer Goa, India
1565 Spanish conquer Philippines
1619 Dutch started controlling Java ports
1682 – VOC control Sultanate of Java

9. Estado de India–Portuguese Capture Goa. India, 1510
1510 - Portuguese capture of Goa &
Malabar Coast (Western India)
1700s – British start controlling
parts of India
1857 – Sepoy uprising – a major
nationalist uprising under British
direct rule
1947 – India achieves
independence with Gandhi

10. Frantz Fanon. Black Skin, White Mask.
Peau noire, masques blancs. 1952
Psychologist from Martinique, Caribbean &
later in life, moved to Algeria
He referred to the African elite of the
African diaspora, in Africa and the
Americas, but also applies to Indian elite
oChristian
oEuropean educated (speaks English)
oEconomic, cultural, and social benefits
during colonial rule
Map of French colonized areas?

11. British Empire – late Nineteenth Century

12. French Empire

13. China & the Silk Road

14. China & the Indian Ocean World
Thousands of years of trading between Africa and Asia (with India & Ceylon at the center

15. Ming China, 1368-1644
o Founded by Emperor Hongwu (r.
1368-1398)
o Ming (“Brilliant”) dynasty comes to
power after Mongols are driven out
(who called themselves the Yuan
dynasty)
o Emperors used traveling officials called
Mandarins and large number of
eunuchs to maintain control
o Emperor Yongle (r. 1403-1424)
experiments with sea expeditions,
moves capital north to Beijing to deter
Mongol attacks

16. Chinese Intellectual Achievements:
Compare the Yongle Encyclopedia to the French Encyclopedia
Chinese Yongle Encyclopedia 1403 French Diderot Encyclopedia 1773

17. Chinese (green) versus later European
voyages of exploration, 1405-1498.

18. Chinese Explored the World of Asia and Africa
with a prosperous shipping industry

19. Chinese Junk versus Christopher Columbus’s Ship?
Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai, UAE

20. 1405-1433 Chinese Admiral Zheng He’s Voyages

21. Admiral Zheng He
郑和
o Muslim Eunuch
o 1405-1433 - 7 sets of expeditions
o Some with 300 ships, 28K men
o Chinese junks—with private
cabins, bathrooms, passenger
lounges, African stewards, and
plentiful cargo space
o Song copper coins (jiazhi)
became common currency for
small-scale transactions
throughout Southeast Asia

22. Korean Kangnido map – 1402 - names

23. Europeans wanted to buy Chinese goods like
silk, china, and teas, but Europeans did not much
goods to sell to the Chinese…
Tea Warehouse in Canton - 1790

24. Global Balance of Power Shift:
Growing European Rivalry in the
Nineteenth Century
British conquer India
French & Dutch conquer Southeast Asia
Spanish, Portuguese, English already conquered the Americas and took
African Slaves

25. British Go to War with China to Force
Chinese to Trade in Illegal Opium
Opium War (1839-1842)
Illegal criminal product - 4500
chests/year
1839 – 40K chests
oChinese are not colonized but
forced to accept Treaty of Nanjing
– 1842, a series of diplomatic &
trade concessions
oLoss of territory (Hong Kong) to
the British
oBritish extraterritoriality

26. Nineteenth Century Inventions
o Steamships
o Rifles
o Quinine
o Steamship & gunboat
technology that defeats
China also conquers
Africa

27. Taiping Rebellion – 1850
further destabilizes China
o Hong Xiuquan
o Dreams he is Jesus Christ’s Brother
o Attempted to overthrow government
o 1864 - 30 million Chinese dead

28. East Asia – China, Korea, Japan
We will discuss the
decline in Chinese
political power further in
later sections

29. Grace Chee
2010