HomeOld_PostsThe European invasions of East Asia: Part One

The European invasions of East Asia: Part One

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THIS week we begin a new series on the invasion of East Asia by the Europeans. We will focus mainly on China, a country which emerged from being a semi-colony into a notable world power that it is today.
The story of China is important to Africa in that we may learn a few lessons on how to defeat imperialism and rise to the top.
To understand the origins of China, it is necessary that in this first part of the series, we take the reader back to 4 000 years ago when China was inhabited by black people of a short stature who lived along the Yellow River and cultivated millet, soya beans and other crops.
These blacks made up the first and founding dynasty of China which is remembered as the Xia dynasty.
The Chinese civilisation of that era was similar and comparable to that of black Egypt of ancient times.
The Xia dynasty began around 2070 BCE and lasted until 1600 BCE.
After the Xia came yet another black dynasty called the Shang dynasty comprising the Shang Li and the Shang Yi.
The Shang dynasty began around 1600 BCE and lasted until 1046 BCE.
The Xia and the Shang dynasties laid down the foundation, culture and identity of the Chinese.
However, by the end of the Shang dynasty, many of the kings and nobles had lost their way and had become despotic.
At about the same time China suffered several invasions by the Barbarians from the north.
These invasions destabilised the land.
After the Shang dynasty came the Zhou dynasty which came from the west, possibly from India, Arabia or Africa.
Along with the Shang dynasty, the Zhou people were referred to as ‘li min’ which means ‘the dark (complexion) multitude’.
This would imply that the first three dynasties in China were black and also that the black people were the majority in the land of China.
The Zhou dynasty had a monarch and they ruled the landmass of China as vassal states.
The Zhou dynasty is associated with notable Chinese philosophers such as Laozi, who is remembered as one of the greatest Chinese philosophers and one of the biggest promoters of Daoism.
Laozi worked as a noble.
The other important philosopher associated with the Zhou dynasty was Confucius, the most revered Chinese philosopher.
Confucius lived shortly after Laozi and he based his philosophy which is now known as Confucianism on the Zhou dynasty’s beliefs, culture and traditions. Confucius’s philosophy includes the concept of Ren which is usually translated as benevolence by Europeans, but is actually linked to the African concept of hunhu.
The Zhou dynasty is also remembered for restoring and enriching the culture and religious rites of China.
The funeral rites, marriage rites and philosophies of modern China have their origins in this period.
It was also during the Zhou dynasty that the Great Wall of China began to be constructed as a means to block the Barbarian invaders.
The walls were defensive and were built in different places by the different tribes that inhabited the northern parts of China.
The Barbarians were white people and came from the north, from places such as Russia and the north of Eurasia.
The Zhou dynasty was influential in China throughout the Spring and Autumn period (770 BCE – 476 BCE) and lasted till the end of the Warring States period (475 BCE – 221BCE).
The wars of that period were promoted by the Barbarians from the north and also occurred between the various tribes in China.
The vassal states that were ruled by the Zhou dynasty were initially 100 in number, but by the end of the Warring States period, they had been reduced to seven through warfare and annexation.
The Qin dynasty which had been one of the vassal states under the Zhou dynasty came into existence in 770 BCE.
The Qin settled in western China because they came from the west.
The Qin dynasty under Emperor Qinshihuang was the first to unite the whole of China under a centralised feudal system which began in 221 BCE.
These were the first non-black rulers of China, followed by their Hankinsmen who resemble the modern day Chinese.
Although the Qin and Han dynasty only lasted till 220 CE, it is their ethnic group (Han) that forms the majority of the Chinese population today.
These modern day Chinese, the likes of Bruce Lee, were initially reported as aborigines particularly in the time of the Zhou dynasty when the majority of the ethnic groups in China were still black.
The Qin and Han though Mongols, have a quarter of their DNA acquired from Caucasian whites, possibly from neighbouring Russia where the Barbarians came from.
This gives them a pale complexion though they carry typically Mongoloid features like the Mongolians.
From western China, the contemporary Chinese race multiplied and spread east. China does not deny its multi-ethnic background and to this day, there are still many descendants of the ancient ‘li min’ or dark peoples in places like Tibet.
Some of them still resemble and can be misconstrued as Africans.
The feudal system which began with the Qin would last until 1911 CE, when the legendary Dr San Yat Sen put an end to the feudal governance of China and made China a Republic.
Successive feudal monarchs had run the country of China rather ineffectively at the expense of the country’s freedom and unity.
Although China hosts the largest population of human beings on earth and occupies one of the world’s largest pieces of land mass, throughout the time China has existed, it has never started a war against any nation.
All the wars China fought were either internal amongst tribes or in defense against invaders.
At the turn of the 19th century, China became a victim of foreign invasions on numerous occasions and was time and again forced to take part in costly and deadly warfare.
These wars were caused by Western imperial powers such as Britain and neighbouring Japan which joined the West in a campaign to colonise territory throughout East Asia.

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