Why is the Qing Dynasty in China considered Feudalistic?

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Could you please provide example of where Qing China is called "feudal"?

Most likely, it was a common (not historian) usage, or an abuse of the term.

Quoting Wikipedia:

Outside a European context, the concept of feudalism is normally used only by analogy (called semi-feudal), most often in discussions of Japan under the shoguns, and sometimes medieval and Gondarine Ethiopia.

However, some have taken the feudalism analogy further, seeing it in places as diverse as ancient Egypt, the Parthian empire, the Indian subcontinent, and the antebellum American South.

The term feudalism has also been applied—often inappropriately or pejoratively—to non-Western societies where institutions and attitudes similar to those of medieval Europe are perceived to prevail.

Some historians and political theorists (E.g. Elizabeth Brown) believe that the many ways the term feudalism has been used has deprived it of specific meaning, leading them to reject it as a useful concept for understanding society.

The above assertion is repeated in a Wiki article on the examples of feudalism.

In People's Republic of China, official views of history are based on Marxism, and attempts have thus been made to describe Chinese historical periods in Marxist terminology[citation needed]. Chinese history from the Zhou Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty is thus described as the 'feudal period'. In order to do this, new concepts have to be invented such as "bureaucratic feudalism", which most Western historians would consider a contradiction in terms.

As a result of this Marxist definition, feudal, as used in a Chinese context, is commonly a pejorative term meaning 'old unscientific'. This usage is common among both academic and popular writers from Mainland China, even those who are anti-Marxist. The use of the term feudal to describe a period in Chinese history was also common among Western historians of China of the 1950s and 1960s, but became increasingly rare after the 1970s. The current prevailing consensus among Western historians is that using the term 'feudal' to describe Chinese history confuses more than it clarifies, as it assumes strong commonalities between Chinese and European history that may not exist after the Qin Dynasty.

The proper "feudal" period in China should be the period from the Zhou Dynasty 周 to Qin Dynasty 秦 (1122 BC—256 BC) by which time the state of Qin 秦国 had conquered all other states and established the empire.

Please note that the above statements are un-cited on Wiki; but they fully match with the way history was taught in USSR, where any period in any country preceding Capitalist system was called "feudal" - basically meaning "medieval, pre-capitalist in Marxist interpretation of history".

I was able to find the following reference:

"China and Historical Capitalism: Genealogies of Sinological Knowledge" by Timothy Brook, Gregory Blue, Cambridge University Press, Sep 5, 2002

(Can't copy/paste the quote from Google Books, so just follow the link and read page 139)

Upvote:1

The Chinese Revolution of 1911 was the equivalent of the French Revolution (of 1789). Both were directed against "archaic" monarchial structures considered "feudalistic."

That was not technically true in either case. But both monarchies contained "traces" of feudal practice that were the object of scorn.

To take just one example, one of the targets of the French Revolution was to eliminate the droit de seigneur, basically the right of a nobleman to sleep with any woman living on his lands.

http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/399221-graham-and-dodd-investor/12990-incident-shows-rising-fear-of-world-elite

The Qing dynasty had a similar institution called "concubinage," the right of rich men to have concubines, or multiple wives. It was practices like these that caused people to consider these monarchies "feudal."

Upvote:5

While it is not that similar to a classic medieval feudalism of Europe, it still is bearing a striking similarity to European absolutism.

Absolutism is characterized by rise of state bureaucracy, rise of professional armies, appointed officials ruling the territories rather than hereditary nobles, extensive codified laws.

The timeline of Qing Dynasty also exactly coincides with absolutism of Europe, that is 16 century - beginning of 20th century. Similar forms of government occurred during the same period for example in England, France, Prussia, Austria and Russia.

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