History Revision The collapse of Imperial China
Dec 29, 2015
Traditional Values 1 ConfucianismTradition and family values to maintai
stability and harmony.Importance of respect and obedience for
one’s parents, elders, rulers.Strict moral code of conduct- respect,
loyalty, obedience, hard-work, generosity and politeness
Traditional Values 2 Emperor worship• The emperor was divine• Heaven gave him authority to rule
– the mandate• He performed religious duties to
ensure China’s prosperity• Famines and disasters were signs
from heaven that the Emperor had lost favour
Conservatism
• This is a very traditional system governed by customs and religion
• No experience of adapting to other cultures
• Belief in the superiority of Chinese civilization
• Foreigners - barbarians• Peasant society
What will we tell the Emperor?
• Imagine you are eunuch or scholar advisors to the Emperor
Your group must deal with one of the following 4 situations
Role Play
• 1. Arrival of Catholic missionaries• 2. Arrival of Vietnamese envoys• 3. Arrival of British merchant ships• 4. Arrival of Japanese ambassador
The Qing/Manchu Dynasty
• Manchurian conquest – 1644• Adopted Chinese political system
and values• Relative tolerance of Christian
missionaries, especially Catholic Jesuits
The scholar class
• Experts in Confucian and Buddhist texts
• Exam based entry• Served as officials/civil
servants of the Manchu dynasty
• Announced government policies
• Some corruption – money for degrees
Tributary States
• Neighboring states that paid tribute to the all powerful Middle Kingdom
• Usually gave gifts to honour the Emperor• Like a Confucian younger brother showing
respect to the head of the family• The leader or ambassador of the must kow tow• Korea, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam,
Burma
Arrival of European Powers
• Viewed European nations as new tributary states
• Europeans refused to kow tow• Failed to see the superiority of
European military• Cultural misunderstanding
Arrival of the British
• They want new markets• They want Chinese tea and silk
and porcelain• First trading post – Canton 1699• British confined to an island
outside city walls
• No interest in British manufacturing goods
• Trade imbalance• British request trade liberalisation (free
trade) in 1793• Ships, guns and new products from the
West showed the weakness of the Manchu
Western Imperialism
• Did it bring new ideas to China?• Were the Christian missionaries agents of
positive change?• Was increasing trade with the West inevitable?• Did the West impose its ideas on the Chinese?• Did Western imperialism merely accelerate
modernisation?• Contact with the West – boon or bane?• See “World of History” pp. 613-14
Opium War 1839-42
• British trade imbalance• Solution – Opium from India• Manchu prohibition• 1839 crackdown on Opium trade• British traders forced to handover
opium chests• British send in the Imperial Navy
British victory – Treaty of Nanjing 1842
• Chinese forced to open 5 coastal ports
• Pay for the war• Liberalise trade• British subjects outside of Chinese
law• Cede island of Hong Kong
Second Opium War 1856-58
• Continuation of the first• British and French demanded legal
opium trade• More free trade• Humiliating defeat of Qing –
destruction of the summer palace• 10 new ports opened
Qing weakened by civil war 1850s
• Taiping Rebellion• A peasant revolt that nearly
destroyed the Manchu• Leader of Taiping was Christian
convert• Causes – corruption, population
explosion
Reform or status quo?
• Some officials wanted mix of East and West
• Western technology + Confucian values
• The military was modernised• Railroads built
Sino-Japanese War 1894-95
• Conflict over Korea• Overwhelming Chinese defeat• Modernisation was limited• Russians and Germans then
demanded terroritory
100 days of reform
• Confucian scholar Kang Youwei – reformist
• Use Japan as model of modernisation
• Young Emperor Guangxu agreed
The real power behind the throne!
• Empress Dowager Cixi
• Supported by the army
• Arrested and executed reformers
• Emperor Guangxu lost power
Boxer Rebellion 1900
• Secret society –martial arts• Drought and unemployment blamed on
foreigners and missionaries• Attacked railroads and murdered
Christians• European expedition rescued besieged
foreigners in Beijing 1900
The most dangerous moment for a bad government…
• Is when it begins to reform• Early 20th century – adopted
Western education• Regional elected assemblies• Empress Dowager died 1908
leaving child Emperor Puyi• The old regime collapses in 1911
revolution
Power Vacuum
• Only the army is strong enough to hold the country together
• No well developed political parties or institutions
• Lacked a large merchant/business middle class• China enters 40 years of civil war and chaos• Breaks up into regions governed by warlords• No unity until Communist victory under Mao
Zedong 1949
Impact of Western Imperialism• Missionary schools• New ideas – democracy, rights of
women, socialism, nationalism• New products• Infrastructure – Western engineers
built railways, telegraph, bridges
Essay themes
• Why did reform fail in Qing Dynasty China?
• What was the impact of contact with the West? For good or for ill?
• What were the weaknesses of Imperial China? Why did it collapse?
• What was the path of modernisation in China? Why was it different to Japan’s?