History Revision

The collapse of Imperial China

What are they doing??

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

Kow Tow

• Deep bow, head touching the floor

• Sign of deep respect

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

Problems• The empire was overextended

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?

Causes of collapse

• Bad leadership?• Conservative culture?• Manchus vs Han chinese?• Aggressive Western imperialism?• Failure to reform?• Geography and population factors?