China: From Qing to Present
Western Nations Gain Power
Qing Dynasty Loses Power
• 1800, trade with European merchants
profitable for Chinese
• Not important, Europeans just another
set of foreigners who might pay
tribute to emperor
• Little by little, though, Qing dynasty
lost power, prestige, sovereignty over
China
Tea Trade with Britain
• Chinese rulers believed all nations
outside China barbaric
• Wanted little contact with outside
world
• Europeans pushed for trading rights,
but China restricted trade to single
city, Guangzhou
• Chinese wanted silver
• Pleased when tea became popular
with British and British silver flowed
into China
Trade Imbalance
• British distressed by imbalance of trade
• British discovered solution—opium; great demand for opium in China
• Opium addiction large problem; Chinese government banned import
• Foreign merchants continued to smuggle drug into China
Opium War
• 1838, Chinese ordered destruction of British opium in Guangzhou
• British sent naval force to launch attack; captured Shanghai, 1842
• Forced Chinese to sign peace treaty—first of unequal treaties
• Benefited European countries at expense of China
Treaty of Nanjing
Opened five more ports to Western trade
• Gave extraterritoriality to British
– British citizens accused of crimes had right to be tried in British
courts, rather than Chinese
• China forced to sign more treaties with Britain, France, United
States, Russia over next two decades
• Slowly but surely, Qing dynasty losing control over China to
Western intruders
The Taiping Rebellion
The failure of the Qing dynasty to resist the Western powers led some Chinese
to believe that the dynasty had lost the mandate of heaven.
Rebellions
• Failure of dynasty led to series of
rebellions starting in 1850
• Most serious led by Hong Xiuquan;
believed he was brother of Jesus
– Wanted to create “Heavenly
Kingdom of Great Peace” where
no one would be poor
– Followers formed movement
called Taiping Rebellion
Great Toll
• Hong, followers captured large
southeastern China territories
• 1853, controlled Nanjing
• Qing soldiers, British, French armies
attacked and defeated Taiping army
in 1864
• Qing dynasty emerged victorious at
great cost—20 million Chinese
deaths
Foreign Influence Takes Hold
Following Taiping Rebellion
• Reform-minded officials of Qing dynasty tried to make changes
• For example, pushed to build coal mines, factories, railroads
• Encouraged government to make modern weapons, ships
Self-Strengthening Movement
• Movement tried to introduce Western knowledge, languages to China
• Ultimately movement failed
• Strong resistance from traditional Confucian scholars, powerful officials
Japan as Military Power
• China struggled to reform
• Meanwhile, Japan emerging as major military power
• China went to war with Japan over Korea; was soundly defeated by Japan
Western Nations React
Noting the weakness of the Chinese military, Western powers rushed to claim more
territory in China. Germany, Russia, Great Britain and France all carved out spheres
of influence there.
U.S. Involvement
• Late 1890s, United
States got involved
• Americans feared
European nations
would divide China
among selves
• U.S. could lose
profitable trade in
China
Open Door Policy
• U.S. proposed Open
Door Policy, allow free
trade in Chinese ports
under European control
• Allowed U.S. to
continue trade in China
Desperate Straits
• End 1800s, China
desperate
• War with Japan
exposed military
weakness
• Europeans controlled
large portions of
Chinese territory
Time for Reform
Something had to be done for China to remain
independent
• 1898, Chinese emperor enacted series of reforms
– Changed civil service examinations
– Built modern army
• Empress Dowager Cixi, most powerful person in China,
stopped reforms
• Believed they threatened rule of Qing dynasty
• Reformers began to call for end to Qing dynasty
The Boxer Rebellion
Nationalism
• Humiliation of China by West
produced several nationalist
movements
• Most important, Harmonious Fists, or
Boxers
Escalating Violence
Secret Society
• Martial arts training
• Hatred of foreigners
• Belief they were invulnerable to
Western weapons
Uprising Put Down
• Boxer Rebellion began in 1899
• Foreign troops stopped uprising
• Attacked missionaries, Chinese
converts to Christianity
• Heavy fine imposed on Chinese
government for secretly supporting
Boxers
• Laid siege to foreign compounds in
Beijing
• Humiliation for government
The 1911 Revolution
• After Boxer defeat, Qing officials began to enact reforms
• Eliminated system of examinations for officials
• Tried to establish primary, secondary schools
• Took steps to create national army
• Created elected provincial assemblies
New Chinese Republic
• Reforms too little, too late
• Radicals in Japan, U.S. called for
overthrow of Qing dynasty, creation of
new Chinese Republic
• Sun Yixian, known in West as Sun Yatsen, most prominent of radicals
Sun Yixian
• Based revolutionary ideology on three
basic principles—nationalism,
democracy, “people’s livelihood”
• Last of these involved equality in land
ownership, often translated as
socialism
Sun Yixian
Sun believed China should eventually become
democracy.
• Thought Chinese people not ready yet
• Called for overthrow of Qing dynasty, replacement by ruling
nationalist party
• Wanted party to act as guardian of Chinese people until they
were ready for democracy
Revolutionary Ideas
Other people in China began to call for the overthrow of the Qing dynasty.
Revolutionaries
End of Qing Dynasty
• Revolutionary ideas took root among
intellectuals, junior officers in military
academies
• Qing wanted General Yuan Shikai to
quash rebellion
• Negotiated peace instead
• Convinced Chinese emperor to
abdicate
• Event brought end to 268-year rule
of Qing dynasty
• Yuan Shikai became first president of
new Republic of China
• October 1911, group of young
officers led revolt in city of Wuchang
• Support for revolt grew rapidly
• January 1912, revolutionaries
declared a republic
Find the Main Idea
How did European intervention in China
contribute to the downfall of the Qing
dynasty?
Answer(s): Western actions in China led to nationalist
movements and rebellions. In 1911 Chinese
revolutionaries ended the 268-year Qing dynasty and
declared the Republic of China.
China after World War I
World War I devastated much of Europe; postwar treaties and political unrest
reshaped many nations. China also faced postwar unrest.
May Fourth Movement
Uneasy Partnership
• 1917, China declared war on
Germany
• Guomindang nationalists had
support of some Chinese
• Hoped Allied Powers would return
German-controlled Chinese
territories
• Others believed communism best
way to modernize China
• Treaty of Versailles gave Germany’s
Chinese territories to Japan
• May 4, 1919, angry students began
strikes, protests
• Communist Party of China formed,
1921
• Communists, Guomindang formed
partnership, fought warlords who
controlled much of China
Gains, 1920s
• Jiang Jieshi, also known as Chiang Kai-Shek, led Guomindang
• Continued to fight warlords, soon controlled much of China
• Eventually turned against Communist allies, attacked in several cities
• This marked beginning of Chinese Civil War
The Long March
• Mao Zedong, others survived Jiang’s attack, tried to rebuild
• 1934, Communists under Guomindang pressure, tried to escape
• Mao led 100,000 supporters on 6,000 mile trek through China
• Long March tried to find safe place for Chinese Communists; only 8,000 survived
Sequence
What happened in China after World War I?
Answer(s): 1919: strikes and protests; 1921:
Communist Party of China formed; 1927: nationalists
attack Communists; 1934: Long March
Communist China
Communist China
Main Idea
China has undergone many changes since becoming a Communist
nation in 1949. today, after making many market reforms, China has a
rapidly growing economy.
Reading Focus
• How did the Communists take over China?
• What were the main events that took place in China under Mao’s
leadership?
• How did China change in the years after Mao’s death?
Communists Take Over China
During World War II the Chinese Communists and the nationalist
Guomindang put aside differences to fight Japanese invaders.
Civil War Resumes
• Once Japan defeated, civil war
resumed
• Guomindang forces outnumbered
Mao’s Communists, but Communists
had wide support among China’s
peasants
• Rural Chinese peasants had long been
oppressed by brutal landlords, high
taxes, policies of Jiang Jieshi’s corrupt
government
Public Support
• Communists promised to take land
from landlords, distribute to
peasants
• By 1949, Communists had driven
Guomindang almost entirely from
China
• Guomindang control limited to small
areas on mainland, several islands,
including Taiwan
Communists Take Over China
People’s Republic of China
• October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong
stood before huge crowd in Beijing
• Announced formation of People’s
Republic of China
• Mao’s strategy of guerrilla warfare
in rural China
Opposition to Mao
• China faced many difficulties,
including crippled economy, lack
of functional government
• Some countries opposed to
communism refused to recognize
Mao
• Claimed Jiang’s government on
Taiwan was true Chinese
government
Summarize
Why did peasants support the Communist
takeover of China?
Answer(s): because the Communists promised them
land
China under Mao
Having defeated the Guomindang, Mao set about building a Communist
China. His first concern was rebuilding a country that had been torn apart by
years of civil war.
Rebuilding China
• Communist ideology
shaped new
government
• Change in China’s
political, economic
systems
• Government
discouraged practice
of religion
Development
• Also seized property
of rural landowners,
redistributed among
peasants
• Put in place Sovietstyle five-year plans
for industrial
development
First Plan
• 1957, first plan
doubled China’s small
industrial output
• Early efforts to build
economy successful
• Improved economy,
reduced poverty
Early Years
Improvements in literacy rates, public health
• Chinese life expectancy increased sharply over next few
decades
• Improvements came at a cost
– To consolidate Communist control over China, government soon
began to eliminate so-called “enemies of the state” who had spoken
out against government’s policies
– Many thousands—including public officials, business leaders, artists,
writers—killed, or sent to labor camps
China Modeled on Soviet Union
• Soviet Union provided financial support, aid in China’s first years
• China modeled many of its new political, economic, military policies on
Soviet system
• 1950s, territorial disputes, differences in ideology pushed China away from
Soviet ally
The Great Leap Forward
• 1958, in break from Soviet-style economic planning, Mao announced
program designed to increase China’s industrial, agricultural output
• The Great Leap Forward created thousands of communes, collectively
owned farms, of about 20,000 people each
• Each commune to produce food, have own small-scale industry
The Great Leap Forward
Planning Disaster
• Plan was disaster; small commune
factories failed to produce
quantity, quality of goods China
needed
• Combination of poor weather,
farmers’ neglect led to sharp drops
in agricultural production
• Famine spread through rural
China; tens of millions starved to
death between 1959 and 1961
China Virtually Isolated
• Failure of Great Leap Forward led
to criticism of Mao
• Soviet criticism, withdrawal of
Soviet industrial aid widened rift
between two Communist nations
• By early 1960s, relations had
broken down completely; China
virtually isolated in world
community
The Cultural Revolution
New Movement
• Mid-1960s, Mao tried to regain power, prestige lost after Great Leap Forward
• Initiated new movement called Cultural Revolution, sought to ride China of old
ways, create society where peasants, physical labor were the ideal
Red Guards
• Campaign meant eliminating intellectuals who Mao feared wanted to end
communism, bring back China’s old ways
• Mao shut down schools, encouraged militant students, Red Guards, to carry out
work of Cultural Revolution by criticizing intellectuals, values
Destruction of Society
• Mao lost control; Red guards murdered hundreds of thousands of people; by late
1960s, China on verge of civil war before Mao regained control
• Cultural Revolution reestablished Mao’s dominance, caused terrible destruction;
civil authority collapsed, economic activity fell off sharply
Analyze
How did life in China change under Mao?
Answer(s): The failure of the Great Leap Forward and
the isolation of China triggered the Cultural Revolution.
China After Mao
Reforms Begin
•
•
•
•
1976, Mao died; his death followed by retreat from many of his policies
China began to end isolation from rest of world in early 1970s
1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China, meeting with Mao
During last years of Mao’s life, much power wielded by group of four people known
as Gang of Four
Gang of Four
• Gang of four included Mao’s wife,
Jiang Qing—responsible for some of
worst features of Cultural Revolution
• After Mao’s death, more moderate
leaders imprisoned Gang of Four
Four Modernizations
• Deng Xiaoping eventually became
China’s leader, helped put in place farreaching market reforms
• Deng’s reform plan, Four
Modernizations, sought to modernize:
agriculture, industry, science and
technology, defense
Tiananmen Square
More Freedoms
Pro-Democracy Protestors
• Inspired by movement toward
economic freedom
• Spring 1989, democratic reforms in
Eastern Europe
• Chinese demanded more political
freedom
• One million pro-democracy
protestors occupied Beijing’s
Tiananmen Square
Leaders Impatient
Freedom Had Not Arrived
• China’s leaders repeatedly asked
protestors to leave square
• June 1989, tanks, troops moved
into square
• Protestors remained, met with
force
• Killed protestors in Tiananmen
Square Massacre
China Today
China’s economy has grown rapidly as market reforms have continued. Today,
China’s economy is the second largest in the world, behind only the United
States. As the economy has improved, so has the standard of living for many
Chinese.
Economic Development
Other Challenges
• Economic growth has not reached all
China’s 1.3 billion people
• Large population, rapidly expanding
industries
• To prevent further population growth,
Chinese government encourages
families to have only one child
• High demands on resources,
environment
• Imports coal, iron ore, oil, natural gas
to meet energy needs
This has caused shortages and higher costs for these resources on the global
market, as well as air and water pollution within China.
Human Rights Issues
Human rights abuses another concern for critics of
China
• Chinese government continues to limit free speech, religious
freedoms
• Exercises strict control over the media
• Political protestors can be jailed
• Nation’s courts accused of failing to provide fair trials
• Critics increased calls for reforms after Beijing chosen to host
2008 Olympic Games
Make Generalizations
How did China change in the years after Mao’s
death?
Answer(s): isolation lessened, more moderate leaders
took power; new economic freedom led to call for
political freedom, improved standard of living