Chapter 22: Shadows over the Pacific: East Asia Under Challenge
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Qing Dynasty: established by the Manchu nomads from north of the Great Wall after the
fall of the Ming emperors in the mid-17th century.
European traders were confined to the ports of Macao and Canton
Ottoman Empire was in full retreat by the early 18th century: Austria to west, Russia to
north
By the end of the 19th century, internal disruptions and external pressures had
demolished the foundations of Chinese civilization
China 1898-1949 was a half century of foreign invasions, revolution, and social and
economic breakdown.
The Last Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Qing Empire in China
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Qing Dynasty was ruled by the Manchus, (group from north of the Great Wall, invaded
and conquered)
Nurhaci (1559-1626) Key Manchu leader who unified the tribes, and organized 8 banner
armies, harassed the Chinese and adopted many Chinese ways
Ming Dynasty in decline, 1644 allowed behind the Great Wall, then eventually took
over.
Chinese and Manchu officials were paired in appointments to most of the highest posts
of the imperial bureaucracy
Manchus made up less than 2% of population, but had disproportionate control of
highest positions
Retained the civil service examination
Kangxi (1661-1722) Qing Ruler who was also a great Confucian scholar and supporter of
the arts
Economy and Society in the Early Centuries of Qing Rule
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Five Relationships reinforced by the Qing
Women confined to the household
Female infanticide probably increased: more males than females in population
Taxes and state labor demands were lowered
Long finger nails in gentry class: no physical/ menial labor
Profits from overseas trade went to strengthen the merchant class, called the
compradors…specialized in import- export trade
Rot from Within: Bureaucratic Breakdown and Social Disintegration
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Exam system riddled with cheating and favoritism
Bribes, people taking tests for others, etc.
Funding decreased for state projects, drop in funding for military
o Dikes for the Huanghe Yellow River fell into disrepair
o Flooding in the Shandong peninsula
o Food from Americas had created a population explosion: China needed
innovations to increase its productivity
Barbarians at the Southern Gates: The Opium War and After
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Unfavorable trade imbalance: silver bullion being traded by the Europeans
Potent Opium being imported and smuggled into China: 1839: 40,000 chests were
imported into China
Trade imbalance reversed
Opium Dens of Addiction spread throughout China
By 1838 about 4 million people were addicted
1830’s Lin Zexu, a distinguished official, put in charge of ending the trade, Canton was
blocked, warehouses destroyed.
British and merchants protested
Opium Wars 1839 and 1850’s: Britain won, got Hong Kong, increased trade, more
Europeans going to China (including missionaries)
Treaty of Nanjing 1842: also European ambassadors at the Qing court.
A Civilization at Risk: Rebellion and Failed Reforms
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Taiping Rebellion: led by semi-Christianized prophet: Hong Xiuquan. Widespread
Peasant revolt: threatened the Qing Dynasty as well as Confucianism
o Wanted social reform, land redistribution and the liberation of women
Sino- Japanese War 1894-1895: China lost to Japan, and Japan gained further influence
in Korea
Cixi: dowager empress. Imprisoned her nephew in the Forbidden City and violently put
down attempts at reform.
Boxer Rebellion: 1898 to 1901. Society of Harmonious Fists fought to rid China of the
“white devils.” Cixi did not intervene at first in the hope that the Boxers would take care
of the foreigners for her, after a siege of foreigners and a multi-national military
intervention, Cixi helped out the Europeans/ Americans and executed the Boxers
The Fall of the Qing: The End of a Civilization?
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Emerging revolutionary= Sun Yat-sen
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Rebels cutting off their queues in defiance of Manchu regulations for ethnic Chinese to
wear their hair in this fashion.
1911: opposition movements gained intensity against government’s reliance on
Western powers for railway loans, secret society uprisings, student demonstrations,
mutinies amongst imperial troops.
February 1912, the last emperor of China, young boy named Puyi was deposed
Revolution of 1911 toppled the Qing Dynasty
1905: Civil Service Exams were given for the last time.
Japan: Transformation Without Revolution
 Japan faced a demand for more open trade from the West
 Japan chose to industrialize as a response “if you can’t beat them, join them…”
The Final Decades of the Shogunate
 First half of 19th century: Shogunate combined a central bureaucracy with semifeudal
alliances between the regional daimyos and the samurai
 Maintaining semblance of feudalism was costly
 Government paid stipends to the samurai in return for their loyalty
 Neo-Confucianism became more popular amongst the elite, Japan became more secular
 Terakoya: commoner schools that taught reading, writing, and the rudiments of
Confucianism to ordinary people.
 By 1859: more than 40% of men and 15% of women were literate
 Shintoism continued to be important as well
 Dutch Studies: kept alive by a group of Japanese translators to deal with traders at
Nagasaki. Schools of Dutch Studies in all major cities
 Commerce expanded as big merchant companies established monopoly privileges in
many centers.
The Challenge to Isolation
 1853: Matthew Perry: American Commodore, arrived with a squadron in Edo Bay near
Tokyo and used threats of bombardment to insist that Americans be allowed to trade.
 1854: Perry returned and won the right to station an American consul in Japan, then
two ports were open to commerce
 Daimyos were opposed to the new concessions: shogun had to appeal to the emperor
for support
 1860’s Samurai attacks on foreigners and response of Western naval bombardments of
feudal forts.
 Civil war broke in 1866: samurai armed with American Civil War surplus weapons,
causing Japan’s aristocracy to come to terms with the advantages of Western
armaments.
 Samurai defeated a shogunate force
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1868: reform group proclaimed a new emperor named Mutsuhito, called “Meiji” or
“Enlightened One.”
Industrial and Political Change in the Meiji State
 New Meiji govt. set about abolishing feudalism, replacing the daimyos in 1871 with a
system of nationally appointed prefects
 Political power was centralized
 Government sent samurai officials abroad to western Europe and the US to study
economic and political systems and technology.
 EX: public school system in US, Military in Germany, Navy in England
 New Reforms: samurai class was abolished, taxes were converted to wider tax, payable
in money. Most samurai became poor.
 Final samurai uprising 1877, govt. introduced an army based on national conscription
 Iwasaki Yataro: former samurai, set up the Mitsubishi company after 1868: won govt
contracts for railroad contracts for railroad and steamship lines.
 Diet= new parliament, based on a German model: emperor commanded the military
directly and also directly named his ministers: Parliament could advise the govt, but it
could not control it.
 Had high property requirements set for voting rights, only about 5% of Japanese men
Japan’s Industrial Revolution
 Army with universal conscription of young men
 New govt. banks funded growing trade and provided capital for industry
 State-built railroads
 Zaibatsu: huge industrial combines, formed as a result of accumulations of capital and
far-flung merchant and industrial operations
 Japan depended on imports of Western equipment and raw materials such as coal, (and
later oil) for industrial purposes.
Social and Cultural Effects of Industrialization
 Massive population growth: better nutrition and medicine
 Universal education system: primary schools for all
 Japanese women were still confined to the domestic realm for the most part
 Sino-Japanese War: 1894-1895: fought with China over influence in Korea (Japan won)
 Russo-Japanese War in 1904: over Russian influence in Manchuria and Japanese
influence in Korea: Japan won with Navy. Japan annexed in 1910
The Strain of Modernization
 Poor living standards in cities