2015 China and Western
Imperialism PowerPoint
Imperialism in China: Carving
the Dragon
1750-1914
Main Ideas:
• China’s isolationist policies led to their
decline in the face of European
domination
• The opium trade reversed China’s
domination of trade with the West
• The Opium Wars led to an eventual
“carving up” of Chinese territory and
the breakdown of the imperial system
Weaknesses of the Qing Dynasty
Qing China
• The Manchus &
comparison to Mongols
• Qing society &
economy
– Neo-Confucianism
– Bureaucracy
– Tax reorganization
• Problems of decline
– population crisis
– bureaucratic corruption
– crop failure
Weakness of the Qing Dynasty
(1644 to 1911)
• Sino-centric philosophy, inability
of ruling class to modernize to
keep up with rival powers
• No access to outside world,
population felt no nationalism
• Isolationist policy/lack of trade
increased poverty and hurt foreign
relations
• Population explosion brought
need for recourses, reforms, and
modernization, Qing refused to
address the needs of the people
http://www.history-ofchina.com/qing-dynasty/
Qing China Confronted the West
• Western powers
proved to be a
formidable threat
to Qing
government
– China began to
suffer from another
wave of foreign
invasion, this time
from Europe
Allies soldiers slaughtered Boxers
Importance of Opium
Early Trade Between China and Britain
• China was largely isolationist
• Looked down on Europe and didn’t want to
interact with them
• Chinese restricted European
trade to a single port city:
Canton
• British hoped to trade
manufactured goods for tea, porcelain, and
silk from China
• However, the Chinese were not interested in
European goods. They only wanted silver or
gold
The British Have a Problem…
• They want to trade with China, but
China doesn’t want to trade with them
• If you were a British merchant, what
might you do about this? How can you
get the Chinese to trade with you?
– Talk with your group and brainstorm
possible ways you could get the Chinese to
trade with you…
Britain’s Solution: Sell the Chinese
Opium!
• Opium
– Highly addictive drug
derived from the poppy
plant
• British grew opium in
colonial India
• Use and sale of opium
was illegal in China (and
in Britain!)
Tea Trade Leads To Opium
• Due to the growing volume of tea trade, Britain
wanted greater access to China’s markets.
• Tea exports from China grew from 92,000 pounds
to 2.7 million pounds in 1751.
• By 1800, the British East India Company was
buying 23 million pounds of tea per year at a cost
of 3.6 million pounds of silver.
• Concerned that the trade with China was draining
Britain ‘s silver supply, Britain looked for different
commodity to use to buy the tea and porcelain.
• They found it in OPIUM!
The Opium Trade
• British began to forge
links with Chinese
opium dealers
• Started to illegally
trade opium for
Chinese goods
• By 1820, 80% of all
people living in
Canton were addicted
to opium
• Britain essentially was
a huge international
drug dealer
Background to the Opium War
• China utilized isolationist
policy prior to 1830
• British companies bought
huge amounts of opium to
smuggle into China
• 90% of male population
under 40 along the coast
was addicted
• 3,540,450 pounds of opium
imported to China in 1832
English East India Company and
Opium
• Held monopoly on production and export of
opium in India
• Peasant cultivators often coerced and paid in
advance for cultivation of poppies
• Sold in Calcutta for a profit of 400%
The Tea-Opium Connection
• Foreigners were only allowed
to trade at the southern port
of Guangzhou.
• Trade balance was in China’s
favor.
• European merchants decide to
sell the habit-forming drug
opium (a narcotic derived
from the opium poppy plant)
in China to obtain a favorable
trade balance.
• By 1835, as many as 12million
Chinese were addicted
• Many Chinese people became addicted to
opium, causing China to ban Britain from
trading it.
Primary Source
• In 1835, a young Chinese government official named
Peng Songyu left Beijing to work in the Yunnan
Province. He was surprised to discover how
widespread opium smoking had become:
• “When I work privately for Zhang, the other six
colleagues of mine all lived on opium. After lunch, they
would each take a lamp and lie down; and they would
bring their own pipes to share in the evenings. I
worked around them for almost three years, but never
tasted the smoke, my hands never touches the tools.
All my friends tried very hard to persuade me but I was
never moved. They all laughed at me and said that I
was willing to suffer.”
Commissioner Lin
The Lin Zexu Memorial Museum,
Macao, China.
• Imperial Commissioner
Lin Zexu was appointed in
March 1839 to end the
opium trade. He did this
by terminating all trade
until the British
surrendered their opium
and signed pledges to
stop further smuggling.
• The Superintendent of
Trade, Capt Elliott,
ordered 21,306 chests to
be delivered to Lin.
Letter from Lin Zexu to Queen Victoria
(1839)
• Alarmed by the epidemic of addiction, the Chinese
government attempted to end the opium trade
• Lin Zexu (ambassador for the Chinese government)
wrote a letter to Queen Victoria, the Queen of
England demanding an end to the opium trade
• It is unknown whether the letter ever reached the
Queen
• Task
– Read the letter
– In your small group, answer the questions based
on your reading
– Whole class discussion
“By what right do they [British merchants] use the
poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people? I have
heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly
forbidden by your country; that is because the harm
caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not
permitted to do harm to your own country, then even
less should you let it be passed on to the harm of other
countries.” – Lin Zexu
What is the argument of Lin Zexu to the British?
Aim: What were the implications of the
Opium Wars?
Lin’s Destruction of the Opium
Chests
• All told, Elliot delivered 21,306 chests of the drug to the Chinese.
• This was an enormous amount: at roughly 140 pounds per chest,
• Lin suddenly found himself with three-million pounds of opium on his
hands.
• This was destroyed over a period of 23 days in June 1839, at Chuanbi by
the bay at Canton.
• The process required the labor of around 500 workers and involved three
huge trenches (150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 7 feet deep) lined with
stone and timber and filled with approximately two feet of water from a
nearby creek.
• The opium balls were broken into pieces, dumped into the trenches, and
stirred until dissolved, after which salt and lime were added, creating
noxious clouds of smoke.
• The “foreign mud” was then diverted to the creek and washed out to sea
Lin’s Destruction of the Opium
Chests
• Lin and around 60 Chinese officials, together with
foreign spectators, observed the destruction from an
elaborately decorated pavilion erected nearby.
• In a little known coda to this famous event, Lin also
offered prayers to the spirit of the Southern Sea,
apologizing for poisoning its domain with these I
mpurities and advising the deity (as the historian
Jonathan Spence has recorded) “to tell the creatures
of the water to move away for a time, to avoid being
contaminated.”
Opium Primary Source
• The illegal opium trade was “a mere incident to the
dispute; no more the cause of war than the throwing
overboard of the tea in the Boston Harbor was the
cause of the North American Revolution.
• The cause of the war is the kow-tow!—the arrogant
and insupportable pretensions of China, that she will
hold commercial intercourse with mankind not upon
terms of equal reciprocity, but upon insulting and
degrading forms of relation between lord and vassal.”
• -- John Quincy Adams, 1841.
Eve of First Opium War
• The British were shipping
some 40,000 chest of
opium to China each year.
• It was estimated that
around there were ten
million opium smokers in
China.
• Two million of them
addicts.
• Opium Imports to China
From India
• One Chest =140 Pounds
• 1773
1000 Chests
• 1790
4000 Chests
• 1820s
10,000 Chests
• 1828
18,000 Chests
• 1839
40,000 Chests
• 1865
76,000 Chests
• 1884
81,000 Chests
*This was the peak of the
opium trade.
First Opium War
Pretext for War
• Capt Elliott objected to individual traders signing
pledges to stop the sale of opium as it
undermined British jurisdiction over its subjects.
• In November 1839, a clash occurred between 21
war junks and several British warship over the
defection of a ship whose captain had signed a
bond and was proceeding to Canton under
Chinese protection.
• The British stopped all trade and the Governor
General of India declared war on January 31,
1840.
First Opium War
• 1838 Chinese instituted death penalty for
native traffickers of opium
• March 1839 – new commissioner to control
opium trade – Lin Zexu
• Lin imposed embargo on Britain unless they
permanently ended the trade trade
First Opium War
• March 27, 1839 – British Superintendent of
Trade – Charles Elliot demanded all British
subjects turn over opium to him
• Opium amounting to a year’s worth of trade
was given to Commissioner Lin
• Trade resumed with Britain and no drugs were
smuggled
First Opium War
• Lin demanded British merchants to sign a
bond promising not to deal opium under
penalty of death
• Lin disposed of the opium – dissolving it in the
ocean
• Did not realize the impact of this action!
First Opium War
• British merchants and government regarded
this as destruction of private property
• Responded by sending warships, soldiers, and
the British India Army into China June 1840
• Had superior military force – attacked coastal
cities, defeated Qing forces easily
Britain declared war. Chinese arms were
no match for European technology.
War Breaks Out
• The Qing emperor was angry about the drug
trade coming from the British.
• In 1839 the Emperor’s advisor writes a letter to
Queen Victoria demanding the drug trade stop.
• The Opium War breaks out between Britain and
China in 1839, but is fought mainly at sea.
• The Chinese are no match for Britain’s steampowered gun boats.
• The Treaty of Nanjing is signed in 1842.
Looting During First Opium War
• Everywhere the British forces attacked, plunder and
pillage followed in their wake.
• It was taken for granted that silver dollars, whether
found in public or private places, were legitimate
victor’s spoils.
• The foreign invaders would light their cooking fires
with precious books, beautiful textiles, and onceelegant but now splintered furniture.
• The word loot comes from the Hindu work lut, which
means to plunder or take forcibly.
• This is when loot became an accepted part of the
English language.
Effects/Impact of First Opium
War
End of the War
• British took Canton and sailed up the Yangtze
River
• Took Tax Barges, cut revenue of imperial court
of Beijing
• 1842 Qing sued for peace
• Ended with Treaty of Nanjing
The Treaty of Nanjing
The First Opium War ended in a
decisive defeat for China.
The humiliating Treaty of Nanjing
resulted.
Five ports were opened to foreign
trade.
Treaty of Nanjing
• Referred to as the Unequal Treaties –
accepted 1843
• China
– Ceded Hong Kong to the British
– Opened ports to British – Canton, Amoy, Fuzhou,
Ningbo, Shanghai
The Treaty of Nanjing
Hong Kong island was ceded to the
British.
The status of “extraterritoriality”
given to her merchants (they were
not subject to Chinese laws).
Huge reparations were imposed for
the destroyed opium.
Vocab1
extraterritoriality
living in a section of a
country set aside for
foreigners but not
subject to the host
country’s laws
Treaty of Nanjing
• Great Britain received
– 21 million ounces of silver
– Fixed tariffs
– Extraterritoriality for British citizens on Chinese
soil
– Most favored nation status
– Allowed missionaries into interior of China
– Allowed British merchants sphere of influence in
and around British ports
Treaty of Nanjing
• Unresolved Issues
– Status of opium trade with China
– Equivalent American treaty forbade opium trade
with China
– However, both Americans and British were subject
only to the legal trade of their consuls
The Treaty of Nanjing
The U.S. and France extracted similar
concessions two years later
1856: The Second Opium War
Renewal of war with Great Britain
(later joined by France).
China again defeated.
Results of Treaty of Nanjing
• British get Hong Kong
Effects of the First
Opium War
Britain received large spoils (indemnity)
Britain gains control of Hong Kong
China opened 5 ports to foreign trade
British citizens in China received
extraterritoriality meaning they lived under
British Laws and could be tried in British courts
• Allowed Christian missionaries to preach in
China
•
•
•
•
China: Now What?
• Following the Treaty of Nanjing, what
problems is China facing?
• If you were a Chinese government
official, what would you advise China to
do?
• In short, how can China resist
imperialism?
Europeans Encroaching More
and More on China
Asia was carved up after the Opium Wars
England annexed Hong Kong and Kowloon
France took over Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Laos)
Russia moved into Chinese Turkistan and Manchuria
Japan grabbed Taiwan and won dominance over Korea
This cartoon depicts England, Germany, Russia, France, and
Japan at the table, ready to cut up China after the Opium
Wars.
3/15/2016
48
The Opium Wars brought an end to the
isolation of the ancient Chinese civilization
and introduced far-reaching social, economic
and cultural ideas to the Chinese.
Multimedia Learning, LLC COPYRIGHT 2006
WRITTEN BY HERSCHEL SARNOFF & DANA BAGDASARIAN
3/15/2016
49
Other Westerners in China
• Belgium, France, Holland (Netherlands),
Portugal, Prussia (Germany), United States
• Spheres of influence
– Exclusive trading areas
• Extraterritoriality
– Tried in their own courts and under their own laws
Extraterritorial Rights
• The British enjoyed extraterritorial rights, which
meant that British citizens were not subject to
Chinese laws, but, if accused of a crime in
Chinese trading ports, but would only be tried by
British courts.
• In 1844 the U.S. signed a the Treaty of Wanghia
in which American citizens were given
extraterritorial rights as well.
• This arrangement protected Europeans and
Americans from prosecution for drug smuggling.
More Western Presence
• Many Chinese began to realize that
British army and navy are superior to
China’s
• More foreign presence/aggression in
China coincided with waves of
domestic turbulence, such as the
Taiping and Nian
Growing Internal Problems
• Population grew to 430 million by 1850, a 30
percent increase in 60 years.
• Food production did not keep up with this
increase.
• Discouragement increased opium addiction
• Chinese began to rebel against the Qing
Dynasty
Second Opium War or Arrow War
Second Opium War 1856 - 1860
• Also known as Arrow War
• Followed incident when Chinese bordered
British registered, Chinese owned ship – the
Arrow
• Crew was accused of piracy and smuggling
– Were arrested
Arrow War
• The Arrow War or Second Opium War (1856-60) was
prompted by the seizure of the lorcha Arrow.
• The Arrow was flying a British flag used for safe
conduct between Canton and Hong Kong. Although
released by the Chinese, an appropriate apology was
not given.
• The incident, together with the “judicial murder” of a
priest, was considered a convenient opportunity for
treaty revision.
Second Opium War
• “Second Opium War,” or “Arrow War”
(1856-1860)
– British moved jointly with the Americans
and French to press for treaty revision
– Qing search of British ship, “Arrow,” a
smuggler’s ship furnished British pretext
for a new series of military action
Second Opium War
• British claimed ship was flying British flag and
was protected under the Treaty of Nanjing
• War delayed by Taiping Rebellion and Indian
Mutiny
• British attacked Guangzhou one year later
• Aided by allies of United States, Russia, and
France
Second Opium War
• Treaty of Tientsin was created in July 1858 –
was not ratified by China until 2 years later
• Hostilities broke out in 1859 when China
refused the establishment of British Embassy
in Beijing
• Fighting erupted in Hong Kong and Beijing
– British burned the Summer and Old Summer
Palace and looted the city
Effects/Impact of Second Opium
War
Results of the Violent War
• Violent war took place
in 1859 before the forts
of Dagu, where Qing
army was defeated
• Twenty thousand British
and French troops
entered into Bejing,
sacked and burnt the
Summer Palace, the
famous Yuan-mingyuan, to the ground
Yuanming yuan ruins
Treaty of Tienjin
• The treaty powers were granted the following
rights plus a 6 million tael indemnity.
– To maintain resident legations in Beijing.
– To travel in all parts of the interior with passport.
– To trade in ten additional ports, four of which were on
the Yangtze River..
– For missionaries to travel and anywhere in China.
• Additional negotiations in Shanghai legalized the
opium trade and revised the tariff schedule.
• To become effective, ratified copies of the treaty
were required to be exchanged in Beijing.
Treaty of Tientsin 1858
Legalized the opium trade
Allowed freedom for Christian
missionaries
Increased ports and trading privileges to
Western merchants
Imposed further war reparations
Treaty of Tientsin
• 1860 ratified the treaty at the Convention of Peking
– Britain, France, Russia and the United States
would have the right to station legations in
Beijing (a closed city at the time)
– Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for
foreign trade, including Niuzhuang, Danshui,
Hankou and Nanjing
– The right of foreign vessels including warships
to navigate freely on the Yangtze River
Treaty of Tientsin
– The right of foreigners to travel in the internal
regions of China for the purpose of travel, trade
or missionary activities
– China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and
France in 2 million taels of silver respectively,
and compensation to British merchants in 2
million taels of silver.
– The Chinese are to be banned from referring to
Westerners by the character "yi" (barbarian).
– Legalized the import of Opium
China Encircled By Imperialist
Powers
More Foreign Control of
China
 Annam, etc.
› Merged into French Indo-China (1883)
 Burma (Myanmar)
› Annexed by British (1886)
 Formosa
› Attacked and taken by Japanese (1895)
 Korea
› Annexed by Japanese (1910)
 Liaotung Peninsula (Manchuria)
› Concessions to Japanese (1910)
Manchuria
• Imperial powers (particularly Japan and
Russia) vied for control of the Manchurian
Railway
• France, Germany, and Russia coerced Japan to
return the Liaotung Peninsula to China
• In the end of 1850’s,
Qing China was encircled
by foreign powers
China Encircled
– Russia in the northwest—
invaded Xinjiang
– Japan in the east—
occupied the Ryukyu
Islands
– France in the southeast
Asia and southeast
China—took Vietnam, laid
seige to Ningpo, occupied
the Penghu Islands
(Pescadores)
British soldiers slaughtered boxers
Foreign Influence Grows
• Chinese government has both internal and
external pressures.
– Internal
• Taiping Rebellion
• Other rebellions
– External
• Pressure from foreign powers was increasing
• Debates emerged in the Qing court
– Some leaders wanted to reform and modernize
according to Western ways.
– Some clung to traditional Chinese ways
Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
• A peasant revolt in China
• Lead by school teacher Hong Xiuquan –
called for the end to the Qing dynasty
• Rebellion last from 1850-1864 before
Chinese government defeated the
rebellion
The Founder of the Taiping
• The founder: Hong
Xiuquan
• Originally a school
teacher who passed the
local preliminary
examination but failed
provincial examination
four times
• Inspired by Good
Words to Exhort the
Age, he claimed that
during his illness after
the failure of the
third examination, he
was adopted by the
Heavenly father as
the younger brother
of Jesus Christ and
was given a divine
mission
Jintian where Hong started his “uprising”
Identify the devils of China and cast
them out.
The devils are idols of China’s
temples (including ancestral
temples), the Manchu rulers, opium
and alcohol, foot-binding and
prostitution
God’s Chinese Son
• After failing the civil service exam for a third time in
1837, Hong Xiuquan became ill and delirious for 40
days. He saw visions to which he later applied a
Christian interpretation.
• Hong believed that he had seen God, met Jesus and
been given divine mission to save mankind and
exterminate demons.
• Hong also believed that he was the source of new
revelation.
• Hong’s beliefs emphasized the Old Testament and
the 10 Commandments.
God’s Chinese Son (cont’d)
• Hong became an itinerant preacher among the
Hakka charcoal burners of Guangxi.
• The ranks of his followers quickly grew. He
preached strict morality, including monogamy and
the prohibition of foot binding.
• His social message included equality of men and
women, communalism and the redistribution of
land according to the Rites of Zhou.
• His military organization included both male and
female units.
The God Worshippers
• Converts many of the poor Hakka charcoal
burners in Guangxi
• He and his growing cult engage in iconoclasm
throughout the region
• He translates the Bible and gains more
followers
• By 1850 he has over 30,000 followers and war
begins.
Goal of Taiping Rebellion
• Its goal was to overturn the Manchu regime,
which was regarded as alien, repressive, and
corrupt
• The founder and his cohort began their
movement by organizing religion called the
God-Worshippers (Bai Shangdi jiao)
– Based on their understanding of the Catholicism
derived from a pamphlet written by a Christian
convert, Liang Afa, entitled Good Words to Exhort
the Age (World)
Reforms of the “Heavenly Kingdom”
• Women equal to men (no foot binding;
women can serve in govt & army)
• Property held in common
• No opium, tobacco, alcohol, polygamy,
gambling, prostitution
• The God-Worshippers grew rapidly
and its members rose from 10,000 to
30,000
• Local and central governments
found the growing God-Worshippers
threatening and began to suppress
them
• This resulted in mass killing and
wars between them, which
anticipated a large-scale rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
• By 1850s, Hong organized a massive peasant army
and took control over large areas of southeastern
China.
• 1853 Hong captured Nanjing and made it his
capital.
• Qing imperial troops and British and French forces
all launched attacks against the Taiping
government.
• By 1864 the rebellion was put down, but at least 20
million people died in the rebellion.
• Some historians say it is more like 50 to 70 million.
Taiping’s Quick Success
• After several major battles with government
troops, the Taipings took control of the ancient
capital, Nanjing, which became its capital
• They also took control of important cities in
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, and Anhui and with this
areas as their military bases, continued to launch
military and cultural campaigns against the
Manchu rulers
• The expansion of the Taiping and its forceful
implementation of the Christian faith resulted in
the Taipings’ conflict with the people
Heavenly
Kingdom
Advantages
Imperial
Army
Advantages
Religious
Fervor
French and
English Armies
Strong military
backed by
intelligent
generals and
fearless warriors
Failure of
rebellion to set
up administrative
posts in
conquered areas
Speed of Army
Hung’s disregard
for political
structure
• At their height Taipings control ¼ China, 600 major
cities
• Huge armies threaten to end the Qing Dynasty
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
• After succeeding in taking control of Nanjing
(Nanking), Hong built Taiping’s capital there
– Killing all Qing bureaucrats and Confucian scholars
and burnt all Confucian texts, which Hong regarded
as “evil”
• He proclaimed himself Heavenly King and five
of his closest comrades Eastern, Western,
Southern, Northern, and Wing Kings
Fall of the Taipings
• The fratricide among the Taipings resulted in
the gradual collapse of the kingdom, even
though it might have promise to overthrow
the Qing regime
• A 100,000 Taipings died in Nanjing rather than
surrender to the Qing.
• Death of Population during the rebellion: 5070 million
Destruction of Nanjing
Other Ways Chinese Resisted
Change
Resistance to Change
• Dowager Empress Cixi held
power in China from 18621908.
• She was committed to
Chinese traditional values.
• She backed some attempts at
reform like the “SelfStrengthening Movement”
which wanted to update
China’s educational system,
diplomatic service, and
military.
• The movement had mixed
results.
Other Nations Step In
• Foreign nations attack China and
through treaties gain more control over
China’s economy.
• Many of Europe’s major powers and
Japan gain spheres of influence—areas
in which the foreign nation controlled
trade and investment.
• The U.S., having no sphere of influence,
declared its Open Door Policy
demanding free trade for all nations in
China.
• Britain and other European nations
agree to this demand.
Self-Strengthening Movement
Vocab2
self-strengthening
a policy promoted by
reformers toward the end of
the Qing dynasty under
which China would adopt
Western technology while
keeping its Confucian values
and institutions
Self Strengthening Movement
Dowager Empress Cixi resisted reforms
but did support “self strengthening”.
Sought to update political, educational
and military institutions.
Arsenals to
manufacture
modern weapons
set up.
The Self-Strengthening Movement
• Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and
Zuo Zongtang were all actively
involved in the Self-Strengthening
Movement.
• The goal was to deal with China’s
deficiencies by:
Prince Gong (1833-1898)
– Studying science, international law
and foreign languages.
– Establishing arsenals and shipyards
in Shanghai, Canton and Fuchou.
– Conducting relief projects in the
Yangtze River basin.
– Reforming the civil service exam
system and local government.
Self-Strengthening Philosophy
• Many in Qing government and Chinese society
were concerned over the subversive impact of
Western science and technology.
• The principal argument for learning from the west
was that “barbarian techniques” were
appropriate against “barbarians.” Western
techniques would be used to protect Chinese
civilization.
• The ability to separate “function” from
“substance” was understandably doubted by
many.
Self Strengthening Movement
Mixed results since arsenals still run by
mostly foreigners.
Imbalance of trade from import of
machinery, raw materials.
Self-Strengthening Movement
EFFECTS
 Produced warships & ammunitions
Boosted Chinese morale
Created large military arsenals run by
foreigners that led to a trade imbalance and a
lack of quality control because foreigners did
not like working with Chinese resources.
China Losing More To Imperialist
Powers
War with Japan
• Japan’s sweeping
economic and
institutional
reforms of the
Meiji Restoration,
which began in
1868, made Japan
a strong power
Captivated Boxers
In 1894, Japan
went to war
with China
and defeated
China.
Japan
annexed Korea
and created its
own sphere of
influence in China.
Japan’s Military Expansion
• Resulted in:
– the annexation of Ryukyus
(1879)
– seizing Korean palace during its
domestic rebellion (1894)
– seizing Chinese harbor at
Lüshun
– Defeating Chinese Northern
Fleet (2 battleships, 10 cruisers,
2 torpedo boats (1895)
• Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded
Taiwan to Japan “in
perpetuity”
Allies soldiers whoring
The Sino-Japanese War
By 1895, Japan defeated China and
gained control of Formosa (Taiwan)
and Korea.
This defeat and the failure of the SelfStrengthening Movement
highlighted the need for reform.
Chinese conservatives disagreed.
Open Door Policy and Spheres of
Influence
Vocab3
spheres of influence
areas in which foreign
powers have been
granted exclusive rights
and privileges, such as
trading rights and
mining privileges
French cartoon, late 1890s
While a Mandarin official
helplessly looks on, "China" as a
pie is about to be "carved up"
by:
- Queen Victoria (GB)
- Wilhelm II (Germany)
- Nicholas II (Russia)
- Marieanne (France)
- Meiji Emperor (Japan)
Spheres of Influence
Spheres of Influence
Foreign nations took advantage of
China’s weakness and established
colonial footholds.
Extraterritoriality applied in these
foreign enclaves.
U.S. favored an “Open Door Policy” to
prevent outright colonization.
Open Door Policy 1899
• CAUSES
– China has a weak military, as well as economic and
political problems.
– China is being divided up into more Western
spheres of influence.
– U.S. fears that China would be divided into formal
colonies and American traders would be shut out.
Open Door Policy
• 1899 & 1900
• All nations allowed equal access
to open trading ports
• Only Chinese government
allowed to collect taxes on trade
• No great power exempt from
paying harbor dues or railroad
charges
• Scramble for spheres of influence
after 1st Sino-Japanese War
(1894-1895)
Open Door Policy
• Proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay
(1899)
• Fear that China would be carved up between
imperialist powers
• Left China’s independence and territory intact
• All nations could trade equally in China
• Endorsed internationally
– But not always strictly followed
New Scramble for China
• France
– Kwangchow – 99-year lease
• Germany
– Shantung Peninsula – sphere of influence
• Great Britain
– Wei-hai-wei – naval base
– Yangtze valley – sphere of influence
• Russia
– Liaotung Peninsula – lease
– Manchuria – economic concessions
Open Door Policy
• American interested in Chinese
market for cheap cotton goods
• U.S. late to imperialistic growth in
China
• All nations except Japan
acknowledged the importance of
keeping China’s territorial and
administrative integrity
• Re-circulated notes again in 1900
• Overall led to Manchurian crisis of
1931 and war between China and
Japan in 1937
Open Door Policy 1899
• EFFECTS
– This policy would protect American trading rights
in China.
– Keep China free from colonization
– But China was still at the mercy of economic
imperialism by foreign powers.
Chinese Resistance to Imperialist
Threat
Empress Dowager Cixi
• Cixi’s rule as regent from “behind
the curtain” was symbolic of the
problems faced by China.
• She was committed to maintaining
power.
– She manipulated the succession of
three child emperors.
– She and those around her were totally
corrupt,e.g., building the marble
pavilion with funds intended for the
navy.
Cixi (1835-1908)
• Nevertheless, provincial governors
such as Li Hongzhang remained
loyal to the dynasty.
An Upsurge in Chinese Nationalism
• 1898, Emperor Guangxu
introduced measures to
modernize China’s educational
system, economy, military, and
government
• Qing officials saw these
innovations as a threat and called
on the Dowager Empress to act.
• She has Guangxu arrested and
reverses his reforms.
Emperor Guangxu (center)
The Hundred Days Reforms
The Hundred Days Reforms
June 11 to September 21, 1898:
Emperor Guangxu ordered a series of
reforms aimed at making sweeping
social and institutional changes.
The edicts attempted to modernize
China and promote practical studies
instead of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy.
The Hundred Days Reforms
Conservative ruling elites opposed the
reforms. Proposed moderate change.
Empress Dowager Cixi engineered a
coup d'etat on September 21, 1898,
forcing Guangxu into seclusion.
Cixi took over the government as
regent.
The Hundred Days Reforms
The Hundred Days' Reform ended
with the rescindment of the new
edicts and execution of six reformist
leaders.
Boxer Rebellion
Before the Boxers: China Crucified
• During 1898 and 1899, foreign powers
intensified their pressures and outrages on
China
– The Germans occupied Qingdao
– The British took over Weihaiwei
• Also forced the Qing to lease a large area of fertile
farmland on the Kowloon peninsula north of Hong
Kong for 99 years, which the British called “The
New Territories”
– The Russians occupied Lüshun
Causes of Boxer Rebellion
Foreign influence – including architecture,
industrial machines, technology and
religion
Religion – Christian Missionaries
threatened Chinese Confucianism
Foreign Troops – foreigners lived under
extraterritoriality, did not follow Chinese
laws, lived in own communities
Who were the Boxers?
• Also known as “Righteous fists of fury”
• Formed in the Shandong province
• Spiritual & ritualistic
Esherick, J. The Origins of the Boxer Uprising p292
What The Boxers Stood For
• Wanted westerners and Christians out
• They were not permitted to kill non-foreigners
• Followed these rules:
 Do not covet wealth
 Do not lust after women
 Do not disobey your parents
 Do not violate Imperial laws
 Eradicate the foreigners
 Kill corrupt officials
 When you walk on the streets, keep your head lowered,
looking neither left nor right
 When you meet a fellow member, greet him with hands
clasped together
Qing Declaration of War
• Western forces seized the forts at Dagu to provide
cover for a troop landing, should full-scale war
broke out
• News of battle at the Dagu ports arrived Beijing,
which agitated Qing court and Beijing citizens
– German minister was shot dead in the street as he went to
an interview with the Zhongli Yamen, which was in
charge of foreign affairs
– The Boxers force laid siege to the foreign-legation areas
• Praising the Boxers as a loyal militia, the empress
dowager Cixi issued a “declaration of war” against
the foreign powers
Boxer War:



Confrontation b/w 'Eight Nation Alliance' (Russia, Japan,
USA, Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy) and
the Boxers.
21st of June 1900 - The Qing government declared war on all
Christians and allied foreigners
The 'Siege of Peking'
Img source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/china-postcard/4510532354/sizes/o/in/photostream/
Full-Scale War
• With the government behind them, the Boxers launched a
series attacks on mission compounds and on foreigners
• In August 1900, the colonial troops of the Allied nations,
about 20,000, fought they way through Beijing
– Soldiers of eight nations sacked the city and burnt imperial palace,
the Forbidden City, and used it as the headquarters for the foreign
expeditionary force
– Boxer resistance quickly crumbled, hundreds of thousand were
killed
– More than two hundred foreigners were killed
– Empress Dowager and Emperor Guangxu fled to the West,
establishing a temporary capital in the city of Xi’an
Effects/Impact of Boxer Rebellion
Trade
“Open-Door” Policy applied
to all parts of China instead
of only the areas within the
sphere of influence
Educational system replaced
by Westernized systems
leading to university degrees
Education
Mode of thinking changed
from Confucianism to
sciences, economics,
engineering, geography, etc.
Military
Military system changed
according to the models of
Westerners and Japanese
Unequal Treaties
Revision of treaties were
delayed due to this barbaric
rebellion
Qing government
Due to its support of the
“boxers”, its international
position was weakened
tremendously
Results of the Boxer Rebellion
• August 1900—a
multinational force of
19,000 troops marches on
Beijing and defeats the
Boxers.
• Though the Boxer
Rebellion failed to expel
foreign influence, the
Chinese have a renewed
sense of nationalism and
realization they must
resist foreign influence.
A Boxer during the revolt.
Effects of Boxer Rebellion
China had to make concessions to foreigners
Chinese conservatives supported Westernization
Admitted women to schools
Stressed science and math instead of Confucian
thought
Economic expansion – growth of exports
Chinese industry developed – emergence of
urban working class
Spread Chinese Nationalism
Boxer Rebellion (1900)
 Chinese people resented foreign influence and
power
 Order of the Patriotic Harmonious Fists
› Called “Boxers” by Westerners
› Demanded that foreigners leave China
› Killed circa 300 and vandalized foreign property
 European imperialists, Americans, and Japanese
put down the rebellion
 China paid $333,000,000 in damages and had to
permit military forces in Peking (Beijing) and
Tientsin
Aim: How did the Chinese attempt to end
foreign imperialism in their country?
• Do Now: Write a paragraph in your notes explaining the story of the
three cartoons below in regards to imperialism in China?
Revolution Begins
Fall of the Qing (Manchu)
Dynasty
• Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908)
– De facto Chinese monarch (1861-1908)
– “Make me unhappy for a day and I will
make you unhappy for a lifetime.”
– Conservative and anti-foreign
– Blamed by many Chinese for foreign
imperialist power in China
Fall of the Qing (Manchu)
Dynasty
 Emperor Puyi – the “Last Emperor”
› Lived 1906-1967
› Ruled China 1908-1912, and as a
puppet for 12 days in 1917
› Puppet emperor of Manchukuo
(Japanese-ruled Manchuria), 19321945
› Spent ten years in a Soviet prison after
WWII
› Lived a quiet life as a regular citizen in
communist China
› Died of disease during the Cultural
Revolution (1967)
Beginnings of Reform
• 1905 Dowager Empress sends out a delegation to study the
operation of different governments.
• 1906 officials recommend China’s government be
restructured.
• A constitutional monarchy was suggested.
• A national assembly was convened within a year, but change
was slow.
• In 1908 the court promised a constitutional government by
1917.
• China would continue to have unrest for the next four
decades.
Revolution
• Qing’s being “carved up like a melon” was a
national disgrace, which Han Chinese could not
tolerate
• Revolutionaries wanted to overthrow the
Manchu state “to avenge the national disgrace”,
and “to restore the Chinese”
Republican Revolution
• Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian)
– Founded Kuomintang
(Nationalist party)
• Overthrew Manchu (Qing)
dynasty
• Established a republic
• President of Chinese Republic
who succeeded him – Yuan Shihk’ai
Kuomintang symbol
Three Principles of the
People
• Book published by Sun Yat-sen before his
death in 1925
1. Principle of Mínquán
•
Democracy – the people are sovereign
2. Principle of Mínzú
•
Nationalism – an end to foreign imperialism
3. Principle of Mínshēng
•
Livelihood – economic development, industrialization,
land reform, and social welfare – elements of
progressivism and socialism
Sun Yat Sen’s Nationalist Movement
• Main goals:
– To make China a modern state.
– Create national unity in China
– Create a more democratic
China
– Get foreign powers out of
China