Qing Dynasty
清朝
(1644-1911)
Emperor Shun Zhi
the 1st Emperor of Qing Dynasty
after Mancus conquered China
“Henry” Pu Yi
Last Emperor of China and
Qing Dynasty
5
China and the New Imperialism
• What trade rights did westerners seek in China? And
how did they go about getting them?
• What internal problems did Chinese reformers try to
resolve?
• How did the Qing dynasty come to an end?
Emperor Qianlong
1736-1795
Empress Dowager Cixi
1835-1908
“As Your
Ambassador can see
for himself we
possess all things. I
set no value on
objects strange and
ingenious and have
no use for your
country’s
manufactures.”
- Emperor
Qianlong
to Lord George
Macartney 1792 (on a
British mission for
trade and commerce
with China)
The Opium Wars
1839-1842
1856-1860
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Euphoria
Emotional detachment
Absence of pain and stress
Altered mood and mental
processes
Sleepiness
Vomiting
Loss of appetite
Itchy skin
Increased urination
Sweating
Inability to concentrate
Impaired vision
Death
Lin Zexu – the Confucian official
Great integrity
and honesty
Given the job of
crushing the
opium trade
Destroyed 20,000
crates
Outraged
European traders
Commissioner Lin
• Sent a “memorial” or
letter to Queen Victoria
• She did not receive it, but
it was published in The
Times
• He underestimated the
military strength of the
British
• Today he is a Chinese
national hero for resisting
European imperialism
“Therefore, the new regulations, in regard to those
barbarians who bring opium to China the penalty is
fixed at decapitation or strangulation”
What did the Chinese do?
• 1839 crackdown on opium trade
• British traders forced to handover opium
chests
How did the British react?
• British send in the Imperial Navy
First Opium War
What do you notice about this picture? What about the warships?
Second Opium War – details:
• Chinese sailors arrested on Hong Kong ship The Arrow
• British said this contravened the Treaty of
Nanjing - extraterritoriality
• The French joined the British - demanded legal
opium trade
• Humiliating defeat of Qing – despite
outnumbering the British and French 10 to 1
• Destruction of the Summer Palace
Consequences of the Opium Wars
Unequal Treaties
1. Reimburse Britain
for costs incurred
fighting the Chinese
2. Open several ports
to British trade
3. Provide Britain
with complete
control of Hong
Kong
4. Grant
extraterritoriality to
British citizens living
in China
1899 French magazine
• What were the causes of the Opium War?
• What were the results?
5
Reform Efforts
In the 1860s, reformers launched the “self-strengthening
movement” in an effort to westernize and modernize China.
The movement made limited progress because the
government did not rally behind it.
After China was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War,
Emperor Guang Xu launched the Hundred Days of Reform.
Conservatives soon rallied against the reform effort and the
emperor was imprisoned.
The Taiping Rebellion1850-1865
Hong Xiuquan
5
Internal Problems
By the 1800s, the Qing dynasty was in decline.
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Irrigation systems and canals were poorly maintained,
leading to massive flooding of the Huang He valley.
The population explosion that had begun a century
earlier created a terrible hardship for China’s peasants.
An extravagant court, tax evasion by the rich, and
widespread official corruption added to the peasants’
burden.
The civil service system was rocked by bribery scandals.
Between 1850 and 1864, peasants took part in the
Taiping Rebellion, the most devastating revolt in history.
Taiping Rebellion
• Leader: Hong Xiuchuan
• He declared himself a brother of Jesus
or a Chinese Jesus
• Thinks that God gave him a sign that
he should build heaven on earth
• Peasants were sick of the Qing
1. They thought that the Qing had lost
the mandate of heaven
2. The Qing were foreigners and not
Chinese.
Some of the Causes of
Unrest in China
• Rapid population growth (why was this a problem?)
• Heavy taxes imposed (who mainly had to pay these
taxes?)
• Foreign presence in ports and cities eg Christian
missionaries, foreign schools, foreign publications
• Failure of Imperial Government to respond to the
peoples’ needs
• Corruption for exams that allowed for promotion of
citizens in society
Are there any connections in the list above,
to the Opium Wars?
What happened?
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started at the south of the country
Took Nanjing in 1853
Land were to be divded up
Equality of women
Foreign nations hoped to continue the
trading, so they sent troops to put down
the rebellion
• Qing dynasty realized that they were too
weak to put down even a small rebellion
This was the Imperial army
led by western soldiers
The
Ever
Victorious
Army
attacks
and
defeats
the
Heavenly
Army
HONG’s
100,000
soldiers
commit
suicide when
they are
defeated in
Nanjing
20,000,000 dead, mainly (Han Chinese) civilians
It is considered one of the deadliest military conflicts in history
After the Taiping Rebellion….
Cixi was the
concubine
of Emperor
Xianfeng
When the
Emperor
died in
1861…
Empress Dowager Cixi
• Cixi was the mother of the new Emperor
• Emperor Tongzhi was only 5 years old
• she was “power behind the curtain”
• brilliant manipulator and ruthless
• alliance with Chinese military
• overthrew the government
• executed 3 government ministers
• she was willing to work with anyone to
maintain her power, eg appointed Han
Chinese to key positions
• she formed an alliance with the British and
French to defeat the Taiping Rebellion
• established first university in Beijing
• would not share power
• distrusted foreigners
• stopped study abroad
program for Chinese
students
• served 150 different dishes at a single banquet
• drank from a jade cup and ate with golden
chopsticks
• Navy funds used to build herself a lavish Summer
Palace
• her personal jewellery vault held 3,000 ebony
boxes of jewels
• Her son, Tongzhi, by
the age of 15 was
drinking heavily and
visiting prostitutes.
• But he died young of
smallpox in 1875 (18 yrs old)
• Emperor Tongzhi had no children
• Cixi selects her nephew,
son of her sister
• Emperor Guangxu
• He’s only 4 years old!
• (involved in the 100 Day Reform…)
Weakness fully exposed
• Sino-Japanese War of 1894 - 1895
– Chinese navy destroyed
– Taiwan ceded to Japan
– large indemnity
– most-favored-nation
– more treaty ports
– Korea
• start of Japanese empire
Sino-Japanese War 1894-95
Surrender of Chinese to Japanese 1895
But the new Emperor grows up...
• Japanese victory shows
China’s weakness
• Emperor Guangxu favours
reform
• He’s influenced by young
Confucian scholars
• The Scholar Advisor Kang
Youwei says – let’s follow
Japan’s example
• modernize the traditional exam system
• study math and science instead of
Confucian texts
• constitutional monarchy with
democracy.
• capitalism to strengthen the economy
• rapidly industrialize all of China
• Emperor is put under
house arrest
• 8 reformers executed
• Scholar Kang flees to
Japan
• Emperor Guangxu dies
1908
Who will be the new Emperor?
• Puyi
• The Righteous Order of
Harmonious Fists
• Attack foreigners,
missionaries, and
Chinese Christians.
• Group backed up by
Empress Cixi.
• Weakened dynasty
• Other countries took
advantage of China
• US ask for China to be
treated as an
independent country.
• “Open door” policy
8-nation forces invaded Beijing
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Harsh settlement
station troops in Beijing
huge indemnity
Russian troops in Manchuria
– until 1905
5
Section 5 Assessment
Which of the following is not true of Chinese trade relations with the
West?
a) Before the 1800s, China enjoyed a trade surplus.
b) Before the 1800s, China had a trade deficit with the
West.
c) In 1842, China was forced to open up five ports to
foreign trade.
d) Before the 1800s, China strictly limited foreign trade.
What happened in the Boxer Rebellion?
a) Angry Chinese attacked foreigners in China.
b) The Chinese started a war with Japan.
c) Western imperialists attacked Chinese peasants.
d) Chinese peasants rose up against the government.
Want to connect to the World History link for this section? Click Here.
5
Section 5 Assessment
Which of the following is not true of Chinese trade relations with the
West?
a) Before the 1800s, China enjoyed a trade surplus.
b) Before the 1800s, China had a trade deficit with the
West.
c) In 1842, China was forced to open up five ports to
foreign trade.
d) Before the 1800s, China strictly limited foreign trade.
What happened in the Boxer Rebellion?
a) Angry Chinese attacked foreigners in China.
b) The Chinese started a war with Japan.
c) Western imperialists attacked Chinese peasants.
d) Chinese peasants rose up against the government.
Want to connect to the World History link for this section? Click Here.
Western invasions
(1839-1900)
• Opium War (1839 - 1842)
• The Second Opium War
(1856 - 1860)
• Russia’s territorial gains
Northeast China (1858 - 1860)
Northwest China (1881 - 1884)
• Sino-French War (1883 - 1885)
• Sino-Japanese War (1894 - 95)
• 8-nation forces (1900)
The scramble for concessions
5
Fall of the Qing Dynasty
As the century ended, anger grew against foreigners in China.
In the Boxer Rebellion, angry Chinese attacked foreigners across China. In
response, western powers and Japan crushed the Boxers.
Defeat at the hands of foreigners led China to embark on a rush of reforms.
Chinese nationalists called for a constitutional monarchy or a republic.
When Empress Ci Xi died in 1908, China slipped into chaos.
In 1911, the Qing dynasty was toppled.
Sun Yixian was named president of the new Chinese republic. Sun wanted to
rebuild China on “Three Principles of the People”: nationalism, democracy, and
economic security for all Chinese.
However, the new republic had to deal with corruption, Communists, Warlords,
and Japan – result Civil War to 1949 
Question 7 (In Groups):
Compare and contrast, using a Venndiagram, the effects or impact of imperialism
on China and the Ottoman Empire.