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Chapter 26 – Challenge and Transition in East Asia. 1800-1914. Lesson 1 – The Decline of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing went from the peak of its power to collapse by between 1800 and 1911 due to: External pressure from western countries
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Chapter 26 – Challenge and Transition in East Asia 1800-1914
The Qing went from the peak of its power to collapse by between 1800 and 1911 due to: External pressure from western countries Perception in China of inferiority in the face of western technologies Internal pressures (corruption, peasant unrest) Massive food shortages led to many deaths
The Opium War (1839-1842) Trying to correct a trade imbalance with China, Britain began selling Indian opium in China – the showdown led to a war between the countries. The easy British victory led to the treaty of Nanjing (1842) – led to greater access to China by the British merchants. The British, in their areas, lived in a state of extraterritoriality – protected status answerable only to British law, not Chinese law.
The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) Led by Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who thought himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ, the Taiping Rebellion was a peasant attempt at ousting the Qing Dynasty from its rule by creating the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace. In all, some 20-30 million people died during the rebellion. Eventually, European forces came to the aid of the Qing and put down the uprising, bringing to an end a 14-year uprising. The result of the conflict led to greater trade opportunities for the Europeans as well as an increase of opium. It also led to the partition of China into spheres of influence as well as internal pressures to reform known as self-strengthening. Taiping leader, Hong Xiuquan
The spheres of influence – China would lose more territory due to its loss to Japan in 1894.
In 1898, a new emperor by the name of Guang Xu, kicked off a bold and sweeping series of reforms (as done in Japan) to change China and make it stronger in the face of the Europeans. The reforms left no part of China untouched. Conservatives in the court pushed back, as did Ci Xi, the former regent. She had the emperor arrested and locked away all of his major supporters. While Guang was a sympathetic figure, he had little support within the Chinese elite and ruling class. The Empress Dowager, Ci Xi (1861-1908)
U.S. Secretary of State, John Hay In 1899, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay wrote a letter to the powers in China asking for open access to the country for all others. When no one objected, he announced to the world that the Western powers had agree to give up spheres of influences in exchange for an Open Door policy. Two main reasons for the U.S. action: A concern for China’s survival Desire for U.S. companies to operated in a free market in China Effect? It reduced imperialist designs on China by the other powers.
The Boxer Rebellion The Boxers were an anti-government secret society that later, supported it by directed its anger at the Europeans. Missionaries were a soft target but its biggest target was the embassy section of Beijing, the capital. It took a combined European army to crush the Boxer Rebellion and in the aftermath, the combined powers demanded large sums of money as compensation for loss of life and damage to embassies. The Qing government grew even weaker. European military forces engaged with the Boxers in Beijing
Though Ci Xi finally began embracing reforms, it was too little, too late. Sun Yat-sen, reformer along western lines, knew the Qing was in decay and what China needed was gradual democracy – he formed the Nationalist or Kuomintang Party. He pushed for a military takeover followed by Nationalist rule and a constitutional democracy. This was the best way to keep the Europeans out of China. Sun Yat-sen was a leading republican figure in China at the turn of the century.
The emperor Pu Yi followed the death of Ci Xi but, he was only a child. In 1911, the Nationalists moved, without much leadership, to invade China and the Qing crumbled. Government was headed up by General Yuan Shigai. 2,000 years of dynastic rule was over but the Kuomintang had to win the support of the people. At the moment, only the very small urban middle class believed in the liberal, democratic principals of the Kuomintang . With the death of Ci Xi, the infant Pu Yi ascended to the throne as the last Qing (and Chinese) emperor.
Immediately, General Yuan Shigai tried to set up a new dynasty. He also tried to ignore or persecute the Kuomintang’s new democratic institutions – like the parliament. Civil war broke out between the military and the Kuomintang. General Yuan Shigai
Cultural Tug-a-War – Confucian ideas or Western ideas? Western arrival in China marked the beginning stages of an industrial economy and the Westerners would have three major effects on China’s economy: Introduction of modern means of transportation and communication Created an export market Integrated the Chinese economy into the 19th-century world market. The West gave China the resources, expertise and a role model upon which to change to a modern country. Local industries were destroyed and China became economically dependent on the West.
However, the vast majority of China’s population lived on, isolated and behind-the-time farms. Here, the family structure and emphasis was still on Confucius’ ideas. In the beginning of the 20th-century, parts of China, such as Shanghai, was made up bustling and economically busy cities. Many of traditional Chinese values were being traded in for the economic ones from Europe.
Changing China’s Culture Seeing the old Chinese values as oppressive, Western ideas were brought in by intellectuals by way of books and art. While Chinese literature showed contempt for China’s past, Chinese still held on to older ways. Mao Dun – Midnight Early great Chinese novelist, he focused on the changes impacting the Chinese in the cities. Ba Jin – Family, Spring and Autumn Trilogy that focused on the tensions within a single family as the younger tries to break from the ways of the elders.
In 1800, during the last 200 years of the Tokugawa period of Japanese history, only the Dutch and the Chinese were allowed in the country and only at Nagasaki. U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Tokyo in 1853 hoping to open trade relations. The U.S. navy convinced the Japanese to deal with the Americans. Treaty of Kanagawa – ports will be open to trade and a U.S. consulate established in Japan. Samurai in the states of Satsuma and Choshu (Sat-Cho alliance) tried to force the shogun to back off and when he didn’t, they attacked the shogunate.
The Meiji Restoration – Origins The Sat-Cho Alliance truly did not trust the West but soon realized Japan needed to change in order to survive. Emperor Mutsuhito led the charge with what he called the Meiji Restoration. At the insistence of the Sat-Cho leadership, the government was moved from Kyoto to Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Emperor Mutsuhito
The Meiji Restoration – Political Transformation The Meiji reforms efforts sought first to undermine the old power structure – the daimyos became governors of their home prefectures (or states). Two political factions formed – the liberals wanted a liberal democratic model like in Europe and the U.S. while the progressives wanted a German-like federalist government with most power going to the executive. Two house parliament – the Diet – was formed with an appointed upper house and an elected lower house. The government would appear democratic but operate like an authoritarian one. Painting showing the newly created Japanese parliament – the Diet.
The Meiji Restoration – Economic Transformation Reforms started off great but soon things changed. A new annual tax was levied – if farmers could not pay, they were forced to sell and become tenants on their old farms. Government supported industry – tea, silk, weapons and shipbuilding – until they were established and then, it was turned over to private ownership. A silkworm factory in Tokyo, c. 1900
The Meiji Restoration – Institutional Transformation Compulsory service and modern weapons were some of the changes made as the Meiji government patterned its military after the West. Meiji leaders patterned their education system on the American style with elementary, secondary and university schools.
The Meiji Restoration – Society Transformation Prior to reforms, Japanese society was rigid and based on families and social classes. Women were required to be obedient to their fathers, husbands and then, elder sons. The Meiji abolished many of the class distinctions and women gained much more status outside the home. Western styles of dress and eating were copied. However, Japanese traditional values remained taught and practiced, particularly in rural areas. Women during the Meiji period, like many others, experienced new-found freedom. Economic opportunities increased while, again like others, many sought out European ways of doing things, such as dressing.
Japanese Expansion Japan felt it necessary and beneficial to begin expanding to keep up with the West. Much of its new territory was based off old rivalries. China – after a war with them (1894), Japan picked up Taiwan and set up the circumstances to eventually take Korea. Russia – after a war with them (1904), Japan took the southern portion of the disputed island of Sakhalin. Additionally, Japan took the Ryukyu archipelago, just to the south of the Japanese island of Kyushu. Japanese military victories, against Russia in particular, shocked the world and made the Western powers take notice. Japan, 1914
With the Meiji Restoration, many in Japan sought out all things western – from literature to dress to architecture. At the dawn of the 20th-century, a push-back was seen as older traditions in Japan became popular once more. Meanwhile, Japanese products and styles grew in popularity in the West. The Japanese Gardens in Fort Worth, Texas
