China in Decline: The Rough 19th Century

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China Resists Foreign Influence China had abundance of resources and the largest economy in the world by

1800 and largest population Remained a highly self-sufficient agricultural economy – better strains of rice,

New World crops led to rapid population growth Strong manufacturing sector for export products, such as silk, cotton, tea,

porcelain

Qing (Manchu) Dynasty placed strict limits on foreign traders – restricted to southern port of Guangzhou (Canton)

Chinese had little interest in importing goods from the West Europeans wanted: silk, porcelain, tea, spices One thing that China did want – silver Europeans paid in silver for these items—leading to a trade deficit while China

had a trade surplus

**Most European silver wound up in Asia**In 1621, a Portuguese merchant said that silver “wanders throughout all the world… before flocking to China, where it remains as if at its natural center.”**Chinese used silver to establish a new money system

**Silver trade, started in the 1500s after Spain mined huge quantities of silver in South America, leading to the first global network of trade

Guangzhou (Canton) – one port open to Guangzhou (Canton) – one port open to European traders in southern ChinaEuropean traders in southern China

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England’s Trade Deficit Demand for tea skyrocketed England was importing more from China than it was

exporting to China –spending a lot of silver on tea Trade deficit worried British officials –sought to improve

their trade status with China

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Macartney Mission to China: 1792-1794

England sent a diplomatic mission to China to meet with the emperor of the Qing dynasty

Led by Lord Macartney and was best-known attempt by the British to persuade China to open more ports for trade

China only allowed Europeans to trade at the port of Canton

Macartney came on a war ship with many advisers and hundreds of magnificent presents for the emperor

Mission failed and the emperor refused to set up trade privileges with the British

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Opium Wars

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Chinese receiving opium from Patna, British India

•British decided to flood Chinese market with opium—highly addictive, would create strong demand

•The British imported opium from India to China in exchange for luxury items or silver.

•Opium caused social problems in China.• Chinese silver was used to buy opium, and the Chinese

government was fearful of a trade deficit•China demanded that opium sales stop, but the British did not

comply. This led to the Opium Wars.

Opium dens, 1850

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OPIUM IMPORTS TO CHINA FROM INDIA

(1 chest = approximately 140 pounds)

1773 1,000 chests1790 4,000 chestsearly 1820s 10,000 chests1828 18,000 chests1839 40,000 chests1865 76,000 chests1884 81,000 chests (peak)

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Empress Dowager Ci Xi

Empress Dowager Ci Xi worked with her government officials to fight against the British in the First Opium

War, from 1839-1842.

Lin Zexu

Opium Wars

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Opium Wars

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Opium’s impact on Chinese society—very large % of men under 40 became addicts

Economic impact on China—fear of a trade deficit

Resentment over England’s treatment of China—selling a drug to the Chinese that England itself banned

Chinese gov’t outlawed opium, seized shipments, executed Chinese drug dealers

Britain demanded free trade, refused to end opium trade

Opium Wars: Causes

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This war with China . . . really seems to me so wicked as to be a national sin of the greatest possible magnitude, and it distresses me very deeply. Cannot any thing be done by petition or otherwise to awaken men's minds to the dreadful guilt we are incurring? I really do not remember, in any history, of a war undertaken with such combined injustice and baseness. Ordinary wars of conquest are to me far less wicked, than to go to war in order to maintain smuggling, and that smuggling consisting in the introduction of a demoralizing drug, which the government of China wishes to keep out, and which we, for the lucre of gain, want to introduce by force; and in this quarrel are going to burn and slay in the pride of our supposed superiority.

— Thomas Arnold to W. W. Hull, March 18, 1840

Opium Wars – Opposition in England

Opium Opium Wars: Results: Results Britain bombarded Chinese coastal and river towns,

looted and burned homes

China’s outdated weapons made it impossible to defend against the British weapons and tactics

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

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Treaty of Nanjing 1842

Opium Wars: Treaty of Nanjing of Nanjing1st of the “Unequal Treaties”China paid Britain’s war costs – 3 million (indemnity) Opened 5 ports to tradeExtraterritoriality—British citizens in China not

subjected to Chinese laws Britain received the island of Hong KongMissionaries allowed to enter nation and move about

freely Western powers carved out spheres of influence

(exclusive trading privileges)

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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 2006WRITTEN BY HERSCHEL SARNOFF & DANA BAGDASARIAN

The Taiping Rebellion: Threats from Within

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The failure of the Qing dynasty to resist the Western powers led some Chinese to believe that the dynasty had lost the right to

rule.

• Failure of dynasty led to series of rebellions starting in 1850

• Chinese peasants angry over poverty, corruption, natural disasters, & overpopulation

• Canals and irrigation systems not maintained—caused flooding

• Most serious revolt 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 resulting in Taiping Rebellion

Rebellion Causes

• Hong’s followers captured large areas of southeastern China

• 1853, controlled Nanjing• Qing soldiers, British, French armies

attacked and defeated Taiping army in 1864

• Qing dynasty emerged victorious at great cost—20-30 million Chinese deaths

• Russia seized land in the north• Qing dynasty nearly collapsed & has

to share power with regional leaders

Great Toll

The Taiping Rebellion: Threats from Within

Factors Pushing China Towards Reform:Self-Strengthening Movement

Defeat of China during Opium War – increased opium addiction

Internal revolts / weakening of China during Taiping Rebellion / anti-Qing sentiments

Growing desperation among the poor Unequal trade treaties – increasing influence of

foreigners Growing threat of Japanese dominance Examination and translation of Western learning into

late1800’s

Goals of Self-Strengthening1860s-early 1890s

Intellectuals pursuing a nationalist agenda – modernize society and culture in addition to industrialization

Program called self-strengthening 1860s – early 1890s – initially supported by Empress Cixi and court

Feng Guifen – teacher and official – leading reformer Imported Western technologies and foreign teachers Set up factories to make modern weapons Developed shipyards, railroads, mining and light industry Translated Western works on science, government, economy Movement made some progress but slow paced – mostly improving

military technology One social success – abolishing foot binding by 1890s

Sino-Japanese WarA war between China and Japan in 1894

Japan as Military Power

• China struggled to reform with mixed results – war with Japan will interrupt progress

• Meanwhile, Japan had emerged as major military power with imperialist aims by the 1890s

• China went to war with Japan over Korea; was soundly defeated by Japan

Effects of Sino-Japanese War

Japan wins – gains Taiwan Japan pursues aggressive militarism Japan becomes an imperialist power

Exposes China’s military weakness—Western nations force China to make more humiliating concessions

European powers carve out spheres of influence along China’s coast

•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

Effects of the Opium Wars & First Sino-Japanese War

• “Unequal” treaties – Westerners allowed to lease more treaty ports and gained spheres of influence in China

•Westerners given commercial privileges – missionary rights, exemption from Chinese laws, no tariffs, rights to mining and railroads in the territory, lived separately from Chinese

•Huge profits were made for imperial powers

Reformers vs. Conservatives Events of the 1890s (loss of war with Japan, unequal treaties,

spheres of influence) sparked a rise in Chinese nationalism

Political issue: reformers called for modernizing China as Japan had done but conservative leaders resisted fast-paced change

Reformers, led by a young emperor (Guang Xu), set out on an ambitious reform program in 1898 called the Hundred Days of Reform

Hundred Days of ReformSomething had to be done for China to remain independent

• 1898, Chinese emperor enacted series of far-reaching reforms– Changed civil service exams (determines who got government jobs)

– Make the government more efficient

– Built modern army

– Developed mining, railroads, shipyards

• Empress Dowager Cixi, most powerful person in China, stopped reforms – some reformers called for democracy

• Believed they threatened rule of Qing dynasty

• Reformers began to call for end to the backwards Qing rule

Western Missionaries in 19Western Missionaries in 19thth C. China C. China Located mainly outside of cities Ran orphanages (some Chinese feared they were taking

babies for evil reasons—led to a massacre in Tianjin in 1870—volatile relationship between Chinese an missionaries)

Focus on education and medicine Establishment of Christian schools Translated Western works on natural sciences into

Chinese and spread learning

Righteous Harmonious Fists (“Boxers”): Nationalist Movement

Anti-foreign movement in China in 1900

Boxers attacked foreigners across China

Causes of Boxer Rebellion Foreign influence and growing domination –

signs of foreign power and westernization including industrial machines and technology

Religion – Christian Missionaries threatened traditional Chinese Confucianism - intolerance

Foreign Troops – foreigners lived under extraterritoriality, did not follow Chinese laws, lived in own communities

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The Boxer Rebellion challenged Western commercial and political influence in China. The Chinese, though great in number, could

not stop the imperial forces.

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Nationalism • Humiliation of China by

West produced several nationalist movements

• Most important, Harmonious Fists, or “Boxers”

Escalating Violence• Boxer Rebellion began in

1899• Attacked missionaries,

Chinese converts to Christianity

• Laid siege to foreign compounds in Beijing

Secret Society

• Martial arts training• Hatred of foreigners • Belief they were invulnerable

to Western weapons

Uprising Put Down• Western powers & Japan

formed an international force to stop uprising

• $450 million fine imposed on Chinese government for secretly supporting Boxers

• Humiliation for government

The Boxer Rebellion

Effects of Boxer Rebellion China had to make concessions to foreigners

Failure of Qing dynasty to stand up to the foreigners led to the birth of the Chinese Republic in 1911 –nationalism

Chinese conservatives now supported Westernization as the best course for ridding China of foreign pressures – 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

This cartoon depicts England, Germany, Russia, France, and Japan at the table, ready to cut

up China

Sphere of influence: Sphere of influence: less developed form of less developed form of imperialism; stronger nation gets exclusive trading imperialism; stronger nation gets exclusive trading privileges in region (no control over the government)privileges in region (no control over the government)

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What is the Open Door Policy?

An American foreign policy approach to China around 1900 favoring open trade relations between China and other nations

U.S. feared that the European powers planned to divide China up in the same way as they did with Africa

U.S. called for keeping Chinese trade open to everyone on an equal basis and for maintaining China’s independence (no colonizing of China)

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Sun Yixian & the Birth of a Republic Boxer Rebellion failed but greatly spread Chinese nationalist

sentiments Reformers called for representative government Sun Yixian, a Western educated doctor, formed the Revolutionary

Alliance to end Qing dynasty

“Three Principles of the People” -Sun Yixian’s goals for rebuilding China – End foreign domination– Form a representative government (democracy)– Create economic security for all Chinese (introduce socialist

reforms)

1911—uprisings around China spread All segments of Chinese society from

peasants to government officials helped to topple the Qing dynasty

Sun Yixian named president of a new Chinese republic ---facing overwhelming problems—internal revolts, foreign invaders

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Sun Yixian & the Birth of a Republic