Even more ominous changes were taking place inthe Chinese heartland. European states began to createspheres of influence, areas where the imperial pow-ers had exclusive trading rights. After the Tai PingRebellion, warlords in the provinces began to negoti-ate directly with foreign nations. In return for money,the warlords granted these nations exclusive tradingrights or railroad-building and mining privileges. Inthis way, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japanall established spheres of influence in China.

In 1894, another blow weakened the Qing dynasty.China went to war with Japan over its inroads intoKorea, a land that the Chinese had long controlled.The Chinese were soundly defeated. Japan thendemanded and received the island of Taiwan (thencalled Formosa), and the Liaodong (LYOW•DOONG)Peninsula. Fearing Japan’s growing power, however,the European powers forced Japan to give theLiaodong Peninsula back to China.

New pressures for Chinese territory soon arose. In1897, two German missionaries were murdered by

384 CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

600 kilometers0Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

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Spheres of Influence in China, 1900

During the nineteenth cen-tury, many European coun-tries established spheres ofinfluence in China.

1. Interpreting MapsWhich country had thelargest sphere of influ-ence in China?

2. Applying GeographySkills Using the map,determine which countryhad the most strategicsphere of influence inChina.British

Spheres of influence:

French

German

Japanese

Russian

The Advance of Imperialism

Western nations and Japan set up spheres ofinfluence in China to gain exclusive trading rights.

Reading Connection Have American military forces everoverpowered another people? Read to learn how Europeanpowers gained trading rights in China.

In the end, the reforms did not help the Qing stay inpower. The European advance into China continuedduring the last two decades of the nineteenth century,while internal conditions continued to deteriorate.

Mounting Pressures Russia took advantage ofChina’s weakness to force it to give up territoriesnorth of the Amur River in Siberia. In Tibet, a strug-gle between Russia and Great Britain kept both pow-ers from seizing the territory outright. This allowedTibet to remain free from Chinese influence.

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Ci Xi1835–1908—Chinese empress

Empress Dowager Ci Xi, through her unwillingness to make significant reforms, helped bringabout the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Ci Xi was at first a low-ranking concubine to EmperorXian Feng. Her position became influential in 1856, when she gave birth to the emperor’s firstand only son.

When the emperor died, Ci Xi ruled China on behalf of her son. Later, she ruled on behalf ofher nephew Guang Xu. With the aid of conservatives at court and the imperial army, she hadGuang Xu jailed in the palace.

Empress Dowager Ci Xi ruled China for almost 50 years, during a crucial period in the nation’s his-tory. She was well aware of her own power. “I have often thought that I am the cleverest woman whoever lived . . . I have 400 million people all dependent on my judgement.”

385CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

Opening the Door to ChinaThe United States proposed an Open Door

policy to guarantee it would have equal trading rights withEuropean countries in China.

Reading Connection Have you heard U.S.-Chinese tradepolicy discussed? Read to learn how America gained access tothe Chinese market in 1900.

As foreign pressure on the Qing dynasty grew,Great Britain and the United States feared that othernations would overrun China if its government col-lapsed. In 1899, U.S. secretary of state John Hay pre-sented a proposal to ensure equal access to theChinese market, while preserving China as a nation.When no other imperialist power opposed this idea,Hay proclaimed there was agreement on his OpenDoor policy.

In part, the Open Door policy reflected Americanconcern for the survival of China, but it also reflectedthe interests of American businesses. These busi-nesses wanted to operate in open markets and dis-liked the existing division of China into separatespheres of influence dominated by individual states.The Open Door policy did not end the system ofspheres of influence, but it did loosen restrictions ontrade among the imperialist powers within the spheres.The Open Door policy also helped to reduce imperi-alist hysteria over access to the China market. Thepolicy lessened fears in Britain, France, Germany,and Russia that other powers would take advantageof China’s weakness and attempt to dominate theChina market for themselves.

Analyzing Why did the UnitedStates want an Open Door policy in China?Reading Check

Chinese rioters. Germany used this pretext todemand territories in the Shandong (SHON•DOONG) Peninsula. When the Chinese governmentapproved the demand, other European nations madenew claims on Chinese territory.

Internal Crisis This latest scramble for territory tookplace at a time of internal crisis in China. In the springof 1898, the young emperor Guang Xu (GWANGSHYOO) launched a massive reform program basedon changes in Japan (see Section 3). During the fol-lowing weeks, known as the One Hundred Days ofReform, the emperor issued edicts calling for majorpolitical, administrative, and educational reforms.With these reforms, the emperor intended to modern-ize government bureaucracy by following Westernmodels; to adopt a new educational system thatwould replace the traditional civil service examina-tions; to adopt Western-style schools, banks, and afree press; and to train the military to use modernweapons and Western fighting techniques.

Many conservatives at court, however, opposed apolicy of copying the West. As one said, “An exami-nation of the causes of success and failure in govern-ment reveals that . . . the adoption of foreignism leadsto disorder.” According to these conservatives, tradi-tional Chinese rules needed to be reformed, notrejected in favor of Western ways.

Most important, the new reform program wasopposed by the emperor’s aunt, Empress DowagerCi Xi (TSUH•SEE). She became a dominant force atcourt and opposed the emperor’s reforms. With theaid of the imperial army, she eventually imprisonedthe emperor and ended his reform efforts.

Examining How did foreign nationsobtain trading rights in China at this time?Reading Check

Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

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386 CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

government was forced to pay a heavy indemnity—a payment for damages—to the powers that hadcrushed the uprising. The imperial government wasnow weaker than ever.

Explaining How did the Boxers gettheir name?Reading Check

Boxers are rounded up after the failed rebellion.

Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: decline, extraterri-

toriality, self-strengthening, spheres ofinfluence, ensure, Open Door policy,indemnity.

2. People and Events Identify: HongXiuquan, Guang Xu, Empress DowagerCi Xi, John Hay.

3. Places Locate: Guangzhou, ChangJiang, Hong Kong.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Analyze how the Tai Ping Rebellion

helped to weaken the Qing dynasty.

Critical Thinking5. Cause and Effect

Why did European nations agree to fol-low the Open Door policy proposed bythe United States?

6. Organizing Information Create a dia-gram listing the factors that led to thedecline of the Qing dynasty.

Analyzing Visuals7. Examine the illustration of the Tai Ping

Rebellion on page 383. What visualevidence shows British and Chinesedetermination?CA HI 2

8. Expository Writing Using outsidesources, research, write, and presenta report explaining the effects ofpopulation on modern China.Remember to include governmentlaws enacted to curtail populationgrowth, and the consequences ofdisobeying these laws.

CA 10WA2.3

Internal Factors

ExternalFactors

The Boxer Rebellion

Chinese anger with foreign control in theircountry led to the Boxer Rebellion.

Reading Connection Does your family have particulartraditions? Read to find out how Chinese people reacted whenthey felt their traditions were under threat in the early 1900s.

The Open Door policy came too late to stop theBoxer Rebellion. Boxer was the popular name givento members of a secret organization called the Societyof Harmonious Fists. Members practiced a system ofexercise—a form of shadowboxing, or boxing with animaginary opponent—that they thought would pro-tect them from bullets.

The Boxers were upset by the foreign takeover ofChinese lands. Their slogan was “destroy the for-eigner.” They especially disliked Christian mission-aries from the West and Chinese converts toChristianity who seemed to threaten Chinese tradi-tions. At the beginning of 1900, Boxer bands roamedthe countryside and slaughtered foreign missionariesand Chinese Christians. Their victims also includedforeign businessmen and even the German envoy toBeijing.

Response to the killings was immediate and over-whelming. An allied army consisting of 20,000British, French, German, Russian, American, andJapanese troops attacked Beijing in August 1900. Thearmy restored order and demanded more conces-sions from the Chinese government. The Chinese For help with the concepts in this section of Glencoe World

History—Modern Times, go to andclick on Study Central.

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Revolution in China

Preview of Events

Guide to Reading

Section PreviewReforms by Sun Yat-sen led to a revolu-tion in China, and the arrival of Western-ers brought changes to its culture andeconomy.

• Sun Yat-sen led a successful revolutionto end the Qing dynasty, but he wasunable to establish a stable govern-ment. (p. 388)

• General Yuan Shigai’s dictatorial waysled to conflict with Sun Yat-sen’s Nation-alist Party. (p. 390)

• Westerners injected new energy into theChinese economy, but many economicbenefits went to foreigners, not the Chinese. (p. 391)

• Western culture had a dramatic effecton many Chinese people, especiallythose living in cities. (p. 392)

Content Vocabularyprovincial, commodity

Academic Vocabulary transition, integrate

People to Identify Sun Yat-sen, Henry Pu Yi, General YuanShigai

Places to LocateShanghai, Wuhan

Reading Objectives1. Describe Sun Yat-sen’s role in the

collapse of the Qing dynasty.2. Explain how Western influence

affected the Chinese economy andculture.

Reading StrategyCompare and Contrast Create a chartlike the one below listing the reformsrequested by Sun Yat-sen and thoseimplemented by Empress Dowager Ci Xi.

California Standards in This SectionReading this section will help you master these California History–Social Science standards.

10.4: Students analyze patterns of global change in theera of New Imperialism in at least two of the fol-lowing regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia,China, India, Latin America, and the Philippines.

10.4.1: Describe the rise of industrial economies andtheir link to imperialism and colonialism (e.g.,the role played by national security and strategicadvantage; moral issues raised by the search for

national hegemony, Social Darwinism, and themissionary impulse; material issues such as land,resources, and technology).

10.4.4: Describe the independence struggles of the colo-nized regions of the world including the roles ofleaders, such as Sun Yat-sen in China, and theroles of ideology and religion.

CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge 387

Sun Yat-sen’s Empress DowagerProposals Ci Xi’s Reforms

!1902 !1905 !1908 !1911 !1914 !1917 !1920

1908Emperor Guang Xu andEmpress Dowager Ci Xi die

1911Qing dynastycollapses

1905Sun Yat-sen issuesreform program

1916General YuanShigai dies

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The Fall of the Qing

Sun Yat-sen led a successful revolution to endthe Qing dynasty, but he was unable to establish a stablegovernment.

Reading Connection Why were American revolutionar-ies able to eventually set up a successful government? Read onto learn about the experiences of the Chinese during the Revo-lution of 1911.

After the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing dynasty trieddesperately to reform in order to save itself. EmpressDowager Ci Xi, who had so long resisted suggestionsfor change, now embraced a number of reforms.These included reforms in education, in governmentadministration, and in the legal system.

The civil service examination system was replacedby a new educational system based on the Westernmodel. In 1909, legislative assemblies were formed atthe provincial, or local, level. Elections for a nationalassembly were even held in 1910.

The emerging new elite—composed of merchants,professionals, and reform-minded gentry—soonbecame impatient with the slow pace of politicalchange. They were angry when they discovered thatthe new assemblies were not allowed to pass lawsbut could only give advice to the ruler.

Moreover, the recent reforms had done nothing forthe peasants, artisans, and miners, whose living con-ditions were getting worse as taxes increased. Unrestgrew in the countryside as the dynasty continued toignore deep-seated resentments.

The Rise of Sun Yat-sen The first signs of revolu-tion appeared during the last decade of the nineteenthcentury, when the young radical Sun Yat-sen formedthe Revive China Society. Sun Yat-sen believed thatthe Qing dynasty was in a state of decay and could nolonger govern the country. Unless the Chinese wereunited under a strong government, they wouldremain at the mercy of other countries.

Although Sun believed that China should followthe pattern of Western countries, he also knew thatthe Chinese people were hardly ready for democracy.He instead developed a three-stage reform processthat included: (1) a military takeover, (2) a transi-tional phase in which Sun’s own revolutionary partywould prepare the people for democratic rule, and(3) the final stage of a constitutional democracy.

In 1905, at a convention in Tokyo, Sun united radi-cal groups from across China and formed the Revolu-tionary Alliance, which eventually became theNationalist Party. The new organization advocatedSun’s Three People’s Principles, which promotednationalism, democracy, and the right for people to

388 CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

In 1905, a reformer named Sun Yat-sen presented aprogram that called for the following changes:

“Establish the Republic: Now our revolution isbased on equality, in order to establish a republi-can government. All our people are equal and allenjoy political rights. The president will be pub-licly chosen by the people of the country. The par-liament will be made up of members publiclychosen by the people of the country. Equalizeland ownership: The good fortune of civilization isto be shared equally by all the people of thenation. We should assess the value of all the landin the country. Its present price shall be receivedby the owner, but all increases in value resultingfrom reform and social improvements after therevolution shall belong to the state, to be sharedby all the people.”

General Yuan Shigai

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pursue their own livelihoods. Although the neworganization was small, it benefited from the risingdiscontent generated by the Qing dynasty’s failure toimprove conditions in China.

The Revolution of 1911 The Qing dynasty was nearits end. In 1908, Empress Dowager Ci Xi died. Hernephew Guang Xu, who was being held prisoner inthe imperial palace, died one day before his aunt. Thethrone was now occupied by China’s “last emperor,”the infant Henry Pu Yi.

In October 1911, followers of Sun Yat-sen launchedan uprising in central China. At the time, Sun wastraveling in the United States—he read about theuprising in a Denver, Colorado newspaper. In Sun’sabsence, a brigade commander was asked to lead.Soon, the anti-government rebellion received popu-lar support elsewhere in China. Too weak to resist,the Qing dynasty collapsed, opening the way for newpolitical forces.

Sun’s party had neither the military nor the politi-cal strength to form a new government. The partywas forced to turn to a member of the old order,

389CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

Sun Yat-sen’s Nationalist soldiers arrive ata village in search of bandits. Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary forces rose against theQing dynasty in 1911. What stage orstages in his reform process was hetrying to carry out with his army?

History

General Yuan Shigai (YOO•AHN SHUR•GIE), whocontrolled the army.

Yuan was a prominent figure in military circles,and he had been placed in charge of the imperialarmy sent to suppress the rebellion. Instead, he aban-doned the government and negotiated with membersof Sun Yat-sen’s party. General Yuan agreed to serveas president of a new Chinese republic and to allowthe election of a legislature. Sun himself arrived inChina in January 1912, after reading about the revo-lution while in the United States.

In the eyes of Sun Yat-sen’s party, the events of1911 were a glorious revolution that ended two thou-sand years of imperial rule. However, the 1911 upris-ing was hardly a revolution. It produced no newpolitical or social order. Sun Yat-sen and his followersstill had much to accomplish.

The Revolutionary Alliance was supported mainlyby an emerging urban middle class, and its programwas based largely on Western liberal democraticprinciples. However, the urban middle class in Chinawas too small to support a new political order. Mostof the Chinese people still lived on the land, and fewpeasants supported Sun Yat-sen’s party. In effect,then, the events of 1911 were less a revolution than acollapse of the old order.

Evaluating What changes did theRevolution of 1911 actually produce in China?Reading Check

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An Era of Civil War

General Yuan Shigai’s dictatorial ways led toconflict with Sun Yat-sen’s Nationalist Party.

Reading Connection Do you know of a country cur-rently ruled by the head of the army? Read to find out whathappened when a general took over the rule of China.

After the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the militarytook over. Sun Yat-sen and his colleagues hadaccepted General Yuan Shigai as president of the newChinese republic in 1911 because they lacked the mil-itary force to compete with his control over the army.Many of Sun’s supporters feared that if the revoltlapsed into chaos, the Western powers would inter-vene. If that happened, the last shreds of Chineseindependence would be lost. Even the general’s newallies distrusted his motives, however, and they hadgood reason.

Yuan understood little of the new ideas sweepinginto China from the West. He ruled in a traditional

manner and even tried to set up a new imperialdynasty. Yuan was hated by reformers for using mur-der and terror to destroy the new democratic institu-tions. He was hated by traditionalists—those whosupported the Qing—for being disloyal to thedynasty he had served.

Yuan’s dictatorial efforts rapidly led to clasheswith Sun’s party, now renamed the Guomindang, orNationalist Party. When Yuan dissolved the new par-liament, the Nationalists launched a rebellion. Therebellion failed, and Sun Yat-sen fled to Japan.

Yuan was strong enough to brush off the challengefrom the revolutionary forces, but he could not turnback history. He died in 1916 and was succeeded byone of his officers. For the next several years, Chinaslipped into civil war as the power of the central gov-ernment disintegrated and military warlords seizedpower in the provinces. Their soldiers caused mas-sive destruction throughout China.

Explaining Why were there rebel-lions in China after General Yuan Shigai became president?Reading Check

390 CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

Sun Yat-sen1866–1925Chinese revolutionary

Sun Yat-sen was the leader of therevolutionary movement thatoverthrew the Qing dynasty. Sunwas born to a peasant family inthe south and was educated inHawaii. He returned to China to practice medicine butsoon began to use his earnings to finance revolutionaryactivities.

A failed rebellion forced Sun to flee to Japan and laterto the United States and London. He raised money andrecruited Chinese exiles to carry out his revolutionaryplans. After the Qing government collapsed in 1911, he returned to China. Sun decided to back General YuanShigai as president in 1912. He was afraid that more fight-ing would only lead to chaos and foreign intervention.

Sun never realized his dream of leading a new Chineserepublic, but both the Republic of China on Taiwan andthe People’s Republic of China honor him as the founderof modern China.

Chiang Kai-shek1887–1975General and Politician

A young man who worked closelywith Sun Yat-sen was Chiang Kai-shek. Eventually he became presi-dent of the Chinese Nationalistgovernment (see Chapter 10). As ayoung man of 18, Chiang went to Japan for military train-ing. There he learned to believe that an army could shapea nation’s future.

Like Sun Yat-sen, Chiang returned home when revolu-tion broke out in 1911. After Sun’s death, Chiang became theleader of Sun’s Nationalist Party, the Guomindang (GDP).

In the 1920s and 1930s, the GDP and Chinese Commu-nists fought bitterly to become the dominant government—except when they were defending their nation againstJapan. The GDP led a republican government from 1928 to1949, but it was never able to control the entire country.

Chiang’s biggest weakness was that his support camefrom the cities. He offered little to the peasants, who ulti-mately backed Mao Zedong and the Communists.

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391CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

“As Heaven has unified [theearth] under one sky, it willharmonize thevarious teachingsof the world andbring them backto the samesource.”—Wang Tao on the need for

reform in China, 1800s

Sun Yat-sen and his wife, third and second from the left,stand with other members of the Revolutionary Alliance in Hangzhou, China. How does the clothing of the people in the photograph reflect Sun Yat-sen’s beliefsabout the future of China and Wang Tao’s thoughts onthe process of reform in the country?

History

Chinese Society in Transition

Westerners injected new energy into the Chi-nese economy, but many economic benefits went to for-eigners, not the Chinese.

Reading Connection What factors influence yourlifestyle? Read to find out how Westerners influenced Chineseways of life.

When European traders began to move into Chinain greater numbers in the mid-1800s, Chinese societywas already in a state of transition. The growth ofindustry and trade was especially noticeable in the cities, where a national market for such commodities,or marketable products, as oil, copper, salt, tea, andporcelain had appeared. Better transportation and abetter system of money and banking had begun tocreate the foundation for a money economy. Newcrops brought in from abroad increased food produc-tion and encouraged population growth. The Chi-nese economy had never been more productive.

The coming of Westerners to China affected theChinese economy in three ways. Westerners intro-duced modern means of transportation and commu-

nications; they created an export market; and they integrated the Chinese market into the nineteenth-century world economy.

To some, these changes were beneficial. ShakingChina out of its old ways quickened a process ofchange that had already begun in Chinese society.Western influences forced the Chinese to adopt newways of thinking and acting.

At the same time, however, China paid a heavyprice for the new ways. Its local industry was largelydestroyed. Also, many of the profits in the new econ-omy went to foreign countries rather than back intothe Chinese economy.

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, thepace of change in China quickened even more. Onereason was that during World War I, Westerners wereunable to continue their domination of Chinese mar-kets. This meant that Chinese businesses had moreopportunities. Shanghai, Wuhan, Tianjin, andGuangzhou became major industrial and commercialcenters with a growing middle class and an industrialworking class.

Evaluating How did the arrival ofWesterners affect China?Reading Check

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China’s Changing Culture

Western culture had a dramatic effect onmany Chinese people, especially those living in cities.

Reading Connection Can you list foreign influences thathave shaped American culture? Read to learn how Westernideas and dress influenced the traditional culture of China.

In 1800, daily life for most Chinese was the sameas it had been for centuries. Most were farmers, liv-ing in one of the millions of villages in rice fields andon hillsides throughout the countryside. A farmer’slife was governed by the harvest cycle, village cus-tom, and family ritual. A few men were educated inthe Confucian classics. Women remained in the homeor in the fields. All children were expected to obeytheir parents, and wives were expected to submit totheir husbands.

A visitor to China 125 years later would have seena different society, although it would still have beenrecognizably Chinese. The changes were most strik-ing in the cities. Here the educated and wealthy had

been visibly affected by the growing Western culturalpresence. Confucian social ideals were declining rap-idly in influence and those of Europe and NorthAmerica were on the rise.

Nowhere in China was the struggle between oldand new more visible than in the area of culture. Rad-ical reformers wanted to eliminate traditional cul-ture, condemning it as an instrument of oppression.They were interested in creating a new China thatwould be respected by the modern world.

The first changes in traditional culture came in thelate nineteenth century. Intellectuals began to intro-duce Western books, paintings, music, and ideas toChina. By the first quarter of the twentieth century,China was flooded by Western culture as intellectualscalled for a new culture based on that of the modernWest.

Western literature and art became popular inChina, especially among the urban middle class. Tra-ditional culture remained popular with conservativeelements of the population, especially in rural areas.Most creative artists followed foreign trends, whiletraditionalists held on to Chinese culture.

392 CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

Shanghai’s harbor was at the mouth of the Chang Jiang. In the 1920s and 1930s, the city’s image was something like that of Manhattanin the United States: a center for business, but also for excitement and glamour.

Mary Evans Picture Library

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Literature in particular was influenced by foreignideas. Western novels and short stories began toattract a larger audience. Although most Chinesenovels written after World War I dealt with Chinesesubjects, they reflected the Western tendency towarda realistic portrayal of society. Often, they dealt withthe new Westernized middle class. Mao Dun’s Mid-night, for example, described the changing customsof Shanghai’s urban elites. Most of China’s modernauthors showed a clear contempt for the past.

Ba Jin, the author of numerous novels and shortstories, was one of China’s foremost writers in theearly twentieth century. Born in 1904, he was well

attuned to the rigors and expected obedience of Chi-nese family life. In his trilogy, Family, Spring, andAutumn, he describes the disintegration of traditionalConfucian ways as the younger members of a largefamily attempt to break away from their elders.

Describing What effects did Westernculture have on China?Reading Check

393CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

Ba Jin (far right) is pictured with his four broth-ers and his stepmother. In his novel Family, BaJin shows readers how traditional patterns offamily life prevailed in China’s villages. Fromthe photo, what inferences can be madeabout Ba Jin’s family?

History

Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: provincial, transi-

tion, commodity, integrate.

2. People Identify: Sun Yat-sen, Henry PuYi, General Yuan Shigai.

3. Places Locate: Shanghai, Wuhan.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Describe the attitudes toward Western

culture held by Chinese in rural andurban areas. Which of these twogroups do you think benefited morefrom Western involvement in the Chi-nese economy and society?

Critical Thinking5. Sequence and

Change Why did the reforms intro-duced by Empress Dowager Ci Xi andGeneral Yuan Shigai fail to improve theway China was governed?

6. Cause and Effect Create a diagramlike the one below showing thechanges resulting from European con-tact with China in the mid-1800s.

Analyzing Visuals7. Examine the photograph of Sun Yat-

sen’s soldiers shown on page 389.What inferences can you draw abouthis army from looking at the photo?How important was this army in over-throwing the Qing dynasty?

CA CS2

8. Expository Writing Research andcompare the reasons why the UnitedStates and China experienced civilwar. Write an essay offering alterna-tives to war that might have solvedthe internal problems of China orthe United States. CA 10WA2.3

Contact Effects

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Young people in ruralChina in 1900 had muchthe same experience asprevious generations. Thefamily was the mostimportant unit in society,and tradition determineda person’s status. Age wasgreatly respected, and thefather was the center ofauthority. If a child wasdisobedient, the boy orgirl might be severelypunished. Hard work wasexpected.

China

!

In traditional China, children werethought of not as individuals but as

members of a family. Indeed, childrenwere valued because they—especially thesons—would help with the work in thefields, carry on the family name, and carefor their parents in old age. By the begin-ning of the twentieth century, however,these attitudes had changed in some partsof Chinese society.

Some of the changes resulted from thenew educational system. After the govern-ment abolished the civil service examina-tions in 1905, a Confucian education wasno longer the key to a successful career.New schools based on the Western modelwere set up. Especially in the cities, bothpublic and private schools educated a newgeneration of Chinese, who began to haveless respect for the past.

By 1915, educated youth had launchedan intense attack on the old system andold values. The main focus of the attackwas the Confucian concept of the family.Young people rejected the old family ideas

of respect for elders, supremacy of menover women, and sacrifice of individualneeds to the demands of the family.

The effect of the young people’s revoltcould be seen mainly in the cities. There,the tyranny of the old family system beganto decline. Women sought education andjobs alongside men. Free choice in mar-riage became commonplace among afflu-ent families in the cities. The teenagechildren of Westernized elites copied theclothing and even the music of young peo-ple in Europe and America.

These changes generally did not reachthe villages, where traditional attitudes andcustoms persisted. Marriages arranged byparents continued to be the rule ratherthan the exception. According to a surveytaken in the 1930s, well over two-thirds ofmarriages were still arranged, even amongurban couples. In one rural area, only 3 vil-lagers out of 170 had even heard of theidea of “modern marriage,” or a marriagein which people freely choose their mar-riage partners.

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!

395CHAPTER 7 East Asia Under Challenge

A person’s dress is a badge of social status.Here a young Chinese woman is wearing West-ern dress of Victorian Britain for her formal por-trait (complete with stuffed dog). She may wantto say that she is modern—or even that she isChristian if that is a Bible on her lap. Missionaryschools were one way that Western customsreached China’s young people.

! In this portrait, an urban family look as if they areon the porch or inner courtyard of their handsomehome. The wife’s elaborate headdress suggests theircomfortable upper middle-class status. The fathercould be a bureaucrat, an influential group inChinese society.

CONNECTING TO THE PAST

1. Contrasting Contrast the traditional way oflife with life after 1915 for young people inChina.

2. Writing about History How do the teenagersin China during the early twentieth centurycompare to the young people in the UnitedStates today? Write a one-page essay on yourideas, giving specific examples to support yourpoint of view.

The jaunty stance ofthis young Chineseman in Westernclothing tells anotherstory—that Westerndress was partlyabout being liber-ated from Chinesetraditions and freeto choose one’s ownlife.

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(tl)POPPERFOTO/Alamy, (tr)Getty Images, (b)Bettmann/CORBIS

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