By Jiyo Montanez
For the Qing, internal revolts were a disease of China's vital organs while the Western encroachment was a marginal affliction of the extremities. Why did the Qing believe this and was it ultimately fatal or were there more important factors which destroyed the dynasty?
There were many factors as to why the Qing Dynasty fell. The rulers of China were Manchus and not Han Chinese. The fact that ethnic Han Chinese were being ruled by foreigners destroyed their pride and caused them to practices that they did not believe in. One of these practices include males shaving the around the head leaving a long ponytail behind. Another one is that Manchus were very selective of choosing public officials based on ethnicity and had different standards choosing Han Chinese or ethnic Manchus after taking examinations. Ethnic Han Chinese people viewed this as a sign that they were being dominated by foreigners inside their own land. Han Chinese had absolutely no respect for the ruling Manchu class and were absolutely fed up with them. This resulted in internal rebellions calling for the reform (or collapse) of the Qing, wars with foreign nations, and unfair treaties and trade deals.
Imperialism and the ideas that they brought with them on China's shores started a new chapter in China's history where foreign nations started exploiting China. European powers divided China's shores up in categories consisting of "spheres of influences". (Butler, 2007). This started with Britain. So soon as other European powers followed their example of setting up little bases on China's shores the empire and even the Chinese themselves felt like this is a humiliation for them. When Britain saw that their surplus of opium being imported into China become a deficit, the British negotiated for a deal that would get their budget into a surplus again but the Chinese refused this deal. The British wanted the Chinese to buy their Opium from India for silver but the Chinese refused. This resulted in the Opium Wars of the 1830s and eventually China's humiliating defeat. After the war the British imported many chests of opium into the country, leaving many addicted. The amount of opium that the British imported caused 1 out 5 of the Chinese population to be addicted to opium. The Qing government was opposed to opium therefore burning 20,000 chests of opium being imported into the country (Butler, 2007).
Due to the corruption of the Qing Dynasty, there were rebellions that occurred in order to remove the current Qing conquerers. One of these notable rebellions was the Taiping uprising. This uprising eventually turned into a rebellion led by Hong XiQuan "who believed he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, chosen by God to establish a heavenly kingdom upon earth and replace the corrupt Manchu Qing dynasty.The conflict, which took place mostly in south China , the Yangtze valley and in the Shanghai and Nanjing area, killed an estimated from 20,000,000 to 100,000,000 people killed" (n/a, n/d).The fact that people in China wanted to overthrow the dynasty due to its corrupt nature shows how fed up people were. These dynasties resulted in many killed meaning the number of China's population started declining due to violence and wars held by the government and rebels.
There were a series of foreign imperialists beginning to exploit China and place it under unequal treaties and taking their territories and applying extraterritoriality to their citizens in Chinese land. The Russians, British, Portuguese, Russians, and even the Japanese emplaced these unequal treaties on China giving them "favored nation" status and taking their land. The British took Hong Kong and demanded money from China and the Portuguese took Macao. One of the most notable of these series of treaties being forced on China was the Treaty of Shimonoseki by Japan. As a result of the Sino-Japanese War, China had to acknowledge Korea's independence and autonomy, cease Taiwan and several other islands to Japan, and China opening several new ports to foreign powers open for trade.
This motivated the Qing Dynasty to raise a new prejudice on foreigners from outside of China causing wars to drive them out but eventually failing. The efforts to driving out the foreigners came out as the Boxers Rebellion where the Empress CiXi used the secret society of "Boxers", who believed that they could withstand enemy bullets, and got half of the army to assist them for the Empress. "China declared war on the foreign powers on June 21, but Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and Yuan Shikai protected foreigners from Boxers in their provinces." (Beck, 2007). In response to the uprising, foreign armies started sending in their soldiers in defense of their citizens and assisted in destroying these rebels pushing up all the way to Beijing until the Boxers were completely destroyed. As a result the Emperor and the Empress escaped. The Boxers Rebellion resulted in the unequal treaties and repatriations to the foreign powers in response to their citizens' deaths (Dugdale-Pointon, 2004). During the Qing's 268 year history there have been a series of many revolts. Most of these revolts were not short lived and mainly lasted for many years until they were finally suppressed, however the Boxers Rebellion really pushed the Qing's decline at a rapid rate. This rebellion proved that the ethnic Chinese were fed up by being ruled by foreign powers and that China's army was weak and outdated.
Foreign rule and bad trade deals weren't the only factors to bringing down the dynasty - new ideas such as republicanism from America, socialism from Europe and modernizing came into play. As Sun Yatsen came back from the USA (Hawaii) he adopted ideas such as freedom, democracy, and Christianity. Though starting out as a doctor, he pushed for the advancement and democratization of China. Unlike many other attempted revolutions and rebellions that took place, Sun didn't seek to reform the dynasty but the topple it and make China a republic. Sun founded the revolutionary alliance in 1905 and created publications that would be sent out to let people know the difference between revolution and reform (Beck, 2007). Though his battles had failed repeatedly, it wasn't until 1911 that they saw tremendous progress take place. As numerous provinces in China such as Fujian and Guangdong were declaring independence, Sun promised Yuan Shikai, a retired general, that he would be president of the new republic if the revolution were to succeed. "The revolutionaries took over Shanghai and Nanjing, forming a provisional government on December 14. After persuading the English to stop loaning the Qing regime money, Sun Yat-sen returned from abroad and was elected provisional president of the Chinese republic" (Beck, 2007). The events of 1911 caused the Qing to topple entirely and place a new reality on China by becoming a republic ruled by ethnic Han Chinese (as President Yuan picked to become the majority in his cabinet).
Sources Cited:
Butler, Chris. 2007. The Decline of Imperial China. (c. 1800-1911). The Flow of History. http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/eme/18/FC124.
Beck, Sanderson. 2007. Qing Decline 1800-1912. Literary Works of Sanderson Beck. <http://www.san.beck.org/21-Summary.html#a1>
N/A. N/D. Introduction to the Taiping Rebellion 1850-1871. Taiping Rebellion. <http://taipingrebellion.com/#intro>
Dugdale-Pointon, TDP. (19 September 2004), The Boxer Rebellion, 1900, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_boxer.html
For the Qing, internal revolts were a disease of China's vital organs while the Western encroachment was a marginal affliction of the extremities. Why did the Qing believe this and was it ultimately fatal or were there more important factors which destroyed the dynasty?
There were many factors as to why the Qing Dynasty fell. The rulers of China were Manchus and not Han Chinese. The fact that ethnic Han Chinese were being ruled by foreigners destroyed their pride and caused them to practices that they did not believe in. One of these practices include males shaving the around the head leaving a long ponytail behind. Another one is that Manchus were very selective of choosing public officials based on ethnicity and had different standards choosing Han Chinese or ethnic Manchus after taking examinations. Ethnic Han Chinese people viewed this as a sign that they were being dominated by foreigners inside their own land. Han Chinese had absolutely no respect for the ruling Manchu class and were absolutely fed up with them. This resulted in internal rebellions calling for the reform (or collapse) of the Qing, wars with foreign nations, and unfair treaties and trade deals.
Imperialism and the ideas that they brought with them on China's shores started a new chapter in China's history where foreign nations started exploiting China. European powers divided China's shores up in categories consisting of "spheres of influences". (Butler, 2007). This started with Britain. So soon as other European powers followed their example of setting up little bases on China's shores the empire and even the Chinese themselves felt like this is a humiliation for them. When Britain saw that their surplus of opium being imported into China become a deficit, the British negotiated for a deal that would get their budget into a surplus again but the Chinese refused this deal. The British wanted the Chinese to buy their Opium from India for silver but the Chinese refused. This resulted in the Opium Wars of the 1830s and eventually China's humiliating defeat. After the war the British imported many chests of opium into the country, leaving many addicted. The amount of opium that the British imported caused 1 out 5 of the Chinese population to be addicted to opium. The Qing government was opposed to opium therefore burning 20,000 chests of opium being imported into the country (Butler, 2007).
Due to the corruption of the Qing Dynasty, there were rebellions that occurred in order to remove the current Qing conquerers. One of these notable rebellions was the Taiping uprising. This uprising eventually turned into a rebellion led by Hong XiQuan "who believed he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, chosen by God to establish a heavenly kingdom upon earth and replace the corrupt Manchu Qing dynasty.The conflict, which took place mostly in south China , the Yangtze valley and in the Shanghai and Nanjing area, killed an estimated from 20,000,000 to 100,000,000 people killed" (n/a, n/d).The fact that people in China wanted to overthrow the dynasty due to its corrupt nature shows how fed up people were. These dynasties resulted in many killed meaning the number of China's population started declining due to violence and wars held by the government and rebels.
There were a series of foreign imperialists beginning to exploit China and place it under unequal treaties and taking their territories and applying extraterritoriality to their citizens in Chinese land. The Russians, British, Portuguese, Russians, and even the Japanese emplaced these unequal treaties on China giving them "favored nation" status and taking their land. The British took Hong Kong and demanded money from China and the Portuguese took Macao. One of the most notable of these series of treaties being forced on China was the Treaty of Shimonoseki by Japan. As a result of the Sino-Japanese War, China had to acknowledge Korea's independence and autonomy, cease Taiwan and several other islands to Japan, and China opening several new ports to foreign powers open for trade.
This motivated the Qing Dynasty to raise a new prejudice on foreigners from outside of China causing wars to drive them out but eventually failing. The efforts to driving out the foreigners came out as the Boxers Rebellion where the Empress CiXi used the secret society of "Boxers", who believed that they could withstand enemy bullets, and got half of the army to assist them for the Empress. "China declared war on the foreign powers on June 21, but Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and Yuan Shikai protected foreigners from Boxers in their provinces." (Beck, 2007). In response to the uprising, foreign armies started sending in their soldiers in defense of their citizens and assisted in destroying these rebels pushing up all the way to Beijing until the Boxers were completely destroyed. As a result the Emperor and the Empress escaped. The Boxers Rebellion resulted in the unequal treaties and repatriations to the foreign powers in response to their citizens' deaths (Dugdale-Pointon, 2004). During the Qing's 268 year history there have been a series of many revolts. Most of these revolts were not short lived and mainly lasted for many years until they were finally suppressed, however the Boxers Rebellion really pushed the Qing's decline at a rapid rate. This rebellion proved that the ethnic Chinese were fed up by being ruled by foreign powers and that China's army was weak and outdated.
Foreign rule and bad trade deals weren't the only factors to bringing down the dynasty - new ideas such as republicanism from America, socialism from Europe and modernizing came into play. As Sun Yatsen came back from the USA (Hawaii) he adopted ideas such as freedom, democracy, and Christianity. Though starting out as a doctor, he pushed for the advancement and democratization of China. Unlike many other attempted revolutions and rebellions that took place, Sun didn't seek to reform the dynasty but the topple it and make China a republic. Sun founded the revolutionary alliance in 1905 and created publications that would be sent out to let people know the difference between revolution and reform (Beck, 2007). Though his battles had failed repeatedly, it wasn't until 1911 that they saw tremendous progress take place. As numerous provinces in China such as Fujian and Guangdong were declaring independence, Sun promised Yuan Shikai, a retired general, that he would be president of the new republic if the revolution were to succeed. "The revolutionaries took over Shanghai and Nanjing, forming a provisional government on December 14. After persuading the English to stop loaning the Qing regime money, Sun Yat-sen returned from abroad and was elected provisional president of the Chinese republic" (Beck, 2007). The events of 1911 caused the Qing to topple entirely and place a new reality on China by becoming a republic ruled by ethnic Han Chinese (as President Yuan picked to become the majority in his cabinet).
Sources Cited:
Butler, Chris. 2007. The Decline of Imperial China. (c. 1800-1911). The Flow of History. http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/eme/18/FC124.
Beck, Sanderson. 2007. Qing Decline 1800-1912. Literary Works of Sanderson Beck. <http://www.san.beck.org/21-Summary.html#a1>
N/A. N/D. Introduction to the Taiping Rebellion 1850-1871. Taiping Rebellion. <http://taipingrebellion.com/#intro>
Dugdale-Pointon, TDP. (19 September 2004), The Boxer Rebellion, 1900, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_boxer.html