Qing Dynasty

Article Outline

Introduction; The Early Qing Dynasty; Decline of the Qing

Loss of Territory

As foreign aggression continued throughout the late 19th century, China’s territory and sphere of influence shrank. The Russians encroached upon Sinkiang, and in 1874 the Japanese raided Taiwan. One by one, states that had paid tribute to China and had been under China’s influence were seized by foreigners. The French took Annam (northern Vietnam) in 1885. Japan occupied the Ryukyu Islands and then began to encroach upon Korea, which had been sending four tribute missions to China each year.

In 1894 China went to war with Japan over Korea and suffered another humiliating defeat. The Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) ended Korea’s tributary relationship with China. It also stipulated that China pay a costly indemnity to Japan, cede to the Japanese the island of Taiwan, open up several ports to foreign trade, and allow Japanese to build factories in China.

Following the Treaty of Shimonoseki, other countries found excuses to seize Chinese territory. Germany took over parts of the Shandong (Shantung) peninsula in 1897, and the Russians annexed parts of the Liaodong Peninsula in 1898. The Western powers agreed upon the Open Door Policy, which guaranteed each of them equal rights to trade in China, and tried to further increase their commercial opportunities in China.

As foreign merchants and missionaries poured into China, waves of antiforeign feeling spread through the Chinese population. In 1900 the hostility flared up into the Boxer Uprising. The Yihetuan, (“Society of Righteousness and Harmony”), known by Westerners as the Boxers, practiced martial arts with the belief that, being possessed by spirits, they had a magical invulnerability to weapons. With some encouragement from the conservative members of the court, the Boxers, who opposed foreign influence in China, stormed the foreign legations, killed foreign missionaries and Chinese who had converted to Christianity, and destroyed such signs of foreign influence as railways.

Economy

China in the late 19th century faced severe economic problems. The battles against the Taiping rebels and foreign aggressors were costly and ate up funds that might have been used to repair dikes and stock granaries. Because public works had deteriorated, floods and droughts brought famine and disease. In the drought from 1876 to 1879 alone, around 10 million people died.

As China became caught up in world trade, the rural economy changed. The demand for Chinese goods during the first half of the dynasty had stimulated peasants to specialize in cash crops and to work for small regional industries. But in producing for the market, they gave up their self-sufficiency and became vulnerable to world trade conditions. When prices for their crops and handicraft industries fell, they suffered. This problem was especially acute after 1895. Native industries could not compete with Japanese factories set up in China.

In 1853 a new tax, the likin, had been introduced to raise funds for putting down the Taiping Rebellion. This tax, which was imposed on goods transported within China, was easier to collect than other types of taxes and provided revenues for the province in which the taxes were collected. However, it had an unfortunate consequence: It gave foreign goods, which were exempt from the likin, an unfair advantage, while discouraging the advancement of native industries. It thus deepened China’s economic plight.

Society

The events of the 19th century transformed Chinese society. They gave influence and social standing to segments of society that had previously been voiceless and weak.

Merchants had traditionally been low in status, but as industry and trade became important, they gained wealth and respect. Among these were the compradores, Chinese agents who assisted foreign merchants and learned foreign languages and business practices. These men prospered from new business opportunities, and some of them in turn invested in Chinese industry.

A new type of military man emerged. Soldiers of the past had been uncouth and uneducated and were decidedly inferior to the cultured officials. Not so the new militarists. Educated at modern military academies and trained in modern military techniques, they earned power and prestige.

Traditionally, young people had been taught to obey their parents, respect their ancestors, and serve their families. They thus grew up accepting the values of their parents. Conditions in the late 19th century also changed familial relations. New opportunities, such as studying abroad or joining study societies, detached young people from their families and gave them a sense of independence. Moreover, what the students learned about foreign customs and political institutions undermined Chinese traditions.

Women in the past had accepted that they were subordinate to men. As the 19th century drew to a close, opportunities opened up for girls to attend schools and to study abroad. Once educated, they worked as school teachers, promoted women’s rights, wrote for journals, and fought for political causes.

Cultural Changes

Following the traumas of the Opium Wars and the mid-19th-century rebellions, Chinese scholars reevaluated their political institutions and gradually detached themselves from past traditions. Foreign works of all sorts were translated into Chinese. Western missionaries translated the Bible and religious works. Then, especially after the Taiping Rebellion, the Chinese themselves translated works on science, military arts, and technology, as well as novels, philosophical works, and political treatises.

Modern-style newspapers began to appear in the 1870s, and, along with magazines, they proliferated in the early 20th century. By their very nature as frequent publications, these periodicals drew attention to current events and focused on change. They accelerated the circulation of information throughout the country and engaged readers throughout the nation in the same issues at the same time. The press stimulated debate and the expression of public opinion. Satires of government officials and criticisms of foreign imperialists stirred up anger among the masses and aroused such public protests as the Boxer movement.

The press and translations of foreign works gave Chinese readers much new information about political systems and economic strategies. Among the concepts introduced during this period were ideas of evolution and progress. Gradually, Chinese thinkers and activists abandoned the cyclical concept of history, which contended that dynasties inevitably repeat the same pattern, rising and falling. Accepting instead the idea that history advances through stages, they put an end to the Chinese dynastic system of rule and ushered in a new era.

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Loss of Territory

Economy

Society

Cultural Changes