Download End of the Qing Empire - Hackettstown School District

Collapse of Empires Skits
In the early 20th century, the older land-based Ottoman, Russian, and Qing empires collapsed due to internal and
external factors, including economic hardship, political & social discontent, technological stagnation, and military defeat.
In their wake lay new nations like Turkey or reformed states like Communist China or the Soviet Union. For this
assignment, write a script for a skit demonstrating the collapse of one of these empires. Be prepared to perform the skit
for the class.
Background Information:
Russian Empire – refer to Russian Revolution handout & textbook chapter 28
Ottoman Empire – see article “The Decline of the Ottoman Empire”
The Fall of China's Qing Dynasty in 1911
The ethnic-Manchu rulers of China's Qing Dynasty reigned over the Middle Kingdom from 1644 CE until the early 20th
century. What brought about the collapse of this once-mighty empire, ushering in the modern era in China?
The collapse of China's Qing Dynasty was a long process. Qing rule gradually collapsed during the second half of the
nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, due to a complex interplay between internal and external
factors.
External Factors:
Europe's leading countries expanded their control over large portions of Asia and Africa in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, putting pressure even on the traditional superpower of East Asia, imperial China. The most
devastating blow came in the Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-60, after which Britain imposed unequal treaties on the
defeated Chinese and took control of Hong Kong. This humiliation showed all of China's neighbors and tributaries that
the once-mighty China was weak and vulnerable.
With its weakness exposed, China began to lose power over peripheral regions. France seized Southeast Asia, creating
its colony of French Indochina. Japan stripped away Taiwan, took effective control of Korea (formerly a Chinese
tributary), and also imposed unequal trade demands in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki.
By 1900, foreign powers including Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan had established "spheres of influence"
along China's coast - areas in which the foreign powers essentially controlled trade and the military, although technically
they remained part of Qing China. The balance of power had tipped decidedly away from the imperial court and toward
the foreign powers.
Internal Factors:
While external pressures chipped away at Qing China's sovereignty and its territory, the empire also began to crumble
from within. Ordinary Han Chinese felt little loyalty to the Qing rulers, who were Manchus from the north. The
calamitous Opium Wars seemed to prove that the alien ruling dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven and needed to
be overthrown. In response, the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi clamped down hard on reformers. Rather than following
the path of Japan's Meiji Restoration, and modernizing the country, Cixi purged her court of modernizers.
When Chinese peasants raised a huge anti-foreigner movement in 1900, called the Boxer Rebellion, they initially
opposed both the Qing ruling family and the European powers (plus Japan). Eventually, the Qing armies and the
peasants united, but they were unable to defeat the foreign powers. This signaled the beginning of the end for the Qing
Dynasty.
The crippled Qing Dynasty clung to power for another decade, behind the walls of the Forbidden City. The Last Emperor,
6-year-old Puyi, formally abdicated the throne on February 12, 1912, ending not only the Qing Dynasty, but China's
millennia-long imperial period.
End of the Qing Empire (1796–1913)
After the death of Emperor Qianlong in 1799, the Qing Empire began to topple. Like the Tang, Yuan and Ming Empires,
the Qing Empire ended in rebellions, wars, natural disasters, economic problems, famines, and invasions. During the
1800s, the dynasty seemed somewhat successful because the population kept growing, the territory stayed intact, and
the empire slowly modernized. On the other hand, the ruling court involved in their own intrigues and seeking a
luxurious life was inept to deal with a rapidly changing world and numerous uprisings and natural disasters.
Foreign Advancement and Attacks
The isolationist policy towards Europeans set by Emperor Qianlong proved to be a big mistake. During the 19th century
and early 20th century, the Qing court was not prepared for conflicts with Europeans and Japanese.
Wars with Europeans
European technology rapidly improved after the First Industrial Revolution at the end of the 1700s. But the Qing
empire modernized little. Their repressive policies made their dynasty ill-equipped to survive. In the 1800s,
Europeans easily defeated the Qing army and navy, and they forced the Qing to give them trading ports.
The First Opium War between Britain and the empire started in 1838. The British wanted to have greater access to
the Qing Empire for trade, and the Qing court wanted to keep out British opium and maybe to keep out British
influence.
Britain gained Hong Kong in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking. This war showed that the Qing army and navy were
obsolete.
The British then wanted greater access to the empire and the right to send ships on the rivers for trade and military
purposes. They also wanted an embassy in Beijing.
In 1854, Great Britain tried to renegotiate the Treaty of Nanking. When the court refused, there was the Second
Opium War that the British easily won.
There was another war between the French and the Qing Empire called the Sino-French War (1883–1885).
War with the Japanese
There was also a war with the Japanese called the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). They lost this war also.
The Japanese modernized remarkably quickly in the latter part of the 19th century, and they also started to attack
the empire and take territories for colonies. Unlike the Europeans who wanted open trading ports, the Japanese
wanted to conquer and colonize the whole region.
In 1894, a Japanese naval victory surprised the Qing navy that had bought large European battleships and cruisers.
The Qing court thought that their fleet was more powerful than the Japanese fleet. However, a lack of training and
funds to support the fleet contributed to their loss.
The Japanese quickly destroyed a large Qing fleet and made Formosa a part of their empire. They turned it into an
industrial colony. The Qing dynasty also ceded a part of Liaoning.
Internal Rebellions Against the Qing
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From 1796 until the end of the dynastic era, the Qing court faced rebellion after rebellion, but they defeated or
thwarted all of them until the Qing rulers gave up power to Sun Yatsen in 1912.
The White Lotus Rebellion (1796–1804) In 1796, a rebellion against the Qing court was led by the White Lotus
Society. This rebellion lasted eight years until 1804.
The Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864) lasted for 13 years from 1851–1864. The leader of the Taiping was Hong
Xiuquan who had been influenced by a missionary, but didn't become a Christian.
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Instead he led a quasi-Christian movement that had some Christian beliefs and ideals. Many of his ideas
seem right. He banned slavery, men using concubines, arranged marriages, opium use, foot binding, torture,
and the worship of idols. He wanted women to have more equality in society.
o He made Nanjing his capital, and his army seemed to be ready to attack Beijing. However, there were
internal feuds and corruption. Britain and France sent troops to aid the Qing army.
o It is thought that during the long war, about 25 million people died. It is thought to be the second bloodiest
war in history after WWII.
Dungan Revolt (1864–1877)
o Several other large rebellions and wars happened about the same time. The Dungan Revolt involved a large
region around Gansu and Shaanxi in the central and north-western part of the empire. It was
partly sectarian war between three Muslim religious sects called the Gedimu, Khafiya, and Jahariyya.
o One aim of the Muslims was to establish a Muslim kingdom in the region. However, many Muslims sided
with the Qing and fought on the Qing side. It is thought that several million people were killed in this war
and by the army's extermination of people to clear the Gansu Corridor of Muslims.
o The Qing army's goal in clearing the Gansu Corridor of Muslims was to prevent the Muslims in Xinjiang and
those in the central part of the empire from uniting.
Other Rebellions and Wars
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The Panthay Rebellion was another Muslim rebellion in Yunnan that lasted from 1855 to 1873. It is thought that
perhaps a million people died in that war.
The Miao people also rebelled in Guizhou. It is thought that millions of people were killed in two wars around
1800 and from 1854 to 1873.
In addition to these rebellions, the Hakka people and the Punti people in the southeast fought a long ethnic war.
Neighboring villages and clans fought each other viciously between the years 1855 and 1867.
Then there was another Dungan revolt in the northwest in 1895. In this revolt also, Muslim groups aided the
Qing army to quell the rebellion. There were also other rebellions.
Natural Disasters
There were some great natural disasters in the last 50 years of the dynasty that contributed to weakening it. This
pattern of natural disasters was seen as a sign that the dynasty lost the Mandate of Heaven.
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River Floods
o Two of the biggest floods in the world's history helped to end the Qing dynasty. There was one of the
world's biggest natural disasters in history when the Yellow River flooded in 1887. It is thought that
between 1 to 2 million people died.
o The Yellow River flooded again in 1898. The Yangtze River flooded in 1911, and about 100,000 died.
Earthquakes
o The Gansu Earthquake killed about 22,000 people in 1879. The earthquake measured about magnitude
8.
Famines
o The Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879 killed about 10 percent (about 10 million people) of the
population of several northern provinces.
o The great disaster and little aid provided by the Qing government made the people even more
discontented with the Qing Dynasty.
o There was another famine from 1896–1897 which led in part to the Boxer Rebellion. At first, the Boxer
Rebellion was an anti-Qing rebellion.
Plagues
o About 60,000 people died from bubonic plague in northeastern China alone during the years 1910–
1912. The plague spread inland also.
Economic Problems
After all the major rebellions, genocide and mass exterminations in the middle 1800s, there were many natural
disasters in the late 1800s as described above. All these disasters impoverished the survivors who faced foreign
economic competition and modernization with little knowledge of the outside world or scientific knowledge.
Due to modernization and imports, a lot of people lost their work. So the poor died and faced starvation, and the
population became poorer overall.
However, better health care and Western medicines provided by missionary doctors saved tens of thousands of
lives. So the population didn't drop as much as it would have due to the disasters.
Railroads and some early factories made traditional work obsolete. For example, railroads put a lot of people who
worked along the canal system out of work.
Foreign imported industrial products such as cotton clothes were much cheaper than many locally produced
products. This put a lot of people out of work also.
It is said that by 1900, the value of imports was four times more than the value of exports. This was much unlike the
height of the Qing Empire in the 1700s when their products were considered very valuable around the world.
Their economy didn't advance along with the West and Japan. Common people faced a lot of suffering, and many
didn't survive. Many people blamed their problems on the Qing Dynasty, foreigners, and Christians.
Poor Education
Compounding the problem in the empire was the lack of modern education. The empire's literati concentrated on
training for the Imperial Examinations.
Literate people wanted their children to concentrate on training for the government examinations. They studied
ancient philosophical and religious texts. People had little knowledge or appreciation for modern Western
education.
The Qing rulers did little to promote knowledge of the world and modern education. Instead, they were isolationist.
They feared that the people would understand the outside world.
It is said that Empress Cixi who ruled the empire from behind the scenes didn't well appreciate the need for
modernization of industry. She probably didn't understand how to set up a modern school system.
She wasn't educated herself. She came into power over hundreds of millions of people because she was a favorite
concubine of one of the last emperors.
At the end of the empire, most of the modern education in the empire was provided by missionaries. They set up
numerous universities, medical schools, and schools for youngsters to learn to read and get an elementary
education. By 1911, they operated about 3,000 schools.
The Final Emperors and Cixi (1861–1912)
The Qing court was inept in the last decades. The Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) who was a concubine of an
emperor came to power in 1861 and ruled behind the scenes until her death.
Her son reigned from 1862 to 1874, and her nephew ruled from 1875 to 1908. But it is said that she was the real
ruler during this long and crucial period of time from 1861 until 1908 at the end of the empire.
The Empowerment of Empress Cixi
Modern historians see her rule as a mystery. Not much is known about her. People are not even sure where she was
born. Somehow she ruled the empire from behind the scenes.
She was not well educated. She was simply one of many concubines, but she was favored by her emperor, so she
had a high position among the concubines. Then her son was selected to be the emperor.
She started to rule the empire directly after 1860 when British and French troops attacked Beijing with a
comparatively small force.
They destroyed the Imperial Summer Palace. It is said that when the Emperor Xianfeng heard of this news, he fell
into a depression, turned heavily to alcohol and drugs, and became seriously ill.
When he was dying in 1861, he named eight regents for his five year old son who was to be the next emperor when
he died.
He also wanted Cixi (this son's mother) and his Empress to help his son. For some reason, the Empress made Cixi a
co-Empress.
The Official Role of Empress Cixi
What followed after this were various plots and assassinations, and she was implicated in some of them. She used
her power and the court's riches to terrorize people and accumulate money, jewels, and antiques to build lavish
gardens and palaces.
It is known that in 1898, she blocked her nephew from reforming the government and imprisoned him. He died
from arsenic poisoning in 1908. People suspect that maybe Cixi killed him the day before she died. Some people
suspect that she was poisoned too.
She wanted to survive and gain power in a dangerous court situation where assassinations and plots were the way
of life. To maintain her power at the top, she had to maintain the traditional government system although this cost
millions of lives and kept the empire from progressing.
The Boxer Rebellion
In 1900, another rebellion started among the poor and unemployed. It was led by people who studied martial arts.
It was called the Boxer Rebellion.
At first their goal was to overthrow the government and expel or kill foreigners. But Cixi supported the movement
secretly, and then the leaders wanted to support the Qing.
It became an anti-Christian movement. Tens of thousands of converts were killed and tortured. The indigenous
Christians probably didn't fight back. But relatively few Protestant missionaries were attacked by the mobs.
Then Cixi declared war on the foreigners, and their troops marched against the foreigners in Beijing. Foreign armies
defeated the Qing troops and the Boxers.
The US sent a detachment of troops in this war, and the Qing court was forced to pay war reparations to the US. The
US used these funds to build a large university called Tsinghua University.
The famous Shaolin Temple's leaders (of the Kung Fu TV series) were thought to have been involved in this rebellion,
and some fled to other countries such as Australia and the US.
The Role of Sun Yat-Sen
In the early 1900s, Sun Yatsen traveled around the world to organize a revolution against the Qing Dynasty.
Facing assassination plots and court bounties, he wanted to institute a modern democracy. He was educated in
Hawaii and in a Christian college in Hong Kong. Assassins were sent against him, and there was bounty set at 3,000
teals of silver, but attempts to stop him failed, and he became well known and popular around the world and
among educated Chinese people especially outside the empire.
He espoused both Christianity and the need for a new government. In 1908, Cixi and the emperor died. The
chosen new emperor who was named Puyi was only two years old. The empire's official ruler was a regent named
Zaifeng. The Wuchang Uprising succeeded relatively bloodlessly in 1911, and Sun Yatsen became the first president.
The capital of the new government was in Nanjing. Sun Yatsen wanted to implement a republican constitution, but
this never happened. Sun Yatsen stepped down to allow a Qing general named Yuan to be president. In this way, the
Qing Empire ended in 1912.