Challenges in East Asia

1800-1914

Main Ideas

• Western nations used political persuasion and military strength to gain trading privileges with China and Japan

• China’s internal problems made it easier for Western nations to penetrate the country and strengthen their influence

• Japan’s ability to adopt Western ways and to maintain its own traditions enabled it to develop into a modern, powerful nation

Impact on Today’s World

• Issues raised by the Opium War continue to be addressed, since drug addiction and the drug trade remain major international problems

• Japan has one of the world’s largest industrialized free markets

• China’s large market continues to attract Western business and trade

The Qing Dynasty

• Created by Manchus

• lasted over 250 years as the last imperial Chinese dynasty

• bitterly resented as a foreign, occupying dynasty

• Famine, rapid population growth and pressure from European nations led to its decline

The Opium Wars

• Britain had an unfavorable trade balance with China and turned to selling opium, which was grown in Northern India. Tons were shipped.

• Opium parlors spread throughout China, creating huge numbers of addicts

• Chinese outlaw opium in 1836

• The Chinese attempted to block British traders in 1839 but were technologically inferior and were badly defeated

The Opium Wars

• This led to the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842 in which the Chinese were forced to open 5 ports, limit taxes on British imports, pay for war costs, give the British Hong Kong, and give the British extraterritoriality

The Tai Ping Rebellion

• Led by Hong Xiuquan

• appealed to many because it called for reforms like giving land to peasants and treating women as equals

• one of the most devastating civil wars in history (between 20-30 million believed dead in a 14 year period)

• eventually put down by Qing forces with European aid

Hong Xiuquan

Efforts at Reform

• Self-strengthening- idea that China should adopt Western technology while keeping Confucian values and institutions

• democracy was considered too radical

• Overall, technology and industry were improved but the Chinese value system remained unchanged

The Confucian Code

• state policy from 210 B.C. until A.D. 1912.

• 3 Concepts: 1. the emperor is superior to all others on Earth and is accountable for all events that influence the welfare of the people 2. administrators in the government are selected on the basis of merit and competence 3. the Chinese people are taught to value order and social cohesion above personal gain

• Submission to authority, respect for tradition, and moderation in all things are key

Efforts at Reform

• (1898) Emperor Guang Xu attempts a reform campaign but many conservatives at court opposed it. Also, his aunt the Empress Dowager Ci Xi opposed them, and eventually imprisoned the emperor.

Ci Xi

Emperor Guang Xu

Open Door policy

• Proposed by John Hay. Ensured equal access to the Chinese market for all nations and preserved the unity of the Chinese empire.

Boxer Rebellion

• Anti-Western and anti-Christian

• supported by Ci Xi

• members of the “Society of Harmonious Fists” or “Righteous and Harmonious Fists”

• International response was swift and crushed the rebellion

Fall of the Qing

• Reforms were attempted to save the dynasty

• civil service exams were replaced by a Western educational model

• legislative assemblies formed at local level but could only “advise” the ruler

• Sun Yat-Sen forms the “Revive China Society”

Sun Yat-Sen

Fall of the Qing

• Sun devised a 3 stage plan to make China a democracy: 1. military takeover 2. transitional phase in which his party would prepare the people for democracy 3. constitutional democracy

• advocated 3 principles: nationalism, democracy, and the right for people to pursue their own livelihoods

• Ci Xi and Guang Xu both died and Henry Pu Yi, an infant, became China’s last emperor

Fall of the Qing

• 1911-Followers of Sun Yat-Sen revolt and the Qing dynasty collapses

• Sun’s party turns to General Yuan Shigai

• Yuan was unsuccessful and despised by reformers and traditionalists

• Sun’s party becomes the “Guomindang”, or nationalist party. They attempt a rebellion against Yuan but fail

• After Yuan’s death in 1916, China slips into civil war

Yuan Shigai

Isolation in Japan

• 1800- Tokugawa shogunate had ruled Japan for 200 years and isolated it from the outside world

• 1853- 4 US warships led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrive in Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay). Perry carried a letter from President Millard Fillmore (p. 487) asking for the opening of trade and better treatment of shipwrecked sailors

• Treaty of Kanagawa signed: 2 ports opened, return of shipwrecked sailors, US consulate opened

Isolation in Japan

• The main reason for the opening of Japan= US firepower and Japanese fear of it. When they first saw the steam-powered ships, the Japanese described them as “giant dragons puffing smoke” and “black ships of evil appearance”

• Many samurai (Sat-Cho alliance) resisted and wanted no part of the West. In 1868 they attacked the Shogun and proclaimed the emperor to be restored.

Matthew Perry Millard Fillmore

Meiji Restoration

• Emperor Mutsuhito, or Emperor Meiji, was the figurehead of the restoration

• local nobles stripped of titles but named governors of territories, or prefectures

• Iwakura Mission and Ito Hirobumi sent abroad to study Western culture and politics

• Japanese economy modernizes

• government based on Germany’s with Emperor as figurehead and power in the hands of prime minister and his cabinet

Emperor Mutsuhito

Ito Hirobumi Iwakura Mission

Meiji Restoration

• Military was Westernized and drastically changed. All Japanese men served 3 years. Western tactics and weapons adopted.

• Education system modeled after the US.

• Women’s rights improved

• Imperialism was also copied……..

Imperialism

• Japan has very few natural resources and is small. Japanese leaders felt the only way to compete would be to expand. (colonize)

• 1894- Rivalry between Japan and China over Korea leads to war. Japan wins easily.

• Japan also has rivalry with Russia over influence in Korea. The Russians think little of the Japanese. 1904- Japanese launch surprise attack on the Russian naval base at Port Arthur. They defeat the Russians on land and at sea and shock the world.

Results

• Japan becomes a new world power