The Decline of the Qing Dynasty19th centuryChapter 22.1

Causes of Decline

The Decline of the Qing Dynasty

Internal External

high population,

Food Shortages

Tai Ping Rebellion

Peasant Unrest,

corruption

Boxer Rebellion

Land used to grow opium

British Opium Trade

The Opium Wars

War with Japan

Growing Influence of Imperialists

Opposition of conservatives to

One Hundred Days of

Rebellion

Guangzhou British

trading port

The Opium Trade

• British had trading outlet at Guangzhou• British had a lopsided trade with China – imported more

than exported• To offset the imbalance of trade, Great Britain started to

trade a highly addictive

drug – Opium.• The Chinese government

asked England to quit based

on morale issues –

but Britain refused

The Opium War

• Silver was flowing out of China into England’s hands with the trade of Opium• China blockaded the foreign ports• The British responded with force starting the

Opium War (1839-1842)• British warships destroyed Chinese coastal and

river forts• The Qing Dynasty surrenders

Treaty of Nanjing

• Treaty of Nanjing in 1842• Chinese agreed to open five coastal ports to British trade• Limit taxes on imported British goods• Pay for costs of the war• China gives the British the island of Hong Kong

• Extraterritoriality – in the five ports given over to Great Britain, Europeans were subject to their own laws and not the laws of China.

Hong Kong

Sphere of Influence

• An area where foreign governments have exclusive trading rights and use of ports but do not have administrative control. By the end of the 19th century, large parts of China were claimed as spheres of influence by European countries, Russia, and Japan. Notably the United States did not claim a sphere of influence in China.

• See map on page 687

The Tai Ping Rebellion

1850 – 1864

The economic problems within China leads to a Peasant revolt

Hong Xiuquan leads the revolt

Hong believes God gave him the mission to destroy Qing dynasty

Hong captures town Yongan and proclaims a new dynasty

Tai Ping Reforms

• Tai Ping rebellion called for social reforms• Giving land to peasants• Treating women as equals to men

• Called for people to give up private possessions• Common ownership of land introduced• money, food, clothing shared• Alcohol and tobacco outlawed• Practice of binding women’s feet outlawed

Tai Ping Revolt

• March 1853 – rebels seize Nanjing• Massacres 25,000 men, women and children

• Revolt lasts for 10 years• Over 20 million people die• Europeans come to aid of Qing Dynasty• 1864 – Chinese forces, with European aid, recapture

Nanjing

Second Opium War

• China could not deal with Tai Ping internal revolt because they were also dealing with outside forces

• Treaty of Tianjin – 1858• Chinese agree to legalize Opium trade• Agree to open new ports to foreign trade• Surrender the Kowloon Peninsula to Great Britain• China resist parts of treaty• British seize Beijing in 1860

2nd Opium War Treaty Signing

Qing Dynasty Declines

• 1870 – China depends on regional warlords to help them restore order

• Warlords collect tax money from locals for their own use• Self-strengthening – China should adopt Western

technology while keeping its Confucian values and institutions.• Factories were built to produce modern weapons• Ships built to increase military strength

• Chinese government keeps traditional imperial bureaucracy

• Government tries to modernize China’s military and build up industry

• Railroads, weapons, factories, shipyards were built while keeping Chinese value system the same

Imperialism in China

• 1880s and 1890s• Internal conditions continued to deteriorate in China• Russia pressures China to give up territories in Siberia• Russia and Great Britain struggle for Tibet• European states created spheres of Influence areas

(exclusive trading rights)

Foreign Influence, War with Japan

• Warlords trade directly with foreign nations as well as give exclusive railroad and mining privileges

• Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan all establish spheres of influence

• 1894: China goes to war with Japan over inroads into Korea.

• Chinese defeated• Japan demands island of Taiwan and Liaodong Peninsula• Foreign powers force Japan to give the Peninsula back to

China

Internal Crisis

• 1898 - Emperor Guang Xu (GWANG SHYOO)

launches massive reforms• “One Hundred Days of Reform”• Empire issues edicts calling for major political, administrative

and educational reforms• Models Western models

• Many leaders opposed the reforms

• Empress Dowager Ci Xi (TSUH-SEE) opposes reforms• She imprisons the Emperor and ended his reform

efforts

United States Gets Involved

• 1899 - John Hay, secretary of state of U.S. presents a proposal that ensures equal access to the Chinese market for all nations and preserves the unity of the Chinese Empire

• This was called the Open Door Policy• Open Door Policy helped to reduce restrictions on

foreign imports imposed by the dominating powers within each sphere of influence.

Imperialism in China?

The Boxer Rebellion

• Boxer – name given to members of a secret organization – Society of Harmonious Fists

• Boxers upset by foreign influence• “Destroy the Foreigner” motto• Disliked Christian missionaries, Chinese converts –

roamed countryside killing them (1900)• Boxers take over Beijing while foreigners flee to

compound

The Boxer Rebellion

• Two months later, an allied army consisting of 20,000 British, French, German, Russian, American and Japanese troops seize Beijing.

• Restores order and demands more concessions from Chinese government.

• Chinese government has to pay indemnity for damages

The Boxer Rebellion