1. East Asia Under Challenge
1841 CE – 1911 CE

2. Decline of the Qing Dynasty
 Dynasty began to decline after long period
of peace and prosperity
 External pressure from the west affected
Chinese society
 Internal pressure, including corruption,
unrest, and incompetence, exacerbated by
China’s rapid growth which led to food
shortages

3. Opium War
 By 1800, Europeans had been in contact with China for over 200 years, but
were still only allowed to trade in Guangzhou
 The British had an unfavorable trade balance, they bought more goods
from China than they sold to China; they had to pay the difference with
silver, which they did not want to do
 The British decided to trade opium to improve their trade balance
 The British brought the opium from India to China; demand for opium increased in China
– opium was highly addictive; opium restored the trade balance, but upset the Chinese
 China made opium trade illegal; appealed to Queen to stop the British
 British refused to stop import of opium; the Chinese blockaded Guangzhou;
the British responded with military force, starting the Opium War
 The Chinese were unable to match the British forces; the British destroyed
the Chinese coastal and river forts; the Qing dynasty negotiated a peace
 The Treaty of Nanjing was signed in 1842; the Chinese opened five ports to
trade, limited taxes on British goods and China paid the costs of the war
 China also gave the British the island of Hong Kong

4. Tai Ping Rebellion
 A peasant revolt against the government, it was led
by Hong Xiuguan, a Christian convert who was
convinced God had given him the mission of
destroying the Qing dynasty
 The Tai Ping Rebellion called for social reforms,
making it popular among the peasants
 Hong also wanted people to give up private
possessions and hold lands and farms in common,
with assets to be shared equally by all
 In March 1853, the rebels seized Nanjing and
massacred 25,000 people
 The revolt continued for ten more years but
eventually fell apart
 Europeans came to the aid of the Qing dynasty; in
1864 Chinese forces recaptured Nanjing and
destroyed the remaining rebel forces
 It was one of the most devastating civil wars in
history, with up to 20 million people dying

5. Reform in China
 By 1870, Qing dynasty was in decline
 High taxes to pay for Tai Ping rebellion
 Private armies funded by rich warlords who collected taxes from
peasants; kept collecting taxes after war ended
 Government adopted Western technology while trying to
keep Confucian values and institutions
 Built factories to create modern weapons and strengthen
the military
 Kept civil service examinations for bureaucratic jobs
 Some reformers wanted democracy, but most of China saw
democracy as too radical

6. Advance of Imperialism
 Russia took advantage of Qing dynasty weaknesses to force China to
give up territories in North and Northeast (Siberia)
 In Tibet, Russia and Great Britain kept Tibet free from Chinese
influence
 European countries began creating spheres of influence in Chinese
mainland; these were areas that gave other countries exclusive trading
rights; European countries negotiated directly with Chinese warlords
for influence and control
 In 1894, China went to war with Japan over Japanese movements in
Korea
 China was soundly defeated; and Japan received Taiwan and the Liaodong
Peninsula (the peninsula was eventually returned to China)

7. 100 Days of Reform
 In 1898, new emperor Guang Xu launched
massive reform program
 Attempted to modernize government
 Adopted new educational system
 Allowed free press
 Reforms were opposed by members of court who
opposed the West
 Guang Xu eventually imprisoned by his aunt,
Empress Dowager Ci Xi

8. Boxer Rebellion
In 1899, the US proposed an Open Door Policy
that gave equal access to the Chinese trade
market and preserved the unity of the Chinese
empire
This policy came too late to prevent the Boxer
Rebellion; the Boxers were members of a secret
organization called the Society of Harmonious
Fists; they believed their exercises would protect
them from bullets
The Boxers were upset by the foreign takeover of
China; their slogan was “destroy the foreigner;”
they especially hated Christian missionaries
In 1900, the Boxers began roaming the country
and slaughtered foreign missionaries, Christians,
and foreign businessmen
An allied army of British, French, German,
Russian, American and Japanese troops attacked
Beijing in August of 1900 and restored order; the
Chinese were forced to pay a heavy indemnify –
a payment for damages to the Imperialist powers

9. Revolution in China
 By the 1900s, the Qing dynasty began to implement reforms in a
desperate attempt to maintain power
 Legislative assemblies were formed, education was reformed, and the
legal system got an overhaul
 However, the emerging middle-class and elites were not satisfied with
the changes, and the poor saw no changes, which led to deep unrest
throughout China
 A young radical, Sun Yat-Sen formed the Revive China Society to
replace the Qing government
 Sun did not think the Chinese people were ready for democracy, he
developed a three-stage takeover process:
 A military takeover
 A transitional phase to prepare for democractic rule
 A constitutional democracy

10. Revolution in China
 Sun united many radical groups and formed the Revolutionary
Alliance, which eventually became the Nationalist Party
 After Empress Ci Xi died in 1908, the last emperor, Henry Pu-Yi took
over the Qing dynasty
 In October 1911, followers of Sun Yat-Sen launched an uprising; the
government was too weak to react and the Qing dynasty collapsed
 Sun’s party did not have enough military or political support to form a
new government; they turned to General Yuan Shigai, who controlled
the army; he agreed to serve as President
 The revolution was not very revolutionary – no new government or
social order was formed, instead it led to an era of civil war
 After the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the military took
over the country
 Yuan ruled as a dictator, which led to clashes with Sun’s
party; he died in 1916, and China slipped into civil war

11. China in Transition
 Western influence damaged China’s economy in three
ways:
 It introduced modern methods of transportation and
communication
 It created an export market
 Integrated the Chinese market into the 19th century world economy
 Local industries were destroyed as people tried to profit off
exports
 Cities grew at fast pace and became industrial and
commercial centers
 City life began to dominate rural life; there was a battle
between old and new culture in China; Western ways
became popular and traditional Chinese culture was pushed
into primarily rural or conservative areas

12. Rise of Modern Japan
 By 1800, the Tokugawa Shogunate had ruled Japan for
over 200 years
 Foreigners were kept out and Japan kept itself isolated
from the rest of the world
 Foreign powers wanted to trade with Japan; the first to
successfully set up trade was the US in 1853
 Japan agreed to the Treaty of Kanagawa, which opened
two ports to western traders and established a US consulate
 In 1858, a more detailed treaty was signed that opened
more ports and established US residency in Japan and an
exchange of ministers

13. Meiji Restoration
 Opening ports to the west was unpopular in many parts of
Japan, especially among the samurai
 Two territories in the south, Satsuma and Choshu, ended
relations with the west, which led to military incidents with
the west
 Leaders in Satsuma and Choshu eventually forced the
Shogun to resign, which ended the shogunate system in
Japan forever
 A new emperor, Musuhito was appointed, his reign was
called the Meiji or “Enlightened Rule”
 The emperor was controlled by the leaders of Satsuma and
Choshu, who forced him to move the capital to Tokyo

14. Transformation of Japanese Politics
 The new leaders abolished the old order and strengthened the power of the
central government
 Meiji reformers tried to emulate Western politics and created a legislative
assembly and old lords were given territories called prefectures (that still exist
today)
 The Meiji Constitution was adopted in 1889 and was modeled after Imperial
Germany’s constitution – most authority was with the executive branch
 Meiji rulers also set up new form of land ownership and instituted a new tax that
was difficult for farmers to pay in poor crop years
 Meiji government promoted industrialization and started a new educational
system; a close relationship between the government and private businesses was
established
 Mieji reformers also transformed other institutions, like the military, which now
had compulsory service for all Japanese men; universal education was
implemented based on the American model

15. Joining Imperialist Nations
 Japan had no room for natural expansion – it was small,
lacked in resources, and was densely populated
 Japan began territorial expansion by claiming control of the
Ryukyu Islands in 1874
 Japan was a strong influence in Korea, which worried the
Chinese; in 1894 they went to war – the Japanese destroyed
the Chinese fleet
 In 1904, Japan went to war with Russia over influence in
Korea; the Japanese launched a surprise attack and defeated
the Russians, forcing them to accept a peace treaty in 1905
 In 1910, Japan annexed Korea outright, taking control of the
country and leaving the Japanese as the strongest influence in
Southeast Asia
 The US agreed to end Japanese immigration in 1907