WORLD HISTORY: Volume II - Chapter 22 (p742-746)

SHADOWS OVER THE PACIFIC: EAST ASIA UNDER CHALLENGE 2

The Climax of Imperialism

From 1880 to 1900, the Europeans got more and more political and military power in China. Many non-Chinese people lived in the Qing Empire. They lived in areas like the Gobi Desert, Central Asia and Tibet. These people had never really felt as if they were part of the Empire and the Qing gradually lost these areas to European influence. Russia used this to their advantage. Russia could see the dynasty was weak and took control of land north of the Amoor River in Siberia. In Tibet, both Russia and Great Britain wanted control but they did not get it. However, the Tibetans got more control over their own land than they had had before under Chinese rule. In the south, France and Britain got more control in Burma and Vietnam. In the middle of China, local commanders sold trading, railway-building and mining rights to the Europeans.

The Manchu dynasty continued to lose its power very quickly at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1894, the Qing went to war with Japan. They did not like the way that Japan was trying to get power in Korea. Many people were surprised when the Chinese lost this war. Many people said that the reason the Chinese lost was because they had not followed their 'self-strengthening' policy properly. Things got worse for the Manchu in 1897. Germany wanted land in East Asia. Two German missionaries were killed by Chinese rioters. Germany demanded land in the Shandong peninsula. The Qing court agreed and gave Germany the land. After that, other countries started demanding land from the Qing. Russia demanded the Liaodong peninsula. There was a port there called Port Arthur, which did not ice over in winter. Russia needed it. Great Britain then asked China for a coaling station in northern China. Also, Britain needed to get fresh water and farming produce (fruit, vegetables, etc.) to the people living on Hong Kong island so they got a 100-year lease on the New Territories. The New Territories were on the mainland, right next to the island of Hong Kong.

The Qing government tried again to make reforms. In the spring of 1898, a Confucian scholar called Kang Youwei persuaded the young emperor, Guangxu, that China should make reforms to modernize China in the same way that Japan had done. Kang said that if the Chinese did not do this, it would be very bad indeed. During the next few weeks, the young emperor ordered big reforms in the political, administrative and education systems. Lots of traditional, conservative men in the government did not want these reforms. They said it was a big mistake to try and copy the West. More importantly, the emperor's aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) was against the reforms. The empress Cixi was the most powerful person at the Chinese court. Cixi had begun her political career as a concubine to an earlier emperor. When he died, she became very powerful at court and in 1878, made her own baby nephew, Guangxu, the emperor. For twenty years she ruled China in his name as a regent. Now Guangxu was an adult. Cixi said that the British had influenced her nephew, the emperor, to make these reforms to try and take power away from her. Cixi arrested and executed several reformers and kept the emperor prisoner in his own palace. The army helped her. Kang Youwei managed to run away abroad. This was the end of the One Hundred Days of Reform.

Opening the Door

During the next two years, foreign countries all put pressure on the Qing dynasty. If China opened up to foreign businesses, there would be millions of new customers, the Chinese people, and everyone wanted to be able to sell their goods to them. Britain, however, did not want the dynasty to end. Britain was worried that if the dynasty ended another power or country would take away China's independence and have total control there. The Americans were worried about this too. In 1899, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Hay, suggested to all the other imperialist powers that they should all join together to protect China and help it keep all its independence, its own government and all its lands. America was not just 'being nice' to China - America liked the idea of a free and open trading market. Hay's suggestion was called the Open Door Notes. It was not a law or a treaty, it was a gentleman's agreement. The imperialist powers had all agreed to protect China. The effect of this was that imperialists 'calmed down' about having business interests in China. For many years, Westerners had imagined that they could make lots of money with 400 million Chinese customers and everyone wanted to do business and trade there. Now things were more calm. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S. were now not so worried that other powers would try to take over China and dominate the market.

The Boxer Rebellion

The Open Door policy was good because it made the imperialist powers calm down their activities in East Asia. Unfortunately, it came too late to stop domestic trouble inside China. The Boxers were Chinese. They were members of a secret club which was based in rural areas of northern China. They were called 'the Boxers' because they did lots of physical exercises. In fact, their exercises were more like tai chi than boxing. There was a very bad drought in China and also a lot of unemployment. The unemployment was partly caused by foreign companies working in China. These companies had built railways and steamships. This meant that there was not enough work for the barge workers on rivers and canals. The Boxers were angry about this and they attacked foreigners living in China. They besieged the area in Beijing where all the foreigners lived. The foreigners had to be rescued by an international military force in the late summer of 1900. The foreign soldiers punished the rebels by destroying a lot of temples in the areas around Beijing. Also, the Chinese government was forced to pay money to the foreign governments who had sent soldiers to stop the rebellion.

Collapse of the Old Order

During the next few years, the old Qing dynasty tried to reform itself. The Empress Dowager, Cixi, had always said no to reforms but now she agreed. The old civil service exams were replaced by a more modern educational system based on Western systems. In 1905, a group was formed to look at changes to the political system. In the smaller towns and the countryside, there were legislative assemblies. Also, there were elections for a national assembly in 1910.

All these moves helped to keep the dynasty going for a bit longer. However, China was used to a very authoritarian kind of government and all these changes made people feel that things were becoming unstable in China. People also felt that the changes were not enough. The merchants, professional people and upper-class people who wanted reform became impatient with the dynasty. They were also disappointed when they discovered that the new assemblies would only be able to give advice to the government, they would had no real power. The government also made powerful people angry because they gave money to railway development projects through foreign firms, not through local Chinese investors.

The government reforms also did not change the lives of poorer Chinese people - people like the peasants, craftsmen, miners, and transport workers. Their living conditions were getting worse and worse because of rising taxes and greedy local government officials. In the countryside, there was growing unrest. It was not yet very well-organised and often this unrest was based in secret societies like the Boxers; however, it was a sign that people in China were very angry with the government. Things would have to change.