On World History we have been looking at how several states during the 1800s tried to cope with the rise of industrialism and imperialism. We have already discussed Russia and Japan, and last time we began looking at China's 'Century of Humiliation'. When we last left off the ruling Qing dynasty was facing its biggest crisis in authority since the dynasty began in the seventeenth-century. Western powers had humiliated China in two wars, the so-called 'Opium Wars', and the state itself had faced domestic unrest - most notably the infamous Taiping Rebellion. With this post we will be looking at how the Qing tried to cope with these issues, and how one of the oldest empires in human history gave way to a republic. This should be read in tandem with the previous World History post, and for further information I would recommend The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence - it covers from the late-Ming all the way up to the Tienanmen Square Massacre in 1989.
The Re-Emergence of Anti-Manchu Sentiment
The ruling Qing dynasty were not Han Chinese, the largest population in China, but were instead Manchu. After the initial conquest there was an upsurge in anti-Manchu sentiment, but as the decades went along, and as Manchu rulers adopted more Han culture, these sentiments started to abate. These differences, and at times hostilities, never went away. For example, while, normally elite, Han women would have their feet bound elite Manchu women never did so, and Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber references characters bowing 'in the Manchu way'. Even before outright collapse of the Qing Empire there had been underground anti-Manchu groups - the White Lotus Society, which we discussed last time, had hoped to possibly bring back the Han Ming dynasty to replace the Manchu Qing in the 1800s. The decline of the Qing's authority, especially in the context of external invasion, caused a resurgence of anti-Manchu sentiment. Humiliation by the imperial powers was blamed on the Manchus for weakening China - when Japan annexed the Ryukyu islands in 1879 this was used as prime evidence. The Ryukyu king had paid tribute to China for centuries, and Japan had always been seen as a lesser state, so the annexation of the islands by a perceived lesser state provided evidence that the Manchus had weakened China. The leader of the Taiping, Hong Xiuquan, gave a speech declaring:
Can the Chinese still consider themselves men? Ever since the Manchus poisoned China, the flame of oppression has risen up to heaven, the poison of corruption has defiled the emperor’s throne, the offensive odour has spread over the four seas, and the influence of demons has distressed the empire while the Chinese with bowed heads and dejected spirits willingly became subjects and servants.
A big reason why the Taiping had such early success was that they managed to tap into anti-Manchu sentiment - Hong alleged that the Manchu were sent by the devil to corrupt China. This anti-Manchu sentiment would later be tied to republicanism and anti-imperialism.
Treaty Ports and New Communities
 |
| Avenue Petain, Shanghai |
Foreign powers carved up China between themselves - the UK, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, the US, and even Austria-Hungary - where they exerted control over areas. Mainly, these were the 'Treaty Ports', the port cities forcibly opened to foreign trade due to the unequal treaties. In these cities imperial powers began enforcing their own culture, and capitalist structures, greatly changing them. These cities would later become China's biggest cities - although Shanghai was already growing by the 1830s it exploded after Britain used it as one of the main ports used for trade. Through these ports Chinese intellectuals could access Western literature, and Christian missionaries used them to begin introducing Christianity to China. Sun Yat-sen, for example, would be baptised in Hong Kong and would later study abroad in Japan and Hawaii. Missionaries would use their presence to attempt to bring about reforms against aspects of Chinese culture - most notably footbinding. However, it should be stressed that missionaries didn't start these critiques, Chinese officials had attempted, or promoted reforms, before them. Li Ruzhen, who we saw last time, wrote metaphorical stories about how men would react if they were dropped in a world where gender roles were reversed. This also caused anti-Christian responses due to the abrasive attacks on local culture - in 1870 thanks to a rumour French missionaries were killed in the Tianjin Massacre causing an international crisis. Elsewhere, port cities would become drastically changed. They grew as rural populations moved there for work creating an urban working populace. How cities looked further started changing. In the areas of cities owned by Europeans they started designing how the city looked based off of European ones. In the French area of Shanghai Avenue Petain was created to resemble a Parisian street, the Monument Street Baptist Church was constructed in Dengzhou in 1872 across from a temple, and HSBC bank proudly boasted a lion representing the British empire outside their Shanghai branch. However, it was very clear that these treaty ports were imperial holdings. Britain sent Sikh troops from India to act as police in Shanghai, for example. Stories further abounded about how parks supposedly barred Chinese from entry. Although not true, it was socially expected that Chinese were the subjects of the imperial powers, so certain areas or recreational sites were barred from Chinese usage.
 |
| San Francisco's Chinatown, 1800s |
The widespread wars, poverty, and destitution made many Chinese move abroad. With the opening of treaty ports it allowed greater movement for traditionally static communities. Many moved to the growing ports, others started settling in long conquered territories like Tibet and Xinjiang, but many chose to move out of China itself. Most settled in with already established Chinese communities in southeast Asia in Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. In Dutch-controlled Indonesia they were used as tax-collectors and managers in the Dutch-owned opium monopolies. Chinese expatriates soon moved across the world - the Caribbean, London, California, Latin America, South Africa, and Australia were just some of the places where they went. In a tale similar to wider histories of immigration most who emigrated were young men hoping to earn money to send back home, or to find their riches abroad before returning home to China. For example, in 1880 100,000 Chinese men lived in California, to 3,000 women. Outside of southeast Asia most ended up working in hard and labour intensive jobs. Strict contracts stopped meant that many in Cuba chose to runaway or commit suicide to get out of their slave-like jobs. Mining, especially gold mining, attracted many emigrants because of the quick money which could be earned, if they survived. As a result, northern Australia, South Africa, and California became sought after places to migrate to - San Francisco was initially called Jinshan, or 'Mountain of Gold', in Chinese. In 1873 the foreign department, the Zongli Yamen, started setting up foreign departments to see how Chinese abroad were being treated - the first embassy was created in Singapore. Racism soon emerged alongside exploitation. The formations of 'Chinatowns' was seen as Chinese workers rejecting the nation, in the US they became associated with decadence and lawlessness thanks to a series of gang wars called the 'tong wars'. Outright hostility and racism broke out quickly - a race riot broke out in San Francisco in 1871 after two police were killed during a tong war battle leading to the deaths of 19, and in 1885 white miners in Wyoming Territory beat a worker to death with a shovel leading to a race riot killing a further 28. Misogyny mixed with racism as Chinese were accused of being feminine with 'sing-song' voices, and in Sonora, Mexico they were accused of 'stealing' women. In 1882 the US Senate passed the first of several legislation restricting Chinese migration viewing them as being inferior so were 'polluting' America.
The Self-Strengthening Movement
The 'Century of Humiliation' gives the implication that Chinese officials were defenceless against imperialistic onslaught, however, this ignores attempts they made to stop this. Even rebellions, like the Taiping Tiangguo, can be seen this way - by replacing the Qing the Taiping viewed themselves as 'saving' China. Court officials involved with foreign wars or stopping rebellions - such as Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang - began looking at why China had seemingly fallen behind. This began a period of attempted reforms which came to be known as the 'Self-Strengthening Movement', and more eager reformers claimed it was the Tongzhi Restoration. They believed that under the Tongzhi Emperor China's power would finally be restored. Echoing the later Meiji Restoration in Japan, Li sent students abroad to study engineering, sciences, and military sciences so they could return with skills which could be applied to China. Feng Guifen strongly advocated for learning languages managing to open an Interpreter's School in 1862, and in 1867 it transformed into a full college inviting foreign lecturers. A key aspect of the Self-Strengthening Movement was inviting Westerners to China to help their military development - Halliday Macartney supervised cannon casting, John Fryer translated technical books, and W.A.P. Martin taught languages and science in Beijing. Li Hongzhang, who became an important reformer after 1874 with the death of Zeng Guofan, amassed a personal staff of foreign advisers. This period also saw, for the only time in the Qing's history, a woman held considerable power - Empress-Dowager Cixi. The mother of Tongzhi she remained a shrewd and powerful figure in China until her death in 1908. A quote by her perfectly sums up her life: Although I have heard much about Queen Victoria, I do not think her life is half as interesting and eventful as mine. Unlike Victoria, Cixi had a much more direct impact on the fate of her state. She became so powerful that she could determine who became emperor; it is widely believed that she forced the suicide of her pregnant daughter-in-law so she could control who came to power.
 |
| Cixi |
As we refer to it as the 'Century of Humiliation' we can say that this movement failed to 'modernise' China, in contrast to Japan which propelled it to an imperialist power. One of the key reasons was how conservative the movement was, the reformers wanted to reshape China but keep things the same. This idea was known as ti-yong, (essence-use), how could China use Western ideas and technology but without giving up China's essence? This was also seen in Japan, but not as conservatively applied. The Confucian system was left untouched which prevented the economic and social reforms which the reformers wanted to enact. This is effectively seen when Li met with Japanese official Mori Arinori - he questioned how Japan could so quickly 'abandon' its culture. It did not further help that the Tongzhi Emperor died young in 1875 at the age of 18 - officially by smallpox but unofficially by overindulgence and exhaustion in the pleasure quarters of Beijing. With such a top-heavy state a strong ruler was required to enact such reforms which the Qing was lacking. The Self-Strengthening Movement was set-back by the reliance on foreign powers. Anti-Chinese rhetoric prevented Li from sending more students to the US in the 1880s, and although a new navy had been created, Li was wary of its weakness so backed down to foreign powers seizing former tribute states. Within a few years Japan had seized Ryukyu, Britain had seized Burma, and France seized Hanoi. The Self-Strengthening Movement showed its failure with the humiliating defeat by Japan in 1895 during the Sino-Japanese War - Japan managed to annex Taiwan and Liaodong, made Korea a protectorate, build factories in China, and pay money to Japan. This inspired the young Guangxu Emperor in 1898 to 'modernise' China - in a series of so many reforms over a hundred days it became known as the Hundred Days' Reform. Radical in scope they planned rapid industrialisation, a new educational system which went beyond Confucianism, establishing a university in Beijing, updating the military, becoming a constitutional monarch, and planning to curb Cixi's power. These reforms ended in a palace coup. Relying on the military figure Yuan Shikai, his plan was to use the military to arrest Cixi's key allies so he could then oust her from court - instead Yuan told Cixi's allies. Guangxu was placed under house arrest ending the reforms.
Reformers and Revolutionaries
 |
| Kang Youwei |
As we have seen, there have throughout the 1800s figures pushing to reform the Qing government. The Self-Strengthening Movement and Hundred Days' Reform were just two aspects of this reform. Some focused on specifically social issues, mainly women's issues which we'll discuss later, and others the wider Qing government. Two notable reformers were close allies of Guangxu - Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. Both were strong advocates of constitutional monarchy, and aimed to influence Guangxu in enacting these reforms. Kang was more radical than Liang, but his theories weren't compiled into the Da Tongshu into the 1930s. Although heavily inspired by prevailing social Darwinistic tendencies - he argued for some version of eugenics and believed that Confucianism and Buddhism were 'higher faiths' - he started advocating for radical changes. Inspired by both Buddhism and European socialists, he is seen as one of the first advocates for communism in China. Seeing capitalism as evil he argued that humanity could only be liberated through socialism; the family unit promoted injustice so had to be replaced by a communal child-raising system; that marriage would be a year-long contract which could be renewed when both partners wanted; and that the adoption of new technology could bring this about. The Da Tongshu would later become incredibly influential - Mao Zedong would be especially inspired by this. However, he never got to implement his ideas. The palace coup forcing Guangxu into house arrest caused Kang and Liang to go into exile where they exiled for a constitutional monarchy. A new generation was emerging, one who wanted revolution and not reform.
 |
| Sun Yat-sen |
One of the most important revolutionaries was Sun Yat-sen, now often referred to as the 'Father of the Nation'. From a Hakka and Cantonese background to a labouring family. He had a global education being educated in Guangdong, Hawaii, and Hong Kong where he became introduced to a wide range of ideas, as well as becoming a doctor. While in Hong Kong he became involved with other student activists which became known as the 'Four Bandits'. Frustrated at the conservatism of the Qing reforms, he even wrote an 8,000-character letter to Li urging more radical reforms, he moved back to Hawaii becoming involved with the Revive China Society. Aligning with poorer Chinese migrants the Revive China Society advocated for revolution and the establishment of a republic. In 1905 he would help found the Revolutionary Alliance to offer a group to overthrow the state, and wrote the influential Three Principles of the People. These were three ideas which would benefit the Chinese people: Minzu, often called 'nationalism' but more literally as 'people', an anti-imperialist idea uniting all the peoples in China, not just the Han; Minquan, 'democracy' or 'People's Power'; and Minsheng, 'People's Livelihood', where everyone has access to mobility and rights, which has been heavily debated. It has been argued that this meant socialism, in 1905 he did make ties with the Second International as an example. There were other revolutionaries. Zou Rong was a contemporary of Sun, but in The Revolutionary Army (1903) argued for a more ethnic nationalism calling the Han 'slaves' of the Manchu. He even argued for the genocide of the Manchus. In 1906 The Communist Manifesto was first translated, and anarchism soon emerged including the New World Society, formed in 1906. Before the eventual overthrow of the empire in 1912 there were several republican uprisings, even by the Revolutionary Alliance. Between 1906 and 1908 there were seven uprisings by them.
The Boxer Rebellion
While this was ongoing imperial forces continued to tear chunks out of China's sovereignty. A group known as the Righteous and Harmonious Fists became increasingly frustrated about how reform was being hampered by Chinese conservatives and foreign imperialists. American missionaries nicknamed them the 'Boxers' due to their combination of spiritualism with physical and marital actions. The end of the Hundred Days' Reform sparked the uprising beginning in Shandong by local militias and impoverished peasants. They appeared to take an anti-Manchu stance, but then began advocating for the rights of the emperor and expelling foreigners. Missionaries and converts were killed, and soon the foreign legations in the cities were put under siege. The 'Boxer Rebellion' lasted for three years and split the Chinese court. Cixi decided to support the rebellion, seeing it as a way to protect her standing, but many officials tried to remain neutral. This was especially the case as the 'Boxers' were incredibly successful. They managed to isolate the legations, and destroy infrastructure isolating Beijing. An alliance of British, Japanese, Russian, American, French, Italian, German, and Austrian invaded and brutally crushed the rebellion. Imperial powers rejoiced in the destruction - the movie 55 Days in Peking would be made decades later to celebrate it.
Women in a Changing China
 |
| A statue of Qiu Jin |
A key part of the reforms were the role of women. As we saw when we discussed feminism, there was a discussion about women's role in society from women, missionaries, and domestic reformers. In particular, they focused on arranged marriage, footbinding, and a disparity in education. A common trend worldwide was the influence of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, and it would inspire advocates for reform to change society. Kang Youwei, for example, saw the family as an inherently restrictive institute which had to be fundamentally changed if women wished to be liberated. Mao Zedong was very influenced by feminists and feminist writing. In 1919 he would write a short piece called Miss Chao's Suicide discussing the recent suicide of a 'Miss Zhao'. Forced into a marriage she killed herself, so Mao criticised a society which forced women into suicide due to their inability to express their rights. Women were instrumental in trying to bring about change. One notable woman was Qiu Jin. She was forced into marriage and footbinding, but she rebelled and moved to Japan after becoming involved with revolutionary movements. Editing a journal she called for women to rise up against patriarchy to end forced marriage and footbinding, something she would further link to the overthrowing of the Manchu dynasty. In 1906 she would bring 2,000 students back to China, also forming a new journal with feminist poet Xu Zihua, with the intention of forming a revolutionary movement. As the plan to lead an uprising in Anqing resulting in her execution, but she would become a martyr for revolution and feminism. As early as 1923, Xiang Jingyu pressured the recently formed Communist Party to form a women's branch. However, women's emancipation would not come for decades, and still has not been fully achieved.
The End of the Qing
China's final dynasty ended extremely suddenly - so suddenly that Sun Yat-sen was actually raising funds in the US at the time. On 9 October 1911 a bomb exploded in the house of anti-Qing revolutionaries in Wuhan. The next day the local army mutinied; the Revolutionary Alliance had infiltrated the military knowing that a united army could easily prevent their success. The mutiny saw the seizing of Wuhan and the declaration of a Chinese Republic. A fire then started sweeping over China. People rebelled for various reasons - Han restoration, republicanism, local grievances, independence. Sun stayed to raise funds but returned in time to be elected the first president of a republic; he would design a new flag with each colour representing an ethnicity, including the Manchus. However, the revolutionaries were in a weak position so had to rely on Yuan Shikai, the co-crusher of the Hundred Days' Reform, to help bring down the Qing. Yuan gave them a deal - if he was declared president he would secure the army's loyalty and gave the monarchy to stand down. Threatening to kill the emperor he managed to get the Empress-Dowager Longyu to get the six-year-old Puyi to abdicate bringing an end to the Chinese Empire after millennia.
 |
| Puyi in 1922 |
However, Sun Yat-sen's dream soon turned into a nightmare. Despite his Alliance winning the 1913 elections for the role of prime minister, Yuan ensured that he was soon assassinated. Yuan created links with foreign banks and took out massive loans, something Japan took as an excuse to try and extract more demands from China. Fearing for his life Sun fled to Japan and called for a Second Revolution, something which came quite quickly. In 1915, to solidify his power, Yuan declared himself emperor, but popular opposition forced him to return to presidency a year later. He would die in 1916 but China would remain in crisis.
1919 and After
The years 1916 to 1923 are seen as some of the most revolutionary of the twentieth century, until the 1960s at least, where worldwide new movements emerged challenging old orders - from the Russian Revolution to socialist uprisings Argentina. The Revolutionary Alliance was reconstituted into the Koumintang (KMT) as a way to effectively resist the growing political disintegration in China - Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles was adopted as its ideology. After Yuan Shikai's death a period known as the 'Warlord Era' began - regional leaders carved out their own territories. The newly established Soviet Union offered aid to the KMT seeing it as a way to bring socialism to China, and a leading figure in the movement, Chiang Kai-shek, was sent to Moscow for training. The Treaty of Versailles enraged China - it was ignored and how Japan was allowed to keep German territories in China which had seized. This began a cultural movement known as the May Fourth Movement. This was an intellectual movement by radical students, writers, thinkers, and activists which wanted social change and resistance to imperialism. Blaming Confucianism for holding back society they wanted to resist traditional class roles, bring equality to women, and unite China under a shared desire for equality. It saw many influential thinkers take part including a young Mao Zedong, leading writer and socialist Lu Xun, and anarchist Ba Jing. From this movement, in 1921, the Communist Party would emerge, directly inspired by the October Revolution. Communism would soon emerge as a popular ideology in China with a large and impoverished population, but there would be setbacks. In 1925 Sun Yat-sen died early leaving Chiang Kai-shek in control of the KMT. The initial alliance with the Communist Party remained while the warlords were slowly defeated, but he began moving away from Sun for a more authoritarian system. In 1927 he ordered a mass killing of communists in Shanghai which began the Chinese Civil War, lasting up until 1949.
Conclusion
We have traced the movement of China from a Confucian-based empire to a republic inspired by very different ideas. This period, the 'Century of Humiliation', would directly inspire the rest of China's history throughout the twentieth century. The liberatory ideas of the May Fourth Movement would create an ideology becoming hotly contested in China, and the opposition from Chiang's KMT would create an alternate path. However, this will be discussed in the future when we look at the Second World War, and China's place in it, and the rise of the People's Republic.
The sources I have used are as follows:
-Jonathan Spence, In Search for Modern China, (New York: 1990)
-Ono Kazuko, Chinese Women in a Century of Revolution, 1850-1950, (Stanford: 1978)
-Immanuel Hsu, The Rise of Modern China, Sixth Edition, (New York: 2000)
-Kumari Jayawardena, Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World, (London: 1986)
-Frances Wood, No Dogs and Not Many Chinese, Treaty Port Life in China, 1843-1943, (London: 1998)
-Chun-tu Hsueh, (ed.), The Chinese Revolution of 1911: New Perspectives, (Hong Kong: 1983)
-Mao Zedong, 'Miss Chao's Suicide,' Marxists.org, (1919), (Accessed 16/12/2019)
-Jonathan Spence, 'China: 1368-1911', in John Whitney Hall, (ed.), History of the World: Earliest Times to the Present, (East Bridgewater: 2013), 532-559
Thank you for reading. For other World History posts please see our list. For other posts please see our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.
No comments:
Post a Comment