Transcript China and the New Imperialism

I can analyze a secondary source
about Imperialism in China to
understand the causes and effects of
events such as the Taiping Rebellion
and the Boxer Uprising
 For
years, Chinese regulations had
ensured favorable trade relations
• A strong balance with other nations
• Limited where, when, and how much European
merchants could trade
 China
traded porcelain, tea and silk for
gold, and silver
• Trade surplus!
 Europeans had a trade deficit
• Buying more than they sold
 By
late 1700s, changes impacted this
trade relationship
• China entered a period of decline
• Europe gained power due to the Industrial
Revolution
 British
merchants also began selling the
drug opium to Chinese
• Caused silver to flow out of China. Disrupting the
economy.
 Outlawed
opium and executed drug
dealers
 Britain did not stop selling opium
• Said they had right to free trade
 Result
of these actions was the Opium
War in 1839!
• Chinese warships were no match for Britain
gunships,
• Britain won a victory
 Chinese
forced to sign Treaty of Nanjing
• Chinese had to pay Britain for their losses in the
war
• Forced to grant British subjects in China the
right to be protected by British, not Chinese
laws.
A
second war resulted in China being
forced to open all ports to Christian
missionaries.
 Peasants
revolted against the Qing
Dynasty
• Causes:
 government of China didn’t maintain irrigation
systems, which led to massive flooding
 Peasants had to pay heavy taxes while the imperial
court lived lavishly
• Results:
 Imperial forces put down the rebellion
 20-30 million people died
 Results
of Taiping Rebellion led to debate
about need to reform
• Chinese leaders saw no need to adopt Western
industry. Feared western technology as
disruptive
• Scholars thought Western ideas of individual
choice contradicted Confucian tradition.
 Reformers
in the 1860s began the “selfstrengthening movement,”
• translating Western works and developing
Western-style industries
 In
the late 1800s, Empress Ci Xi gained
power
• She opposed change and was committed to
Confucian tradition
 While
China debated, Japan adopted
Western technologies
 Japan joined the competition to create an
empire in China.
• led to the Sino-Japanese War
• China lost the island of Taiwan to Japan
China’s loss showed
their weakness
 European powers
moved in to demand
concessions

• Concessions: special
economic rights given
to a foreign power

Britain, France,
Germany, Russia, and
Japan carved out
separate spheres of
influence in China.
 Reformers
in China blamed
conservatives for China’s failure to look
ahead
 Young emperor Guang Xu launched the
“Hundred Days of Reform” in 1898
• He sought to modernize the bureaucracy, the
military, schools, and industry
 But
Empress Ci Xi and the conservatives
retook control, executed Guang Xu, and
halted reform
 In
1900, a secret society, The Righteous
Harmonious Fists formed
• launched an attempt to drive the “foreign devils”
out of China
 Boxer
Uprising
• attacked foreigners all across China
• Western powers joined forces to defeat the
Boxers
 Results:
• Forced to grant concessions to foreigners
• Conservatives began to recognize the need for
reform
• Schools stressed science and mathematics
instead of Confucian thought
 Women could attend
• China began to expand economically and a new
business class emerged
• Chinese nationalism spread