Chinese History up to 1900

Diamond Sutra• Printed in 868AD, 6

hundred years earlier than first European books.

• One way traffic of knowledge from east to west included casting iron, deep mining, breast-strap harness, mechanical clock work.

Confucius• Philosopher who

said a ruler has duties and responsibilities to his people.

Chinese Emperor• Worshipped as if

he was a god. Head of state whose word was law.

• Revolutionary minded peasants took to the hills – groups would form under a leader called a warlord.

Genghis Khan – Mongol Emperor

• In 13th and 14th centuries the Mongols attacked and conquered China, setting up a new line of emperors.

• In 17th Century Mongols were overthrown by Manchus of Manchuria whose dynasty ruled from 1644-1912.

Early European Contact• 1557 Portuguese claimed

Macao peninsula (remains there’s to this day). Christianity failed to reach the Chinese due to a conflict in denominations and acts of the traders who brought it.

• British established a trading post at Canton, 1715. An edict of 1757 gave them heavy restrictions e.g. no weapons or direct contact with officials.

Opium Wars (1839-42 & 1856-60)• By 1839 40,000 chests were

sold to China each year from Britain. This was illegal, but traders turned a blind eye.

• Emperor sent a Commissioner to end trade. British refused to stop and moved to Hong Kong for protection. 29 junks threatened the landing and the first Opium War began.

• On 14th Aug 1842 the southern capital of Nanking surrendered.

Treaty of Nanking• Chinese forced to open

ports of Canton, Shanghai, Fuchau, Amoi and Ningpo to British trade.

• This allowed France, US, Russia, Belgium and Sweden to make similar arrangements.

• Emperor also had to deal with:

• Failing tax system, corrupt civil service, famine in 1833 and peasant uprisings in 1844.

Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)• Hung Hsiu-Ch’uan led a

movement against the Emperor. He settled in Nanking from 1853-1864 and created an early form of communism satisfying the peasants. Brought down by British and other powers.

• Major Charles Gordon, commanded ‘Ever Victorious Army’ of Chinese and Filipino forces led by Americans and Europeans.

Sino-Japanese War (1894-5)• Japan seeking raw materials

attacked a militarily weak China. 1894 a rebellion replaced the Korean King with a puppet government. Japanese take Port Arthur and defeat Chinese fleet.

• Business firms exploit Chinese and China leases Port Arthur to Russians for 25 years.

Hundred Days of Reform (1898)• Young Emperor Kuang Hsu

was advised to reform society and study western science and learning. 22nd Sept 1898 his aunt Dowager Empress Tz’u His imprisons him at Peking Palace.

• Returning Chinese students formed revolutionary societies against her conservative values.

Boxer Uprising (1898-1900)• A special branch of the

White Lotuses – the Boxers, rose in arms against the west. Attacking Peking and anything western, the Empress fled to Sian with her prisoner.

• By 1900 China was defeated by nations she considered barbaric. Floods and famines brought misery, Japan took Manchuria in 1905 and western influence took most of her wealth.

China in 1900

• Using the textbooks to help answer the following questions:

1. How long was the Manchu dynasty and what was China like under them?

2. Give 3 examples of foreign intervention

3. What attempts were made to reform and how successful were they?