Figure 1.--Many Westeners looked down on the Chinese. Other Westerners were fascinated. This unidentified mother and son have dressed up in Chinese clothing for a cainet portrait taken about 1900-05. The portrait is undated, but can be approximated by the mount wiich was stamped "Yamamoto Peiking". The fact that the photographer was Japanese is also notabled. As the portrait was taken in Peiking, they were probably a diplomatic family.

Until the mid-19th century, Westerners were a rarity in China, restricted to a few coastal ports. And they bhad to live under Chinese Imperial law. The Opium Wars changed this. Treatly Ports were established all along the Chinese coast. This made it impossibe for the Chinese to control forigners in the country. Foreigners were given extrateriioriality rights. China was forced to tolerate foreigners who wished to enter and not just in a the Treaty Ports. All kinds of foreigners entered China. Merchants and traders for the most part remained primarily in coastal ports--the European treaty port enclaves. This was not the case for the missionries who flocked to China with a desire to save souls they penetrated into the interior in plsces that foreigners had never before gone. The Christian missionaries in China are a particularly interesting topic. They founded schools, the first real modern schools in China. Engineers also came to China to work on railway and mining projects. One such engineer was a young Herbert Hoover and his wife. And a diplomaztic community grew up in Beijing. And along with these Europeans were soldiers abd civil servants needed to administer the treaty ports. The reaction to these fiorigners varied. Some Chinese were interested in them and desired to learn from them and to work for them. Other Chinese were offended by the presence of foreigners in China and their attitudes toward the Chinese. Many Europeans affected by racist attitudes looked down on the Chinese and sought to insulate themselves from the Chinese as much as possible. This was not the case of the missionaries, but was the case of many, but certainly not all, merchants, civil servants, and soldiers.

18th Century China

The Qing dynasty reached its high point in the late-18th century with major territorial gains. China was also a huge economic engine. And the West wanted in on it. China's population rose to an estimated 400 million people. Qing taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, leading to fiscal crisis.

Opium War (1840)

The Opium War was a war between the United Kingdom and Imperial China. The British objected to China's attempt to limit British shipments of Indian opium to China. The Chinese were reacting to increasing levels of addition among the Chinese people. It is notable that as late as 1840 that British traders were having difficulty supplying goods that were of interest to the Chinese in exchange for the many Chinese products (especially porcelin and silks) that were in demand in the West. One of the few British products that was in great demand was Indian opium. The War was the British effort to force the Imperial Government to cease its efforts to prevent opium importation. The War ended in 1842 with the Treaty of Nanking which opened specified Chinese ports to foreign trade and the cession by China of the island of Hong Kong to the British there by opening southern China to trade and commerce. The Opium War was a critical turning point in Chinese history. In the West it is a conflict virtually unknown except to historians. In China every schoolboy knows about it.

The Westerners

Until the mid-19th century, Westerners were a rarity in China, restricted to a few coastal ports. And they had to live under Chinese Imperial law. The Opium Wars changed this. The European powers led by Great Britain imposed '"unequal treaties', free trade, extraterritoriality and treaty ports under foreign control. Treatly Ports were established all along the Chinese coast. This made it impossibe for the Chinese to control forigners in the country. Foreigners were given extraterritoriality rights. China was forced to tolerate foreigners who wished to enter and not just in a the Treaty Ports. All kinds of foreigners entered China. Merchants and traders for the most part remained primarily in coastal ports--the European treaty port enclaves. This was not the case for the missionaries who flocked to China with a desire to save souls they penetrated into the interior in places that foreigners had never before gone. The Christian missionaries in China are a particularly interesting topic. They founded schools, the first real modern schools in China. Engineers also came to China to work on railway and mining projects. One such engineer was a young Herbert Hoover and his wife. And a diplomatic community gew up in Beijing. And along with these Europeans were soldiers and civil servants needed to admminister the treaty ports. The reaction to these foreigners varied. Some Chinese were interested in them and desired to learn from them and to work for them. Other Chinese were offended by the presence of foreigners in China and their attitudes toward the Chinese. Many Europeans affected by racist attitudes looked down on the Chinese and sought to insulate themselves from the Chinese as much as possible. This was not the case of the missionaries, but was the case of many, but certainly not all, merchants, civil servants, and soldiers.

Turmoil in China

The Western influence was a major factor in huge rebellions durung the 19th century. These domestic revolts were enormous. Far greater than any thing that was reported in the West. Yet are largely ignired by Western historians. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) and the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) in Central Asia led to the death of some 20 million people, many provide higher estimates. The deaths resulted from famine, disease, and war. The Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites attempted to restore the Confucian order and the Manchu rulers.

First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)

The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were impaired by the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895. China lost its influence over Korea as well as possession of Taiwan. China attempted to organize armies. The ambitious Hundred Days' Reform of 1898 was over turned by a coup by the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908). Japan began using it rising military power to build an overseas empire. The Japanese shocked the Chinese when they emerged victorious in the First Sino-Japanese War. Tension between China and Japan over interests in Korea broke out in war (1894). The War highlighted the decline of the Qing dynasty. It also highlighted the weakness of the Chinese military and the success of the modernization process in Japan. The Yi dynasty in Korea attempted continue its traditional seclusion. Korea had a tributary relationship with China which in exchange had provided military protection. China allowed Japan to recognize Korea as an independent state (1875).

Chinese Reaction (1898-1900)

China at the end of the 19th centurty was teeming with anti-foreign sentiment. The foreign Juye Incident brought this to the surface. It triggered a violent anti-foreign reaction. China's experiece in the 20th century was the most turbulant of any great power. It began with the Boxer Rebellion (1900) which exposed the weakeness of decadent Manchu dynasty. China had viewed itself as the greatest world power and other countries of little importance. Growing European power by the 19th century had enforced many indignaties on China, begnning in particular with the Opium Wars. European countries enforced inequitable treties and carved out treaty ports. Japan even seized Formosa island (modern Taiwan) (1895). There were two major responses. One was a desire by progressive reformers to modernize China by adopting modern technology and institutions along the lines being persued in Japan. The other was a desire to drive out all foreign influence and maintain traditional culture. Dowager Empress Cixi suppressed the progressive reformers . Unable to resist the European powers openly, Emperess Cixi secretly promoted the traditionalist faction.

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Created: 2:29 AM 10/22/2009
Last updated: 9:37 PM 9/29/2020