Lesson #38 - Unit #6 "Two-Minute" Review

CHINA DBQs
Rebecca and Amy

The Qing Dynasty lasted from 1644-1911 A.D. Near the end of the dynasty, China experienced great changes due to foreign influences and internal rebellion. The Taiping Rebellion and Boxer Rebellion were causes of civil unrest, while the Open Door Policy, Opium War and Extraterritoriality were products of foreign impact. In general, the Qing dynasty was marked by cultural change and progress, authoritarianism, and foreign influences. These eventually had crippling effects on China.

QUESTION: What factors most greatly weakened the Qing Dynasty in China?

1. THE OPIUM WAR
European merchants longed increase China’s interest in foreign trade, and in the late 18th century, they found their answer. British merchants began smuggling opium into the China for nonmedical use. By 1835, almost 12 million Chinese had become addicted to the drug, and relied on its trade. This angered the Qing Emperor, and he wrote a letter to Queen Victoria. This later led to the Opium War.

Excerpt from Ssuyu Teng and John Fairbank, China's Response to the West, (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1954), repr. in Mark A. Kishlansky, ed., Sources of World History, Volume II, (New York: HarperCollins CollegePublishers, 1995), pp. 266-69:

“But after a long period of commercial intercourse, there appear among the crowd of barbarians both good persons and bad, unevenly. Consequently there are those who smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people and so cause the spread of the poison to all provinces. Such persons who only care to profit themselves, and disregard their harm to others, are not tolerated by the laws of heaven and are unanimoly hated by human beings. His Majesty the Emperor, upon hearing of this, is in a towering rage. He has especially sent me, his commissioner, to come to Kwangtung, and together with the governor-general and governor jointly to investigate and settle this matter.”
What does this document outline as the main consequences leading to the Opium War?

2. TREATY OF NANJING
The outdated Chinese ships in the Opium War were no match for the British gunboats, and the Chinese suffered a humiliating defeat. In 1842 they signed the peace Treaty of Nanjing.

Excerpt from The Treaty of Nanjing, August 1842:

“His Majesty the Emperor of China agrees that British Subjects, with their families and establishments, shall be allowed to reside, for the purpose of carrying on their commercial pursuits, without molestation or restraint at the Cities and Towns of Canton, Amoy, Foochowfu, Ningpo, and Shanghai, and Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, etc., will appoint Superintendents or Consular Officers, to reside at each of the above‑named Cities or Towns, to be the medium of communication between the Chinese Authorities and the said Merchants, and to see that the just Duties and other Dues of the Chinese Government as hereafter provided for, are duly discharged by Her Britannic Majesty’s Subjects.”

What were some concessions made by China after the Treaty of Nanjing?

3. THE TAIPING REBELLION
During the late 1830s, a man named Hong Xiuquan began gaining followers to institute the “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace”, to share China’s great wealth. The resulting Taiping Rebellion eventually ended in 1864 after over 20 million Chinese had died.

Excerpt from the basic document of the Taiping Kingdom, called "The Land System of the Heavenly Kingdom." published in 1853:
“Within [the court] and without, all the various officials and people must go every Sabbath to hear the expounding of the Holy Bible, reverently offer their sacrifices, and worship and praise the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God. On every seventh seven, the forty­ninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel, captains, and lieutenants shall go in turn to the churches in which reside the sergeants under their command and expound the Holy books, instruct the people, examine whether they obey the Commandments and orders or disobey the Commandments and orders, and whether they are diligent or slothful. On the first seventh seven, the forty­ninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel shall go to a certain sergeant's church, on the second seventh seven, the forty­ninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel shall then go to another sergeant's church, visiting them all in order, and after having gone the round he must begin again. The captains and lieutenants shall do the same.”
What does this document say about the Taiping government’s view of religion?

4. THE BOXER REBELLION
In the early months of 1900, thousands of Boxers roamed the countryside. They attacked Christian missions, slaughtering foreign missionaries and Chinese converts. Then they moved toward the cities, attracting more and more followers as they came. Nervous foreign ministers insisted that the Chinese government stop the Boxers. From inside the Forbidden City, the empress told the diplomats that her troops would soon crush the "rebellion." Meanwhile, she did nothing as the Boxers entered the capital.

One American described the scene as 20,000 Boxers:

“…advanced in a solid mass and carried standards of red and white cloth. Their yells were deafening, while the roar of gongs, drums and horns sounded like thunder. . . . They waved their swords and stamped on the ground with their feet. They wore red turbans, sashes, and garters over blue cloth. [When] they were only twenty yards from our gate, . . . three volleys from the rifles of our sailors left more than fifty dead upon the ground.”

Describe the type of people the Boxers were. Why did the Empress do nothing as they invaded the capital?

5. China tried for many years to keep all foreign influence out of the country. However, as Europe and other nations modernized and westernized, China soon found itself in a sphere of influence, or a region in which the foreign nation controlled trade and investment.

Based on the map of China on page 4, evaluate which countries had most control and influence in China and why this was.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:fuq0r7dXzCoJ:mmoloneyiths.com/text/28-1-imperial-china.pdf+graph+of+foreigners+living+in+China+after+extraterritorial+rights&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj1gnBpy0FPimbjU5XOFHq8KCZhEjTNHERjazklhgLlpIYCri408yiTeUJfiMQWcJ5MMG7VqSFBkSxdWX7M0ll2MMIjKewgYnYZtyydnvNMQ-oHHGnGggEumHVJrqvBplo6J8GO&sig=AHIEtbT16un8-bZVYsxXKbjV1FJXXVEx9w