Background 1: The Jurchens were an ethnic minority within China. They lived in northeastern China, which is today known as Manchuria. There were different Jurchen groups which existed and lived as hunters-gatherers, semi-nomads, or sedentary agriculturists. They had little central authority, along with little communication between the different groups, throughout much of history they tended to fall under the influence of neighboring dynasties. Paying tribute and chiefs holding posts as effectively border guards. This group has quite a remarkable history, through twists of fate they established two Chinese dynasties, the Jin and the Qing. The latter isn’t considered to be a mainline dynasty, but the Qing lasted 275 years and was the last great Chinese dynasty. The Ming dynasty came from the collapse of the Yuan dynasty (Mongol established one). Lasting from 1368-1644. A rather prosperour dynasty, it collapsed because of changes in Spanish/Japanese policy of cutting off the supply of silver, floods, epidemics, and slowdown in agriculture caused by the Little Ice Age. After various political upheavals the Eight Banner armies led by the Jurchens gained political supremacy and began to solidify their power. The Later Jin dynasty was founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, who went on to unify all the tribes of the Jurchens to form a new “Manchu” ethinic identity. Later Jin was established in Manchuria in 1636, and then by 1644 they seized control of Beijing. The Qing then went on to expand itself over China proper, Taiwan, and into Inner Asia.
Background 2: China throughout its history has been been something of a juggernaut, being an economic, cultural, and political leader. It has influenced an entire region of the world. Chinese goods featured porcelain, silk, and spices traded round the world. Tribute was extracted from neighboring countries. Throughout its existence it has spread Chinese goods and ideologies all throughout East Asia. From 1700 to 1820 the Qing Dynasty was an economics powerhouse. China ranked first in the world. The proportion of the global economy which it could lay claim to grew from 22.3-32.9%. A couple centuries previous Europe has begun its transition out of its Middle Ages. The Middle Ages came out because of the vacuum of power which the Roman Empire had left in its wake. Strong, centralized states largely disappeared from Europe. Since people couldn’t look to a king for the defense of their well-being, they looked elsewhere. Thus this period was marked by a great degree of decentralization and wasn’t particularly advanced compared to other regions of the world. This beginning to change around the 15th century, where the general tendency was for the people to form an alliance of sorts with the king against their local lords. European sciences progressed more quickly and nautical discoveries were made. The discovery of the New World and colonialism made it so great amount of natural resources were being extracted carried back home for use in industry. Thus, further spurring technological development and European economies became some of the most advanced in the world.
Background 3: In Japan great political changes were underway as well. In 1868 the Tokugawa shogunate lost its power and the Emperor was restored to his supreme position. Prior to which Japan had been a weak, primarily agricultural, and a country with little technological development. By 1912 large strides were made: 1) A highly centralized bureaucratic government. 2) Constitution established an elected parliament. 3) Well developed transport and communication systems. 4) Highly educated population free of feudal class restrictions. 5) An established and rapidly growing industrial sector based on latest technology. 6) Powerful army and navy. The emperor didn’t rule directly, he was expected to follow the counsel of the group which had overthrown the shogun. This group was made up of ambitious, able, and patriotic men from the lower ranks of samurai. They quickly moved to solidify their power over the military and economy. Millions of people were now free to choose their occupations. Government led the way and built railways, shipping lines, telegraphs, and other infrastructure. Since it was expensive it was quickly decided to sell off to private industry. Japan had a modern education system, parliament by 1925 where all men could vote, and a reform of the legal system based on Western ones.
Background 4: Chinese had been proud and they grew more arrogant and complacent while the world was changing around them. The Western nations, along with Japan, wanted greater resources and the riches of Asia. China became a prime candidate. Western nations tried to petition China to engage in trade. To protect its self-sufficient economy, and to ensure national defense, the Qing administration implemented a policy which ceased all foreign contact, effectively hindering China’s modern progress. The Opium Wars with Britain marked an opening of a long list of losses in war and unequal treaties signed. Losing any international dignity it had once possessed. As China’s weaknesses were continually exposed a grower number of people in the country wished for reform. There were many ideas about what should be done. Even among more liberal factions of the court the extent of the reform was hotly debated. Many just outright denied the existence of China’s perceived backwardness. The result of such political activity is what is called the ‘Self-Strengthening Movement’. The First Sino-Japanese war was primarily a war fought over influence in Korea. Japan held concern over Korea because of the increasing expansion of Russia. If Russia took even a few Korean cities it would make the harassment of the Japanese navy quite easy. A blockade or punitive expeditions against Japan would become a serious threat. In this war Japan had unparalleled success, uninterrupted victories for six months. In February 1895 the Qing government sued for peace. The flagship Beiyang Fleet was sunk, a great symbol of the attempted reform. Revealing the complete failure of the government to compete and adapt in this modern world. The prestige of China sunk to even lower depths.
Varying Views: There’s different views on how China got to the point. Not just in its own time but even up to today, debates are still going on. One view is that conservative opposition hampered the reform policies, along with institutional corruption. Another was that due to intrinsic flaws in the philosophy of the movement, yet doesn’t downplay Qing inefficiency. A third view is that the interpretation of the historical events itself by academics was flawed, creating an illusion of failure. There are other perspectives as well, this was a very pertinent problem for the Chinese of the day. A problem frequently in arguments is that people talk past each other because they have not agreed to shared definitions, thus are actually talking about different things while believing that the other person is imagining what you are. If you can’t agree to definitions then progress is scarcely going to be made (how this works out in reality is that the person who wins is the one with more power). We also don’t have to completely opt for one position over another. More advanced positions are usually taken when we examine the major arguments and incorporate or reject then. Since I’m limited with time I’m going to look at mostly the first and third position.
Historical Problems: Traditional problems that had plagued China throughout its history really began to show. Issues around overpopulation, famine, bureaucratic corruption, and inefficiency. Ethnic tensions existed between the Han Chinese and the Manchu ruling class.
Systematic Failure of Qing Administration: To put them in a list, 1) general conservatism, 2) outdated customs, 3) Western Learning, 4) disunity inside of the reform movement, 5) just general corruption among government workers, and 6) the undermining of the political system.
Conservatism: The Chinese had a great amount of pride in their civilization. And probably throughout much of the country’s history that attitude could be justified to an extent. Yet it did them no favors here. China’s aging technologies and society found it hard to compete in a rapidly changing world. There was popular sentiment against everything foreign that showed itself in the Boxer Rebellion. Many feared foreign aggression and resented the privileges given to Christian missionaries. In 1898 in Norther China there were natural disasters, droughts, and flooding. Some blamed these events on foreign and Christian influence. What came about is that foreign property began to get destroyed including railroads, there were also violence against against Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. The treaty signed for these events was harsh, executions of government officials who had supported the Boxers, foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and 450 taels of silver to be paid to the eight nations affected over the next 39 years. To put that number in perspective, that is larger than the entirety of the government’s annual tax revenue.
Customs: One also had to keep in mind as well the group that established the dynasty. The Manchus were a semi-nomadic/nomadic ethnic minority inside of China. They managed to exploit an opportunity when the Ming dynasty was in chaos. Maybe it should go without saying but they weren’t exactly known for their sophistication. The Manchus had adopted Chinese customs both out of necessity for administrating a large empire and to court the Han peoples to get them to submit and swear loyalty to Manchu rule. It worked and the Qing dynasty generally encouraged harmony between the Manchu and Han. Unfortunately, what established power their power was also tied in to a large degree with how they lost it. The propagation of Chinese superiority began to feel increasingly tone deaf, which it was.
Western Learning: Western learning was looked at with great suspicion. The reform movement itself acknowledged the weakness of China’s technological and intellectual capacity. They wanted not only military reform but education reform as well. Yet the highly politicized nature of the court at the time thought of such ideas as a betrayal of traditional Chinese philosophies and technology. Some among them went so far as to believe that Western learning would produce an affinity for the West. Thus the general attitude towards it was one of supposed uselessness and a threat to the weakening of Qing power. Restrictions on Western arts means that there was a general ignorance of the West among court officials.
Collaboration: The reality of the reform movement itself was that there wasn’t much unity. Prominent names like Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan, and Zuo Zongtang all contributed towards the modernization of the state, but in was all inside of their respective domain. There was never an official reform policy that could be applied to the entire state. At such a level it was never tried, there was no grand vision for a reformed China. In such an environment the changes which such individuals could bring about was all too transient and superficial.
Corruption: Towards the latter half of the dynasty’s life corruption was rampant. Many of the Scholarly-officials failed to carry out their duties, avoided truthfully reporting about regional issues, evading contributing financially to war efforts and policy initiatives. Often officials and eunuchs would buy and sell posts and promotions, accepted bribes, and just pockets large sums of money earmarked for public projects. Corruption throughout all levels of government financially crippled the country and it was unable to appropriate funds for public affairs. Capital became increasingly centralized in a few hands, resulting in a general lack of funds.
Undermining of Political System: China is a country that greatly values tradition. Oh course, in China as well, males had always made of the majority of statesman. The concept of filial piety was an especially strong one over Chinese society. This extended to the mother. Mothers commanded absolute obedience from their sons. While there was no official precedent for it, this meant that at certain times women attempted and succeeding in seizing power. All the way down from Empress dowagers to normal women tried to establish themselves, through moral authority, inventing loopholes. From 1862 to 1911, the demise of the Qing state, power had been in female hands. Manchu women from Empress dowager Cixi to Empress dowager Longyu held full control over political and military matters, undermining the authority of the emperor. Women had long been associated with corruption in the government. Chinese history is full of examples like with the emperor who when the capital was burning jumped into a well and hid with two of his concubines, another where a prominent concubine became a favorite of the emperor and managed to get a relative to a high ranking government post, on a march home this relative wanted to show off his hometown to the emperor so they took a different route back to the character, which as a result the army got routed and the emperor himself captured, and yet another with the leader of the Taiping Rebellion became a little too infatuated with women as fortune began to turn (mind you this is the same person who believed himself to be a son of God, like the Christian God), and where women came there were always eunuchs soon to follow. The perennial comic villains of the Chinese imperial system. When power got into the hands of Empress dowager Cixi it would be subject to her whims, along with her entourage of eunuchs. A transformation from a government of scholarly-officials and the Emperor to a den of corruption, leading to conflicting objectives between Cixi and the eunuchs. Corruption misconduct, and self-interest was the name of the game. She held the government in her hands for 47 years. So while the country was falling apart, this woman was throwing birthday bashes and diverting necessary funds to fund her new palace.
Defense of the Qing: I’m going to keep this part shorter because one I think it’s already long enough and I was more interested in the first. If you want to learn more the fourth source I assume would be a very good read. The popular narrative is in the above. This is one where the Qing government had failed to maintain the most basic function of a commonwealth, that is the maintenance of its frontiers. This tough may be a tad bit unfair. The Manchus being portrayed as landsmen who had little interest in the sea. But, while it certainly contains some degrees of truth, there’s another side to this story and, because of the highly politicized nature of these events, the interpretation of it is as well. Some claim that the Qing government was actually quite aware of global trends, and that they actually never lost sight of the harsh strategic and logistical realities of managing a vast maritime world.
Inheritance: When the dynasty was established it had inherited a long-term negligence towards the sea. This was intensified as the ruling elite had mostly semi-nomadic origins and were too preoccupied with the country’s inland frontiers.
Preparedness: From the Kangxi emperor to the Qianlong emperor (1661-1795), they had actually emphasized and propelled political administration across the maritime frontiers by establishing a strong navy and a customs structure that prepared them for potential crises at sea. As such they were able to maintain their superiority across the maritime space in East Asia for almost 100 years. Far from being out of touch with the changing world, aware that for domestic security a strong military presence was required across their domestic sea zone.
Thesis: While the Qing government may have been aware to an extent of the changing political climate of the world, its refusal to adapt and the reasons for the failure of the Self-Strengthening movement condemned it to a long century of colonial land grabs and unequal treaties.
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