China: From Qing to Present

• Chinese rulers believed all nations outside China barbaric

• Wanted little contact with outside world

• Europeans pushed for trading rights, but China restricted trade to single city, Guangzhou

• Chinese wanted silver

• Pleased when tea became popular with British and British silver flowed into China

Tea Trade with Britain

• 1800, trade with European merchants profitable for Chinese

• Not important, Europeans just another set of foreigners who might pay tribute to emperor

• Little by little, though, Qing dynasty lost power, prestige, sovereignty over China

Qing Dynasty Loses Power

Western Nations Gain Power

Opium War• 1838, Chinese ordered destruction of British opium in Guangzhou• British sent naval force to launch attack; captured Shanghai, 1842• Forced Chinese to sign peace treaty—first of unequal treaties• Benefited European countries at expense of China

Trade Imbalance• British distressed by imbalance of trade• British discovered solution—opium; great demand for opium in China• Opium addiction large problem; Chinese government banned import• Foreign merchants continued to smuggle drug into China

Treaty of Nanjing

Opened five more ports to Western trade • Gave extraterritoriality to British

– British citizens accused of crimes had right to be tried in British courts, rather than Chinese

• China forced to sign more treaties with Britain, France, United States, Russia over next two decades

• Slowly but surely, Qing dynasty losing control over China to Western intruders

The failure of the Qing dynasty to resist the Western powers led some Chinese to believe that the dynasty had lost the mandate of heaven.

• Failure of dynasty led to series of rebellions starting in 1850

• Most serious led by Hong Xiuquan; believed he was brother of Jesus– Wanted to create “Heavenly

Kingdom of Great Peace” where no one would be poor

– Followers formed movement called Taiping Rebellion

Rebellions

• Hong, followers captured large southeastern China territories

• 1853, controlled Nanjing• Qing soldiers, British, French armies

attacked and defeated Taiping army in 1864

• Qing dynasty emerged victorious at great cost—20 million Chinese deaths

Great Toll

The Taiping Rebellion

Following Taiping Rebellion• Reform-minded officials of Qing dynasty tried to make changes• For example, pushed to build coal mines, factories, railroads• Encouraged government to make modern weapons, ships

Japan as Military Power• China struggled to reform• Meanwhile, Japan emerging as major military power• China went to war with Japan over Korea; was soundly defeated by Japan

Self-Strengthening Movement• Movement tried to introduce Western knowledge, languages to China• Ultimately movement failed• Strong resistance from traditional Confucian scholars, powerful officials

Foreign Influence Takes Hold

Noting the weakness of the Chinese military, Western powers rushed to claim more territory in China. Germany, Russia, Great Britain and France all carved out spheres of influence there.

• Late 1890s, United States got involved

• Americans feared European nations would divide China among selves

• U.S. could lose profitable trade in China

U.S. Involvement

• U.S. proposed Open Door Policy, allow free trade in Chinese ports under European control

• Allowed U.S. to continue trade in China

Open Door Policy

• End 1800s, China desperate

• War with Japan exposed military weakness

• Europeans controlled large portions of Chinese territory

Desperate Straits

Western Nations React

Time for Reform

Something had to be done for China to remain independent

• 1898, Chinese emperor enacted series of reforms

– Changed civil service examinations

– Built modern army

• Empress Dowager Cixi, most powerful person in China, stopped reforms

• Believed they threatened rule of Qing dynasty

• Reformers began to call for end to Qing dynasty

Nationalism • Humiliation of China by West

produced several nationalist movements

• Most important, Harmonious Fists, or Boxers

Escalating Violence• Boxer Rebellion began in 1899• Attacked missionaries, Chinese

converts to Christianity• Laid siege to foreign compounds in

Beijing

Secret Society • Martial arts training• Hatred of foreigners • Belief they were invulnerable to

Western weapons

Uprising Put Down• Foreign troops stopped uprising• Heavy fine imposed on Chinese

government for secretly supporting Boxers

• Humiliation for government

The Boxer Rebellion

• After Boxer defeat, Qing officials began to enact reforms• Eliminated system of examinations for officials• Tried to establish primary, secondary schools• Took steps to create national army• Created elected provincial assemblies

• Reforms too little, too late

• Radicals in Japan, U.S. called for overthrow of Qing dynasty, creation of new Chinese Republic

• Sun Yixian, known in West as Sun Yat-sen, most prominent of radicals

New Chinese Republic• Based revolutionary ideology on three

basic principles—nationalism, democracy, “people’s livelihood”

• Last of these involved equality in land ownership, often translated as socialism

Sun Yixian

The 1911 Revolution

Sun Yixian

Sun believed China should eventually become democracy.

• Thought Chinese people not ready yet

• Called for overthrow of Qing dynasty, replacement by ruling nationalist party

• Wanted party to act as guardian of Chinese people until they were ready for democracy

Other people in China began to call for the overthrow of the Qing dynasty.

• Revolutionary ideas took root among intellectuals, junior officers in military academies

• October 1911, group of young officers led revolt in city of Wuchang

• Support for revolt grew rapidly

• January 1912, revolutionaries declared a republic

Revolutionaries

• Qing wanted General Yuan Shikai to quash rebellion

• Negotiated peace instead• Convinced Chinese emperor to

abdicate• Event brought end to 268-year rule

of Qing dynasty• Yuan Shikai became first president of

new Republic of China

End of Qing Dynasty

Revolutionary Ideas

Find the Main Idea

How did European intervention in China contribute to the downfall of the Qing

dynasty?

Answer(s): Western actions in China led to nationalist movements and rebellions. In 1911 Chinese revolutionaries ended the 268-year Qing dynasty and declared the Republic of China.

World War I devastated much of Europe; postwar treaties and political unrest reshaped many nations. China also faced postwar unrest.

• 1917, China declared war on Germany

• Hoped Allied Powers would return German-controlled Chinese territories

• Treaty of Versailles gave Germany’s Chinese territories to Japan

• May 4, 1919, angry students began strikes, protests

May Fourth Movement• Guomindang nationalists had

support of some Chinese• Others believed communism best

way to modernize China• Communist Party of China formed,

1921• Communists, Guomindang formed

partnership, fought warlords who controlled much of China

Uneasy Partnership

China after World War I

The Long March• Mao Zedong, others survived Jiang’s attack, tried to rebuild

• 1934, Communists under Guomindang pressure, tried to escape

• Mao led 100,000 supporters on 6,000 mile trek through China

• Long March tried to find safe place for Chinese Communists; only 8,000 survived

Gains, 1920s• Jiang Jieshi, also known as Chiang Kai-Shek, led Guomindang

• Continued to fight warlords, soon controlled much of China

• Eventually turned against Communist allies, attacked in several cities

• This marked beginning of Chinese Civil War

Sequence

What happened in China after World War I?

Answer(s): 1919: strikes and protests; 1921: Communist Party of China formed; 1927: nationalists attack Communists; 1934: Long March

Communist China

Reading Focus• How did the Communists take over China?

• What were the main events that took place in China under Mao’s leadership?

• How did China change in the years after Mao’s death?

Main Idea

China has undergone many changes since becoming a Communist nation in 1949. today, after making many market reforms, China has a rapidly growing economy.

Communist China

During World War II the Chinese Communists and the nationalist Guomindang put aside differences to fight Japanese invaders.

• Once Japan defeated, civil war resumed

• Guomindang forces outnumbered Mao’s Communists, but Communists had wide support among China’s peasants

• Rural Chinese peasants had long been oppressed by brutal landlords, high taxes, policies of Jiang Jieshi’s corrupt government

Civil War Resumes

• Communists promised to take land from landlords, distribute to peasants

• By 1949, Communists had driven Guomindang almost entirely from China

• Guomindang control limited to small areas on mainland, several islands, including Taiwan

Public Support

Communists Take Over China

• China faced many difficulties, including crippled economy, lack of functional government

• Some countries opposed to communism refused to recognize Mao

• Claimed Jiang’s government on Taiwan was true Chinese government

Opposition to Mao

• October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong stood before huge crowd in Beijing

• Announced formation of People’s Republic of China

• Mao’s strategy of guerrilla warfare in rural China

People’s Republic of China

Communists Take Over China

Summarize

Why did peasants support the Communist takeover of China?

Answer(s): because the Communists promised them land

Having defeated the Guomindang, Mao set about building a Communist China. His first concern was rebuilding a country that had been torn apart by years of civil war.

• Communist ideology shaped new government

• Change in China’s political, economic systems

• Government discouraged practice of religion

Rebuilding China• Also seized property

of rural landowners, redistributed among peasants

• Put in place Soviet-style five-year plans for industrial development

Development • 1957, first plan

doubled China’s small industrial output

• Early efforts to build economy successful

• Improved economy, reduced poverty

First Plan

China under Mao

Early YearsImprovements in literacy rates, public health • Chinese life expectancy increased sharply over next few

decades

• Improvements came at a cost– To consolidate Communist control over China, government soon

began to eliminate so-called “enemies of the state” who had spoken out against government’s policies

– Many thousands—including public officials, business leaders, artists, writers—killed, or sent to labor camps

The Great Leap Forward• 1958, in break from Soviet-style economic planning, Mao announced

program designed to increase China’s industrial, agricultural output• The Great Leap Forward created thousands of communes, collectively

owned farms, of about 20,000 people each• Each commune to produce food, have own small-scale industry

China Modeled on Soviet Union• Soviet Union provided financial support, aid in China’s first years • China modeled many of its new political, economic, military policies on

Soviet system• 1950s, territorial disputes, differences in ideology pushed China away from

Soviet ally

• Failure of Great Leap Forward led to criticism of Mao

• Soviet criticism, withdrawal of Soviet industrial aid widened rift between two Communist nations

• By early 1960s, relations had broken down completely; China virtually isolated in world community

China Virtually Isolated• Plan was disaster; small commune

factories failed to produce quantity, quality of goods China needed

• Combination of poor weather, farmers’ neglect led to sharp drops in agricultural production

• Famine spread through rural China; tens of millions starved to death between 1959 and 1961

Planning Disaster

The Great Leap Forward

New Movement• Mid-1960s, Mao tried to regain power, prestige lost after Great Leap Forward• Initiated new movement called Cultural Revolution, sought to ride China of old

ways, create society where peasants, physical labor were the ideal

Destruction of Society• Mao lost control; Red guards murdered hundreds of thousands of people; by late

1960s, China on verge of civil war before Mao regained control• Cultural Revolution reestablished Mao’s dominance, caused terrible destruction;

civil authority collapsed, economic activity fell off sharply

Red Guards• Campaign meant eliminating intellectuals who Mao feared wanted to end

communism, bring back China’s old ways• Mao shut down schools, encouraged militant students, Red Guards, to carry out

work of Cultural Revolution by criticizing intellectuals, values

The Cultural Revolution

Analyze

How did life in China change under Mao?

Answer(s): The failure of the Great Leap Forward and the isolation of China triggered the Cultural Revolution.

Reforms Begin• 1976, Mao died; his death followed by retreat from many of his policies• China began to end isolation from rest of world in early 1970s• 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China, meeting with Mao• During last years of Mao’s life, much power wielded by group of four people known

as Gang of Four

• Gang of four included Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing—responsible for some of worst features of Cultural Revolution

• After Mao’s death, more moderate leaders imprisoned Gang of Four

Gang of Four• Deng Xiaoping eventually became

China’s leader, helped put in place far-reaching market reforms

• Deng’s reform plan, Four Modernizations, sought to modernize: agriculture, industry, science and technology, defense

Four Modernizations

China After Mao

More Freedoms • Inspired by movement toward

economic freedom

• Chinese demanded more political freedom

Leaders Impatient• China’s leaders repeatedly asked

protestors to leave square

• Protestors remained, met with force

Pro-Democracy Protestors• Spring 1989, democratic reforms in

Eastern Europe

• One million pro-democracy protestors occupied Beijing’s Tiananmen Square

Freedom Had Not Arrived• June 1989, tanks, troops moved

into square

• Killed protestors in Tiananmen Square Massacre

Tiananmen Square

This has caused shortages and higher costs for these resources on the global market, as well as air and water pollution within China.

China’s economy has grown rapidly as market reforms have continued. Today, China’s economy is the second largest in the world, behind only the United States. As the economy has improved, so has the standard of living for many Chinese.

• Economic growth has not reached all China’s 1.3 billion people

• To prevent further population growth, Chinese government encourages families to have only one child

Economic Development

China Today

• Large population, rapidly expanding industries

• High demands on resources, environment

• Imports coal, iron ore, oil, natural gas to meet energy needs

Other Challenges

Human Rights IssuesHuman rights abuses another concern for critics of China

• Chinese government continues to limit free speech, religious freedoms

• Exercises strict control over the media

• Political protestors can be jailed

• Nation’s courts accused of failing to provide fair trials

• Critics increased calls for reforms after Beijing chosen to host 2008 Olympic Games

Make Generalizations

How did China change in the years after Mao’s death?

Answer(s): isolation lessened, more moderate leaders took power; new economic freedom led to call for political freedom, improved standard of living