jjares reviewed The Qing Dynasty: A Captivating Guide to the History of China's Last Empire Called the Great Qing, Including Events Such as the Fall of Beijing, Opium Wars, and Taiping Rebellion on + 3296 more book reviews
In 1644, the Qing emperors created the fifth largest empire in the world, encompassing Chinese, Tibetans, Mongols, Burmese, Thai and the indigenous people of Taiwan, along with others. They also ruled these peoples for nearly 300 years. As other emperors have across the ages, the Qing leaders considered themselves to be leading through the auspices of God.
The author does a great job of explaining the varied circumstances that brought down the Ming dynasty and brought about the next dynasty. It was interesting to learn that Taiwan had a history of maintaining a conflicting leader on its island, against the mainland leader of China. I thought that this was a fairly recent innovation (when they became the Republic of China).
With the continual fighting in China, I thought it was amazing that Kangxi maintained his throne for 61 years (1654 through 1722). I was surprised to read that the Kangxi Emperor employed Western Jesuit priests as artists, astronomers, and cartographers. Another shock was hearing that the Yongzheng Emperor ordered his third son to commit suicide in order to eliminate a succession dispute.
"By 1820, China had the largest economy in the world. But by the end of the Opium Wars, its gross domestic product (GDP) fell by half, making it difficult for the government to recover from this economic disaster until well after World War II." Great Britain imposed the trade of opium on China. Britain was a major importer of Chinese goods (tea, silk, and porcelain). Britain paid for these products with silver. In order to reduce their trade deficit with the Chinese, the British decided to dump their Indian opium on the Chinese.
The first Opium War began in June 1840 and lasted until the end of August 1842. The treaty was disastrous for China. By October 1856, England was no longer satisfied with their treaty and fighting started again. The second Opium War ended in October 1860 with even worse consequences for the Chinese. This story also explains how Hong Kong became part of Great Britain's empire.
The Taiping Civil War tore the Chinese government apart even further. Famine was widespread and the Manchu government did nothing to resolve hunger and starvation. Taiping Christianity, a new religious sect that the Qing authorities persecuted, turned into a guerilla army that grew into a massive rebellion. The Qing Dynasty was so weak that they hired an American mercenary commander, Frederick Townsend Ward to help train the Chinese forces. They were so successful, they were named the "Ever Victorious Army."
While the Taiping Rebellion was ongoing, China decided to begin the Self-Strengthening Movement. The idea was to use "Western technology in Asia to preserve the Confucian values of the empire." This was not an overwhelming success because many Westerners were imported to teach skills (and stayed), which made the Empress and many of the Chinese unhappy. Between 1899 and 1901, a rebellion took place called the Boxer Rebellion.
The Boxers were a secret society skilled in martial arts who were dedicated to removing the foreign element from their country, especially the foreign missionaries. By this time, Germans, Russians, British, French, and Americans controlled various industries and famine was rampant in the northern provinces. On top of this, the Chinese had lost other wars, which made the populace feel that the dynasty was impotent. At the end of the conflict, the Allied troops demanded that the Boxer Revolution leaders be killed and that China pay a ruinous amount of silver to the victors.
At the death of Guangxu Emperor and the Empress Dowager Cixi (1908), 2-year-old Puyi was chosen as emperor. He was isolated and insulated and grew to be cruel to his eunuchs. But in 1911, the Xinhai Revolution started, with people of all classes wanting to overthrow the Qing dynasty and establish the Republic of China. The emperor was 6-years-old when he had to abdicate. Thereafter is a sad tale of Puyi's life until his death at the age of 61 from kidney cancer. Now that I understand the milieu in which Puyi lived, I look forward to reading his autobiography or one of the many films about his life.
The author does a great job of explaining the varied circumstances that brought down the Ming dynasty and brought about the next dynasty. It was interesting to learn that Taiwan had a history of maintaining a conflicting leader on its island, against the mainland leader of China. I thought that this was a fairly recent innovation (when they became the Republic of China).
With the continual fighting in China, I thought it was amazing that Kangxi maintained his throne for 61 years (1654 through 1722). I was surprised to read that the Kangxi Emperor employed Western Jesuit priests as artists, astronomers, and cartographers. Another shock was hearing that the Yongzheng Emperor ordered his third son to commit suicide in order to eliminate a succession dispute.
"By 1820, China had the largest economy in the world. But by the end of the Opium Wars, its gross domestic product (GDP) fell by half, making it difficult for the government to recover from this economic disaster until well after World War II." Great Britain imposed the trade of opium on China. Britain was a major importer of Chinese goods (tea, silk, and porcelain). Britain paid for these products with silver. In order to reduce their trade deficit with the Chinese, the British decided to dump their Indian opium on the Chinese.
The first Opium War began in June 1840 and lasted until the end of August 1842. The treaty was disastrous for China. By October 1856, England was no longer satisfied with their treaty and fighting started again. The second Opium War ended in October 1860 with even worse consequences for the Chinese. This story also explains how Hong Kong became part of Great Britain's empire.
The Taiping Civil War tore the Chinese government apart even further. Famine was widespread and the Manchu government did nothing to resolve hunger and starvation. Taiping Christianity, a new religious sect that the Qing authorities persecuted, turned into a guerilla army that grew into a massive rebellion. The Qing Dynasty was so weak that they hired an American mercenary commander, Frederick Townsend Ward to help train the Chinese forces. They were so successful, they were named the "Ever Victorious Army."
While the Taiping Rebellion was ongoing, China decided to begin the Self-Strengthening Movement. The idea was to use "Western technology in Asia to preserve the Confucian values of the empire." This was not an overwhelming success because many Westerners were imported to teach skills (and stayed), which made the Empress and many of the Chinese unhappy. Between 1899 and 1901, a rebellion took place called the Boxer Rebellion.
The Boxers were a secret society skilled in martial arts who were dedicated to removing the foreign element from their country, especially the foreign missionaries. By this time, Germans, Russians, British, French, and Americans controlled various industries and famine was rampant in the northern provinces. On top of this, the Chinese had lost other wars, which made the populace feel that the dynasty was impotent. At the end of the conflict, the Allied troops demanded that the Boxer Revolution leaders be killed and that China pay a ruinous amount of silver to the victors.
At the death of Guangxu Emperor and the Empress Dowager Cixi (1908), 2-year-old Puyi was chosen as emperor. He was isolated and insulated and grew to be cruel to his eunuchs. But in 1911, the Xinhai Revolution started, with people of all classes wanting to overthrow the Qing dynasty and establish the Republic of China. The emperor was 6-years-old when he had to abdicate. Thereafter is a sad tale of Puyi's life until his death at the age of 61 from kidney cancer. Now that I understand the milieu in which Puyi lived, I look forward to reading his autobiography or one of the many films about his life.
