World Civ Spring 11.4

The Sick Man of Asia: China Period D

"Qianlong's snub [of Lord Macartney] simply continued the pattern of the previous several centuries, during which the Chinese authorities had strictly controlled and limited the activities of European missionaries and merchants. By 1912, little more than a century later, China's long-established imperial state had collapsed, and the country had been transformed from a central presence in the Afro-Eurasian world to a weak and dependent participant in a European-dominated world system. It was a stunning reversal of fortune for a country that in Chinese eyes was the civilized center of the entire world-- in their terms, the Middle Kingdom."

Key Questions:

What internal problems did the Qing dynasty fail to address in early period C?

How did foreign interference in Chinese affairs further undermine the Qing dynasty?

How and why did Chinese nationalism emerge from the crumbling Qing dynasty?

Homework:

Read and annotate pages 35-40 in your reader. The answer the following questions in a google doc.

1. What internal problems did China inadequately address in period D? How did Chinese ideas of the dynastic cycle and the Middle Kingdom fuel discontent and lead to rebellion?

2. Why was the defeat of the Taiping rebellion not a total success for the Qing rulers?

3. What problems did the Opium trade create for China?

4. Briefly explain the cause, conflict, and consequence of the Opium war.

5. The "Second Opium War" is better known as the Arrow War. What were the consequences of this war and later wars against France and Japan?

6. Why did the "self-strengthening" policies of the Qing not succeed?

7. Briefly explain the cause, conflict, and consequences of the Boxer Rebellion.