Causes And Fall Of The Qing Dynasty

Qianlong emperor’s reaction to Macartney’s mission angered the British as well. Qianlong emperor’s over confidence was shown in the court when he met the British ambassador Macartney. He required Macartney to wear Chinese clothes and practice Chinese kowtow. “But Macartney was not going to obligate, or rather he would perform the three-times-three only if some mandarin also kowtowed before his own sovereign George III, a portrait of whom he had thoughtfully included in his baggage” (32). Even though China had a great power during that time, Macartney did not considered himself as who came from a weaker country. China did not think it needed products from foreign countries. “Chinese needed nothing and traded a little with tribute-bearing barbarians only out of affectionate

to a superior but as a “letter” to an equal, the letter was in Chinese

Great Britain also desired to trade with China but did not respect the restrictions. After the deliverer of a trade arrangement refused to perform the kowtow ritual to Qianlong, the emperor wrote a letter back to King George III and said that “China was self-sufficient and did not need the British.” Because of these events and others, China became more and more isolated from other countries. Later in the 1800s, the British, Dutch, and others attempted to get out of the stronghold that was China’s trade restrictions.

Ineffective leadership and very luxurious living of the emperors and government officials also led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Officials were left in charge of the administration of the dynasty because the two emperors of the time, Tongzhi and Guangxu were still children, and this lack of imperial control gave Cixi the ability to ‘rule from behind the curtain’.

Manchus were the one that took control of China after the Yuan (which was the Mongols) and established themselves as the Qing Dynasty. It is also this dynasty that the modern Chinese started. Around the 18th century, the Qing was at its height. However, by the start of the 19th century until the early 20th century, the Qing Dynasty started going downhill with domestic political and foreign policy problems. Within the nation, there were continuation and changes to the traditional Confucian system; Furthermore, there were rebellions due to foreign competitions that lead to the end of the Qing Dynasty.

a. The Qing dynasty was proclaimed by rulers of the former Chinese vassal, the celestial kingdom , with its first capital at Shenyang (Mukden). When the Ming dynasty fell to rebel forces in 1644, the Qing earned the support of much of the bureaucracy and military by presenting themselves as protectors of the manchurian order. The Qing capital was moved to beijing that same year, and the new dynasty had reconquered all of southern China by Ming generals .

During this time, the British adopted a new economic policy known as mercantilism which held that a country’s power depended mainly on its wealth. The desire for new sources of wealth inspired British exploration of the East. Having established North America as their colony, the British traveled East. In 1793, the British sought to trade with China which was largely self-sufficient due to mining and manufacturing resources as well as its healthy agricultural economy which started in the 11th century. Around this time, the Chinese dynasty cycle was in decline and its official trade policy reflected isolation. The British imposed economic imperialism and forced China to open to foreign trade and influence. The British East India Company which grew opium in India, a British colony, shipped it to China. While the Chinese developed addictions to the drug, the British economy grew as they shipped fine silk, high quality cotton and exquisite porcelain from China to be sold for a huge profit in North America. Subjected to economic imperialism, China had to sign treaties that favoured the west. In 1844, China signed a treaty that gave North America extraterritorial rights where they could trade freely at many

When the Ming dynasty fell to rebel forces in 1644, the Qing earned the support of much of the bureaucracy and military by presenting themselves as protectors of the order. The Qing capital was moved to that same year, and the new dynasty had reconquered all of southern China by .

The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty civilizations both arose around the same time. While both civilizations had their highs in wealth and battle, they also had low points. They both eventually had problems that led to the fall of their society.

The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 B.C. until 220 A.D., making them one of China’s longest lasting empires. Their power and reputation rivaled that of the Roman Empire, which was also around at the same time. With only a few moments when they had some difficulties, they lasted four centuries that went through the times of B.C. and through the A.D. times. The Han Dynasty was thought to be the golden age of the Chinese, with their main points of development being in politics, technology, and the arts. Every following Chinese dynasty looked to the Han dynasty as their role model.

The Qing dynasty (1916-1912) is the last imperial dynasty of China, it was consider as the most powerful country during the “golden age” ruled by Kang Xi and Qian Long, and it has over 400 million population and has the 1st ranked GDP in the world at the moment. The Qing has the supreme power at the time and has the significant influence in East Asian. However, the collapse of the Qing Dynasty made a humiliate history of China. The Qing dynasty doesn't fall suddenly, and the collapse of Qing is not just simply because domestic revolution and alien invasion. The failure of the Qing government is worthy to study, we need to take a deep step and explore the root cause of the collapse of Qing.

In the early eighteen hundreds, Britain and other European countries demanded more and more Chinese commodities, especially tea and silk. However, only the port in Canton was opened to foreign countries, and Chinese would not take any other form of payments besides silver. The desire to make China into a free market that foreigners have more access to and the increasing, though illegal, European opium import to China eventually created tension between the European countries, especially Britain, and the Chinese government (Allingham Par. 1-2). The two battles fought and won by European powers were known as the Opium Wars. China’s politics, economy, and intellects were both positively and negatively

Many people argued that Empress Dowager Cixi accelerated the speed of the demise of the Qing dynasty. Cixi might be a blasting fuse but she was not accounted for the final fall of the dynasty. The actions Cixi took had profoundly changed the foundation of feudal China so as to push China forward into a modern stage. Although many historical data suggested that whatever Cixi had done were to consolidate her authority and personal status. But no matter what, the impact on the country was obvious. Cixi broke the previous traditions from Confucianism that had been lasted for centuries. Tensions between the Manchus and Han Chinese had been greatly improved, which made a great contribution to China for later unification. Under the reign of the Empress Dowager, the social structure had undergone a series of changes. Qing 's demise is doomed, this was resulted from issues that had stacked up from previous generations. Moreover, Cixi did her best to secure China’s status in the world in such a chaotic period in history. She made undeniable contributions to China.

The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 until the dynasty commenced deterioration. By the beginning of the 1600s, the Ming began to lose power due to “threats from Barbarians on all sides, political in-fighting,” rebellions, and poor loyalty in the military (Ryder). Likewise, the spread of violence in China contributed to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty (Zarrow). In the year 1644, the Chinese rebels overthrew the dynasty (Williams). At this time, the Ming emperor committed suicide as the rebel armies invaded Beijing (Zarrow). After the rebels overthrew the Ming, the Manchu people stepped in to try and gain power.

There were many problems with the system of trade in China; even before opium trading began. China, believing herself to be the most civilized and advanced country, did not feel the need to satisfy Britain, a “barbarian” country’s request for freer trade and were concerned the British wanted land. Britain however,