End of the Qing Empire (1796–1913)
After the death of Emperor Qianlong in 1799, the Qing empire began to topple. Like the Tang, Yuan and Ming Empires, the Qing Empire ended in rebellions, wars, natural disasters, economic problems, famines, and invasions.
During the 1800s, the dynasty seemed somewhat successful because the population kept growing, the territory stayed intact, and the empire slowly modernized. On the other hand, the ruling court involved in their own intrigues and seeking a luxurious life was inept to deal with a rapidly changing world and numerous uprisings and natural disasters.
Foreign Advancement and Attacks
The isolationist policy towards Europeans set by Emperor Qianlong proved to be a big mistake. During the 19th century and early 20th century, the Qing court was not prepared for conflicts with Europeans and Japanese.
Wars with Europeans
European technology rapidly improved after the First Industrial Revolution at the end of the 1700s. But the Qing empire modernized little. Their repressive policies made their dynasty ill-equipped to survive. In the 1800s, Europeans easily defeated the Qing army and navy, and they forced the Qing to give them trading ports.
The First Opium War between Britain and the empire started in 1838. The British wanted to have greater access to the Qing Empire for trade, and the Qing court wanted to keep out British opium and maybe to keep out British influence.
Britain gained Hong Kong in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking. This war showed that the Qing army and navy were obsolete.
The British then wanted greater access to the empire and the right to send ships on the rivers for trade and military purposes. They also wanted an embassy in Beijing.
In 1854, Great Britain tried to renegotiate the Treaty of Nanking. When the court refused, there was the Second Opium War that the British easily won.
There was another war between the French and the Qing Empire called the Sino-French War (1883–1885).
War with the Japanese
There was also a war with the Japanese called the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). They lost this war also.
The Japanese modernized remarkably quickly in the latter part of the 19th century, and they also started to attack the empire and take territories for colonies. Unlike the Europeans who wanted open trading ports, the Japanese wanted to conquer and colonize the whole region.
In 1894, a Japanese naval victory surprised the Qing navy that had bought large European battleships and cruisers. The Qing court thought that their fleet was more powerful than the Japanese fleet. However, a lack of training and funds to support the fleet contributed to their loss.
The Japanese quickly destroyed a large Qing fleet and made Formosa a part of their empire. They turned it into an industrial colony. The Qing dynasty also ceded a part of Liaoning.
Internal Rebellions Against the Qing
From 1796 until the end of the dynastic era, the Qing court faced rebellion after rebellion, but they defeated or thwarted all of them until the Qing rulers gave up power to Sun Yatsen in 1912.
The White Lotus Rebellion (1796–1804)
In 1796, a rebellion against the Qing court was led by the White Lotus Society. This rebellion lasted eight years until 1804.
The Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864)
The Taiping Rebellion lasted for 13 years from 1851–1864. The leader of the Taiping was Hong Xiuquan who had been influenced by a missionary, but didn't become a Christian.
Instead he led a quasi-Christian movement that had some Christian beliefs and ideals. Many of his ideas seem right. He banned slavery, men using concubines, arranged marriages, opium use, foot binding, torture, and the worship of idols. He wanted women to have more equality in society.
He made Nanjing his capital, and his army seemed to be ready to attack Beijing. However, there were internal feuds and corruption. Britain and France sent troops to aid the Qing army.
It is thought that during the long war, about 25 million people died. It is thought to be the second bloodiest war in history after WWII.
Dungan Revolt (1864–1877)
Several other large rebellions and wars happened about the same time. The Dungan Revolt involved a large region around Gansu and Shaanxi in the central and north-western part of the empire. It was partly sectarian war between three Muslim religious sects called the Gedimu, Khafiya, and Jahariyya.
One aim of the Muslims was to establish a Muslim kingdom in the region. However, many Muslims sided with the Qing and fought on the Qing side. It is thought that several million people were killed in this war and by the army's extermination of people to clear the Gansu Corridor of Muslims.
The Qing army's goal in clearing the Gansu Corridor of Muslims was to prevent the Muslims in Xinjiang and those in the central part of the empire from uniting.
Other Rebellions and Wars
The Panthay Rebellion was another Muslim rebellion in Yunnan that lasted from 1855 to 1873. It is thought that perhaps a million people died in that war.
The Miao people also rebelled in Guizhou. It is thought that millions of people were killed in two wars around 1800 and from 1854 to 1873.
In addition to these rebellions, the Hakka people and the Punti people in the southeast fought a long ethnic war. Neighboring villages and clans fought each other viciously between the years 1855 and 1867.
Then there was another Dungan revolt in the northwest in 1895. In this revolt also, Muslim groups aided the Qing army to quell the rebellion. There were also other rebellions.
Natural Disasters
There were some great natural disasters in the last 50 years of the dynasty that contributed to weakening it. This pattern of natural disasters was seen as a sign that the dynasty lost the Mandate of Heaven.
River Floods
Two of the biggest floods in the world's history helped to end the Qing dynasty. There was one of the world's biggest natural disasters in history when the Yellow River flooded in 1887. It is thought that between 1 to 2 million people died.
The Yellow River flooded again in 1898. The Yangtze River flooded in 1911, and about 100,000 died.
Earthquakes
The Gansu Earthquake killed about 22,000 people in 1879. The earthquake measured about magnitude 8.
Famines
The Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879 killed about 10 percent (about 10 million people) of the population of several northern provinces.
The great disaster and little aid provided by the Qing government made the people even more discontented with the Qing Dynasty.
There was another famine from 1896–1897 which led in part to the Boxer Rebellion. At first, the Boxer Rebellion was an anti-Qing rebellion.
Plagues
About 60,000 people died from bubonic plague in northeastern China alone during the years 1910–1912. The plague spread inland also.
Economic Problems
After all the major rebellions, genocide and mass exterminations in the middle 1800s, there were many natural disasters in the late 1800s as described above. All these disasters impoverished the survivors who faced foreign economic competition and modernization with little knowledge of the outside world or scientific knowledge.
Due to modernization and imports, a lot of people lost their work. So the poor died and faced starvation, and the population became poorer overall.
However, better health care and Western medicines provided by missionary doctors saved tens of thousands of lives. So the population didn't drop as much as it would have due to the disasters.
Railroads and some early factories made traditional work obsolete. For example, railroads put a lot of people who worked along the canal system out of work.
Foreign imported industrial products such as cotton clothes were much cheaper than many locally produced products. This put a lot of people out of work also.
It is said that by 1900, the value of imports was four times more than the value of exports. This was much unlike the height of the Qing Empire in the 1700s when their products were considered very valuable around the world.
Their economy didn't advance along with the West and Japan. Common people faced a lot of suffering, and many didn't survive. Many people blamed their problems on the Qing Dynasty, foreigners, and Christians.
Poor Education
Compounding the problem in the empire was the lack of modern education. The empire's literati concentrated on training for the Imperial Examinations.
Literate people wanted their children to concentrate on training for the government examinations. They studied ancient philosophical and religious texts. People had little knowledge or appreciation for modern Western education.
The Qing rulers did little to promote knowledge of the world and modern education. Instead, they were isolationist. They feared that the people would understand the outside world.
It is said that Empress Cixi who ruled the empire from behind the scenes didn't well appreciate the need for modernization of industry. She probably didn't understand how to set up a modern school system.
She wasn't educated herself. She came into power over hundreds of millions of people because she was a favorite concubine of one of the last emperors.
At the end of the empire, most of the modern education in the empire was provided by missionaries. They set up numerous universities, medical schools, and schools for youngsters to learn to read and get an elementary education. By 1911, they operated about 3,000 schools.
The Final Emperors and Cixi (1861–1912)
The Qing court was inept in the last decades. The Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) who was a concubine of an emperor came to power in 1861 and ruled behind the scenes until her death.
Her son reigned from 1862 to 1874, and her nephew ruled from 1875 to 1908. But it is said that she was the real ruler during this long and crucial period of time from 1861 until 1908 at the end of the empire.
The Empowerment of Empress Cixi
Modern historians see her rule as a myster