Asia 210 - Modern China

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Republican China (1911-1949)

Introduction

On Oct. 10th a mutiny headed by the New Army officers broke out at Wuchang.
They seized the city and obtained the support of the Hubei provincial assembly.
The provincial assembly declared the province independent from the empire.
By December all the provinces of southern and central China had fallen suit.
A republic was declared.
Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen) was invited to become provisional president.
The Qing court appealed to Yuan Shikai to come to its support.
Instead hew decided to support the republic and to force the emperor to abdicate.
Between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai. ruled, first as president, then as Emperor.
His death in 1916 left a political vacuum.
Until 1928 the government in Beijing only exercised symbolic authority over the country.
Real power was resting in the hands of the warlords.
During these years several important events took place.
a) The May Fourth Movement- the political and cultural movement which climaxed in 1919.
b) The founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921.
c) the reorganization of the Guomindang or Nationalist Parry
d) The Northern Expedition of 1926-8 which to the nominal reunification of the country.
Between 1928 and 1937, the Guomindang attempted to transform China into a modern state.
At the same time it battled the CCP with which it had split in 1927.
In 1931 Japan seized Manchuria.
Jian Jieshi, now leading the Guomindang, refused to respond.
He preferred to pursue the Communists who set out on their Long March in 1934.
By 1936 Japanese forced Jiang Jieshi to agree to a united front with the Communists.
The Japanese were already in north China.
In the following year the Sino-Japanese War broke out.

After an initial period of heroic resistance, the Guomindang retreated to Chongqing.
The Communists fought from their base in Yan'an.
After the defeat of Japan, the Guomindang and the Communists fought a civil war.
It resulted in the Communist victory of 1949.

The Social Background to the Revolution

By the beginning of the 20th century, major changes were taking place in China.
This was true in the treaty ports where Western influence Wass most apparent.
The traditional elite - the gentry - no longer relied on the exam system to justify its position.
Wealthy gentry families .moved into the cities.
They employed members of the lower gentry to manage their rural estates.
Although the gentry despised commerce, many engaged in commercial activities.
On occasion they joined merchants, forming the merchant - gentry alliance.
The emergence of a new merchant class was due to two factors.
a) the opening of China to world trade.
b) the emigration of many thousands of Chinese to the Americas and South East Asia.
The great majority of new merchant class were owners of small enterprises.
They were affected by the changing economic environment.
So they formed chambers of commerce to protect themselves.
In 1904 the chambers of commerce were given official recognition..
The late Qing educational & military reforms had also contributed to social change.
The number of modern schools rose 35, 787 with an enrolment of 1, 006, 743 pupils.
This was in 1907.
It reached 82,272 schools with an enrolment of 2,933,287 pupils in 1912.
These schools were ill-prepared
Teachers taught a syllabus which was divorced from Chinese reality.
They did more to encourage protests and demands then to consolidate the imperial monarchy.
A small but influential group of students went overseas.
Many of them went to Japan where they studied a variety of subjects
They main lesson they learned was the importance of nationalism.
They received constant reminders of the strength of Japan.
They were also reminded of the weakness of their own country.
China had formed regional armies.
The status of the military, which by tradition was very low, had begun to rise.
China abolished the traditional military examination and they created the new armies.
After that a new class of professional soldiers began to appear.
Young men from good families were sent abroad to study, usually in Japan.
They encountered the idea that the army might lead in defending and regenerating the nation.
When they returned to China they became officers in the New Army units.
The most promenade were
a) The Beiyang Army formed by Yuan Shikai in the north.
b) The Self-Strengthening Army raised by Zhang Zhidong at Nanjing.
Before the 1911 revolution, other groups in Chinese society began to play small political roles.
The Treaty of Shimonoseki had permitted foreign-owned industries to exist in the treaty ports.
In Shanghai and a few other cities an industrial proletariate had begun to form.
They numbered about 661, 000 by 1912.
Workers, many of whom were women, were often recruited as contract labour.
This left them entirely dependent on the contractor to negotiate their conditions of work.
The conditions were very poor.
Under these circumstances the first industrial strikes took place.
A labour movement began to form.
The cities also became the forum for mass political protest.
In 1905 a boycott was organized in Shanghai and several other cities.
This was to protest against the restriction of Chinese immigration into the United States.
The Chinese government had been forced to apologize over an incidence concerning a Japanese ship.
That was the Tatsu Maru.
In 1908 street demonstrations took place in Guangzhou & Japanese goods were burned.
Among the demonstrators were many women.
They urged their supporters to wear rings engraved with the words: National Humiliation.
These signs of change were referred to a "Young China."
Young China was ban urban phenomenon.
Rural China remained only remotely affected.

Revolutionary Movement

In the Guomindang version they played a role in the overthrow of the Manchus.
The modern historians have been less convinced of the centrality of the revolutionaries.
this is in the events that led to
a) the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
b) the collapse of the imperial system.
At most, the revolutionary movement creates a revolutionary tradition.
In 1911 it was too frail an instrument to be able to bring about a revolution on its own.
Yet the record of the early revolutionaries & their organizations is interesting.

Sun Yatsen

Sun Zhongshan (1866-1925) was the founder of the first revolutionary group.
He was born near Guangzhou and studied in Xianggang where he was baptized a Christian.
He lived for a time with his brother in Hawaii before returning to Xianggang to study medicine.
He then became interested in politics.
In 1984 he offered his services to Li Hongzhang.
His offer was ignored.
Then he abandoned thoughts of reform and turned to revolution.
He formed a revolutionary organization in Hawaii.
In the following year, he was involved in an abortive attempt to capture Guangzhou.
In 1896 he was kidnapped by the Chinese authorities on the streets of London.
He would have been smuggled back to China for trial and execution.
But he contacted friends who publicized his situation in the media and secured his release.
Sun came in contact with Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.
They were the leading Chinese nationalists in exile in Japan.
Sun did not accept their plans for a constitutional monarchy.
He did not accept their ties with the gentry reform movement.
He preferred to seek funds from Overseas Chinese.
He also preferred attempt at uprisings with the help of secret society members.
Nationalists have emphasized the contribution of Sun Yatsen.
This is at the expense of other revolutionary figures.

Student Revolutionaries

Zou Rong (1885-1905), like other Chinese students living in Japan, became a revolutionary.
This was when Russia failed to withdraw troops from Manchuria after the Boxer Uprising.
His manifesto, The Revolutionary Army was published.
It was done in the comparative safety of the International Settlement of Shanghai.
The manifesto contained a violent attack on the Manchus.
He was imprisoned for issuing inflammatory writings and died in jail at the age of 19.

Qiu Jin (1875-1907) was also a student in Japan.
There she took up the cause of woman's liberation
This, she believed, would only be achieved in conjunction with China's political liberation.
On her return to China she joined the Zhejiang Restoration Society.
She became involved in an attempted revolutionary coup and was executed.

Huang Xing (1874-1916), a more conventional revolutionary, came from Hunanafter studying in Japan,
he returned to his home province
here he established the Society for China's Revival.
a feature of this society was its recognition of the importance of infiltrating the armed forces.

In 1905, Sun Zhongshan supported by Huang Xing formed the Tongmenghui.
It was the Revolutionary Alliance, inTokyo.
The Alliance brought together number of revolutionary organizations.
They adopted a manifesto written by Sun which contained a four-point programme.
a) drive out the Manchus.
b) restore China.
c) establish a republic
d) equalize land-ownership.

The first revolutionary stage would be a military dictatorship.
This would be followed by a period of a one party government - "a political tutelage."
This would eventually be followed by the introduction of a democracy.
Over the next few years several abortive revolutionary incidents occurred.
In 1906 at Pingliuli (Hunan), the Gelaohui or Elder Brother Society, attempted an uprising.
This was in conjunction with dissident miners and soldiers.
Some students from the Revolutionary Alliance took part.
The rebels called for the establishment of a republic
Or, they wanted the restoration of a Chinese empire.
However, the rebels were no match for well-armed government soldiers.
In 1910 Huang Xing & other revolutionaries organized a mutiny.
This was in the ranks of the Guangzhou New Army.
But the mutiny broke out prematurely and was easily suppressed.
Nine months later the Alliance was involved in the Guangzhou revolt.
This turned into a devastating defeat of the Guaangzhou revolutionaries.

The 1911 Revolution

The revolutionary attempts had dramatized the challenge to Manchu rule.
At the start of 1911 there was no expectation that China was on the verge of a revolution.
Two incidents were to precipitate a crisis.
This would also expose the weakness of the Manchu dynasty.
It would also show the frailty of the imperial system.
The first incident came from the issue of railway construction.
In 1908 Zhang Zhidong had begun to negotiate an international loan.
Part of this loan was to be used to finance the construction of a national railway network.
This plan threatened the interest of the consortia formed by merchants and gentry.
Te merchants & gentry were planning to build provincial railway lines.
Zhang Zhidong died in 1909 and his place was taken by Shang Xuan-huai.
He was a bureaucratic capitalist.
He had previously run the Hanyeping Coal & Iron Company at Hanyang.
Sheng was a leading exponent of railway nationalization.
He already was accused of selling out China's rights by burrowing from foreigners.
In May 1911 Sheng proposed the nationalization of all non-completed railways.
It was for these railways that the provincial gentry-merchants capital had ben raised.
Then the investors learnt that they only recover part of their investments.
Then loud protests are expressed particularly in Sichuan.
The Sichuan Railway Protection League was established.
Mass meetings were held.
A campaign of civil disobedience began.
The Governor General of the province
a) arrested their League's leaders
b) broke up demonstrations
c) called for military reinforcements
By September the militia and secret societies virtually controlled the province.
Some were led by members pf the Revolutionary Alliance.
The second incidence had its origins in the military modernization.
This began after the Sino-Japanese War and continued with the late Qing reforms.
The new armies recruited better educated soldiers.
Many of whom were susceptible to nationalist propaganda.
It Wass futile to oppose the new armies, revolutionaries had tried to infiltrate them.
This was done successfully in Hubei
This is where the new army units were stationed at Wuhan.
This was the triple city on the Yangzi.
It included Hankou with its important foreign concessions.
In 1908 a group was formed among soldiers of the 41st regiment of the Hubei Army.
The group was called th e Political Study Society.
It had connections with the local treaty-port press.
The society was broken.
But the Revolutionaries regrouped in early 1911 to form the Literature Society.

Other Events

in 1911 other events contributed to the development of a revolutionary atmosphere
central China and Hanbkou in particular had suffered from an economic depression
severe flooding of the Yangzi and Han rivers had cost an estimated 2,500,000 lives.
in April one of the most vaunted constitutional reforms at last came into effect
this was the appointment of a responsible cabinet
it was composed of eight Manchus, one Mongol, and only four Chinese
then came the controversy over the nationalization of the railways
this resulted in some units of the Hubei Army being sent to Sichuan
this was to suppress a movement for which many soldiers felt some sympathy.
the Literature Society had planned an insurrection in the middle of October
this was together with other revolutionary organizations in Hubei and Hunan.

the plot was discovered
this forced the revolutionaries to advance the date to October 10th
with ease, the revolutionaries seized Wuchang,
this was on the opposite bank of the Yangzi from Hankou.
they set up a military government, which was supported by the Hubei provincial assembly.
they had declared independence from the empire and the establishment of a republic,
then they sent messages to other provincial assemblies and New Army units
this was to invite them to follow suit
by early Dec. 1911 all the provinces of south and central China had seceded from the empire.
the fate of the Qing dynasty, however, remained undecided
the Beiyang Army, stationed north, was less responsive to revolutionary propaganda
it did not react immediately to events in central China.

Yuan Shikai, the army's creator, had been dismissed in January 1909
In November 1911 the Manchu invited him back to serve as Prime Minister
Yuan, had also been approached by the revolutionaries,
but he accepted the offer from the court
the imperial forces recaptured Hankou but were repulsed at Nanjing
this reverse may have convinced Yuan that the future lay with the revolution.
he encouraged the Qing dynasty to abdicate with the promise of a generous settlement
in March 1912 he succeeded Sun Zhongshan as president of the new republic.

The 1911 Revolution

the revolutionary attempts had dramatized the challenge to Manchu rule
at the start of 1911 there was no expectation that China was on the verge of a revolution
two incidents were to precipitate a crisis
this would also expose the weakness of the Manchu dynasty
it would also show the frailty of the imperial system.

the first incident came from the issue of railway construction
in 1908 Zhang Zhidong had begun to negotiate an international loan
part of this loan was to be used to finance the construction of a national railway network
this plan threatened the interests of the consortia formed by merchants and gentry
the merchants & gentry were planning to build provincial railway lines.
Zhang Zhidong died in 1909 and his place was taken by Sheng Xuan-huai
he was a bureaucratic capitalist
he had had previously run the Hanyeping Coal and Iron Company at Hanyang
Sheng was a leading exponent of railway nationalization
he already was accused of selling out China's rights by borrowing from foreigners.

In May 1911 Sheng proposed the nationalization of all non-completed railways
it was for these railways that the provincial gentry-merchant capital that had been raised.
then the investors learned that they would only recover part of their investment
then loud protests were expressed particularly in Sichuan.
the Sichuan Railway Protection League was established,
mass meetings were held
a campaign of civil disobedience began.
the governor-general of the province
arrested their League's leaders,
broke up demonstrations,
called for military reinforcements
by September the militia and secret societies virtually controlled the province.
some were led by members of the Revolutionary Alliance

the second incident had its origins in the military modernization
this began after the Sino-Japanese War and continued with the late Qing reforms.
the new armies recruited better-educated soldiers
many of whom were susceptible to nationalist propaganda.
it was futile to oppose the new armies, revolutionaries had tried to infiltrate them.
this was done most successfully in Hubei
this is where the New Army units were stationed at Wuhan,
this was the triple city on the Yangzi
it included Hankou with its important foreign concession
in 1908 a group was formed among soldiers of the 41st Regiment of the Hubei Army.
the group was called the Political Study Society
it had connections with the local treaty-port press,
the society was broken
but the revolutionaries regrouped in early 1911 to form the Literature Society.

Other Events

in 1911 other events contributed to the development of a revolutionary atmosphere
central China and Hanbkou in particular had suffered from an economic depression
severe flooding of the Yangzi and Han rivers had cost an estimated 2,500,000 lives.
in April one of the most vaunted constitutional reforms at last came into effect
this was the appointment of a responsible cabinet
it was composed of eight Manchus, one Mongol, and only four Chinese
then came the controversy over the nationalization of the railways
this resulted in some units of the Hubei Army being sent to Sichuan
this was to suppress a movement for which many soldiers felt some sympathy.
the Literature Society had planned an insurrection in the middle of October
this was together with other revolutionary organizations in Hubei and Hunan

the plot was discovered
this forced the revolutionaries to advance the date to October 10th
with ease, the revolutionaries seized Wuchang,
this was on the opposite bank of the Yangzi from Hankou.
they set up a military government, which was supported by the Hubei provincial assembly.
they had declared independence from the empire and the establishment of a republic,
then they sent messages to other provincial assemblies and New Army units
this was to invite them to follow suit
by early Dec. 1911 all the provinces of south and central China had seceded from the empire.
the fate of the Qing dynasty, however, remained undecided
the Beiyang Army, stationed north, was less responsive to revolutionary propaganda
it did not react immediately to events in central China.
Yuan Shikai, the army's creator, had been dismissed in January 1909
in November 1911 the Manchu invited him back to serve as Prime Minister
Yuan, had also been approached by the revolutionaries,
but he accepted the offer from the court
the imperial forces recaptured Hankou but were repulsed at Nanjing
this reverse may have convinced Yuan that the future lay with the revolution.
he encouraged the Qing dynasty to abdicate with the promise of a generous settlement
in March 1912 he succeeded Sun Zhongshan as president of the new republic.

should the 1911 revolution be counted as a genuine revolution?
two issues are of particular interest:
1) the motivation of the gentry and
2) the part played by the revolutionaries.
in the past the gentry group had transferred its allegiance to a new dynasty
this was when it felt that the old dynasty could no longer secure its interests
in 1911, some gentry leaders were motivated by constitutionalism,
their main aim was constitutional reform and the establishment of a parliament.
they abandoned the dynasty because they lost faith in the Qing commitment to political reform.
for many other members of the gentry a number of things seemed dangerous:
a) dynastic decline,
b) the rise of violence,
c) the activities of the secret societies
they sided with the revolutionaries
because they believed that the New Army units could best preserve order
because they saw the opportunity to enhance their own power at local and provincial level.

the role of the revolutionaries was ambiguous
the Revolutionary Alliance did not contribute directly to the Wuchang coup
Sun Zhongshan himself was in the United States and read of the event in the newspaper.
the Wuchang rebels persuaded Li Yuanhong, to head the government.
he was a New Army brigade commander who was not a revolutionary
by November. most all the revolutionary leaders held that Yuan Shikai was the key to their success
when Sun Zhongshan returned to China in December he was apprehensive
the was nervous that more fighting might lead to foreign intervention
he too, albeit reluctantly, turned to Yuan and resigned the presidency to him.
the revolutionaries &Sun Zhongshan helped create the political atmosphere
but they had little control over the events which followed.

The Presidency of Yuan Shikai

the critics of Yuan Shikai have accused him of
a) betraying the 1898 reformers,
b) deserting the Qing dynasty
c) abandoning the republic to make himself emperor,
all of these were cited as being motivated by selfishness … yet
he was apprehensive of foreign pressure on China's sovereignty,
he set out to centralize the administration through reforms
these reforms had been introduced in stages to reduce the risk of disorder.

according to the constitution of the new republic, the president exercised considerable power,
but he was required to share that power with the prime minister and parliament
Tang Shaoyi, the 1st prime minister was a member of the Revolutionary Alliance
four cabinet ministers were also members of the Revolutionary Alliance
the Alliance held about one-third of the seats of the provisional parliament.
this arrangement soon proved to be unmanageable
in June, Tang and other members of the cabinet resigned after a row over a foreign loan.
in August, Yuan Shikai announced that the first parliamentary elections would take place
this would be at the end of the year.
in preparation the Alliance merged with four minor parties
they renamed itself the Guomindang,
it was headed by Song Jiaoren,
it was he who had drafted the constitution
he won a majority in both houses of parliament.

the new party immediately began to criticize some of the actions of Yuan's government
they criticized his willingness to take foreign loans
they began to demand that the power of parliament should be increase
Yuan Shikai's response was to have Song Jiaoren assassinated.
this was followed the event known as the Second Revolution
in April 1913, Yuan Shikai contracted a `Reorganisation Loan' of $25,000,000
the loan was from a British, French, German, Russian, and Japanese consortium.
this was done without the prior consent of parliament,
the loan,was secured on the revenue of the salt monopoly,
the loan was to re-finance China's existing debts and to pay for a reform of the administration.
Yuan's opponents were sure this was not the reason for the loan
for them, it was to bankroll a campaign of suppression against his political opponents.
this suspicion was confirmed

after the Second Revolution, Yuan established himself as a dictator by doing the following:
a) martial law was declared,
b) newspapers were closed down,
c) opposition members of parliament were arrested
d) many thousands of people were killed.
e) the Guomindang members of parliament were expelled a
f) Yuan then dissolved the provincial assemblies, tampering with the interests of the gentry.
Yuan introduced several measures some of which continued his policy of centralization
other reforms hinted at a wider agenda of social improvement
for example, his goal to educate all Chinese boys and raising the standards of agriculture.

Japan's Twenty One Demands

in January 1915, the Japanese government presented demands to Yuan Shikai
these were twenty -one demands divided into five groups, which included:
a) the transfer to Japan of all German interests in Shandong,
b) the extension of Japan's lease on the Liaodong peninsula,
c) the granting of further commercial rights in Manchuria and
d) a joint Sino-Japanese control of the Hanyeping industrial complex.
e) it required the Chinese government to use Japanese advisers
this would be for
a) its military,
b) its police
c) its financial administrations,
this would turn China into a `second Korea'.

the document was leaked to the Chinese press
an outburst of patriotic protests followed.
Britain and the United States expressed concern
but they advised that China would have to accept the ultimatum.
on May 7th 1915, Yuan acceded to the first four groups of the demands
he deferred agreement on the fifth group
that day was to be commemorated as the day of national humiliation
Yuan's prestige was never to recover from his compromise on the issue.

Yuan’s willingness to compromise has been attributed to his desire to become emperor
His opponents had long suspected him of cherishing that ambition,
he only became committed to it in 1915 after the presentation of the Twenty-one Demands.
he believed that a restoration was the preference of the mass of the population,
this was because the masses had never accepted the republic
he was encouraged in this view by Dr. F.J. Goodnow, his American political adviser,
he argued China's history & tradition made her more suited to a monarchy than to a republic.
in December Yuan accepted an invitation from his supporters to become emperor
on January 1st 1916 his reign began.
the monarchical venture was not a success.
-intellectual criticism was led by Liang Qichao
in the past had been an advocate of a constitutional monarchy
but now believed that the mystique of the monarchy had been destroyed irrevocably.

Japan and the Western imperial powers expressed doubts about the wisdom of the move Japan began to supply funds to Yuan's political opponents.
the most serious opposition came from a group of military men
it was headed by Cai E, the military governor of Yunnan.
in the following months he led his troops into Sichuan
Yuan dispatched units of the Beiyang Army
it should have been able to defeat Cai E easily,
Cai E's military tactics and the defection of Yuan's supporters led to the loss of Sichuan.
by now support for Yuan Shikai was crumbling rapidly
in March he abandoned his claim to the monarchy
three months later he died.

The Warlord Era (1916-28)

Yuan Shikai's death left a political vacuum
his rejection of the republic had discredited parliamentary democracy
his ventures into dictatorship, & his restoration of the monarch gathered little support
in the ensuing period the central government ceased to exert national authority
effective power fell into the hands of military governors or warlords.

Yuan Shikai was succeeded as president by Li Yuanhong
the 1912 constitution was revised and there was a brief period of national unity
this was destroyed by disputes between Li and Duan Qirui, a general in the Beiyang Army
in the first instance over the validity of the 1912 constitution,
some believed it had been superseded by the constitution introduced by Yuan Shikai in 1914
in the second instance it was over whether China should enter the war against Germany.
in July 1917 the Beijing government encouraged Zhang Xun, to march into Beijing
this was to restore the last Manchu emperor.
he was quickly expelled and Duan Qirui regained control
Li Yuanhong was forced to resign the presidency
his place being taken by Feng Guozhang, another former commander under Yuan Shikai.

in 1918 Duan Qirui outraged nationalist opinion by accepting the `Nishihara loans'
these loans were provided by the Japanese interests to advance their claims in Manchuria.
from this point the Beijing government ceased to exercise effective authority over the nation.
yet the Beijing government continued to receive the recognition of the foreign powers,
over the next decade, the distribution of power was fluid,
initially north and central China was divided between the supporters of
a) Duan Qirui who had formed the Anhui or Anfu cliqu
b) the supporters of Feng Guozhang, who formed the Zhili clique.
in 1920 the Zhili clique headed by Zhang Zuolin,,defeated the Anfu clique.
the Zhili and Fengtian cliques then fought two wars.
the second war, in 1924, was a major conflict
it resulted in the break-up of the Zhili clique.

in 1920 the Zhili clique headed by Zhang Zuolin,,defeated the Anfu clique.
the Zhili and Fengtian cliques then fought two wars.
the second war, in 1924, was a major conflict
it resulted in the break-up of the Zhili clique.
from 1924 a somewhat more stable situation emerged
the basic warlord regimes were as follows:
1. Zhang Zuolin, the Old Marshal in Manchuria,
2. Feng Yuxiang, the `Christian General' in the north-west,
3. Yan Xishan, the `Model Governor in Shanxi,
4. Sun Chuanfang, in the lower Yangzi provinces
5. Wu Peifu, the `Philosopher Marshal' in the middle Yangzi,
6. The Guangxi clique, in the south-west.
around Guangzhou, Sun Zhongshan maintained a precarious existence.
this was with the consent of the local warlord Chen Jiongming,

warlord regimes were extremely diverse, they did have some common features:
a) most warlords had a military background;
b) many had been military governors of provinces;
c) they all maintained armies which were loyal to them;
d) all, with the exception of Feng Yuxiang, (`mobile warlord') commanded a territorial base;
e) a number of them used levies to supply their financial needs;
f) part of their revenues came from taxes, especially land taxes;
g) other revenues came from their monopolies on consumer goods, the sale of opium, charges on business and railway companies.
h) some, who were short of funds, printed their own currency to supplement their income.

warlords did differ in terms of the ideologies they projected:
three main categories may be identified:
a) conservative warlords, for example, Wu Peifu, a committed Confucianist;
b) reactionary warlords, for example Zhang Xun, who tried to restore the Qing;
c) reformist warlords, for example, Feng Yuxiang & Yan Xishan.
of the latter two, Feng Yuxianghad become a Christian in 1914,
he insisted that his troops should not drink, gamble, use opium, or visit prostitutes
he selected recruits on the basis of physical fitness,
he expected his men to train vigorously.
Yan Xishan promoted primary education and literacy
he initiated campaigns against foot-binding and prostitution.

the warlord period has usually been regarded as a disastrous episode in China's history
some of its dire features are as following:
a) central government had collapsed,
b) outer Mongolia and Tibet had become semi-independent,
c) intellectuals had withdrawn from public service,
d) warfare was endemic,
e) the economy was neglected, and
f) Western imperialism continued to make inroads.
the warlord period had some positive aspects.
most warlords subscribed to the cause of Chinese nationalism.

during the First World War China's exports had boomed
also, modern industries had expanded sharply.
this took place because European powers were in conflict in Europe
this trend continued after the war
the index of industrial production rising by 300% in 1916-28.
the traditional emphasis on ideological conformity was replaced by intellectual freedom
this made possible the cultural change known as the May Fourth Movement to take place.

The May Fourth Movement

the political disintegration left the way open for the emergence of new political parties
it is in these years that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded
also, the Guomindang was reorganized and began its bid to reunify China.
on May 4th 1919 the news reached Beijing about the Paris Peace Conference
it had decided that the former German interests in Shandong should not go to China
it should be retained by Japan
it had been seized by Japan during the war.

a crowd of 3,000 students assembled at the Tiananmen
they marched on the foreign legations.
the march was blocked by the police
so the students diverted to the house of Cao Rulin,
they burned down his house
he was the minister of communications who had negotiated the Twenty-One Demands
he had also arranged the Nishihara loans,
the police then intervened and arrested 31 students, one of whom later died due to injuries.
the incident quickly turned into a national protest
demonstrations took place in many other cities
a boycott of Japanese goods was declared.
Cao Julin resigned from the government and the government itself fell shortly afterwards
the Chinese delegation at Versailles refused to sign the concluding agreement.

this incident was the central event in the cultural & intellectual May 4th Movement.
its main themes can be divided into three parts:
a) an attack on Confucianism,
b) an enthusiasm for new ideas,
c) a literary revolution.
the movement emerged at a time of rapid social change
it was marked by
a) the growth of the coastal cities
b) the rapid increase in the number of students at universities and colleges
by 1919 about 4,500,000 students got an education that included some Western style studies.
the most prestigious institution was Beijing National University,
it had been founded in 1898 as a training centre for officials
but it was transformed into the leading academic institution
it was committed to the promotion of liberal ideas, by its chancellor Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940).
he brought to the university a number of leading academics.
these included Hu Shi (1891-1962)
he had studied with the philosopher John Dewey at Columbia university
it also included Chen Duxiu (1879-1942
he had founded the journal New Youth in Shanghai in 1915.

its first editorial had called upon the youth of China to cast off conventions of the past
it called them to embrace the individualism and utilitarianism of the West.
Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao (1888-1927) were to be the joint founders of the CCP.
the 1911 revolution had dismantled the political framework of the Confucian state
but the Confucian tradition remained dominant in the family,
this was mostly n the wealthy extended families
they were families from which many of the 1st generations of Westernized intellectuals came.
this tradition was now attacked fiercely in the pages of New Youth.
in December 1916, Chen Duxiu published an article
it was entitled, “The Way of Confucius and Modern Life.”
In it he criticized Confucian teaching on filial piety and on the subservience of women,
he noted in particular the prejudice against the remarriage of widows.
Confucius, he remarked lived in a feudal age
the ethics, social mores, and political institutions he advocated belonged to a feudal age.

classical Chinese literature was written in a condensed and allusive form
this made it accessible only to those with a classical education.
there was a new demand for newspapers, popular fiction and translations of Western work
this had resulted in the production of a large amount of writing in the vernacular
but the classical form continued to be used for all serious literature.
in 1917 Hu Shi published an article in the New Youth
in the article he called for a `literary revolution’,
this would supplant the classical style with the vernacular for all forms of literary expression
the following month Chen Duxiu made the following demand:
"Destroy the aristocratic literature which is nothing but literary chiselling and flattery and construct a simple, expressive literature of the people."
the consequence was the emergence of a new vernacular literature
one of the first and greatest exponent of this was Lu Xun (1881-1936),
his short story `A Madman's Diary' appeared in the New Youth in April 1918.
in 1921 the ministry of education decreed the vernacular to be used in primary school texts

the third strand in the movement was the diffusion of a wide range of ideas from the West.
by late 19th century, many key concepts of the West had been translated into Chinese.
this included Social Darwinism and socialist and anarchist ideas,
in November 1918 an article appeared in the NewYouth
it was called `The Victory of Bolshevism', Li Dazhao
it was attempt to explain the tenets of Bolshevism
the following year he used an entire issue of the magazine to discuss Marxism.
in Jan. 1919 Chen Duxiu still argued on behalf of science & democracy
he argued it could `cure the dark maladies in Chinese politics, morality, learning, and thought.’
but like many others, lost faith in Western democracy after the betrayal of China at Versailles

Hu Shi adopted the pragmatic philosophy of John Dewey
John Dewey was lecturing in China between 1919 and 1921.
this made him doubt that ready-made ideologies could be a solution to China’s problems
such ideologies were anarchism or Marxism, which he called `isms’
he asked rhetorically what was the sole aim of this new thought
his answer was: to re-create civilization, but civilization was not created all at once,
it was created by inches and drops.’
his preference of gradualism contrasted with those who preferred a revolutionary approach
these were the preferences of Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu,
the intellectual unanimity of the May Fourth period would not last.

Mao Zedong
Mao came from Shaoshan in Hunan where his father had begun life as a poor peasant
eventually he became one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan.
Mao father was a strict disciplinarian who often would beat Mao & his two brothers & adopted sister.
Mao’s mother was a devout Buddhist & tried to suppress her husband’s temper.
Mao had become a follower of Buddhism but abandoned it in his mid-teens
at age eight Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School where he learned the value systems of Confucianism
Mao did not like the classical texts that preached Confucian morals
he preferred reading the popular novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms & Water Margin.

The Founding of the Communist Party & the Reorganization of the Guomindang

many Chinese were proud of having belonged to the May Fourth generation
they regarded those years as the a starting point of modern Chinese history.
among them was Mao Zedong (1893-1976).

Mao’s father arranged him to marry a 17 year old girl called Luo Yigu - the first of 4 wives.
Mao refused to accept her as a wife
he became a great critic of arranged feudal marriages & moved away.
Luo was disgraced & died in 1910.
while working on his father’s farm Mao read a lot & developed a political consciousness.
Mao was inspired by a booklet written by Zheng Guanying who lamented the deterioration of Chinese power.
he argued in favour of adopting a representative democracy.
Mao was also interested in history & was inspiredly the military skills and nationalistic passions of George Washington & Napoleon Bonaparte.

Mao’s political views were shaped by the protests that had erupted in Changsha following famine
Mao supported the demands made by the protestors although the armed forces suppressed the dissenters annexed the leaders.
the famine did spread to Shaoshan where starving peasants seized his father’s grain
he saw it as immoral behaviour although he claimed sympathy for it.
when he was 16 Mao moved to a higher primary school in nearby Dongshsan.
there he was bullied because of his peasant background

in 1911 he began middle school in Changsha where revolutionary sentiments were quite strong
there was also wide spread and animosity against Emperor Puyi’s absolute monarchy.
by now everyone was advocating republicanism - its leader was Sun Yatsen.
Mao was influenced by Sun’s newspaper “The People’s Independence”
Mao even wrote an essay in school calling for Sun Yatsen to become president.
as a symbol of rebellion against Manchu rule Mao cut off his queue.

inspired by Sun Yatsen, the army sparked the Xinhai Revolution.
Changsha’s governor fled & the city fell into Republican hands
Mao joined the rebel army but did not get involved in the fighting
the northern provinces remained loyal to the emperor
to avoid a civil war Sun compromised with Yuan Shikai
the monarchy would be abolished, creating a republic of China.
but the monarchist Yuan would become president.
after the revolution was over Mao left the army in 1912 - he had spent 16 months with them.
at that time Mao discovered socialism from a newspaper - he did not embrace it.

The Fourth Normal School at Changsha: 1912-19.

over the next few years Mao enrolled and dropped out of a number of institutions:
a) police academy
b) a soap production school
c) a law school
d) an economics school
e) the government-run school Changsha Middle School

Mao spent a lot of his time studying independently in the library.
he especially read the basic core works of classical liberalism
this would be “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith
also, “The Spirit of the Laws” by Montesquieu
furthermore he read scientists & philosophers.
these were Darwin, Mill, Rousseau, and Spencer.

Mao absorbed the idea of individualism whereby strong individuals were not bound by rules.
these rules would be moral or societal.
he began to accept the idea that the ends justifies the means.
his father saw no use in his son’s intellectual interests & thereby cut off his allowance.
Mao was forced to leave home into a hostel for the destitute.

Mao wanted to become a teacher.
he enrolled at the Fourth Normal School of Changsha, it merged with another school.
now it became the best school in Hunan
encouraged by his teacher Mao began to read newspapers called “The New Youth”
the newspaper was founded by Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao.
Chen was a nationalist who argued that China must look to the West in order to cleanse itself.
Mao had published his own articles in the newspaper (April 1917)
he urged people to increase their strength to support the revolution

by 1920, Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao had started a Marxist study group at Beijing University
Mao Zedong had started his own group in Changsha
he organized the Association for Student Self-Government
he led protest against school rules
he was elected to command a student volunteer army to defend against marauding soldiers.
then Mao, taking a interest in war, studied the techniques of World War l
he began to develop a sense of solidarity with workers.
he helped form The Renovation of the People Study Society (April, 1918).
this was to debate Chen Duxiu’s ideas.
the society would later join the Communist Party
Mao graduated in June 1919 & was ranked third among the students that year.

Mao in Beijing

Mao moved to Beijing
his mentor Yang Changji , now working at Peking University, secured him a job
this was as assistant to the University librarian, Li Dazhao.
Li had written articles in the New Youth on the October Revolution in Russia
this was when the Communist Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin had seized power.
Lenin advocated the socko-political theory of Marxism.
Li’s articles brought an understanding of Marxism to the Chinese revolutionary movement.
Mao joined Li’s study group & quickly embraced Marxism during the winter of 1919.
at school Mao was being avoided by other students because of his peasant background.
Mao also joined the university’s Philosophy & Journalism Societies.
he attended lectures by Chen Duxiu, Hu She, and Qian Xuantong.
Mao left Beijing in the spring of 1919

New Culture & Political Protests

May 4th, 1919 students in Beijing gathered at he Gate of Heavenly Peace.
they protested the Chinese government’s inability to resist Japanese expansion.
protestors were outraged at the influence given to Japan in the 21 Demands
mostly they were outrage at China being betrayed in the Treaty of Versailles
this treaty was to hand over Shandong to Japan instead of China
Germany had previously held on to it prior to the war
these demonstrations ignited the May Fourth Movement
it also fuelled the New Culture movement that blamed China for its diplomatic defeats.

meanwhile Mao had been teaching history at Xiuye Primary School
he was also organizing protests against the pro-dean Governor of Hunan, Zhao Jingyao.
Zhang’s rule was corrupt & violent
in May Mao co-founded the Hunanese Student Association with others.
they organized a student strike for June.
in July they began a weekly radical magazine, Xiang River Review (Xiangiang pinglun).
Mao advocated the need for a”great union of popular masses”
his ideas were not Marxist but were influenced by the concept of Mutual aid.(Peter Kropotkin).
Zhang barred the Student Association but Mao continued to publish.

Mao took over the editorship of the liberal magazine New Hunan & articles in local papers.
these newspapers advocated & supported feminism views; called for the liberation of women.
Mao was influenced by his forced arranged marriage as well.
Mao then began to read “The Communist Manifesto “ by Marx & Engels;
but he remained eclectic in his views

Mao travelled a bit before finally settling down in Shanghai.
he met Chen Duxiu who impressed him with his acceptance of Marxism
Mao met members of the Guomingdang & helped them overthrow Zhang
soon after Mao was appointed headmaster of the junior section of the First Normal school.
with a larger income , he married Yang Kaihui in the winter of 1

The Founding of the CCP & the Re-Organizing of the KMT: 1921-22.

the Communist party of China was founded by Chen Duxiu & Li Dazhao
they did this in the French concession of Shanghai in 1921
it was done as a study society and informal network.
Mao created a Changsha branch & established a branch of Socialist Youth Corps.
he began to propagate evolutionary literature throughout Hunan
heals was involved in the movement for Hunan autonomy - to increase civil liberties
a new warlord established Human autonomy; after that Mao decreased his involvement.

by 1921 small Marxist groups existed in the following cities:
a) Shanghai
b) Beijing,
c) Changsha
d) Wuhan
e) Guangzhou
f) Jinan

in April Grigori Voitinsky, representing the Third Communist International, visited China
this was to assist in the formation of a Communist party
first a Socialist Youth League was organized
contact was made with the group of students from Hunan and Sichuan
among these students was Deng Xiaoping
they had been sent to France on part-time study part-time work scheme.
in July 23rd 1921 the First Congress of the CCP was held.
it was attended by 13 delegates, Mao included.
after the police spied on the congress they moved it to small boat on South Lake
neither Chen Duxiu nor Li Dazhao was present on that occasion
but Chen Duxiu was chosen as secretary-general of the Party in absentia.
Soviet & Comitern delegates attended
they ignored Lenin’s advice to accept a temporary alliance between them & “bourgeois democrats’
they too advocated national revolution
they held on to the Marxist belief that only urban peasants could lead a socialist revolution.
there is some uncertainty about the direction taken at that meeting
but it was agreed that the Party should concentrate on promoting the labour movement.
Mao became Party secretary for Hunan; he was to be stationed at Changsha
he was to build the party there
he founded the Self-Study University
this would allow readers to get access to revolutionary literature
they were to be found at the office of Wang Fuzhi, a Qing dynasty philosopher
he was from Hunan and had resisted the Manchus
Mao joined the YMCA Mass Education Movement to fight illiteracy
he organized workers to strike against the administration of Hunan governor Zhao Hengti
labour issues remained central.

Mao missed the Second Congress (July 1922) in Shanghai
the delegates agreed to an alliance with the “bourgeois democrats” of the Guomindang.
Communist party members joined the Guomindang to push its politics to the left
Mao agreed to the alliance across socio-economic classes
Mao was anti-imperialist
in his writings he severely criticized the government of Japan, the UK, the USA.

in April Grigori Voitinsky, representing the Third Communist International, visited China
this was to assist in the formation of a Communist party
first a socialist Youth League was organized
contact was made with the group of students from Hunan and Sichuan
among these students was Deng Xiaoping
they had been sent to France on part-time study part-time work scheme.
in July 1921 in the French Concession in Shanghai, the First Congress of the CCP was held.
neither Chen Duxiu nor Li Dazhao was present on that occasion
but Chen Duxiu was chosen as secretary-general of the Party in absentia.-
there is some uncertainty about the decision taken at that meeting
but it was agreed that the Party should concentrate on promoting the labour movement.

between 1921 and 1923, China experienced the `first big wave of labour struggles.'
the CCP played the major role in directing the struggle
the Guomindang activists also played a role &
the rise of unrest took place before the rise of the CCP
the most successful industrial action was the Xiangang seamen's strike,
this began in January 1922 and
its central issue the discrepancy between the wages of white and Chinese seamen.
the strike spread to Shanghai and Guangzhou,
eventually it involved 120,000 workers
this resulted in the Xianggang seamen receiving a wage rise of 15 to 30%.
later the Communist-supported Labour Secretariat organised a congress in Guangzhou
this was attended by delegates who claimed to represent 300,000 workers
but then, there was a strike of railway workers on the Beijing-Hankou line led to disaster.

the local warlord, Wu Peifu, perhaps encouraged by Western powers, broke up the strike,
he killed 35 of the strikers
this included the branch secretary of the union of the Jianggnam depot in Hankou,
after being expelled from the Beijing parliament in 1913 the Guomindang moved to elsewhere
this was in Guangzhou, where it maintained a shadowy existence
it had the unreliable support of Chen Jiongming, the local warlord.
these circumstances made Sun Zhongshan receptive to the overtures of Maring,
he was the Comitern agent whom he met in 1921.
in the previous year, Lenin had persuaded the Comitern of something interesting.
in colonial countries, Communists should collaborate with bourgeois-democratic movements
Lenin had considered China to be a colonial country.
Maring concluded that the Guomindang should be regarded as such a movement,
he obtained Sun Zhongshan's agreement
this was that members of the CCP should be allowed to join the Guomindang
this was as individuals and that a united front should be formed by the two parties.

Sun Zhongshan had already begun a reorganization of the Guomindang
a new constitution had been adopted
it refined the manifesto commitment of the Revolutionary Alliance to three principles:
a) nationalism,
b) democracy
c) the people's livelihood.
the new Comitern was Mikhail Borodin
he had arrived in Guangzhou in October 1923 & assisted in making further changes
the party was reorganized on Bolshevik lines
Sun Zhongshan retained personal leadership,
the Bolsheviks were a diversion from the Leninist model.

through the efforts of Sun Fo, a significant improvement was made to the party's finances
Sun Fo was Sun Yatsen’s son & was mayor of Guangzhou
in May 1924 a military academy was opened at Huangpu (Whampoa), south of Guangzhou.
the academy was headed by Jiang Jieshi (Chang Kaishek) (1887-1975)
he had recently returned from Moscow
the academy was to train a National Revolutionary Army,
this army would be used to reunify China..
in the meantime the Guomindang was attempting to organise mass movements.
it was supported by the Communist
Liao Zhongkai was the leader of the left wing of the Guominang
he promoted a revival of the Guangzhou labour movement,
this movement led to a series of strikes and a strengthening of union discipline.

one notable protest was the Shamian affair of July 1924
the protest was directed against Western imperialism and the unequal treaties.
contact was made with the peasants,
the peasants were now recognized as an important component in the revolutionary struggle.
in 1922 Peng Pai had begun to work among the peasants of his home district
this was in eastern Guangdong
he was the son of a landlord; he had begun to work with peasants in eastern Guandong
two years later the Guomindang established a Farmer's Bureau
it was headed by Peng Pei,
it organized peasant associations & supported peasants in disputes with landlords.
the more successful the Guomindang was in getting mass support the more it alienated
a) the merchants
b) landlords
they were the ones who provided its principle support.

in the autumn of 1924 a group of Guangzhou merchants raised a militia
it also smuggled arms into the city
the group was infuriated by the heavy taxes imposed by the Guomindang
it was also infuriated by the Guomindang’s encouragement of the labour movement,
but his militia was defeated by soldiers from the Huangpu military academy
their commander Jiang Jieshi was suspicious of the infiltration tactics of the CCP.
in March 1925, Sun Zhongshan died of cancer.
his death was commemorated in services nationally,
on May 30th 1925, police, commanded by a British officer, fired on Chinese demonstrators
this took place in the Nanjing Road in Shanghai, killing 12 people
protests followed in cities throughout China.
in Guangzhou, (June 23rd) British troops fired on a rally and killed 52 demonstrators
this precipitated the Guangzhou-Xianggang strike
the strike lasted 16 months and seriously disrupted the trade and services of Xianggang.

The Northern Expedition

since 1924, discussions had been taking place of a northern expedition to reunify China.
in the autumn of that year Wu Peifu was defeated by Feng Yuxiang & Shang Zuolin
this encouraged Sun Zhongshan
it was because he had made an agreement to share power with Shang Zuolin
but Borodin advised that the military strength of the northern warlords was still too great,
the expedition was postponed.

the Northern Expedition was eventually launched in July 1926.
by then the National Revolutionary Army and its allies had some 150,000 men.
it was assisted by Russian military advisers.
against it stood the large but inferior forces of
a) Wu Peifu in central China,
b) Sun Chuanfang in the east
c) Zhang Zuolin in the north.
the Nationalist forces advanced rapidly through Hunan.
it only encountered stiff resistance from Wu Peifu's army as they approach Nanchang,
this progress was due to the help given to the Guomindang forces by the mass movements
they had been kept in check by the warlords,
they now began to play an important role.

the Northern Expedition did set off a wave of popular movements.
in Hunan the number of peasants belonging to the peasant association rose dramatically
this prompted Mao Zedong, to return to Hunan in December 1926
this is where he made his celebrated investigation into the peasant movement.
Mao had been head of the Guomindang Peasant Movement Training Institute in Guangzhou,
in his report he predicted “several hundred million peasants …will rise like a tornado”
the arrival of the Nationalist armies in the Yangzi cities brought a surge of revolutionary spirit
it manifested itself in a wave of industrial strikes and heightened student activism.
the relationship between the Guomindang and the CCP was already under severe strain
in March 1926, Jiang Jieshi, suspected that the crew a gunboat n was about to kidnap him,
so, he seized the boat and then carried a purge of Communist supporters in Guangzhou.
Borodin calmed things down
he persuaded the CCP to continue the united front with the Guomindang.

the Northern Expedition exposed the different agendas of the two parties
it also exposed the likelihood of an open disagreement
the likelihood of this increased
this was when Jiang Jieshi and the eastern wing of the National Revolutionary Army approached Nanjing and Shanghai.
on March 24th,the expeditionary force entered Nanjing
some of its troops looted the foreign consulates and killed several foreigners.
in response, British ships laid down a protective barrage
this killed a number of Chinese.
Jiang Jieshi, not to antagonize the Western powers, blamed the Communists for the attack
he executed some of the soldiers held responsible for looting.

in Shanghai, Communist leaders, including Zhou Enlai, had mobilized city workers.
in particular they were those of the Commercial Press and the Shangai Post Office.
they were mobilized against the warlord Sun Chuanfang.
in March 1927 they seized control of the city
Jiang Jieshi then entered Shanghai
he began to use his contacts with the Western powers,
these included wealthy bankers and industrialists, and with underworld figures
one such person was `Smallpox Jirong', leader of the Green Gang
it was to raise a force of mobsters to strike at the labour unions.
on April 12th, they attacked and killed several hundred union members
they handed the city over to Jiang Jieshi.
in Wuhan the united front between Guomindang and Communists survived
Stalin was currently engaged in his power struggle with Leon Trotsky,
he had staked his ideological reputation
this was for on continuing the alliance with the `bourgeois-democratic' Guomindang
as a consequence Borodin and the Comintern had to support that policy.
the leader of the Guomindang government in Wuhan was Wang Jingwei
he was regarded by many as Sun Zhongsun's heir, who was on the left wing of the party.
the political issue was whether the two parties should carry through an agrarian revolution
if so, from whom should land be confiscated and to whom should it be distributed
confused and ill-informed instructions from Moscow threw the CCP into disarray.
the threat of a rural revolution lost the Guomindang support
at the same time, the deteriorating military situation forced Wang Jingwei to act.
in July, Communists were expelled from the Guomindang
Wuhan was placed under martial law, and a repression of the CCP began.
the CCP, with Comitern encouragement, now turned to armed revolt.
in August 1st, National Revolutionary Army units seized and briefly held Nancheng.
they then marched south, apparently hoping to find support in eastern Guangdong
this is where Peng Pei had achieved some success with the peasant associations.
in the meantime Mao Zedong had been told to organize a peasant insurrection in Hunan
the event is known as the Autumn Harvest uprising
it was Mao's recognition of the role poor peasants were going to play in the revolution
but it turned into a disaster.
the peasant forces were easily defeated
Mao and the few survivors were forced to flee into the mountains.
in December the CCP Politburo,, promoted an insurrection in Guangzho
it has become known as the Guangzhou Commune.
the uprising was ill-prepared
there was little popular support
Zhang Fakui, commander of the Nationalist forces acted quickly and put down the revolt
this incident, `turned Chinese public opinion against the Communist Party and Soviet Russia.'
the events of 1927 discredited Wang Jingwei and the left-wing of the Guomindang,
it enabled Jiang Jieshi to consolidate his position.
in April 1928, he restarted the Northern Expedition
he had the co-operation of Feng Yuxiang & Yan Xishan
he went against the remaining warlord armies headed by Zhang Zuolin

the 2nd half of the expedition was marked by two important incidents.
in late April the Nationalist forces captured Jinan
this capital of Shandong had a substantial number of Japanese residents.
the Japanese gov’t had already voiced its concerns
this was that the Northern Expedition might endanger Japanese interests in China.
the arrival of the Nationalist forces at Jinan prompted the dispatch of two Japanese divisions
this was to protect Japanese nationals.
a clash between Nationalists and Japanese troops followed but
Jian Jieshi ignored Chinese protests against this infringement of China's sovereignty,
he patched up the incident
the National Revolutionary Army continued its advance upon Beijing.
then the Guandong Army attempted to influence events
they had been safeguarding Japanese interests in Manchuria.
they suspected Zhang Zuolin would oppose extensions of Japanese influence in Manchuria,
on June 4th the Kwantung Army officers assassinated him by blowing up his train.
but his son Zhang Xueliang took his place and gave his support to the Nationalists
before the end of June, Nationalist forces entered Beijing,
thus they completed the Northern Expedition.

The Nanjing Decade: 1928-37.

the Guomindang made Nanjing its capital
because it was closer to its main power centre on the lower Yangzi.
Beijing was now renamed Beiping, that is, `northern peace.'
the 10 year period between 1928 & the Japanese invasion in 1937 is the Nanjing decade.

Urban & Rural Life

China in the Nanjing decade was a country of startling contrasts.
the coastal cities are indications of modernization and Westernization were widespread
they were somewhat superficial in their modernization
in Shanghai in 1929 there were 2326 factories employing nearly 300,000 workers,
70% of these workers were women or children.
in 1933 more than 80% of Chinese-owned industry was located in a few places only:
a) the eastern coastal provinces
b) southern coastal provinces
b) in Manchuria.
in contrast, the pattern of rural life appeared to be unchanging,
the Guomindang established a one-party dictatorship.
it assumed China was not yet ready for a democracy
in 1931, it issued a provisional constitution
it created a five-branch system of government, comprising of
a) the executive,
b) the legislative,
c) the judicial,
d) the examination,
e) the control bureau.
this structure was a curious mixture of traditional and modern features.
the examination bureau, supervised entry into the civil service,
the control bureau stamped out corruption,
both were reminiscent of the imperial system
other aspects of the government displayed Western influence.

the Guomindang's Central Political Council nominally exercised executive control
after 1930 Jiang Jieshionce obtained so much dominance
both the Guomindang and the government lost effective control.
his dominance was achieved by manipulating factions within the party and the government.
in the army, his support came from former cadets at the Huanpu Military Academy
this is where he had been commandant.
within the party, Jiang Jieshi was aided by the `CC clique'
this was led by his close friends the Chen brothers,
their influence derived in part from their involvement with the secret police.
a less formal grouping, known as the Political study clique
it provided Jiang with support from professional organizations.

Jiang also profited from other personal connections.
in 1927 he married Song Meiling, the sister of Sun Zhongshan's widow.
Song Meiling's other sister was married to Kong Xiangxi (H.H. Kung), a leading banker
her brother Song Ziwen (T.V. Soong) was a Harvard graduate and a noted financial expert.
due to this, the Communists described the gov’t as the rule of the `Four Big Families.'
the ideological stance of the Nanjing government was also ambiguous.
many of its supporters were of the May Fourth generation
they had participated in the attack on Confucianism,
Jiang Jieshi was a follower of Zhu Xi, the 12th century Neo-Confucianist.
but Sun Zhongshan had admired Hong Xiuquan, the Taiping leader
Jiang Jieshi extolled the achievements of Zeng Guofan, who had opposed the rebellion.
during the Nanjing decade Confucianism was reinstated
Confucius' birthday was made a public holiday.

The New Life Movement

Confucianism was also an important element in the New Life Movement
it was a movement that Jiang Jieshi launched in 1934
this was to encourage the practice of four Confucian virtues of
a) propriety,
b) justice,
c) honesty,
d) self-respect,
this was advocated at the same time it disseminated western ideas on hygiene
the New Life Movement also had a Christian content
Jesus was held up as a model to emulate
the members of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), was very active
they were very active in social work in Chinese cities,

in 1931, a group of Huangpu officers, formed an elitist organization
it was later known as the Blue Shirts
they wore Chinese-made cotton cloth
this was to demonstrate their commitment to China's national interests.
they aimed to revive the Guomindang and make Jiang Jieshi a dictator
they also played a leading role in the New Life Movement.
the Blue Shirts'
a) admired of Mussolini
b) they were anti-Communism
c) they made use of violence
these activities led them to being described as described as a fascist organization
Jiang Jieshi was also being accused of harbouring fascist sympathizers.

the economic record of the Nanjing gov’t has been the subject of conflicting assessments.
the most impressive aspects of the economic record were
a) its financial institutions
b) its communications
c) the growth of the modern industrial sector.
in the 1920s China still lacked a unified currency
foreign exchange & banking facilities were largely in the hands of foreigners.

in 1927 Jiang Jieshi asked his brother-in-law Song Ziwen to develop a financial strategy
among Song's achievements were
a) the rescheduling of China's foreign debts,
b) the introduction of the Chinese silver dollar,
c) the abolition of the lijin, the tax on internal trade.
e) he also established a central bank
f) he established specialized banks to
1) deal in foreign exchange,
2) provide credits for peasants,
3) finance the development of transportation.
his reforms were not entirely successful.
throughout the decade, government revenue covered only about 80% of its expenditure.
this was because of heavy militar

the sound way to increase government revenue was to tax the agricultural sector efficiently,
but the Guomindang lacked the authority and trained personnel to achieve this.
to cover the deficit the banks sold large quantities of heavily discounted government bonds,
this was very often to officials,
it increased government liabilities and diverted private investment into speculation.
bureaucratic capitalism became even more marked after Song Ziwen was replaced
this was in 1933 by Kong Xiangxi
it was faced with the crisis caused by the United States' silver-buying programme
the Bank of China was forced to issue new shares
they were forced to exchange these for government bonds
consequently the government holding of bank assets rose from 20% to over 70%.

at the start of the decade China had about 8000 miles of railway tracks
5they also had about 18,000 miles of motorable road
ten years later a further 5000 miles of railway had been built
the length of motorable roads had increased to 69,000 miles
a further 10,000 miles of road were under construction.
in addition, a national air line had been established
it operated scheduled services and carried air mail
this expansion of communications
a) created work and investment,
b) helped to integrate economic regions
c) strengthened the sense of national identity.

in other respects the achievement was less creditable.
much of the labour used was conscripted
peasants were often not permitted to use the new roads
that is because they had been built for military purposes
over half the new railway mileage had been built in Manchuria,
from 1931 Manchuria was under Japanese control.

during this period
a) the modern industrial sector grew rapidly from a small base.
b) Impressive advances were achieved both in
1) new industries, for example electricity generation
2) in older industries such as coal, where output grew at 7% per annum.
but this growth was heavily concentrated in the treaty ports and in Manchuria
a high proportion of the larger enterprises were foreign owned
much of the Chinese share of modern industry was in consumer goods,
about 3/4 of the output by value being in textiles and foodstuffs.

of importance to China's economic regeneration was the increase of productivity
this was in the agricultural sector.

between 1931 and 1935 farmers suffered a sharp fall in income
this was caused by the world depression and the outflow of silver.

the Guomindang was aware of the problem of peasant immiseration and
the Guomindang took some steps to relieve it.

in 1930 it passed a land law
the law restricted rent to 3/8th of the main crop, but this was never enforced.

a National Agricultural Research Bureau was set up in 1932
measures were introduced to extend credit to farmers
this was done through the agricultural co-operative movement.

most of the loans went to landlords
little of what they borrowed was invested in the land.
these measures appear woefully inadequate
the commitment of the Guomindang to a transformation of the country was suspect.
the Guomindang had signalled its intention to develop education
this was a way of creating a modern nation-state.
wen it came to power it passed detailed laws covering all forms of schooling
in 1930 Jiang Jieshi himself became minister of education.

advice was received from the League of Nations on a national plan of educational reform
1940 was chosen as the date for the introduction of compulsory education.

the educational record during the Nanjing decade was very uneven
the proportion of children attending primary and secondary schools increased
but the provision was much better in the cities than it the countryside.

in 1932 only 15% of the children enrolled in primary schools were girls.
many private schools continued to operate
missionary societies ran over 3000 private schools.

the most ambitious attempt to extend educational opportunities was made by an American
this was by the National Association for the Promotion of Mass Education
it was led by Dr. James Yen, an American-educated Christian.

the literacy campaign it promoted was part of a broader rural reconstruction movement
it was pioneered at Yen's centre at Ding Xian in Hebei.

colleges and universities were concentrated in the coastal cities
universities made heavy use of staff who had been trained abroad
they based their teaching on foreign texts and examples.

many universities were underfunded and their students suffered economic hardships.
the Guomindang tried to clamp down on political activity in universities,
but students were frequently involved in protests,
this was especially in 1935 & 1936 when a wave of nationalism swept the campuses.

a scholarly community did grow up,
it was engaged in research and publication.
a notable achievement was the founding in 1928 of the Academia Sinica,
this was a national research institute.

the Guomindang had come to power on a wave of nationalist sentiment
it had declared that it intended to get rid of the unequal treaties.
but in 1927, in Hankou, in Nanjing, and yet again in Shanghai, it failed
it tried to avoid antagonizing the Western powers
after it came to power it used diplomatic measures to achieve its aims
this was chosen instead of violence.
in 1928 the United States took the lead in returning tariff autonomy
between 1929 and 1931 Britain voluntarily surrendered concessions in
a) Hankou,
b) Jiujiang,
c)Zhenjiang
d) Xiamen,
e) the leased territory of Weihaiwei.

other concessions remained in foreign hands
negotiations to end extraterritoriality had made little progress before the war with Japan
this war would change the priorities of China's foreign relations.

Sunday, October 10, 2021

The late Qing Period: Rebellions & Uprisings.

The Rise of Rebellions
China experienced a sequence of rebellions and uprisings
this was between 1850 & 1873
they came close to overthrowing the Qing dynasty.
the greatest of these was the Taiping Rebellion (1850-64)
for much of its course it was centred on Nanjing
it split the country in two.
the Nian rebellion (1853-68) had its base area in northern Anhui

Rebellion in the North and South
A dangerous situation arose for the Qing due to a number of factors.
a) the decline of the economy of the peasants.
b) famine.
c) population pressure.
d) the scarcity ion resources
e) government corruption
f) heavy taxes

The cause of the Nubian Rebellion of 1853 to 1868 as the destruction caused by the flooding.
this was the flooding of the Yellow River in 1853 & 1855.
The government was not able to respond to this.disaster due to its depleted finances.
The lack of response triggered the revolt.
The Panthay Rebellion (1856-1873) started in Yunnan province.
Te fights were between the Hui (Chinese Muslims) and the Han Chinese migrants.
They fought over mining resources.
More fighting took place with the Muslim Rebellion in Xinjiang, Shanxi and Gansu (1862-1877)
These Muslim rebels (Yunnan & Gansu) threatened the succession of these provinces from China.
This was a continuation of issues of territorial conquests of the early and mid-Qing period.
In 1853 secret society members captured Shanghai and Xiamen.
In the following year the Red Turbans nearly captured Guangzhou.

The Theories of Rebellion

In the Confucian historiography of the rise of rebellion marked a stage in the dynastic cycle.
This was when dynasties were headed by virtuous rulers who enjoyed the Mandate of Heaven.
It happened that their successors and their officials could not maintain the standards of their predecessors.
Thus the quality of government declined.
Rebellions arose which overthrew the dynasty.
The dynasty cycle began again under a new leader.
Some modern historians have adopted this concept explaining the dynasty cycle in administrative rather than in moral terms.
Dynasties were founded by active rulers supported by a modest court and an efficient bureaucracy.
They exercise effective military authority.
They also extended the frontiers of the empire.
Later in the cycle, the court became extravagant
The bureaucracy became corrupt.
The armed forces deteriorated.
They could no longer defend the over-extended frontiers.
The burden of taxes increased.
Taxation was heaped over more oppressively on those least able to pay.
This ended up provoking the rebellion which was to overthrow the dynasty.
These rebellions are commonly described as "peasant rebellions."
This implied that it arose from peasant immiseration.
Or that the leaders were peasants.as the term also acquired a political implication.
Mao Zedong described the hundreds of uprisings as "peasant revolutionary wars."
They arose because of the ruthless economic exploitation of the peasantry by the landlord class.
It was an expression of class struggle.
These wars formed the "real motive force of China's historical evolution."
The mid-19th century rebellions may be located in the downward phase of dynastic cycles.
The White Lotus Rebellions of the late 18th century became a major threat.
This was because of
a) the lack of effectiveness of the armed forces and
b) the misappropriations of funds by Heshen, the Qianlong Emperor's favourite.
This decline was not continuous.
Qianlong's successor, the Jaiquing emperor, did attack corruption and attempted to curb court extravagance.
The roots of corruption and inefficiency in state enterprise went deep.
This was demonstrated by the prolonged and unsuccessful attempt to revitalize the grain-tribute administration.
This was the agency that transported the rice collected as tax from the provinces of the Yangzi delta to Beijing.
The most important factor undermining the dynasty was a new phenomenon.
This was the unprecedented growth of the population.
In the 18th century the population of China had doubled.
It increased from about 150 million to 300 million people.
This rise hd occurred in a period of prolonged peace.
This was a time when there was no outbreak of epidemic disease.
Until the end of the 18th century population growth had been matched by increases in the food supply.
Part of the increase came from the slow diffusion of new crops - maze, sweet potato, peanuts.
They were introduced into China from America.
This was during the late Ming period.
The increase in population encouraged extensive migration.
It went away from densely populated delta regions to less exploited hilly regions.
Migration weakened administrative control.
This was because migrant communities were unstable.
Migrant population went unruly.
They could not be readily incorporated into the baojia system of collective security framework.
In some areas friction arose between the established Chinese population & recent arrivals.
In southern Guangxi, for example, the recent arrivals were often Hakka or media (guest people) Chinese who spoke in a different dialect.
The population growth led to a rise in the number of candidates in the official examination.
And this heightened the already fierce competition for bureaucratic appointments.
Administrative tasks became more complex.
Officials took on supernumerary personnel to enable them to fulfill their duties.
They were paid by increasing the unofficial levies imposed on taxpayers.
A number of connections have been identified between
The Opium Wars
Western Imperialism
The Rise of Rebellion
The opium trade and the consequent outflow of silver altered the exchange rate between copper and silver.
This increased the land tax paid by poor farmers.
It may have also exacerbated the contraction of the economy between 1825 and 1850 which led to the rise in unemployment.
The opening of Shanghai as a treaty port put out of work thousands of porters & boatmen.
They had been employed in transporting tea to Guangzhou.

One of the tasks of the British navy, after the seizure of Xiangang was to expel the pirate fleets from local waters.
Some moved up the Xi (West) River, where they joined the rebels in the early stages of the Taiping Rebellion.
In north China, rebellion was often associated with the White Lotus Sect or religion.
In the south, the more common association was with the secret societies commonly known in the West as the Triad.
These had originated on Taiwan in the 17th century.
Their political objective was the overthrow of the Qing and the restoration of the Ming.
In times of peace they provided mutual support for their members.
Their members engaged in criminal activities such as piracy, smuggling, and racketeering.
When disturbances occurred the secret societies were quick to take advantage of the situation.
In the 18th century, the societies spread across southern China.
They were gaining recruits among mobile groups.
Such groups were porters and boatmen.
Among them were bandits, smugglers, and pirates.
From about 1840 the secret societies were beginning to recruit from the settled peasantry of the Pearl River delta.
This was when fighting between lineages became quite common.

The Taiping Rebellion

An unusual rebellion was the Taiping because it was based on a a radical form of Christianity.
Hong Xiuquan (1814-64) the future leader of the Taiping was a Hakka Chinese.
He came from the district of Huaxian in Guangdong.
In 1836, when in Guangzhou for the provincial exams her was handed a collection of Christian tracts entitled Good Works to Admonish the Age.
The following year, having failed the exam, he fell ill.
He had a series of dreams in which a venerable man presented him with a sword with which to exterminate demons.
Also present was a middle-aged man, whom he called elder brother, fought at his side against devils.

In 1843 Hong failed the examination for a 4th time.
After returning home he picked up the tracts he had been given 7 years ago.
They seemed to have given the key to his dreams.
The venerable man was God the Father.
The middle-aged man was his son Jesus Christ.
Hong himself was God's Chinese son.
Hong felt he was the one who had been entrusted with the task of restoring the true faith to China.
Hong began by telling his family about the vision.
He began making his first converts.
Among them was his cousin Hong Ren'gan.
Also a fellow school teacher Feng. Yunshan.
They removed the Confucian tablets from the village school.
Hostilities from the villagers were aroused.
This might have prompted their decision to travel to Guangxi.
there they began to make converts from the Hakka living there.

The God Worshipper' Society

Feng Yunshan had been arrested.
He was arrested on charges of planning a rebellion.
Later two new leaders emerged.
a) Yang Xiuqing - a charcoal burner later known as the Eastern King.
b) Xiao Chaogui - a poor hill farmer who became the western king.
Both claimed spirit possession
Yang as the mouthpiece of God the Father
Xiao was that of Jesus Christ.

The Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace

The God Worshippers movement entered a millennial phase.
This was in the summer of 1850.
They anticipated an immanent second coming.
The adherents abandoned their houses.
They began to assemble near the villages of Jintian.
There they deposited their valuables in a sacred treasury.
They began to practice the segregation of the sexes.
In January 1851 Hong Xiuquan declared the establishment of the Taiping Tianguo, the Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace.
This was after having ben attacked by the gentry-led militia & government troops.
Hong himself assumed the title of Heavenly King.
The rebellion then went through several phases.
In September the Taiping captured a small walled city of Yongan.
Over the next few months
a) they created a military organization
b) established a collective leadership.
c) captured a printing press
d) published various. documents including a new calendar.
Yongan was besieged by government troops
In April 1852, the Taiping broke out
They began a spectacular northern advance.
They collected following estimated at over one million. people.

Power Struggle

In March 1853 they captured Nanjing.
They committed the strategic error of making the city their capital.
Later that year a northern expedition. came close to capturing Beijing.
Over the next seven years a stalemate took place.
The rebels occupied the middle Yangzi
Government troops and government-led militia were unable to dislodge them.
In 1856 a power struggle took place.
This was within the collective leadership.
It resulted in the death of the Eastern King.
Many of his followers were killed.
In 1859, Hong's cousin Hong Ren'gan rejoined the movement.
Under his leadership and that of Li Xincheng, the rebellion revived.
In 1862 the rebels nearly captured Shanghai.
But the tide turned.
The rebels were losing control of the Yangzi above Nanjing.
They were losing it to forces raised by the gentry leaders
They were also losing the Yangzi delta region to similar forces.
These forces were supported by the British.
In July 1864 Nanjing was captured again.
Hong Xiuquan then committed suicide.

Understanding the Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion had many aspects to it.
It has been interpreted by many.
It was inspired by religion.
In the early years its followers were required to refrain from
a) tobacco
b) opium
c )alcohol
d) gambling
e) engaged in sexual relations.
The Christian elements in it at first raised hope among the Protestant missionaries.
Later most Westerners found fault with it.
They regarded int as blasphemous.
They alleged that the rebel leaders were hypocrites.
They accused them of not observing the religion.
The Rebellin was seen as an expression of nationalist spirit.
It was directed at Manchu oppression.
It was committed to achieving a complete reform of China's social, economic, political and military
institutions.
This referred an ambitious program of reforms.
They were proposed by Hong Ren'gan.
But they were never implemented.
The rebellion is often described as a revolution.
This refers to the ambitious plans to remake society.
The plan was contained in a document.
It was entitled "The Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty."
It prescribed that land
a) should be classified according to its fertility.
b) then divided up among the population.
This was to be done with equal shares for men and women.
each family would be allowed to retain the amount of food that it required for its own consumption.
Te rest would be deposited in the public grainary.
The population would be divided up into groups of 25 families.
Each headed by a sergeant.
He would be responsible for the religious education of the children.
The same system was given to the military organization of the Taiping state.
It defined the arrangements for the promotion and demolition of individuals.
The land system attributed to Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, displayed revolutionary intentions.
This accorded with the interpretation of the rebellion as a class movement directed at the landlords.
There was not a great deal of evidence that it was implemented.
In some areas of Taiping control some attempt was made to introduce the 25 family system but no redistribution of land took place.

Self-Strengthening

Over a period of about 50 years China changed dramatically.
This was the arrogance of Qianlong to a series of defeats and humiliation.
This internal and external collapseXiang army that were fighting the Taiping.
When he saw the British steamboat on the Yangzi River, he was choked at the "new" -
He fainted and fell off his horse.
He recalled that China could not match the military superiority of the West.

Learning From the West

The idea was that of "yiyi zhiyi" ("use the barbarians to control the barbarians")
This was the traditional way of dealing with the barbarians.
The only difference in this was using barbarian technology to defeat them.
One would have to learn the principles of Western technology.
You also needed the language to have access to the science.
The point was to be able to make their own cannons, guns and steamboats.
The government established the Zongli Yamen.
It was similar to the Western Ministry. of Foreign Affairs.
New schools were established to learn foreign languages
The Tongwenguan was founded in Beijing in 1862.
It would evolve into Peking University.
Military industries (arsenals) were established in major cities (Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, Fuzhou).

The Treaty of Shimonoseki

From the early stages of reform, Japan had been building its navy.
In 1894 the Japanese fleet defeated Li Hongzhang's Northern Fleet.
The war concluded with the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
The terms were as follows
a) China had to recognize the independence of Korea.
b) China had to give up the Liaodong Peninsula & Taiwan to Japan.
c) China agreed to pay an indemnity of 200 million taels of silver.
d) France, Germany, and Russia demanded and got 30 million taels.

One Hundred Days Reform

The terms of the treaty were made public.
This was when thousands of provincial graduates had gathered in Beijing for an exam.
A petition was organized by Kang Youwei to be sent to the emperor.
It was signed by 1200 students from 18 provinces.
The petition called for reforms in
a0 education,
b) bureaucracy,
c0 the army
e) commerce
f) industry
g) banking & other areas.
Kang discussed this with the young emperor.
Guangxi accepted the proposals and a series of edicts announcing. the new policies.
The reforms lasted from June 11 to September 21, 1989 - 104 days.

the conservatives in government panicked and the Empress Dowager engineered a coup.
The emperor was put in jail until he died in 1908.
A day later the Empress died.
Six leading reformists were publicly executed in the main street of the capital.

Carving Up the Melon

In China, Western powers were dividing China into spheres of influence.
Certain events, such as the murder of missionaries served as a pretext for further demands.
these spheres of influence often involved holding leases.
The leases were generally for railways & commercial privileges in a specific region.
Some even claimed to own Chi ness territory.
They also made claim to open port cities.

The Boxer Rebellion

The exploitation by the West bred resentment all over China toward foreigners.
In Shangdong they had local grievances.
This was due to British control of Weihaiwei & German occupation of Qingdao.
Toward the end of the 19th century, the region suffered a devastating flood.
The result was widespread destruction of crops, which led to the starvation of many people.

Origin of the Boxers

They began as a religious sect in Shandong and nearby areas (Hunan & Hubei).
Shandong had a long history of heterodox religions & rebellions with a religious basis.
In 1898 a secret society emerged out of nowhere.
They were called the Yihequan - the "Society of Righteous & Harmonious Fists."
They attracted thousands of followers.
The society practiced various forms of martial arts & chanted magic spells.
They believed the spells and magic made them immune to the bullets & physical pain.
Westerners called this group Boxers.

The Boxer Protocol

Li Hongzhang was called to Beijing to negotiate with the Western nations for a peace treaty.
The treaty was known as the Boxer Protocol signed on Sept. 7, 1900.

Terms of the Treaty

a) China was required to pay over a period of 39 years, an indemnity of 450 taels of silver to0 the countries involved.
b) income from the Chinese customs service & the salt tax were to be the source of funds which would guarantee that the reparations were made.
c) Western powers could now station their troops in Beijing to guard the legations.
d) they were to maintain a clear corridor from the capital to the coast.
e) The Protocol suspended the examinations for five years in areas where anti-foreign atrocities were committed.
f) all arms import into China were suspended.
g) the Protocol demanded the execution of two high ranking officials who were responsible for supporting the Boxer. Uprising.

Sunday, October 3, 2021

The British Empire Arrives

In 1792 Great Britain was concerned about the security of its tea trade with China.
It was determined to expand British commercial activity throughout Asia and into the Pacific.
It decided to send an embassy to China led by Lord Macartney.
McCartney had been instructed to negotiate a treaty of commerce.
He was also able to obtain permission for Great Britain to accredit a resident minister at the Qianlong emperor's court.
He was told to request the opening of ports additional to Guangzhou.
He was also to ask to be provided by a base for British merchant which were closer to the silk and tea producing areas than was Guangzhou.
Macartney took with him as gifts samples of British manufacturing.
These included:
a) a planetarium
b) chandeliers
c) two howitzers
d) three carriages
e) items of Wedgwood pottery
He did this in the hope of securing new markets in China for British products.
Macartney was granted an audience with the emperor.
He was refused to follow the protocol governing tribute mission and performed the kowtow.
In two edicts addressed to the King of England, Qianlong rejected all of Macartney's requests.
Macartney was told by Qianlong that to allow a British national to reside in Beijing to take care of trade was "contrary to all usage of my dynasty and cannot possibly be entertained."
The existing arrangements relating to trade were confirmed.
The emperor supposed that Macartney had requested freedom to propagate Christianity - which he had not done.
Such a concession was refused.
The emperor referred to gifts which Macartney had brought.
These , he said, would be accepted out of consideration for the spirit in which they had been sent but he added.
"As yourAmbassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures."
There are reasons that have been brought forth as to why the mission returned empty-handed.
a) Macartney thought that the Chinese, having once been civilized, were now, when compared to Europeans, "a semi-barbarous people."
b) Why the Qing court held on so tenaciously to the performance of the kowtow was because it functioned to legitimize its rule.
c) The Qing court insisted on maintaining ceremonial supremacy because it could not adjust rationally to the demands of a new commercial age.
some rejected that as a Euro-centric view.
And in practice the Qing Dynasty did not insist on a fixed ritual.
Friction occurred because court officials failed to organize the ritual process properly.
Only later, was the Macartney embassy to be described as a failure.
That conclusion was used to justify Britain forcing China to accept foreign trade and foreign representation.
Some said that that the kowtow was not the issue.
The embassy was a failure because it achieved none of the principal objectives.
this is because Qianlong had refused all request relating to trade and diplomatic representation.

Trade Deficit & Consequinces

In the early 18th century British trade with China had been monopolized by the British East India Company.
It had compromised the exchange of Chinese tea for British woollen and metal goods.
In the 1760s the value of tea exports greatly exceeded that of the British imports and the balance had to be made up with silver.
In 1784 the British government passed the Commutation Act.
This cut tea duties sharply.
The demand for tea increased.
Tea duties continued to provide a large proportion of the British government revenue.
To offset the trading deficit, raw cotton was exported from India to China on board 'country ships' owned by private British merchants.
With this legal commerce there was a small but lucrative trade in opium.
The opium was grown on the Company's territory in Bengal and smuggled to China.
The Qing court had eventually allowed for the resumption of maritime trade.
It did remain suspicious of foreign interaction.
It was this reason that from 1760 foreign maritime trade was confined to Guangzhou.
Chinese participation in it was restricted to a group of merchants known to Westerners as the Cohong.
They were responsible for the debts of foreign merchants.
They protected themselves.
They did this by setting aside a share of the profits in what was then known as the Consoo fund.
Foreign traders were subject to the Eight Regulations.
They were only allowed to remain in Guangzhou for the trading period.

The Qing Begins to Decline

During the last 20 years, state affairs were coming under the control of his trusted official.
His name was Heshen.
Qianlong tolerated this official who came from a relatively undistinguished Manchu family.
Heshen was not liked in the court - he had led a corruption scheme.
The day after Qianlong died, the new emperor had Heshen
a) arrested.
b) removed all office wealth.
c) had him executed.
During the last years of Qianlong's reign there was serious social unrest.
This was in the form of the White Lotus Rebellion.
It took Qianlong's successor (Emperor Jailing) 10 years to stop the White Lotus Rebellion.

The Trade Industry

during the Ming period, luxury goods from China had been introduced to Europe.
These goods were
a) silk
b) porcelain
c) lacquerware
This in spite of the fact that trade between them had been periodically suppressed.
This was by Ming emperors who tried to impose stricter controls on trade.
These restrictions were never really effective.
For example, merchants from Fujian sailed to the high sea to trade illegally in porcelain.
It was with European merchants.
This is even though the Europeans were considered smugglers.
In 1553, the Portuguese were finally given permission to build storage sheds Macao.
In 1557, they were finally permitted to establish trade settlement there.

Chinoiserie

Demand in Europe for luxury goods stimulated the development of new Chinese designs.
This was especially in porcelain - so, chinoiserie porcelain was developed.
The most common motif in these designs would be
a) waterscapes
b) birds
c) floral designs
d) insects
e) human figures
f) architectural & geometric designs with crosshatched borders.

The Canton System

In 1684 Kangxi allowed four cities, including Canton to do business with the traders.
In 1757, he designated Canton as the only city where foreign merchants could trade.
The Canton system forbade foreigners from trading directly with their Chinese customer
The official Chinese merchant guild acted as a government agency.
It monopolized European imports.
This was like the East India Company.
They monopolized trade at the other end of the trade route.
The Canton system put a limit of only one trading period a year, during the winter.
Foreign traders were permitted to live only in quarters along the banks of the Pearl River.
This was outside Canton's city walls.
These quarters were known as the Thirteen Factories (shisanghang)
At that time the word "factory" meant a trading house.
The term Thirteen Factories came from the late Ming.
It did not represent any number of foreign companies that existed during the Ming period.
The Thirteen Factories remained the primary centre for Western trade.
This was until the Opium War in 1840.

Drinking Tea in Europe

Unlike silk and porcelain the export of tea to Europe did not exist until the 16th century.
The Portuguese was first to develop a taste for tea, followed by the Dutch and the French.
The drinking of tea among the upper class people in England came later.
This was afterKing Charles III of England married Catherine of Braganza of Portugal in 1662.
She brought her taste for tea with her and it quickly became a fashion.
It very expensive - so, it became a symbol of wealth.
After a direct route from Canton to Britain was created the price often fell,
Then it became more popular.
It eventually became cheaper than beer, replacing it as the national drink.
It soon replaced silk as China's primary export.
It had gained so much popularity among all the classes in England.
From five chests of tea in 1684, tea imports rose to 400,000 lbs by 1720.
It reached 23,000,000 lbs. in 1800.

Trade Deficits and Consequences

The East India Co. became frustrated with the trading deficit.
It re tested that King George II send a delegation China.
This was to negotiate more favourable trading conditions.
The delegation , led by Lord Mccartney, reached China by 1793.
Included were McCartney's father, his secretary and a 13 year old boy.
This boy was named Thomas Staunton.
He had been learning Chinese along the way.
The emperor was amazed, so he presented a silk purse and gave it to him.
This was the first of Staunton's encounter with China.
The Napoleonic Wars occupied Great Britain over the next few years.
In 1816, the government sent a new delegation.
It came with the same goal of negotiating better trading conditions.
This time the mission was led by Lord Amherst.
Thomas Staunton was appointed second commissioner.
This time they had to deal with Qianlong's son, Jailing.
China's image in Europe as an exotic and enlightened empire had weakened.
signs of Qing decline was evident.
The British did not want to compromise and the Chinese were even more recalcitrant.
The delegation left - they did not even get to meet with the emperor.
China monopolized the world tea market.
As late as 1871 China supplied 86% of the world's consumption
Tea was paid for in silver and Britain had incurred a massive trade deficit.
Its reserves of of silver had fallen dramatically
Britain was forced to buy silver from Europe to pay the Chinese.
There has to be a way to tip the balance of trade in their favour - the answer was opium.

The Arrival of Opium

Near the end of the 18th century the British trade deficit with China reached an alarming level.
In the 1760s Britain paid China 3 million taels of silver.
By the 1770s, this had reached 7.5 million
In 1780, it was 16 million.
The East India Co. began selling opium to China to reduce their deficit.
Opium, from the British colonies in, was the only other way of acceptable payment.
This was other than silver.
This went to the Chinese merchants.

The Sale of Opium

The Chinese government had banned opium as early as 1729.
It allowed only the importation of only 200 chests in 1828.
This was to be used as medicine.
In 1773, 1,000 chests were imported; this increased to 13,130.
By 1832, 23,570 chests were imported annually.
This could sustain the addiction of 2 million Chinese.
The sale of opium did reverse the trade deficit.
By 1820, 2 million taels of silver were flowing out of China.
By the 1830s, this had reached 9 million.

Crisis

Relations between Britain nd Chinese merchants were generally good.
In 1784, an unfortunate incident occurred which revealed quite clearly the disparities between Chinese and Western concepts of legal responsibility and of legal process.
A British merchant ship, The Lady Hughes, fired a salute.
It accidentally killed two Chinese officials.
Chinese law required that the person responsible should be surrendered to the authorities.
The unlucky gunner was handed over.
He was immediately strangled.
As time passed the confinement of trade to Guangzhou became increasingly irksome to the traders.
It was the traders who promoted the idea of sending a mission to China.
This resulted in the McCartney embassy.
Napier proceeded to Guangzhou.
He did this without waiting for permission.
Getting permission was a Chinese regulation.
So, he was refused a meeting.
He was only allowed to leave under humiliating circumstances.

William Jardine

The great defender of free trade was William Jardine.
He was the most successful trader in opium.
With the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, he believed that Chinas should be forced to open additional ports.
During this time debate was taking place.
This was between officials and degree-holders.
this was in Beijing.
The topic was on how to stop opium smuggling.
One group argued that it should be legal.
This was because the smuggling could not be stopped.
By making it legal, one could tax its importation.
This would allow the growth of opium poppy in China.
This proposal aroused the anger of a group of degree-holders.
They were known as the Spring Purification circle.
This group, formed in the 1830s was modelled on the Donglin Academy of the late Ming period.
It claimed that scholars had the right of qingyi, that is, of moral censure.
In 1836, the Spring Purification circle played a role in
a) persuading the Daoguang emperor to reject the proposal to legalize the opium trade.
b) to support a moral crusade against opium consumption.
This crusade would involve the gentry of Guangdong.
It would threaten addicts with the death penalty.
This would occur if they did not agree to give up the habit.

Stopping the Opium Trade: Lin Zexu

In Dec. 1838, Lin Zexu was appointed imperial commissioner.
He was the Governor-general of Hubei and Hunan.
He was also a supporter of the Spring Purification group.
He was instructed to go to Guangzhou
There he was to suppress the opium trade.
In Guangzhou he immediately enlisted the local gentry.
They would be used in a campaign against consumers.
They ordered the arrest of 60 notorious opium dealers.
He then turned to deal with foreign suppliers.
He wrote a letter to Queen Victoria (which was never delivered)
He pointed out that opium was prohibited in her country.
So she should use her power to prevent its production.
This would be in territories under her control.
On March 18, 1838 Lin ordered the Cohong merchants to call upon the foreign merchants to hand them over their stocks of opium.
This was to be done within three days.
They were also to require the foreigners to sign a declaration stating that they would either cease trading in opium or suffer death.
In the meantime foreign trade was suspended.
The foreign merchants were kept under house arrest in the trading area outside Guangzhou known as the Thirteen Factories.
Lin also tried to arrest Lancelot Dent.
His company was heavily involved in opium smuggling.

Charles Elliot

Charles Elliot was the new superintendent of British trade with China.
He advised the British merchants to
a) surrender their opium
b) sign the declaration.
Elliot also sent an urgent message to Lord Palmerston.
This was to inform him
a) that the foreign community was being kept under duress
b) that he had guaranteed that the merchants would be compensated for the loss of their opium stocks.
After having been in detention for 7 weeks the foreign community was allowed to go to Aomen.
In July some drunken British soldiers killed a Chinese farmer.
Elliot, recalling the Lady Hughes case, refused to hand over the culprits.
Lin Zexu responded by forcing the Portuguese authorities in Aomen to request that the British depart.
But they moved across the Pearl River estuary to Xianggang.
Palmerston learned of the detention of the British subjects.
He also learned of Elliot's guarantee on September 21, 1839.
This prompted by William Jardine to get permission to send an expeditionary force to China.
They were instructed to compel the Chinese to
a) give up the Cohong
b) cede an island base.
c) compensate British traders for the loss of opium.
He did this for the British merchants keen to sell textiles to China.
The war which ensued fell into two phases.

The Opium War

In the first phase the force was led by Charles Elliot.
His cousin Admiral George Elliot, blockaded Guagzhou.
It then moved north, seizing the island of Zhoushan and threatening Tianjin and Beijing.
At this point the emperor dismissed Lin Zexu.
He authorized Qishan, the Manchu governor-general of Zhili to negotiate with Elliot.

The Convention of Chuanbi

This accepted British demand.
This now included the cessation of the island of Xianggang.
This agreement was rejected by both sides because it conceded too little or too much.
Qishan was disgraced and Elliot was replaced by Sir Henry Pottinger.
A larger British. expeditionary force was being assembled.
At the same time a significant episode occurred near Guangzhou.
After the agreement collapsed, Elliot landed troops north of Guangzhou.
He knew he had not got enough men to occupy a city of half a million people.
So, he coerced the city authorities into promising the British a ransom of 6 million dollars for refraining from attack.
In the meantime local gentry leaders had raised a militia and were attacking the British troops.
On May 29, 1841 near the village of Sanyuanli, they ambushed a British patrol.
They killed one man and injured several others.
This came to represent the beginning of Chinese popular resistance to foreign invasion.
It was later to be contrasted with the Manchu court's self-interested willingness to compromise with the imperial power.

British Victory

In the second phase of the war Pottinger. moved up the coast.
He was able to capture Xiamen, Zhoushuan and Ningbo.
In May 1842, he captured Zhapu.
Next year, the British defeated the Chinese forces at Xiamen, Zhoushuan, and Nigbo.
The British also took over Zhenjiang on the Yangzi in July 21, 1842.
As the British entered the city they found the streets deserted & houses filled with corpses.
The 1,600 Manchu banner men, badly equipped. defended the city.
But seeing that they would de defeated, they proceeded to kill their families (women & children)
Then they hanged themselves rather than surrender to the British.
After the defeat the Chinese government decided to agree with the Treaty of Nanking.
Lin was accused by the emperor of being incompetent; he was sent to exile.

The Treaty of Nanking

On August 29, 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was signed aboard a British warship.
It was ratified a few months later by the Daoguang Emperor & Queen Victoria.

Terms of the Treaty

The treaty had several provisions.
a) the opening up of five ports, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai to British trade and residence (consulates)
b) the abolition of the Cohong.
c) equally in office correspondence and agreement on a fixed tariff.
d) China had to pay Britain 21 million dollars to cover the costs of war and the value of the opium that had been confiscated.
The 21 million can be divided this way:
1) 6 million for opium confiscated by Lin Zexu
2) 3 million for there debt owed by Chinese merchants
3) 12 million for the cost of the war.
The treaty made no reference to the opium trade.

The British agreed to withdraw troops from Nanjing.
They could withdraw from other places after they received. the payments in full.
The Treaty of Nanjing was the first of the treaties between China and the West which have been called "unequal treaties."
This was because they conferred benefits on the Western powers without offering advantages to China in return.
These treaties had four characteristic features:
a) the opening of treaty ports.
b ) Extra-territorality, that is, the removal of foreigners from the jurisdiction of Chinese courts.
c) External tariffs fixed by treaty
d) The most favoured nation clause
The last term guaranteed that signatories of unequal treaties would share all benefits given to other powers.
The Treaty of Nanjing was supplemented by the Treaty of the Bogue, which provided for extra-territoriality
It contained a most a most-favoured clause.
In this treaty, import tariffs were fixed at an average rate of 5% of the value of the goods.

Other Treaty Conditions

Similar treaties were negotiated by the United States and France.
The Qing would hand over Hong Kong to the British.
The treaty also agreed to fix tariffs in British goods.
This would provide Great Britain with a harbour for unloading goods.
France also obtained an imperial edict which granted toleration to Roman Catholicism.
This was a concession that was extended shortly afterwards to other Christian sects,

The Rise of Tension

Both sides soon expressed their dissatisfaction with the Nanjing settlement.
On the British there was high hopes that the opening of additional ports would lead to a large increase in trade.
After a short improvement the anticipated bonanza did not occur.
A report made to the House of Commons in 1847 suggested that this war was because of the lack of demand in the Chinese market.
But the suspicion remained that the real reasons were the obstructiveness of the Chinese officials and the imposition of internal transit duties.
Soon after the conclusion of the Nanjing Treaty Pottinger and Qiying enjoyed a diplomatic honeymoon.
After 1844 when Pottinger wa replaced by J.F. Davis, relations between China and Britain began to deteriorate.
A particular contentious issue was the "Guangzhou city question."
This was a dispute over whether the Treaty of Nanjing had given British subjects the right of trade and residence within the walls of Guangzhou.
If it had, then that should be allowed to exercise that right.
In 1848, the emperor dismissed
The emperor appointed Xu Guangjin as governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi.
Xu was also appointed commissioner for foreign affairs.
Xu, a Chinese, was responsive to local opinion.
Ye Mingchen, who took over as governor of Guangdong, was also known for his xenophobia.
April 1849 was the date they had agreed upon as the date for the British entry into the city of Guangzhou.
As that date approach Xu Guangjin abandoned the conciliatory policy.
He then allowed the local gentry to raise militia to oppose the entry.
He took the gamble of forging an imperial edict ordering him to respect the will of the people.
Sir George Bonham, was the new governor of Xianggang.
He accepted a further postponement.
This was a concession greeted by the Chinese as a victory.
It was commemorated by the granting of imperial honours to Xu Guangjin & Ye Mingchen.
This was deeply resented by the local British community.
The anti-foreign direction of Chinese policy became even more marked after the Daoguang emperor's death in 1850.
This is because his successor the Xianfeng emperor dismissed Muchanga.
In 1852 he promoted Ye Mingchen to the position held by Xu Guangjin.
These incidences and hardening of attitude may had led to a war in the early 1850s.
But other considerations prevailed.
The rise of rebellion forced the Chinese authorities to act carefully.
The Taiping rebels capture Nanjing in 1853
The Red Turbans rebels overran Guangdong in 1854.
British diplomats had assumed that the Treaty of Nanjing would be subject to revision after 12 years, in 1854.
But it was only then that they realized that the Chinese had no intention of reopening questions which they regarded as settled.
The outbreak of the Crimean War in March 1854 provided another reason for delaying an overdue of settlements with China.

The Arrow War

Sometimes the Arrow War was called the Second Opium War.
The Arrow War was waged by Britain and France against China from 1856-60.
On October 8, 1856 Qing officials boarded the Arrow.
This was a Chinese owned ship that had recently been registered in Hong Kong.
The ship's crew of 12 was suspected of privacy and smuggling.
The Chinese officials arrested 12 Chinese crew members.
The British representative in Canton demanded that the sailors be released.
This would be on the grounds that the ship was British registered.
Therefore it was protected by the Treaty of Nanjing.
The Chinese officials insisted that the men they arrested were pirates.
So they refused to release them.
This incidence was treated by Sir John Bowring, the governor of Xianggang as an insult to the British flag.
So he sanctioned a naval attack on Guangzhou.
The British then launched an attack on Canton (Guangzhou).
In response, Ye Mingchen
a) suspended foreign trade.
b) the trade factories were burned down.
c) rewards were offered for the killing or the capture of an Englishman.
News of these events reached London.
Lord Palmerston was now the Prime Minister.
He was criticized for his handling of the affairs in China.
His government was defeated in a vote of confidence.
Palmerston won the next election.
He got a mandate to send an expeditionary force to China.
This force, was headed by Lord of Elgin.
The force was made up of the military from a number of countries.
France, the United States, & Russia all received requests from Britain to
form an alliance.
The United States and Russia supported the British.
But they did not send military aid.
But France did send military aid.
The reason was because the local authorities had executed an French missionary in Guangxi.
British and French forced went on to capture Canton in late 1857.
They were able to maintain control of the city for almost 4 years.
They placed the city under an allied government headed by the British consul Harry Parkes.
The governor of Guangdong & Guanxi, - jYe Mingchen was later captured.
He was sent to Calcutta as a prisoner - he later starved himself to death.
The allied forces then moved north
They seized the Dagu forts and reached Tianjin.
At that point, the emperor decided to negotiate.
The war was settled in 1858 by the Treaty of Tianjin.

The Treaty of Tianjin

The treaty was signed in June 1858.
China agreed to
a) open 10 more treaty ports.
b) allow foreigners, including missionaries to travel to the interior.
c) accept changes related to external tariffs.
d) accept new arrangements governing transit duties.
e) legalize the opium trade.
f) accept a resident British minister in Beijing.

The opening of the treaty ports on the Yang was to be deferred until the Taiping rebellion had been defeated.
Treaties containing similar terms were signed between France and China., the United States and Russia.
The four countries. were allowed to establish diplomatic legations.
This was to be set up in Beijing.
In 1849 N.N. Muraviev, the Governor General of eastern Siberia dispatched an expedition to explore the Amur River valley.
Finding it devoid of Chinese garrisons he established a trading post which he named Nikolaevsk after the czar.
During the Tianjin negotiations the Russian diplomat Count Putiatin pretended to act as a mediator between China and the Western powers.
In the meantime Muraviev took advantage of China's weakness.
This was to obtain the Treaty of Aigun.

The Treaty of Aigun

This was to revise the border determined by the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689.
The treaty to Russia all land north of the Amur River
It also provided for Sino-Russian administration of the territory between the Wusuli River and the sea.
The treaty gave Russia control over a port on the Pacific coast.
This where
Russia founded the city of Vladivostok in 1860.

The Looting of the Summer Palace

Qing officials in the court convinced Xianfeng to resist the demands of the Western powers.
This was before the treaty got ratified.
Xianfeng was the new emperor who succeeded Daoguang.
In June 1858 Xianfeng ordered the Mongol general Senggelinqin to defend the Dagu forts..
Senggelinqin. brought from Inner Mongolia about 4,000 Mongolian cavalry.
Lord Elgin was the newly appointed envoy.
He sailed north with a British naval force of 21 ships and 2,200 troops.
He did this to ratify the Treaty of Tianjin in Beijing.
Senggelinqin allowed envoys to continue the journey to Beijing from Tianjin
He refused to allow any of the armed troops into the Chinese capital.

Then 6,700 French and 11,000 British troops with 170 ships were dispatched from Hong Kong.
This was the summer of 1860.
They headed to Tianjin.
They took Tianjin on August 3rd, 1860.
The Chinese arrested and imprisoned the British diplomatic envoys and the entourage.
Some were tortured, some were murdered.
The Anglo-French forces crushed Seggelinqin’s elite Mongolian troops and marched into Beijing.
On September 21, 1860 Xianfen and his entourage fled from Beijing.
They headed to the Jehol summer retreat about 125 miles northeast of Beijing.

Yuanmingyuan

On October 6, 1860 the British and French forces entered Yuanmingyuan.
This was the summer palace and they began looting it.
It had stored all kinds of exquisite treasures of the emperors that had used it as a retreat.
This was the collection of buildings designed by the Jesuits in the 18th century.
In October Lord Elgin ordered that the summer palace be destroyed.
This would be a punishment to Xianfeng.
Some 1300 British troops took part in the pillage and it burned for three days.

Emperor Xianfeng

The emperor's brother Prince Gong stayed in Beijing to deal with the devastation.
Xianfeng stayed in Jehol for more than a year.
He no intention of returning to Beijing.
Xianfeng called for more than 200 players of the palace theatrical and drake group.
This was so they could entertain him.
This is how he spent his days while his country was on the verge of collapse.
Xianfeng refused to return to return to the capital.
He stayed in Jehol until his death.

Prince Gong

Elgin entered Beijing and signed an additional convention.
The Treaty of Tianjin was ratified by Prince Gong (Oct. 18, 1860)
The treaty was called the Convention of Peking.

The Convention of Peking

a) China hads to open Tianjin as a treaty port.
b) China had to allow religious establishments in China to be established.
c) China hd to allow more that more land in Kowloon be ceded to the British.
d) China had to pay an increase of 8 million taels of silver to Britain and France.
e) the Opium trade was formally legalized
The Russians forced the Qing to sign the "Supplementary Convention of Peking"
In this way Russia gained a further 300,000-400,000 square miles of land from China.
This was east of the Wusili River.
This allowed Russia to establish a naval base at Vladivostok.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

On October 10th 1911, a mutiny headed by the New Army officers broke out at Wuchang. They seized the city and obtained the support of the Hebei provincial assembly. The provincial assembly declared the province independent from the empire. By December all the provinces of central and southern China had followed suit. A republic was declared. Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen) was invited to become provincial president. The Qing court appealed to Yuan Shikai to come to its support. Instead he decided to support the republicans to force the emperor to abdicate. Between 1912 and 1916, Yuan Shikai ruled, first as president and then as emperor. His death in 1916 left a political vacuum. Until 1928, the government in Beijing exercised only symbolic authority over the country. real power rested in the hands of the warlords. During these years several important events took place - a) The May Fourth Movement - the political and cultural movement which climaxed in 1919. b) The founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921. c) The reorganization of the Guomindang or Nationalist Party. d) The Northern Expedition of 1926-8, which led to the nominal reunification of the country. Between 1928 and 1937, the Guomindang attempted to transform China into a modern state. At the same time it battled the CCP with which it had split in 1927. In 1931 Japan seized Manchuria. Jian Jieshi (Chiang Kaishek, now leading the Guomindang, refused to respond. He preferred to pursue the Communists who set out on the Long March in 1934. By 1936, Japanese forced Chiang Kaishek to agree to a united front with the Communists The Japanese were already in north China. In the following year, the Sino-Japanese War broke out. After the initial period of heroic resistance, the Guomindang retreated to Chogqing. The Communists, on the other hand, fought on from their base at Yan'an. After the defeat of Japan, the Guomindang and the CCP fought a civil war. It resulted in the Communist victory of 1949.

The Social Background to the Revolution

By the beginning of the 20th century, major changes were taking place in Chinese society. This was particularly true in the treaty ports where western influence was most apparent. The traditional elite, the gentry no longer relied on the exam system to justify its position. Wealthy gentry families moved into the cities. They employed members of the lower gentry to manage their rural estates. Although the gentry despised commerce, many engaged in commercial activities. On occasion, they joined with merchants, forming the "merchat-gentry alliance." Thw emergence of the new merchant class was due to two factors. a) the opening of China to world trade b) the emigration of many thousands of Chinese to the Americas and South East Asia. The class included compradores. They were agents of Western firms who handled the Chinese side of business. Later the term applied to those who engaged in foreign trade. Or, it applied to tose who utilized their familiarity with Western business methods. It also included wealthy Overseas Chinese who invested part of their forunes in China.. The great majority of the new merchant class were owners of small enterprises. The enterprises were affected by the changing economic environment. To protecttheir interests they formed chambers of commerce. In 1904 the chambers of commerce were given official recognition. The late Qing educational and military reforms had also contributed to social change. The number of modern schools rose from 35,787 withan enrolment of 1,006, 743 pupils. This was in 1907. It reached 82,272 schools with an enrolment of 2,933,287 in 1912. These schools were ill-prepared. Teachers taught a syllabus which was divorced from Chinese reality. They did more to encourage protest and demand tan to consolidate the imperial monarchy. A small but influential group of students went overseas. Many of them went to Japan where they studied a variety of subjects. The main lesson they learned was the importance of nationalism. They received constant reminders of the strength of Japan. They were also reminded of the weakness of their own country.

New Army Units

China had formed regional armies. The status of the military, which by tradition was very low, had begun to rise. China abolished the traditional military exams and they created the new armies. After that, a new class of professional soldiers began to appear. Young men were from good families and were sent abroad to study, usually to Japan. They encountered the idea that the army might lead in defending and regenerating the nation. When they returned to China, they became officers in the New Army units. The most prominent were a) the Beiyang Army formed by Yuan Shikai in the north b) the Self-Strengthening Army raised by Zhang Zhidong at Nanjing. Before the 1911 revolution, other groups in Chinese society began to play small political roles The Treaty of Shimonoseki had permitted foreign-owned industries to exist in treaty ports. In Shanghai and a few other cities, an industrial proletariat had begun to form. These numbered about 661,000 by 1912. Workers, many of whom were women, were often recruited as contract labour. This left them entirely dependent on the contractor to negotiate their conditions of work. The conditions were very poor. Under these circumstances the first industrial strikes took place. A labour movement began to form. The cities also became the forum for mass political protest. In 1905, a boycott was organized in Shanghai and several other cities. This was to protest against the restriction of Chinese immigration into the United States. The Chinese government had been forced to apologize over the incident of a Japanese ship. This was the Tatsu Maru. In 1908, street demonstrations took place in Guangzhou and Japanese goods were burned. Among the demonstrators were many women. They urged their supporters to wear rings engraved withthe words "National Humiliation." These signs of change were referred to as "Young China." Young China was, of course, an urban phenomena Rural China remained, at most, only remotely affected.

The Revolutionary Movement

In the Guomindang version they played a key role in the overthrow of the Manchus. Modern historians have been less convinced of the centrality of the revolutionaries. This is in the events that led to a) the fall of the Qing Dynasty b) the collapse of the imperial system at most, the revolutionary movement created a revolutionary tradition. In 1911, it was too frail an instrument to be able to bring about a revolution on its own. Yet the reecord of the early revolutionaries and their organizations is of interest.

SUN YATSEN

Sun Zhongshan (1866-1925) was the founder of the first revolutionary group. He was born near Guangzhou and studied in Xianggang (Hong Kong) where he was baptized. He lived for a time with his brother in Hawaii before returning to Xianggang to study medicine. He then became interested in politics. In 1894 he offered his services to Li Hongzhang. His offer was ignored. Then, he abandoned thought of reform and turned to revolution. He formed a revolutionary organization in Honolulu. In the following year he was involved in an abortive attempt to capture Guangzhou. In 1896 he was kidnapped by the Chinese authorities on the streets of London. He would have been smuggled back to China for trial and execution. But he contacted friends, who publicized his situation in the media; they secured his release. Sun came into contact with Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. They were the leading Chinese nationalists in exile in Japan. He did not accvept their plans for a constitutional monarchy. He did not accept their ties with the gentry reform movement. He preferred to seek funds from Overseas Chinese. He also preferred attempts at uprisings with the help of the secret society members. Nationalists have emphasized the contributions of Sun Yatsen. This is at the expense of other revolutionary figures.

Student Revolutionaries

Zou Rong (1885-1905), like other Chinese students living in Japan, became a revolutionary This was when Russia failed to withdraw troops from Manchuria after the Boxer Uprising. His manifesto, "The Revolutionary Army" was published. It was done in the comparative safety of the International settlement of Shanghai. The manifesto contained a violent attack on the Manchus. He was imprisoned for issuing inflammatory writings and died in jail at the age of 19. Qiu Jin (1875-1907) was also a student in Japan. She took up the cause of women's liberation. This, she believed, would only be achieved in conjunction with China's political liberation. On her return to China She joined the Zhejiang Restoration Society. She became involved in an attempted revolutionary coup and was executed. Huang Xing (1874-1916), a more conventional revolutionary, came from Hunan. After studying in Japan, he returned to his home province. There her established the Society for China's Revival. A feature of this society was its recognition of the importance of infiltrating the armed forces. In 1905, Sun Yatsen, supported by Husng Xing, formed the Tongmenghui. It was the Revolutionary Alliance in Tokyo. The Alliance brought together a number of revolutionary organizations. They asdopted a manifesto written by Sun Yatsen that contained a four-point programme. a) drive out the Manchus b) restore China c) establish a republic d) equalize land-ownership The first revolutionary stage would be a military dictatorship. Thisd would be followed by a period of a one-party government - a political tutelage This would eventually be followed by the introduction of democracy. Over the next few years several abortive revolutionary incidents occurred. In 1906, at Pingliuli (Hunan) the Elder Brother Society attempted an uprising This was in conjunction with dissident miners and soldiers Some students fro mthe Revolutionary Alliance took part. The rebels called for the establishment of a republic or, they wanted the restoration of a Chinese Empire. However, the rebels were no match for well-armed government soldiers in 1910, Huang Xing and other revolutionaries organized a mutiny This was in the ranks of the Guangzhou New Army. But the mutiny broke out prematurely and was easily suppressed. Nine months later the Alliance was involved in the Guangzhou revolt. This turned into a devastating defeat for the Guangzhou revolutionaries.