Imperialism+in+China


 * Imperialism in China**

The first Opium War took place roughly around 1839-1842. It was fought mainly between the Qing Dynasty of China and Great Britain. At the time, the British were an incredibly strong naval power and China did not want to be involve in the free trade between Europe and China. Since the British were so powerful, their stratagem was to initiate what they wanted through force. The war is referred to as the Opium War because the purpose of wanting to trade was particularly focused on Opium trading more than other goods. Opium had been becoming popular originally for medical reasons, but later popular because people started using it to get high because it got rid of emotional and physical pain. China ended up getting easily and quickly defeated and this became the first of two Opium Wars (the second started in 1856). Due to the defeat, China was forced to expand trading to Europeans. These actions were documented and enforced through the signing of the Treaty of Nanking on August 28, 1842. From the creation of this treaty, China forced to open five trading ports, and also allow territorial concession of Hong Kong. This forced China to become less isolated and achieve a greater global impact even though it was viewed negatively at the time.
 * Opium Wars**

- Treaty of Nanking in 1842 The agreement that ended the 1st opium war. This treaty was the first of the "unequal treaties" that gave benefits on the Western powers with no advantages for China. The treaty opened five ports for Britain, Xianggang (Hong Kong) went under control of the British, Cohong was abolished (Chinese Merchant Monopoly), and consent fixed to a trading tariff. The Chinese had to pay the British an indemnity, the Chinese gave up Hong Kong, and the Chinese agreed to establish a candid and acceptable tariff.
 * Unequal Treaties**


 * Read the actual text of the treaty: Treaty of Nanking

- Treaty of Bogue in 1843 This was the treaty made after the Treaty of Nanking which resolved everything between the British and the Chinese. It gained extraterritoriality and Britain received most favored nation status. It laid down regulations for the trade of the British and specified that Britain was allowed in new ports: Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, and Fuzhou. Britain was granted extraterritoriality privileges and most favored nation status made it so that Britain could enjoy any privilege given to another Western power.

- Treaty of Wanghia in 1843 The treaty was created after the Treaty of Nanking and it contained rules which were more detailed. It was the American treaty after the Treaties of Nanjing and Bogue. One rule stated that US citizens could only be tried by US officers (extraterritoriality). A right allowed foreigners to learn Chinese. The US gained rights for trade from the Chinese and the US gained legal rights against the Chinese.

Generally, the term extra territoriality means to allow visiting citizens of one country to follow the laws of their own country, not the one they are visiting, this is only upon agreement between to two nations. This idea was applied to China through the signing of the Treaty of Nanking. Britain was looking for ways to open up China to trade. After the Opium wars and the defeat of China by Britain, Britain stated in the treaty that British citizens visiting or trading in China would only adhere to the laws of Britain instead of China. This allowed British merchants to enter China very easily and control trade between the two nations. This relates to Imperialism because it represents how countries would impose their laws and rules on countries that were being controlled. The British Merchants in China followed the laws of England, therefore representing foreign control and strength over the nation.
 * Extraterritoriality**

The Taiping Rebellion was an extremely influential uprising in China during the Imperial stage. Its leader was a man who went by the name of Hong Xiuquan. Hong was raised in the Hakka minority group of China, wherein property was shared equally and there was little to no gender discrimination. As he aged, he carried these traditions with him. Hong Xiuquan was a Christian, influenced by Christian missionaries looking to spread their beliefs. At one point, Hong became very ill, suffering delirium which he would come to call "visions". In these visions, he saw himself as the next son of God, Jesus' younger kin. Hong's Christian beliefs and concepts, combined with his Hakka fundamentals produced the founding ideals in which the Taiping rebellion was based upon. Hong Xiuquan preached to his followers that all land should be owned collectively by the people, and that societal status should be pertinent to the merit of a man, not which class or family he was born into. He also preached that women should have rights equal to men, which they were deprived of in China's Confucianist society. Therefore, monogamy was required in relationships, prostitution and selling of females and anything of this nature was banned as well. Low class Chinese or peasants who felt indignant toward the Chinese government tended to follow the Taiping rebellion. They saw it as a society in which they could be equal and treated in a much fairer manner. The supporters of Taiping formed an army, conquering piece by piece, large portions of China. Their strength frightened Chinese officials and those that wanted to maintain traditional being in China. Although strong, the Taiping movement inevitably crumbled and dissipated. Hong's dementia and anger clashed with the other leaders of Taiping. He refused to change or become flexible in his policies. Soon enough, there was so much inner conflict that the Taiping rebellion collapsed upon itself.
 * Taiping Rebellion**

The Opium War ended with the notion that it was necessary to improve trade between China and the rest of the world. This was commonly discussed throughout European governments, but the United States eventually became the country to initiate the movement. To implement this idea, former United States Secretary of State, John Hay wrote a letter on September 6, 1899 to the United States ambassadors of many foreign countries such as Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia. In this letter, he communicated what is now known as the Open Door Policy. The Open Door Policy is a policy regarding foreign affairs specifically with China. The purpose of this policy was to enforce protection of equal opportunities for countries wanting to trade with China. The United States as well as other supporting countries became involved in Chinese politics, and felt that it need be stated that all European nations and the United States could trade with China. Without the Open Door Policy, China would not be nearly as internationally involved and powerful as it is today.
 * Open Door Policy**

"Spirit Boxers" first appeared in Shandong in 1896. They were called "harmonious fists." The Spirit Boxers blamed all of the problems on the Chinese on the missionaries and Chinese Christians. This sect uprose from the peasant class. They were enraged about the foreign influence of China, they practiced a form of ritual boxing, which would protect them from the Christians. By 1899, clashes between Christians and Boxers became a lot more common and by May 1900, many boxers arrived in Beijing. Many young Chinese boys wanted to join the sect. Many Boxers killed foreign Christians and converts. In June, the Empress dowager threw in the lot and blamed Chinese problems on foreign aggression. Foreign missions of Beijing were besieged for 55 days, until multinational relief forces arrived. The Boxer Protocol signing in September 1901 marked the end of the uprising, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Chinese Christians and more than 200 foreigners.
 * Boxer Uprising**

Sun Yixian (or Sun Yat-Sen, another English translation), was what some would call the most important Chinese revolutionist during the major culture- altering fall of the Qing dynasty. During a time in which turmoil within China was pushing people to fight against the ruling class, Sun Yixian was a leader. With a strong sense of nationalism, yet open- mindedness to many western ideals, Yixian was said to pave the way for modern Chinese life. Yixian was Born into a lower- class family near China's Guandong Providence. As a child/ teen, Yixian received traditional Confucian- Chinese education, but then traveled westward towards America and the UK, where he received higher education. While in the US, Yixian absorbed many western influences, including Christianity, which would come to be a religion which heavily influenced himself and his later ideals. In 1883, Sun returned to China, wherein he pursued his career as a doctor and married a wife chosen for him by his parents. After his experiences outside of China's rigid cultural barrier, Sun Yixian began to criticize China's obsoleteness that was seemingly opening doors for other countries to dominate. At the same time, however, he also criticized other nations for supposed demoralization of China. Yixian begged for leaders to listen. When they did not, Sun threw out his medical career and dedicated himself fully to radical revolutionary action. Sun returned to Hawaii to form the Revive China Society, a confidential revolutionary organization. Through this organization, he planned many uprisings. The Chinese government eventually uncovered information about the organization while they were making plans for an uprising in Canton and executed many members. After a few years wait, Sun gained his power back. He returned to China just after the influential Double- Tenth uprising. Using the turmoil as fuel to gain followers, Sun created the Republic of China, which he claimed as a new nation. Yixian struggled for power thereafter. Soon after events of World War I, Sun was forced to flee to Japan for the second time. In the following months, a series of political and personal mistakes drove many of Sun Yixian's followers in different directions, therefore dissipating his power. However, during the "warlord period" in China, Sun was safe to return, and continued his efforts in radical revolutionary. Although many of his own plans failed, he backed a strong and successful student uprising. Sun gained frustration in his own revolutionary attempts. He came to support Russian Communists and their ideals. Sun formed alliance with a Russian Communist leader, Adolf Joffe, to spread the beliefs into China. In 1924, Sun traveled to Beijing to negotiate with a Beijing warlord. When Sun Yixian was still in Beijing, cancer entered his body and shortly thereafter, he passed away. Sun Yixian will always be seen as an influence on modern- day China and its governmental foundation.
 * Sun Yixian**


 * Balance of Trade**

The Chinese surplus occurred just before the opium wars. It was started by the British who wanted more trade with China. At the time the Treaty of Nanking had not been signed so England was looking for new ways to promote this trade. China was not very interested in the more common exports of England such as tea, but they were very interested in opium. To promote more trade, England grew an enormous amount of opium and exported it to China creating this //trade surplus//. Soon the English merchants were able to monopolize the opium industry promoting the well being of England. Almost every Chinese government has been against this trade.
 * Surplus**

China is an extremely homogenous society. Out of 56 different ethnicities in China, 92% of the population is one ethnicity, Han (Forbes). This helped provide China with a sort f natural barrier to imperialism. Because of the similar backgrounds, China is much more unified. When imperialist nations such as Britain tried to control China, there was a lot of barriers to break through, the first of which is probably the language barrier. The British were a completely different people than the Chinese. This means that communication, relations and problem solving are affected. Different languages means messages do not get across and different customs greatly affect the trust each nation and its people have with each other making it very difficult for foreigners to get the population to trust them. All in all, a homogenous society makes it harder for nations to impose foreign rule over that country.
 * Homogeneous Society**

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2 Pictures in time line:
** China Worksheet ** Name 1. Who won the Opium War? 2. What did China lose during the Treaty of Nanking? 3. What rights did the United States gain from the Treaty of Wanghia? 4. What was extraterritoriality? 5. Who led the Taiping Rebellion? Why did the Taiping Rebellion happen? 6. What is Open Door Policy? 7. Who were the “Spirit Boxers” fighting during the Boxer Rebellion? Why? 8. Who was Sun Yixian? 9. What was a surplus in China? 10. What was the Homogeneous Society?
 * Sun Yixian: http://taipingrebellion.com/declare.htm
 * Tai Ping: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Sun_Yat-sen
 * History Worksheet**

ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: 11 May 2010. . Abbey, Phillip R.. "Treaty Ports and Extraterritorality in China - 1921-22." //China the Beautiful// 5 May 2010. . "Ancient China History Chinese China Culture China Ancient History China Civilization." //China Resources China Business Service China Travel Information Global Economy Forum//. 9 May 2010. . Bailey, Alison, Ronald Knapp, Neville-Hadley, Peter, J.A.G. Roberts, and Steinhardt, Nancy. __China.__ DK:2007 Book Rags. "Nanjing, Treaty Of Summary." //BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides//. 2009. Web. 10 May 2010. . Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. __China,__ Cambridge University Press: 1996 Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. __Chinese Civilization and Society__. The Free Press: 1981 "First Opium War." Mahalo.com: Human-Powered Search. Mahalo.com Incorporated, 2010. Web. 9 May 2010. . History Central. "Treaty of Wanghia." //American History and World History at Historycentral.com the Largest and Most Complete History Site on the Web//. 2010. Web. 06 May 2010. . Hsu, Immanuel C. Y., The Rise of Modern China, 1995; Lin, Robert H. T., The Taiping Revolution: A Failure of Two Missions, 1979; Shih, Vincent Y. C., The Taiping Ideology: Its Sources, Interpretations, and Influences, 1967; Yu-wen, Jen, The Taiping Revolutionary Movement, 1973. http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=23&entryid=311911&searchtext=taiping&type=simple&option=all "John Hay: Open Door note (1899)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 11 May 2010. . Malone, Robert. "A Logistical Look At China - Forbes.com." //Forbes.com - Business News, Financial News, Stock Market Analysis, Technology & Global Headline News//. N.p., 2 Oct. 2006. 10 May 2010. . "Open Door Policy." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. . "Opium War." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 11 May 2010. .
 * Bibliography**

"Sun Yi Xian Definition of Sun Yi Xian in the Free Online ." Encyclopedia. Web. 11 May 2010. . "Taiping Rebellion." Encyclopedia of Asian History. 4 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. [ http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/History/hits?docNum=BT2358201787&tab=1&locID=sain62671&origSearch=true&hdb=ALL&t=RK&s=1&r=d&items=0&secondary=true&o=&sortOrder=&n=10&l=dR&sgPhrase=false&c=1&tabMap=99&bucket=gal&SU=taiping+/servlet/History?locID=sain62671 ]http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/History/