Qing dynasty (1636–1912)

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(Redirected from Qing Empire)
Not to be confused with Qin dynasty
Great Qing
清 (qīng)
ᡩᠠᡳ᠌ᠴᡳᠩ ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ
གྲེཨཏ་ཆིང
1636–1912
Flag of Great Qing
Flag (1889–1912)
Coat of arms of Great Qing
Coat of arms
The Qing Dynasty in 1820 C.E.
The Qing Dynasty in 1820 C.E.
Capital
and largest city
Beijing
Common languagesMandarin, Mongolian, Manchu, Tibetan
Dominant mode of productionFeudalism
GovernmentAbsolute monarchy (1636–1911)
Constitutional monarchy (1911–1912)
History
• Established
1636
• Dissolution
1912
Area
• Total
14,700,000 km²
Population
• 1912 estimate
432,000,000


The Qing dynasty was the last dynasty to control China. It was established in 1636 by Hong Taiji, an ethnic Manchu,[1] as a successor to the Later Jin dynasty. While initially isolated to Manchuria (Northeastern China), the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 allowed the Qing to spread all throughout China and beyond. It stayed in power until the Xinhai Revolution of 1912, a bourgeois revolution which would lead to the creation of the Republic of China.

The dynasty suffered from the imperialism of Japan and Europe and lost Hong Kong to Britain after the First Opium War in 1839.[2] In 1895, the Qing dynasty lost control over Taiwan and Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War when they were taken over by Japan.[3] The Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the century attempted to reestablish China's sovereignty but was crushed by a Western military alliance which included the United States, Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, and others.[4]

History

In 1801, U.S. capitalists created a factory in Guangzhou.[5]

Opium Wars

The British East India Company began selling opium to China to make it China dependent on the West and was selling 350 tons of opium a year by 1810. The British Empire attacked China in 1839 to open it to British drug traffickers, beginning the First Opium War. The British Empire sold opium to China throughout the 19th century even thought it was banned in Britain. The UK, France, Russia, and the United States and the Second Opium War against China from 1856 to 1860.[6] By 1890, 10% of the Chinese population was addicted to opium,[7] including 25% of adult males.[6]The technologically backward Qing army was no match for the British, the Qing Dynasty was defeated in both wars and forced to sign unequal treaties, including the cession of Hong Kong to Britain.

Taiping Rebellion

The Christian mystic Hong Xiuchuan started the Taiping Rebellion in 1850 in an attempt to create a Heavenly Kingdom which would resemble utopian socialism. The rebellion had large popular support despite its corrupt leadership, and it took an intervention of foreign imperialists to put it down. 20 to 30 million people died in the rebellion, making it the bloodiest conflict in world history before World War II.[6]

Boxer Rebellion

In 1899, the Society of the Righteous Harmonious Fists began a rebellion against foreign imperialism with the support of the Qing government and Empress Dowager Cixi. 19,000 imperialists from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, and Japan invaded China in August 1900 to put down the rebellion.[6] The USA proposed the Open Door Policy to make the imperialist powers collaborate instead of dividing China into separate colonial territories.

After the defeat of the rebellion in rebellion, the U.S. Navy created patrols in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Hankou and a garrison in Tianjin.[8]

References

  1. Evelyn S. Rawski (1991). Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Society: 'Ch'ing Imperial Marriage and Problems of Rulership' (p. 177). University of California Press. ISBN 9780520069305
  2. China; political, commercial, and social; an official report (1847) (p. 84). London: James Madden.
  3. Jinwung Kim (2012). A History of Korea: From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict (p. 304). New York City: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253000248
  4. Razmy Baroud (2022-11-28). "Xi vs Trudeau: How China Is Rewriting History with the Colonial West" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  5. David Vine (2020). The United States of War: 'Going Global' (p. 176). Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520972070 [LG]
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Neil Faulkner (2013). A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals: 'Imperialism and War' (pp. 172–173). [PDF] Pluto Press. ISBN 9781849648639 [LG]
  7. Felix Abt (2022-12-30). "Shameless Hypocrisy: West Shows Solidarity with Chinese Protesters While it Conceals its Own Earlier Massive Atrocities Against China" CovertAction Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  8. David Vine (2020). The United States of War: 'The Military Opens Doors' (pp. 205–8). Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520972070 [LG]