Western Imperialism faces China, Japan, Korea and the Middle East
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Western Imperialism in Asia: China, and Japan
Read SNT Chapter 23, 627-639, on Qing China, and From Imperial to Republican China, and 639-647,
The Remaking of Japan and Korea, and the following text.
1. What were the Opium Wars, and why were they called Opium Wars? What did these Wars
indicate about the nature of European imperialism in China? Why were the European powers able to defeat
the Qing dynasty in these wars? What was China required to surrender as a result of its loss in the Opium
Wars? Why would the Chinese view the “treaty ports” imposed on it with great hostility and suspicion?
2. What was the Taiping fRebellion? Why do you think the Taiping Rebellion took the form it did, a
millenarian religious based revolt which saw the coming of the end of time [the millennium] and the
establishment of a heaven on earth? Do you think peasant movements would be more likely to take that
millenarian form? Why or why not? Why do you think the Taiping Rebellion combined Chinese and western
elements in their ideology?
3. How did both the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion reveal the weakness of the Qing dynasty
and China? What advantages did the European powers have over China?
4. Outline the criticisms that the Boxers had of Europeans and Americans. Why would the items they
mention make a powerful appeal to Chinese peasants suffering poverty and dislocation? What role do
religious beliefs play in the political actions of the Boxers? The Boxers claim to be "united in righteousness."
How would they define this term? Why is it significant in their strategy?
5. Why would the Boxers wish to destroy such benefits of western technology as railroads and
telegraphs? The Qianlong emperor and the Boxer poets lived a century apart in time and occupied vastly
different positions in Chinese society. Do you find any similarities in their attitudes toward western culture
and what it has to offer China?
In the middle of the nineteenth century, China, under Manchu rule, was confronted with a dynastic
crisis. British and French gunboats threatened China from the south, and the Russians encroached upon its
territories from the north. Weakness, corruption, and rebellion spread across the land. By far the most serious
rebellion was the Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864), started by Hung Hsiu-Ch'uan [Hong Xiuquan] (1814-1864).
The son of a farmer in southern China, Hung aspired to become an Imperial government official. After
repeatedly failing the government service examinations, he fell ill in despair; in delirium he saw Jesus Christ,
whom he called his Elder Brother. As the Heavenly Younger Brother of Christ, Hung came to believe that he
was called to save humankind as the new messiah. His earlier contacts with the Reverend Issachar Roberts, an
American Southern Baptist missionary, probably induced Hung's visions. By the late 1840s, his organization,
called the God Worshippers' Society, had built a large following. Most of his followers were the frustrated and
disaffected of southern China who were drawn to Hung's blend of Christian and Chinese ideology.
As his movement grew, it spread northward, defeating Imperial troops dispatched to crush the rebellion.
In 1851, Hung bestowed upon himself the title of Heavenly King of the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace"
("Taiping Tien-kuo [Taiping Dianquo]"). Within two years, his rebellion had captured Nanking [Nanjing], the
second city of the empire, and had established a theocratic-military government. The policies of the Taiping
leaders in the early period reflected their puritanical spirit. They prohibited opium-smoking, gambling, the use
of tobacco and wine, polygamy, the sale of slaves, and prostitution. Their egalitarian ideas, including the
equality of the sexes, were reflected in the abolition of footbinding and in the appointment of women as
administrators and officers in the Taiping army. They also tried to abolish the private ownership of land and
property, and they developed a program for the equal distribution of land. Many of the Taiping programs were
thus quite unprecedented and revolutionary in nature. But the initial vigor and idealism were soon lost amid
power struggles among the leaders, strategic blunders, poor diplomacy, and corruption. The rebellion faded by
the summer of 1864.
The following excerpt is from the basic document of the Taiping Kingdom, called "The Land System of
the Heavenly Kingdom." It is a sort of Taiping constitution. This document, first published in 1853, did not
confine itself only to the land system but also included programs and policies related to military, civil, religious,
Western Imperialism faces China, Japan, Korea and the Middle East
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financial, judicial and educational institutions.
All fields are to be divided into nine grades: every mou1 of land, which during the two seasons, both
early and late,2 can produce 1,200 catties [of grain] shall be ranked as a superior field of the first class; every
mou that produces 1,100 catties as a superior field of the second class; and every mou that produces 1,000
catties as a superior field of the third class. Every mou that produces 900 catties shall be considered as a
medium field of the first class; every mou that produces 800 catties as a medium field of the second class; and
every rnou that produces 700 catties as a medium field of the third class. Every mou that produces 600 catties
shall be considered as an inferior field of the first class; every mou that produces 500 catties as an inferior field
of the second class; and every mou that produces 400 catties as an inferior field of the third class. One mou of
superior field of the first class shall be considered equal to a mou and one-tenth of a superior field of the second
class, and to a mou and two-tenths of a superior field of the third class; also to a mou and three-and-a-half tenths
of a medium field of the first class, to a mou and five-tenths of a medium field of the second class, and to a most
and seven-and-a-half tenths of a medium field of the third class: also to two mou of an inferior field of the first
class, to two mou and four-tenths of an inferior field of the second class, and to three mou of an inferior field of
the third class.
The division of land must be according to the number of individuals, whether male or female;
calculating upon the number of individuals in a household, if they be numerous, then the amount of land will be
larger, and if few, smaller; and it shall be a mixture of the nine classes, if there are six persons in a family, then
for three there shall be good land and for three poorer land, and of good and poor each shall have half. All the
fields in the empire are to be cultivated by all the people alike. If the land is deficient in one place, then the
people must be re moved to another, and if the land is deficient in another, then the people must be removed to
this place. All the fields throughout the empire, whether of abundant or deficient harvest, shall be taken as a
whole: if this place is deficient, then the harvest of this abundant place must be removed to relieve it, and if that
place is deficient, then the harvest of this abundant place must be removed in order to relieve the deficient
place; thus, all the people in the empire may together enjoy the abundant happiness of the Heavenly Father,
Supreme Lord and Great God. There being fields, let all cultivate them; there being food, let all eat; there being
clothes, let all be dressed; there being money, let all use it, so that nowhere does inequality exist, and no man is
not well fed and clothed.
All men and women, every individual of sixteen years and upwards, shall receive land, twice as much as
those of fifteen years of age and under. Thus, those sixteen years of age and above shall receive a mou of
superior land of the first class, and those of fifteen years and under shall receive half that amount, five-tenths of
a mou of superior land of the first class; again, if those of sixteen years and above receive three mou of inferior
land of the third class, then those of fifteen years and below shall receive half that amount, one and one-half
mou of inferior land of the third class.
Throughout the empire the mulberry tree is to be planted close to every wall, so that all women may
engage in rearing silkworms, spinning the silk, and making garments. Throughout the empire every family
should keep five hens and two sows, which must not be allowed to miss their proper season. At the time of
harvest, every sergeant shall direct the corporals to see to it that of the twenty-five families under his charge
each individual has a sufficient supply of food, and aside from the new grain each may receive, the remainder
must be deposited in the public granary. Of wheat, pulse, hemp; flax, cloth, silk, fowls, dogs, etc., and money,
the same is true; for the whole empire is the universal family of our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and
Great God... For every twenty-five families there must be established one public granary, and one church where
the sergeant must reside. Whenever there are marriages, or births, or funerals, all may go to the public granary;
but a limit must be observed, and not a cash he used beyond what is necessary. Thus, every family which
celebrates a marriage or a birth will be given one thousand cash and a hundred catties of grain...
1
2
One acre equals 6.6 mou.
A two crop harvest.
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In every circle of twenty-five families, the work of the potter, the blacksmith, the carpenter, the mason,
and other artisans must all be performed by the corporal and privates; when free from husbandry they are to
attend to these matters. Every sergeant, in superintending marriages and funeral events in the twenty-five
families, should in every case offer a eucharistic sacrifice to our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great
God; all corrupt ceremonies of former times are abolished.
In every circle of twenty-five families, all young boys must go to church every day, where the sergeant
is to teach them to read the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as the book of proclamations of the
true ordained Sovereign. Every Sabbath the corporals must lead the men and women to the church, where the
males and females are to sit in separate rows. There they will listen to sermons, sing praises, and offer sacrifices
to our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God.
In the creation of an army, for each 13,156 families there must first be a corps general; next there must
be five colonels under the command of the corps general; next there must be five captains under the command
of each colonel, altogether twenty-five captains; next each of the twenty-five captains must have under his
command five lieutenants, altogether 125 lieutenants; next each of the 125 lieutenants must have under his
command four sergeants, altogether 500 sergeants; next each of the 500 sergeants must have under his
command five corporals, altogether 2,500 corporals; next each of the 2,500 corporals must have under his
command four privates, altogether 10,000 privates, the entire army numbering altogether 13,156 men.
After the creation of an army, should the number of families increase, with the increase of five families
there shall be an additional corporal; with the increase of twenty-six families there shall be an additional
sergeant; with the increase of 105 families there shall be an additional lieutenant; with the increase of 526
families there shall he an additional captain; with the increase of 2,631 families there shall be an additional
colonel; with the total increase of 13,156 families there shall be an additional corps general. Before a new corps
general is appointed, the colonel and sub ordinate officers shall remain under the command of the old corps
general; with the appointment of a corps general they must be handed over to the command of the new corps
general.
Within [the court] and without, all the various officials and people must go every Sabbath to hear the
expounding of the Holy Bible, reverently offer their sacrifices, and worship and praise the Heavenly Father, the
Supreme Lord and Great God. On every seventh seven, the forty-ninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel, captains,
and lieutenants shall go in turn to the churches in which reside the sergeants under their command and expound
the Holy books, instruct the people, examine whether they obey the Commandments and orders or disobey the
Commandments and orders, and whether they are diligent or slothful. On the first seventh seven, the forty-ninth
day, the Sabbath, the colonel shall go to a certain sergeant's church, on the second seventh seven, the forty-ninth
day, the Sabbath, the colonel shall then go to another sergeant's church, visiting them all in order, and after
having gone the round he must begin again. The captains and lieutenants shall do the same.
Each man throughout the empire who has a wife, sons, and daughters amount ing to three or four
mouths, or five, six, seven, eight, or nine mouths, must give up one to be a soldier. With regard to the others, the
widowers, widows, orphaned, and childless, the disabled and sick, they shall all be exempted from military
service and issued provisions from the public granaries for their sustenance.
Throughout the empire all officials must every Sabbath, according to rank and position, reverently
present sacrificial animals and offerings, sacrifice and worship, and praise the Heavenly Father, the Supreme
Lord and Great God. They must also expound the Holy books; should any dare to neglect this duty, they shall
be reduced to husbandmen. Respect this.
The nineteenth century saw an accumulation of disasters for China. In two Opium Wars in the 1840s
and 1850s, British invasion forced the China to make trade concessions demanded earlier. These conflicts
helped to prompt the immensely destructive Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864). Various official reform movements
encountered too many internal obstacles to effect much change. China lost a war to Japan in 1894 and was
forced to accept a series of "unequal treaties" and agreements that granted "spheres of influence" to European
powers. In 1899 internal disorder escalated. This time a portion of the imperial court headed by the Empress
Western Imperialism faces China, Japan, Korea and the Middle East
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Dowager backed the opponents of western domination. The Boxers3, drawing recruits throughout the north
China plain, killed western and Chinese Christians and besieged the embassies of foreign powers in Beijing
itself. In July 1900 an unprecedented multinational army of British, German, American, Russian, French,
Japanese, Austrian, and Italian troops entered Beijing to restore order and rescue the hostages. The
International Expeditionary Force smashed the native army, looted Beijing, and, under the watchful eye of the
international press, engaged in "punitive picnics" to exterminate opposition in the countryside.
China had a long tradition of secret societies and popular support for "social banditry" to help the poor.
The Boxers United in Righteousness, who arose in Shandong province during the famines described earlier,
followed ancient forms of aid and famine relief for their recruits. But the Boxers combined their appeals for
social justice with calls to "Support the Qing, destroy the Foreign." Like resistance movements in other parts of
the world, they saw their country's disasters as caused by its toleration of foreigners, especially the Christian
missionaries whose numbers were increasing as western control of China became more pronounced. Recruits
to the Boxers undoubtedly believed the terrible rumors of bizarre western religious practices requiring
mutilation of women and children. They used magical charms and physical exercise rituals to invite the gods to
inhabit their bodies, making them invulnerable to the guns and explosives of western armies. As with other
resisters, this faith proved illusory. The Boxers were easily dispatched by the soldiers of the west, as were
countless Chinese peasants who were innocent of any role in this conflict between cultures.
3
The name of this popular, anti-foreign movement has caused much confusion. The Boxers did not practice organized
fist-fighting as the West understands it, but rather a variety of physical rituals designed to protect them from their
enemies. Current translations stress that the word righteousness is the most important part of the name.
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Western Imperialism faces China, Japan, Korea and the Middle East
Proclamation of the Boxer United In
Righteousness
Divinely aided Boxers,
United-in-righteousness Corps
Arose because the Devils
Messed up the Empire of yore.
They proselytize their sect,
And believe in only one God,
The spirits and their own ancestors
Are not even given a nod.
Their men are all immoral;
Their women truly vile.
For the Devils it's mother-son sex
The Way4 is not a heresy,
It's not the White Lotus Sect.5
The chants and spells we utter
Follow mantras, true and correct.
Raise up the yellow charm,
Bow to the incense glow.
Invite the gods and spirits
Down from the mountain grotto.
Spirits emerge from the grottos;
Gods come down from the hills,
Possessing the bodies of men,
Transmitting their boxing skills.
When their martial and magic techniques
Are all learned by each one of you,
Suppressing the Foreign Devils
Will not be a tough thing to do.
Rip up the railroad tracks!
Pull down the telegraph lines!
Quickly! Hurry up! Smash them –
The boats and the steamship combines.
The mighty nation of France
Quivers in abject fear,
While from England, America, Russia
And from Germany nought do we hear.
When at last all the Foreign Devils
Are expelled to the very last man,
The Great Qing, united, together,
The “way,” or dao, is the right way of living in
traditional Chinese philosophy and culture.
5
Lotus believers were part of a centuries old,
unauthorized group of Sects that combined
aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, and other
religious faiths. They sought the restoration of
the Chinese Ming dynasty, while the Boxers
were supporters of the Manchu Qing dynasty.
4
That serves as the breeding style.
And if you don't believe me,
Then have a careful view:
You'll see the Devils' eyes
Are all a shining blue.
No rain comes from Heaven.
The earth is parched and dry.
And all because the churches
Have bottled up the sky.
The gods are very angry.
The spirits seek revenge.
En masse they come from Heaven
To teach the way to men.
Will bring peace to this our land.
Readings for week of May 4
6
Imperialism in the Middle East
Read SNT 588-598, Section on "Imperialism, Reform and the Middle Eastern Societies"
Answer the below.
1. How did the decline of the Ottoman Empire and its eventual defeat in World War One lead to a
crisis in the Middle East? How did the nationalism of the “Young Turks” both assert Turkey’s interests vis-avis Europe and against its own minority ethnic groups? How did Kemal/Atatürk advance the interests of the
Turkish state at the expense of Greeks, Armenians and Kurds?
2. What was the “mandate system,” and how did it become the vehicle for European imperialism in
the Middle East? Why did the European powers have to use the mandate system for rule over the Arabic
countries of the Middle East, rather than engage in direct colonization as they had done in Africa? How did
the Middle East change economically and social under the mandate system after World War I?
3. How did the European powers attempt to maintain control of the Middle East through client states,
superficially independent, but under their effective control?
4. What were the roots of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the mandate system for Palestine?
How did the British attempt to manage conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine? Why were they
unsuccessful? Was there a contradiction between the Balfour’s promise to establish a “national home for the
Jewish people” and the promise that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine?” If so why did he make the contradictory promises?
5. Why would Woodrow Wilson’s statements about “the interests of the populations concerned” and
“an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development” apply to Palestine?
6. Why did the delegates to the Syrian General Congress object to the plan to create mandates in the
former Ottoman Empire? What alternatives did they offer? Why did the delegates object to the formation of
a Jewish commonwealth?
7. To what extent is the current conflict between Israel and Palestine the result of imperialism in the
Middle East? To what extent would it have developed otherwise, regardless of the actions of the British?