ASIA 110: Introduction to Asia (China)
Instructor: Jennifer Lundin Ritchie
Unit 4 Study Guide
Important Things to Understand / Remember
China Geography
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Can you recognize a map of the Qing? Which territories (lands) does it include?
Where was the capital of the Qing dynasty? Did this ever change? Why or why not?
Which areas/lands of the Qing were under foreigner “influence” (control)? Can you name them on a
map? How did these areas change from before WW1 (ca. 1910) to the end of WW2 (ca. 1944)?
Can you identify on a map the important cities of this study unit: Beijing, Nanjing, Canton/Guangzhou?
Can you differentiate the route of the Northern Expedition from the route of the Long March?
The End of the Qing
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What problems happened in Qianlong’s reign that continued to be unresolved after he abdicated?
When did the problem with opium come to a head (e.g. Lin, Opium War, Treaty of Nanjing)?
Were the Emperors that followed Qianlong strong or weak? Did they solve the problems?
Whose reign saw the rise of the Taiping Rebellion in 1850? Did he end the rebellion? Who did? How?
What natural disaster happened in 1852? When was the last time this happened? What were the results?
The Empress Dowager: Cixi
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Who was she? What was her background? How did she come to be in a position of power? What year
did she “come into power”?
What did she do to increase her own power during her regency of her son Emperor Tongzhi? What does
it mean to “listen behind the curtains”? Why would people say she killed her own son at age 19? What
are some other possible reasons for his death?
What was the Summer Palace? Who (re-)built it &why? Who got blamed for the cost of (re-)building it?
What was the “marble boat”? Who built it originally and why? Why is it not “marble” or a “boat”?
Why was Cixi criticised for restoring it? Can you give one reason why restoring it could be smart?
What was the Self-Strengthening Movement? Who started it and why? Can you briefly describe each of
the three stages of reform (Early Reforms, Later Reforms, New Reformers)? What did Cixi think of each
stage—did she support it or not and why? What was a major criticism of the Later Reforms? Do you
think this criticism was justified?
Who was Kang Youwei and what did he believe? Who was Tan Sitong and what did he believe?
What were the 100 Days of Reform? Who started it and why? Did it succeed? How did Cixi react to the
100 Days of Reform—what did she do? What happened to Emperor Guangxu, Kang Youwei, and Tan
Sitong?
What was The Boxer Rebellion? What events and conditions caused it? What was the purpose of the
rebellion initially, and how did that change? How did the Boxers intend to fight and defend themselves?
Who ended up trapped for 2 months in Beijing? How did they finally get free? What agreement did Cixi
have to sign as a result?
What is the most common opinion of Cixi? Why do you think this is the case?
Can you give some evidence to show she was a poor (e.g. ignorant, selfish, cruel, foolish) ruler?
Can you give some evidence to show she was a competent (or even good) ruler?
What is your own opinion of Cixi? Can you list two reasons why you believe this?
1911 Rebellion
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What year did Cixi die? When did Guangxu die? Why is this suspicious? How did Guangxu die? What
evidence do we have to prove this? Who were the three main suspects?What motivations did they have?
How much longer did the Qing Dynasty last after Cixi died?
ASIA 110: Introduction to Asia (China)
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Instructor: Jennifer Lundin Ritchie
Who was The Last Emperor? What reforms were planned for his reign? Did they succeed or not? why?
Who was Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhonghsan)? What was his background? What revolutionary group did he
lead? Who were his main supporters? What was his goal for China? Why did he decide to become the
provisional President of the new Republic of China (ROC)?
Who was Yuan Shi-kai? What was his background? What group did he lead? Who were his main
supporters? Why did he seem like a good choice for President of the Republic of China?
What caused the 1911 Rebellion? What was the result of the 1911 Rebellion? Why would this
potentially lead to civil war? How was civil war (temporarily) avoided? Who became President?
What kind of political system was used? What happened to The Last Emperor Puyi?
Beginning of the Republic of China (ROC)
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What promises did Yuan Shikai make and break as President of the Republic of China (ROC)?
Where was the new capital of the ROC supposed to be? Where was the actual capital of the ROC?
What was Yuan Shikai’s ultimate goal for himself & China? What did he do to accomplish these goals?
Who supported Yuan Shikai initially? Who supported him later? Why did this change?
What was the role of the Guomindang (GMD) in Yuan Shikai’s ROC?
What were the “21 Demands”? Who made them? How did Yuan Shikai respond to the demands?
How did everyone else react to Yuan Shikai’s choices?
What happened when Yuan Shikai died—who took over?
New Culture Movement
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When did the New Culture Movement start? What was it a response to?
What did the believers of the New Culture Movement think of traditional Chinese ways and
philosophies? Which traditional ideas did they reject? Why? Which ideas did they want to use instead?
What was the common thread linking all of these ideas?
How did the New Culture Movement affect writing and language? Why write about Prometheus?
World War 1 (1914-1918)
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Why did Japan enter WW1? What lands did they seize?
Why did China enter WW1? What did the Western Allies promise China? Did they fulfill their promises?
According to the Treaty of Versailles, who ended up getting China’s land… and Western prestige?
What happened on May 4th 1919—who was involved, what did they protest? What happened when the
students were arrested—who got involved, what did they do? How did the government respond?
What was the general feeling of the Chinese towards the West after WW1? How did this affect Chinese
culture and philosophy?
The Guomindang’s ROC
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Why did Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) return from Japan?
Why did Sun Yat-sen decide to incorporate the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) into the Guomindang
(GMD) at this time? What were the results of this alliance at first? later?
What were Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People? Why did Sun Yat-sen think Nationalism was a
good principle to implement at this time? Why did Sun Yat-sen think Democracy had to be slowly
worked towards? Why was Sun Yat-sen principle of Livelihood of the People not completed fully?
What do Socialism and Communism have in common? How are they different?
What was Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi)’s original role in the GMD? What did people think of him in
general? What did Chiang Kai-shek think of the CCP? What did he do when Sun Yat-sen died?
What was the Northern Expedition? Who was involved? Where did they set out start from? What was
their goal? Did they succeed? Why? What was the only other South-to-North reunification of China?
ASIA 110: Introduction to Asia (China)
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Instructor: Jennifer Lundin Ritchie
What was the 1927 Purge—who was killed and where? How did this affect the GMD? the CCP?
What were the Annihilation Campaigns—who was trying to kill whom? Did they succeed or fail? What
strategy finally enabled Chiang Kai-shek to win? What other group that we studied used this strategy?
After all of Chiang Kai-shek’s efforts to eliminate the CCP, why would the GMD and CCP agree to a
second alliance in 1936?
What events weakened the GMD army? Why was the army leadership so weak? What did Chiang Kaishek do to get new army recruits? What was the problem(s) with that?
What policy did Chiang Kai-shek have re: helping the general Chinese public who were suffering in the
war against Japan? How did the public respond to his strategy? What did they think of him generally?
What policy did Chiang Kai-shek have towards those who criticised him or rivalled him?
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
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Who was Zhu De? What was his background? What role did he play in the Northern Expedition?
Where did he go after the 1927 Purge, and who did he bring with him?
Who was Mao Zedong? What was his background? What did he do after the 1927 Purge?
Where were the main CCP supporters located before the 1927 Purge? After the Purge?
What was the Chinese Soviet Republic? Who was the Prime Minister and Chairman? Who was the army
general? What two main concerns did the CCP have after the 1927 Purge?
What was the Long March? How long was it (years? miles?) Why did the CCP set out on The Long
March? What are 3 reasons why they decided to walk to Shaanxi? Why didn’t they take a more direct
route? What percentage of people survived the march? What did the public think of these people?
Why was the CCP army so loyal and enthusiastic?
What kind of fighting style did they use? How did this affect the number of CCP killed in the fights
against the Japanese? How did this affect how people saw the CCP’s role in the Sino-Japanese wars?
What policy did the CCP have regarding helping the general Chinese public who were suffering in the
war against Japan? How did the public respond to his strategy? What opinion did they have of the CCP?
The Japanese in China
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Why did Japan decide to undergo the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800s? What kinds of changes did
they implement in Japan?
Why did Japan think it should “take over” (declare war on) various countries in Asia? How did Japan see
itself in relation to the rest of Asia? Why did the public of Japan support Japan’s actions so strongly?
When was the 1st Sino-Japanese War? What did they fight over? Who won? What lands did China have
to give to Japan after the war? When/why did Japan lose these lands again? After Taiwan was given to
China, how did Chiang Kai-shek treat the Chinese people who were living there?
What is Manchukuo? Where is it? Who created it? Who was named as its Emperor? Who actually had
the real political control over Manchukuo? What happened to Manchukuo at the end of WW2? How did
this situation help the CCP?
When was the 2nd Sino-Japanese War? What land did Japan take? What was the Nanjing Massacre—
who killed whom? What kinds of war crimes happened there? What did the Japanese claim happened
there? What are some claims about the Chinese (GMD) government and army’s role in the massacre?
Do you think the massacre could have been avoided? How?
How did the USA initially help China in its fight against Japan? Why did the USA not want to join the
war and fight Japan directly? Why did the USA finally join war against Japan? What did the USA do?
What was the final result? What role did the Tripartite Pact play in the USA’s decision to join the war?
Why would the GMD say THEY fought off the Japanese and the CCP did nothing?
Why would the CCP say THEY fought off the Japanese and the GMD did nothing?
Why would the USA say that the GMD (not the CCP) fought off the Japanese?
Why would Japan say they fought the GMD (not the CCP)?