History of China and Japan
1
HISTORY
Subject
:
History
Paper No.
:
Paper - VIII
History of China & Japan
Unit No. & Title
:
Unit- 1
History of China
Topic No. & Title
:
Topic - 3
Popular & Reform Movements
Lecture No. & Title
:
Lecture - 3
Self-strengthening and Reform
Movements in China 1860-98
(For under graduate student)
Script
The peace settlement with Britain and France in 1860 and
the suppression of the Taiping revolt in 1864 eliminated two
deadly threats to the Manchu dynasty and provided it with a
momentary reprieve. The period that followed witnessed
the restoration of the traditional order and the initiation of
the
Self-strengthening
Movement
(1860-95)
through
adoption of Western diplomatic practices and military and
technological devices. It is therefore termed a phase of
History of China and Japan
2
Westernisation. This phase coincided with the ‘Tung-chih
Restoration’. This was followed by, the Reform Movement of
1898, a bourgeois-reformist trend that sought to make a
break with the old Confucian learning and learn from the
West. Western firearms having helped the Manchu ruling
clique to suppress the revolt, they now displayed a
willingness to learn such techniques from the foreign
‘barbarians’.
The expression “Tung-chih Restoration” came from the
name of the emperor Tung-chih (1862-74). Immanuel Hsu
in his book The Rise of Modern China has criticized the
comparison
made
by
some
scholars
between
this
restoration and the “Meiji Restoration” in Japan of 1868 and
argued that the aim of the Tung-chih Restoration was to
reconstruct the ravaged ruling classes and the countryside
of China in their own way. It was aimed at restoring the
traditional order through reaffirmation of the old morality
and application of knowledge to practical affairs. As Tungchih was a minor at that time, the political power was
controlled by, the empress-dowager Tzu-hsi, who remained
in control until her death in 1908.
History of China and Japan
3
The doctrine of learning ‘foreign matters’ constituted, in
some ways, the theoretical foundation for the imperial
policy of ‘self-strengthening’ set in motion after the end of
the Second Opium War in 1860, which continued till the
outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. Its main
purpose was to strengthen the military and bureaucratic
apparatus of the Ching state and to provide it enough
muscle power to crush all subsequent peasant and other
movements. In this movement, persons such as Kung,
Wen-hsiang and Kui-liang played major roles. There was
also an opposition to the state policy of learning from the
West as many among them felt that any attempt at learning
from the “barbarians” would be detrimental to indigenous
culture and tradition.
The most ardent advocates of the policy of “learning from
the West” were Prince Kung and Wei Yuan, a well-known
scholar, writer and politician. His best-acclaimed treatise
was his encyclopaedic work on the geography of foreign
lands, entitled Hai guo to zhi. The immediate context
against which this gazetteer was prepared was China’s
defeat at the hands of Britain in the First Opium War. Wei
History of China and Japan
4
clarified that his aim was to‘to use barbarians to control
barbarians’. He urged the adoption of Western techniques,
and recommended the construction of an arsenal and
shipyards in Kwangtung with the help of foreign technicians
and gunnery instructors. His proposals also included the
founding of an office to translate ‘barbarian’ books.
In July 1858, a senior military officer name Wang Maoyin
advised the emperor to read Wei Yuan’s book and to change
the system of official examinations and to include tests in
such
subjects
as
History,
Warcraft,
Engineering,
Mathematics, Astronomy and Geography.
Another person to advocate the doctrine of adopting
Western
technical
Guifen(1809-1875),
needed
and
who
reinvigoration.
military
felt
He
education
that
advised
was
Confucian
restoring
Feng
ideology
ancient
institutions to the ‘village elders’, which implies giving
Chinese landlords and shenshi greater powers in handling
rural affairs. On the adoption of Western knowledge, he
wrote: “Chinese science is the foundation, while the
Western is purely supplementary”. Soviet historians argued
that Feng was an ideologue of the Chinese feudal military
History of China and Japan
5
cliques which strained to put down the rebellious peasantry,
and at the same time secure a certain amount of
independence from the Manchu government (S.L.Tikhvinski,
ed. Modern History of China, p.243).
In 1862, another scholar, Yin Zhaoyong presented a
memorial to the court. He too recommended a policy of
‘self-strengthening’. He defined this policy as maintaining
diplomatic ties with the foreigners, reorganizing armed
forces, supplying the army with modern ships and guns,
and studying foreign newspapers.
After the end of the Second Opium War and the signing of
the treaties of Tientsin (1858) and Peking(1860), Britain
and France started imposing one term after another that
laid the country wide open to foreign penetration. In order
to loot and plunder China to as great an extent as possible,
it was necessary for the foreign powers to protect the
Manchu
rulers
from
rebel
attacks,
establish
peace
throughout the country and forge a military alliance with
the Manchu-Chinese feudal lords. As both the parties
wanted to develop mutual understanding, diplomatic and
History of China and Japan
6
commercial ties with the foreign powers became stronger,
and the adoption of Western military technology helped to
increase the power and influence of those Chinese who had
been clamouring for it. In a memorial endorsed by emperor
Xianfeng on 13 January 1861, Grand Prince Kung, Gui Liang
and Wen Xiang recommended the establishment of an
‘Office for General Management Concerning All Foreign
Nations’ or the Tsungli Yamen. It was China’s first major
institutional innovation in response to the Western impact.
The Tsungli Yamen not only engaged in foreign affairs but
also promoted modern schools, Western science, industry
and communication.
The memorial on troop training approved by an imperial
edict of 15 January 1861, stated that ‘self-strengthening
should be a fundamental policy, the art of which consists in
training troops’ and ‘the production of arms’.
As a matter of fact, ‘self-strengthening’ as an essential
element of state policy served as an instrument for the
enhancement of state power. The ruling classes made the
propaganda that the end of this policy was to end internal
History of China and Japan
7
turmoil. The reality is that its target was the rebel peasant,
who made them tremble in fear.
The most important aim of this movement was to build
Western-type
arsenals,
shipyards,
gunpowder
and
munitions factories so as to buttress the feudal forces with
guns, rifles and warships to as great an extent as possible.
In 1861, after capturing Anching from the hands of the
Taipings, they set up modern munitions factory there.
Cartridges, shells, gunpowder and small warships were
manufactured there.
In 1864, a shipbuilding factory was set up at Hangkow. It
was
followed
by,
the
building
up
of
munitions
and
engineering factories very quickly in different areas.
The Self-strengthening movement however suffered from
the flaw of having made only superficial attempts at
modernization.
The
scope
of
activity
was
limited
to
firearms, ships, machines, communications mines and light
industries. No attempts were made to assimilate Western
institutions, philosophy, arts and culture. The advocates of
History of China and Japan
8
Self-strengthening were only interested in enabling China to
resist foreign aggression but never dreamed of remaking it
into a modern state. They strove to strengthen the existing
order than to replace it. Moreover the great majority of the
scholar-official class regarded foreign affairs and Western
style enterprises as ‘dirty’ and ‘vulgar’ beneath their dignity.
The advocates of the ‘self-strengthening’ movement paid
attention to safeguarding the traditional feudal, Confucian
system of education in public and private schools and to
alter practically nothing in that system. Confucian literature
was again circulated; an official ban was imposed on all
printing material except Confucian thoughts. Literature for
entertainment, folk romances and satirical works was
outlawed, as in the eyes of the state, these could incite
mutinies.
It is important to point out that for the setting up of
munitions factories, textile factories, coalmines, railroads
and telecommunications in this stage, China had to depend
on foreign experts. Huge expenditure had to be incurred to
pay for the salary and stipends of these foreign experts.
The magnitude of the amount of the money thus siphoned
History of China and Japan
9
off could be ascertained if we mention that one chief
engineer received, besides his stipends, an annual salary of
96,000 gold coins. Besides machinery, iron, coal and even
wood had to be imported from abroad.
That period was the period of the appearance of the
Chinese big bourgeoisie. Along with it, there also appeared
the Chinese working class. Thousands of workers got
themselves absorbed in the newly established dockyards,
coalmines and textile factories. However, despite all these
changes, there was hardly any change in the military
capabilities of the Chinese government. This is arrested by
China’s defeat at the hands of Japan during the war of
1894-95 and the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki of
1895.
The Reform Movement of 1898 or the “Hundred Days’
of Reform”
The
frightful
prospect
of
dismemberment
precipitated
another reform movement in China in 1898 termed the
‘Hundred Days Reform’. It took place at a time when the
contradictions between feudalism and the broad masses of
History of China and Japan
10
the people and especially between the imperialist powers
and the Chinese nation had become sharper than ever
before. The need for a more extensive reform was
recognized by, scholars, officials and even the emperor and
the Empress Dowager.
From the beginning of the war against Japan, the Manchu
court was divided into two groups. As one defeat followed
another, a strong minority emerged among the high officials
led by Weng and Zhang, which wanted to fight to the end.
This was called the “war party” which aroused strong
sympathies among some of the provincial officials, scholars
and merchants in the big towns. Cantonese merchants
formed
a
committee,
which
included
72
guilds
and
corporations of the town to collect funds for the war.
The war party consisted of people with varied aims. On the
one hand, it consisted of archconservatives for which
driving back the Japanese meant driving back change.
On the other hand, there was a new generation of younger
people for whom resistance represented the starting point
of a new order. These younger men were beginning to win
over some of their elders, among them, Weng. For several
years, Weng had been the moving spirit of a group of
History of China and Japan
11
officials and scholars who wanted to oust the empress
dowager, so that the emperor Kuang Hsu could lead the
revival of the country.
Kang Yu-wei’s Memorial
It was against this background that 1,300 scholars sent a
memorial to the emperor in May 1895 written by Kang Yuwei.
Kang
believed
that
the
existing
political
and
administrative procedures of China were designed at a time
when China was free from involvement with the Western
powers, and hence the primary consideration of the ruling
dynasty should be to consider the new problems of foreign
relations and industrialization and modernize its structure
accordingly. Kang proposed the revision of the examination
system and legal code, establishment of a governmental
institutional bureau, establishment of people’s bureaus in
the districts as an embryonic form of local self-government,
the creation of a parliament in Beijing and adoption of a
constitution and the principle of division of powers. It
included reform of the monetary, banking and postal
systems; government encouragement for private industry
and commerce and for the study of agronomy, modern
History of China and Japan
12
science and technical subjects; construction of more schools
and libraries. The memorials of Kang You-wei were then
circulated in scholarly circles. Reformist ideas were also
spread by the press, which expanded considerably in this
period.
Twenty-five
important
new
journals
began
publishing between 1896 and 1898, among which the most
influential were the Current Events Gazette and the National
News. Both served to knit together the various groups of
reformers scattered through the provinces.
An important aspect of the reformist movement was the
way it spread geographically. The most active centres were
in the regions of the lower Yangtze (Kiangsu, Kiangsu and
Chihli). Each had its own characteristics.
In the lower Yangtze provinces, where industrialization was
moving ahead most rapidly and where reformist circles
consisted mainly of scholars and officials who were involved
in business, the chief concerns were economic and political.
These people were relatively moderate in their attitude. The
group in Kwangtung, on the other hand, which was closely
connected with the rich merchants overseas and had fewer
History of China and Japan
13
members belonging to the bureaucracy, showed more
radical leanings.In contrast, Hunan became a centre of
reformist activity through its officials. The reformers in
Hunan appear to have been interested above all in ideology
and they were, in fact, the most radical of the reformers.
The reformers in Hunan came from the upper sections of
society and in this province it consisted exclusively of
shenshi.
Many Hunanese shenshi supported reform for reasons that
were essentially intellectual. It was the reaction of the
patriots who were alarmed in the face of the national crisis.
This appears to be the reason why most of the Hunanese
appeared to be ideologists. It was the majority belonging to
shenshi that initiated the reform movement in Hunan. In
Chihli (Hopei), the reformers came almost entirely from the
shenshi, some of whom were involved in modern economic
ventures.
Kang Yu-wei, the ideologue
History of China and Japan
14
While the reform movement was spreading through the
provinces, a few thinkers were moulding its ideology. One
of the most prominent of them was Kang You-wei. He set
forth his interpretation in two major works. One was A
Study of the Classics and the other was Confucius as a
Reformer. Kang arrived at a view of human history as a
progression composed of three ages. First came the age of
“disorder”, second the age of “approaching peace” which is
characterized by “small tranquility” and the third, the age of
“great peace”(taiping) in which ‘great unity” is achieved. In
the last phase all inequality is abolished, governments
disappear and men live in fellowship, happiness and
harmony.
Kang’s writings had exercised a considerable influence on
the intellectual evolution of modern China. Mao Tse-tung
explicitly referred to Kang’s utopia in describing the future
communist society. Chesneaux says that Kang’s enduring
contribution does not lie in the realm of scholarship, but in
his use of the principles to reinterpret Confucianism in such
a way that it could act as the theoretical basis for political
reform. Besides Kang, there were many others like Yan Fu,
History of China and Japan
15
Tan Si-tong, Liang Chi-chao and others who supported
reforms.
Although there were differences of opinion among the
reformers, they were united in their opposition to the
conservatives. The conservatives held that the established
order was the will of heaven and, like heaven, unalterable.
The reformers, on the other hand, introduced the notion of
evolution and constant progress,- ideas which were virtually
unknown to Chinese thought. Whereas the conservatives
defended absolute monarchy and the sacred power of the
sovereign,
the
reformers
did
not
really
advocate
democracy. They favoured a constitutional monarchy in
which an enlightened elite would share power by means of
a national parliament and local assembles.
The reformers aimed at encouraging agriculture, industry
and trade and at freeing private companies from the
constraints, which hampered them. They wanted schools
where political and social doctrines and science would be
taught. However while Kang and Tan Si-tong stressed
political reform, others did not.
History of China and Japan
16
The diversity of opinions within the reformers was a
reflection of its composite social make-up. The movement
was born in a context of social changes. It began partly as
the expression of the political aspirations of the people who
were forming the new industrial bourgeoisie; but, once
launched, it greatly contributed to the growth of the
bourgeoisie. Thus the transformation of the traditional elite
had begun. The merchant became involved in politics. The
official began to invest in industry and trade as well as in
land. The rural scholar started to become an urban
intellectual. But the old regime still dominated Chinese life,
for each individual was entangled in a network of family,
personal and professional relationships where traditional
principles
persisted
modern age.
alongside
those
belonging
to
the
History of China and Japan
17
Reforms
For a hundred and three days from June 11 to September
20 1898, some forty to fifty reform decrees were issued in
rapid succession in the areas of education, government
administration,
industry
and
international
cultural
exchange.
In April 1898, the Association for National Defence was
founded, which formed the embryo of a political party. On
11 June 1898, an edict from the emperor announced
“decisions on national affairs”. It marked the beginning of
the attempt at reform known as the Hundred Days of 1898.
A
large
numbers
eliminated.
The
of
useless
subsidies
offices
paid
to
and
all
posts
were
Manchus
were
abolished. All officials and subjects were allowed to address
suggestions directly to the emperor.
The old academics, as well as temples, which had fallen into
disuse, were to be transformed into schools. The Peking
University was founded. Science and politics were taught in
schools and universities and were to be included in the
examination subjects. Permission was granted to found
History of China and Japan
18
study societies and newspapers. Plans were made for
preparing a budget and publishing regular government
financial statements. Industrial concerns were encouraged,
while private individuals were given permission to found
arsenals.
So far during the Hundred Days, the empress Tzu hsi had
given a free hand to the emperor Kuang hsu in order to
avert an explosion of anti-Manchu feeling. Now she had the
emperor imprisoned and reformist leaders executed. All the
reform
measures
were revoked
except
for
the
edict
founding the University of Peking.
The reforms failed to serve their purpose due to the
inexperience of the reformers and their ill-considered
strategy, the reluctance of the empress dowager to give up
power and the powerful conservative opposition.
Yet the reformist attempt of Hundred Days left a deep mark
on the country, for it helped to familiarize educated people
with political change and new ideas. The failure had proved
that progressive reform from the top down was impossible.
History of China and Japan
19
The experience also made an increasing number of Chinese
to feel that their future lay in the complete overthrow of the
Manchu dynasty and that only a bloody revolution from
below could affect it. Dr. Sun Yat-sen took the lead in
promoting this approach.