EQ: How was China affected by European contact?

Key Terms: Kowtowing, Anglo-Chinese War, Treaty of Nanking, extraterritoriality, Taiping Rebellion, Boxer Rebellion, Open Door Policy

China’s View of ForeignersManchus (aka the Qing dynasty)

restricted European contact b/c they did not like their foreign culture, esp. Christianity

Europeans allowed to trade only under government supervision◦Chinese thought European goods

were inferior◦would only accept gold for trade

Foreigners were allowed in only three ports in China, & then only after offering gifts and kowtowing—kneeling before the emperor and bowing low 9 times with head to ground

Britain opens trade in China

find a product that Chinese are willing to trade...◦opium

highly addictive, used as painkiller

Manchu govt. restricted amount that could be sold, but British start bribing officials to smuggle in large amounts

Anglo-Chinese Wars, 1839-1842AKA The Opium WarsStarted when Manchu govt.

seized 400 chests of opium, worth millions of dollars, dumped them into harbor

Britain declared war on ChinaBritish win b/c advanced

weaponry, esp. navy

Treaty of Nanking (aka the Unequal Treaty) 1. China forced to buy 30,000 chests opium/yr

(# increased to 100,000); prices ↓ and consumption ↑

2. China had to pay $21 million in reparations3. China had to open more ports for trade4. Britain gained extraterritoriality—a

country’s laws apply in a foreign land (British laws in China)

5. Britain forced 5% tax on goods imported from another country, forcing China to trade more w/ Britain

Reaction to Foreign Invasion

Once Britain opened up trade in China and became more dominate, other European countries followed

Rebellions broke out in response to European invasion

Taiping Rebellion Led by Hung Hsui Chuan, a

Christian convert Chuan’s followers called Taiping,

started reform movement, with the goals to:◦eliminate footbinding, opium sale,

outlaw prostitution, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and redistribute land to peasants

The Taiping set up a rival govt.Civil war broke out, 1850-1864,

during which fifty million diedManchus got help from the

British, since the government was against land redistribution

British agreed to help b/c if Taiping won, they would lose lucrative opium trade

Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901Righteous Fists of Harmony—secret

society with goal to expel “foreign devils” from China

AKA Boxers b/c ritual dance looked like shadow boxing

Rebelled, attacking missionaries in countryside, then began attacking larger cities

Manchu govt. did not stop them, wanted them to succeed in driving out Europeans

“The Boxers and Their Mission”http://streaming.factsonfile.com/P

ortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=42712#

European countries sent in troops, stopped the rebellion and divided up capital, occupying certain areas

Boxers were arrested and executed

China was about to be broken up & colonized by Europe

Open Door Policy kept China from being taken over◦any nation was free to trade at

any Chinese port