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Jessica Guerra
Dr. Richard Smith
Modern China: HIST 342
The Last Days of the Qing: Tracing Tensions between Reform and Tradition from 1839-1912
Until the 1820’s, China held a superior position in its economic relations with the West
(mainly the British). However, with the discovery and introduction of opium into the Chinese
economy by the British, China soon found itself facing economic depression and unprecedented
social problems. As a result, the government implemented several strategies to eradicate opium
from the Chinese economy, eventually thrusting itself into war with the British. China’s defeat in
this first Opium War, as well as its losses in subsequent wars and internal rebellions, resulted in
the revelation that China had stagnated; leading to the development and growth of reform
movements for the next 70 years. In this paper, I classify these various periods of reformative
movements into 4 broad stages: the initial complacency seen in the 1830’s until the 1840’s, the
self-strengthening movement that gained momentum during the 1860’s, the radical reform
movement of the 1880’s until the 1900’s, and finally, the revolutionary period of 1911.
Additionally, I will discuss some of the major voices of each developmental stage, as well as
some of the conservative factions opposing reformation throughout history; Motivations for both
factions will be briefly discussed. Through these multiple discussions, I hope to demonstrate how
this period of chaos and growth both continues and breaks from the cyclical nature of China’s
historical evolution, particularly in the sense of a dynastic cycle.
I begin my examination of the development of the reformative movement with context in
the form of Lin Zexu’s realizations. Lin Zexu served as the imperial commissioner at
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Guangzhou, and his policies would result in the outbreak of the first Opium War. In the aftermath
of the war, Lin Zexu recognized the need for China to strengthen itself using Western arms and
warfare, inadvertently predicting the movements that would consistently advocate for reforms
throughout the next 70 years. As he was in disgrace following the war, these sentiments were
expressed mainly to his fellows, but remain important as they represent one of the first instances
of advocating for Chinese reforms.
A contemporary of Lin Zexu, the official Wei Yuan, provides further context for the
beginnings of the sporadic reformation movements of the late 1800’s, as he made the first
attempts to provide a realistic picture of the outside world (including Western power) and its
military affairs for the Chinese people. Through tracing the weaknesses latent in the Qing
