Qing Dynasty Essay

The last dynasty in China, the Qing dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1911, and there is argument to say that their failures, especially those towards the end of their rule, created the underlying tension and ideologies behind the communist victory in China and the consequential establishment of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). These failures can be subdivided into military failures, weaknesses of the leadership, financial disarray, political troubles, and the Qing dynastys failure to implement lasting, effective reforms. It can easily be argued that the Qing dynasty didnt recognise the importance of the military until it was too late and they suffered for neglecting it. The dismissal of a lynchpin general, Yuan Shikai in 1908 can be seen as a turn point for the military in this period. The dismissal wasnt for valid reasons, only when rigorously a chance for Regent Prince Chun to assert his authority. However, this had disastrous consequences the Qing dynasty, as they had lost the ir only loyal general, exit them without military protection, an issue which had already been exacerbated by the boxer Rising in 1900-1901.The Qing dynasty then made a further mistake in putting too much trust in him when he (reluctantly) returned. This resulted in Yuan Shikai using his unarguable military strength to gain political causation. In all, this left the Qing dynasty with little, if any military strength. Their army wasnt loyal, nor was it organised and there was much internal strife. Therefore the Chinese state were left yearning for a government that was strong enough to command military as come up as political power, planting the ideas of revolution in their heads. The Qing dynasty also had a lot of problems with leadership. During the 100 Days period of attempted reform, obvious internal power struggles arose which further weakened the dynasty. Here there was the struggle between the reactionaries of the government, those that wanted China to remain traditional a nd to uphold the ideas of Confucian living, and progressives who were in support of carry in reform and change to modify China. With hindsight, it can be argued that, perhaps if the progressives had won the debate over reform, there might not have raze been a need for a revolution.However, at the time it is important to note that the ideas of Confucian living and social harmony were a core part of Chinese society, and because most of the Chinese public had not known any different, something as radical as what the progressives were suggesting was seen as alien and threatening.The reactionaries outweighed the progressives in court, and led by Dowager Empress Cixi, they squeeze themselves into power. For a while, although Cixi was in no way a perfect leader, at least there was a constant leader who was reliable. However in 1908, upon the destruction of Emperor Guangxu and Dowager Empress Cixi, Pu Yi came to be emperor. However emperor Pu Yi was only a very small child at the time, so Prince Chun acted as regent. He lacked authority, and so 3 further years of inapposite leadership followed. The Chinese public started looking for someone who was confident to lead them into a revolution and found them what they need in way of reform, opening up and opportunity for a new leader to step in.From the end of the Opium Wars, the Qing government had been plunged into a state of bankruptcy, leaving them without enough money to impose an industrial modernisation programme that China so desperately needed. This was made worse by the crippling penalties imposed after the Boxer Rising in 1900-01. The effect of this is most obviously highlighted with the railways crisis from 18958-1911. During this time the railway boom in China meant a great opportunity for provinces to thrive, saving in trade and new jobs. However, the Qing government chose to nationalise the railway, and to be able to afford to do so, that meant that they had to raise taxes and rely on foreign loans. Naturally, the Chinese people in these provinces werent happy with the situation that not only have the government taken away a huge possibility for local investment, but were then imposing taxes on the very people who were missing out.This led to open opposition of the government for the first time in China, as wholesome as a damaged sense of pride because they were relying on foreign investment. The Qing dynasty was widely regarded among the Chinese as old-fashioned and redundant. First of all, this was down to the simple fact that they originated from Manchuria, which wasnt even part of China, meaning that they were out of touch with the growing popularity of nationalism. Also, their authoritarian tradition made them incapable of responding to the demands of the revolutionaries, who were inspired by Japanese and westerly models of democracy. This is because, among the people, there was fear of the punishments associated with disrupting the social harmony (defying the governmen t).Combined with the governments fear of change, it can be argued that this is why it took until 1949 for China to have a revolution, compared to the States or France. Finally, and most importantly, was the Qing dynastysblatant disregard for the crucial need for reforms. The closest that they got to reform was during the 100 Days in 1905, when reforms based on westward models were proposed but completely ignored in courts and so therefore didnt go through. Part of this was to do with Dowager Empress Cixi leading a strong opposition against the reform. However, she later went on to introduce some reform, for example she brought an end to tests in Confucianism for government positions and she created provincial assemblies.Many historians have argued, however, that this was just an attempt to win over the revolutionaries who were turning against the idea of an establishment all together. Generally, by the time of the formal abdication of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the revolutionaries w ithin China were ready for change. They were fed up with having a corrupt, inconsistent central government that werent in touch with the modern concepts behind revolutionary thoughts. This lay the foundations for the Chinese revolution and the eventual establishment of the PRC in 1949.