Sun Yat-Sen
In the late 19th century the Qing dynasty of China had become corrupt and had dwindled into a shadow of its former glory. In short, the Imperial age of China was coming to a close. One of the men living in this time took a different path than those of his countrymen–possibly by exposure to the western world, possibly by his exposure to Christianity, maybe even due to the fact that he was peasant-born. Though his actions resulted in a period of turmoil, the father of modern China, Sun Yat-sen freed China from the injustices of a corrupt, weak central government, the failure of that government to support forward development, and set the stage to allow competition with the western world.
The corruption of the Qing government lead to the oppression of the lower classes and the enrichment of the higher classes. “The Chinese people were exploited by the ruthless and corrupted feudal Qing (Manchu) dynasty” (heroesofconfederation.com) by increasing the tax burden to support the complacent court. The act of selling political offices was common during the last days of Qing China. This lead to the richer classes having a greater say in an already corrupt government which resulted in many of the richest and most powerful people of China being exempted from taxes and that burden being placed on the shoulders of the lowest tiers of society. Essentially, the ones who could bear to be taxed were not taxed and those who could not bear to be taxed were taxed. All of this lead to the oppression of the majority of the population and a rising discontentment with the government. (afe.easia.columbia.edu)
The Qing government did not support forward development of its people which resulted in China being humiliated by foreign power...
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...y from the slowing effects of the corrupted conservating Qing Dynasty–and to become the superpower it is today.
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Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
In the Qing empire the leaders were not able to resolve the problem caused by increased population pressure and concentration of land ownership. The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty in China. The dynasty was founded by the non-chinese people of the Manchus who originally lived in the northeast which was later called Manchuria. The Manchus used the disintegration of the central government of the Ming Empire that
Schoenhals, Michael. China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969: Not a Dinner Party. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1996. Print.
... from a traditional monarchy to a republic was due to poor governmental/societal relationship and corruption within the Qing dynasty. Any country experimenting with governments and governmental shifts has a strained relationship with the people it governs. This is because of many reason I have discussed before such as corruption and weak/useless governments.
The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chinese culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member of the Chinese society nor the poor, we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, an American woman whom helps him write the book. When Liang Heng and Judy Shapiro fell in love in China during 1979, they weren’t just a rarity; they were both pioneers at a time when the idea of marriages between foreigners and Chinese were still unacceptable in society.
The technological modernization for China occurred on May 4th, 1919 known as the May Fourth Movement. During this uprising, a group of Chinese students protested the Chinese government for their weak response to the Treaty of Versailles. At the same time the citizens were arguing to the government on how the Japanese are annexing parts of northern China. According to the Asian Literature Article, “China had a weak and unstable government, torn by internal dissent. There was much chaos and uncertainty about the country’s future. Chinas reputation was declining on the international scene.” (The Cultural Impact of the May Fourth Movement 2014) What the article is trying to say is that throughout the years after the movement the government was
The late 19th century and the beginning of the early 20th century marks a critical turning point in Chinese history. The high pressures of western imperialism and regenerated peasant revolutions caused a sudden shift in the Chinese social order. The fear of western imperialism caused a demand for modernization, self-strengthening, and defense. Sons of the traditional landlord-bureaucratic lost confidence in Confucian values and traditional institutions; this elite class was too weak to withhold foreign invasion. The sons of the gentry, soon became the most important contributors to the revolution that would rise up against the Confucius bureaucrats intellectuals. The new revolutionaries visioned not only a fortified, modern China with a powerful defense system, but also a unified country. One without “class struggle” or the unfair socio-economic differences between the impoverished masses and higher social classes. To achieve this new political vision, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921 but not with ease.
Chapter 4: China's Qing Dynasty & Its Collapse." East-Asian-History Home. Penn State. Web. 06 Apr. 2011..
Fairbank, John King. The Great Chinese Revolution 1800-1985. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1986.
It can also be argued that the political activities of Chairman Mao’s Communist China were more of a continuation of traditional Imperial China, based heavily in Confucian values, than a new type of Marxist-Leninist China, based on the Soviet Union as an archetype. While it is unquestionable that a Marxist-Leninist political structure was present in China during this time, Confucian values remained to be reinforced through rituals and were a fundamental part of the Chinese Communist ...
By 1800, China’s Qing dynasty encountered several issues such as a growing population, peasant ...
The early nineteenth century was the beginning of the Qing Dynasty’s downfall. During this century multiple issues, including economic pressures, corruption, domestic rebellions and foreign wars, challenged ...
Douglas Reynolds, China, 1898-1912: The Xinzheng Revolution and Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.
Immanuel Tsu remarked “China at 1898 stood at a turning point in history: whereas success of reform could stave off the breakup, failure could mean the extinction of dynasty.” The objective of the reform was to save China from the ever-increasing foreign imperialism. A reform was said to be successful if it could realize its goals and objectives. Even though China still faced foreign imperialism after the Hundred Days Reform, a closer look can tell us that the reform programs were quite comprehensive compared to that of Self-Strengthening Movement.
Most of the military forces in the provinces had declared independence as revolutionary forces. Due to the existence and effects of the imperialist powers carried over from the Qing Dynasty, military forces were still ruled by man, not nation or law. Lack of national integration for military forces was one of the biggest problems in China at that time.... ... middle of paper ... ...