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Beginning in the mid-70s Japan expanded its influence in Korea.  China tried to support Korea but this led to political and military conflict with Japan. 

In the mid-80s a treaty was completed between the Manchu Dynasty and Japan. Both nations agreed to stay out of Korea. 

A religious rebellion in Korea forced the Korean King to request assistance from the Qing Emperor.  Japan objected to the intervention.  This resulted in the Sino/Japanese war of 1895.  This was an overwhelming victory for Japan.  China ceded to Japan, Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands, and the Southern portion of the Liaoning Peninsula in China.  Russia, France and Germany, however, soon thereafter intervened (a/k/a Triple Intervention) and forced Japan to return Liaoning Peninsula to China. 

In 1900, the Boxer Sect rebelled in China.  This was an anti-foreigner, xenophobic uprising.  An eight-nation coalition was needed to suppress the uprising.   These last two events further proved that the Manchus were unable to cope with the challenges of the time.    

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Emperor Guangxu succeeded the deceased Emperor Tongzhi.  Tongzhi died without issue.  Guangxu was the three-year old cousin to the deceased Emperor.  The Empress Dowager was the new, young Emperor's principal Regent. Late in his reign, he tried to implement sweeping, radical political and cultural reforms to China.  The Empress Dowager prevented that.  Instead she had him arrested and effectively imprisoned him for the remainder of his life.

China and Japan tussled again.  This time it was over Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.  Japan took aggressive measures, and China lost the Ryukyu Islands to Japan.  Had it not been for diplomatic intervention by the English and the Americans, China would have lost Taiwan then too.

In 2008, an autopsy revealed that the Emperor Gaungxu died from arsenic poisoning.  This had long been rumored.

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After relative peace had finally arrived in China, the Manchus began a set of modernizing reforms. The reforms are commonly known as the self-strengthening phase or also known as the Tongzhi Restoration (named for the current Emperor).

Successful implementation of the right reforms might steer China into a better direction and help ensure its prosperity.  The reforms were both internal and external.  She relied to some extent on Western ideas and concepts, as Japan had done.

In the 1870s Japan began to reach out to China.  The two nations agreed to a treaty with each other in 1871.  It was a basic non-aggression and trade pact. 

In 1875, the Emperor Tongzhi died at the young age of nineteen.  He is remembered for little during his short life and reign.  He died without leaving an heir.

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By the 1860s the Qing Dynasty had started to threaten the Taiping rebels’ stronghold at Nanjing.  The Western powers inside China, grew weary and distrustful of the Taipings.  They intervened militarily against the Taiping and helped to defeat them and end the rebellion. The Nian rebellion ended as well.

The Emperor Xian Feng died in 1861.  Before he died he named his five-year old son to succeed him.   He would become the Emperor Tongzhi.  One of the late Emperor’s concubines, Cixi (a/k/a The Empress Dowager and the mother of the five-year old), orchestrated a coup d’tete against the boy’s advisors. She became the de-facto Emperor of the Dynasty for the next fifty years. She would rule China from behind the curtain. 

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The incident beginning the Second Opium War is shrouded in contested facts and mystery.  It was alleged that in 1856, Chinese officials boarded a ship called the Arrow. The officials arrested and removed several Chinese that were alleged to be involved in the opium trade. The French claimed at that same time that they were offended by the murder of a French missionary in 1856. 

As a result, the English and the French began joint military operations.  In 1858, the allied forces reached Peking and forced the Chinese into negotiations. The parties met at Tianjin and worked out the treaty bearing the city's name.  Eleven more seaports would be opened.  Permanent foreign embassies were allowed in Peking. China agreed to pay a large indemnity.  Opium and the coolie trade were legalized. 

The next summer the Allies returned to ratify the treaty. The Emperor, however, prevented them from going to Peking. So in 1860, a much larger allied force pressed their way into Peking.  Again the Manchus were at the negotiating table.  The Convention of Peking Agreement resulted and it was agreed the 1858 treaty would be obeyed.

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The terms of the Treaty of Nanjing were: Hong Kong ceded to the English, and pay the English an indemnity.  They also agreed to four additional seaports for trade. A year later, a supplemental treaty was agreed by the same parties, Treaty of the Bogue. This gave English citizens the rights to extra-territoriality.

The Americans signed their own treaty with the Qing Dynasty. It is known as the Treaty of Wangxia (1844).  It gave the Americans the same treatment as the English.

The Emperor Daoguang died in 1850.  His successor was the Emperor Xian Feng. He is probably most associated with the seminal event in the Dynasty’s history, the Taiping Rebellion.

The rebellion would take the Dynasty fourteen years to stop. The new feature of this rebellion was its leader - Hong Xiuquan. He preached that he was the son of God. He wanted to establish a Kingdom of God.

By 1853, the rebels established their Kingdom at Nanjing. Despite their early success and momentum, they stalled at Nanjing.  Initially the English and the French were neutral toward the rebels.  They only requested that the treaty ports be unaffected. 

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The new Emperor's name was Daoguang.  His reign began the onslaught into China of Western imperialism and colonialism.  This period begins the era of unequal treaties.

From 1810 to 1838, opium imports into China went from 4,500 chests each year to 40,000 chests. The Emperor appointed an opium commissioner.  He was to eradicate opium from China, and prosecute anyone involved in its trade. This marks the beginning of the opium wars. There would be two of them. 

In 1839, 1,700 opium dealers were arrested.  20,000 chests of opium that were stored at Canton were also confiscated and destroyed.  Later that same year, in an unrelated event, several drunken Western soldiers killed a Chinese villager. Despite repeated requests from the Chinese, the English refused to turn over the assailants to the Chinese.

In 1840, in response, the English sent military forces to China. The English quickly captured Canton and many other cities, secured the Pearl River and the Hong Kong area. The Chinese were no match for the military superiority of the English.  The Chinese sued for peace.  Both sides agreed to the Treaty of Nanking (1842).

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It is high noon for the Qing Dynasty.  China was in pitiful condition on many fronts.

Emperor Jiaqing had to deal with a rebellion spread out over three provinces.  It was known as the White Lotus Rebellion. It lasted ten years from 1794 to 1804. Another unrelated rebellion was with the Miao people in the rugged mountain areas of Hunan and Guizhou provinces. It took the Manchu government ten years to suppress.

The population explosion of the 18th century now became a burden.  It was clear China could not continue to absorb the population. Pressures began on the food distribution system. The Yellow River flooded and silted and blocked the Grand Canal.

The Emperor was attacked and nearly killed by street mob in 1803. A family member tried to kill him about ten years after that.

Opium imports into China exploded. The West finally found something the Chinese would buy in quantities.   

In 1816, England sent another diplomatic trade emissary mission to China. Lord William Amherst was the ambassador. The purpose of the mission was to reopen diplomatic negotiations with China. It again failed. The Emperor died in 1820.

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I want to discuss a little about the Manchu influence, women, gender issues, families, culture and fashion, trade, and population.

The Ming or Han Chinese encouraged foot binding in females. For Manchu females it was never practiced and was forbidden.   A smartly appearing Ming (Han) Chinese male would wear his hair in a top knot. But for a Qing (Manchu) male he would shave his forehead except for the back of his head from which he would grow long hair or a braided queue.

The accepted conservative opinion is that the population exploded during the first half of the 17th century.  The population doubled by the 19th century to over 300M.

Prior to the Qing Dynasty, the only trade connections China had with foreigners were tribute missions rather than full-scale trade for commercial purposes.  European tea consumption, demand, and import soared during the early 18th century, and was paid for with silver. A huge trade imbalance grew between China and its trading partners.  It was into this imbalance or vacuum that opium appears. By 1735, English traders stated opium was everywhere. This had enormous consequences in the 19th century.

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Qianlong referred to himself as “old man of the ten completed great campaigns”.  He was referring to his military exploits. Some of the great campaigns he was referring were disasters for China and him. He was everywhere, North, South, East, and West.  Some of these military expeditions exceeded geographical distances accomplished by Napoleon's famous march on Russia.

Heshen was a Manchu guardsman that befriended and impressed Qianlong.  He eventually became a Dynasty manager for the Emperor.

Late in Qianlong’s reign, in 1792, King George III of England sent Earl George McCartney to China seeking a treaty. The English wanted a trade agreement with China and a permanent embassy in Peking. The English ambassador, however, refused to kowtow in front of the Emperor Qianlong.  All the English demands were denied. 

Qianlong retired on Chinese New Year in 1796.  He did this because he did not want to overshadow the reign of his grandfather Kangxi. He appointed one of his sons to succeed him.  The Emperor died in 1799.

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