East Asia: Center of the World - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 292

railway companies, merchants, and missionaries. The
vast interior of China was now open to foreign commer-
cialization and exploitation. Western gunboats patrolled
China' s rivers and Western soldiers guarded settlements.
Then the Empress Dowager returned to Beijing, took up
her role as empress, and began to negotiate with the for-
eigners. Many Chinese now began to seriously consider
the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty .
The Empress Dowager entertained Western diplomats,
promised to outlaw foot-binding, permitted Manchus to
marry Chinese, and abolished the state examinations that
had supplied the Imperial Civil Service for 2,000 years. She
sent military officers to train with the Japanese who had
just won the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). But it was
too late for the “Old Buddha,” as she was known in the
north. Ci Xi died in 1908 as did her nephew , her heir and
the new emperor. His successor was the two-year-old
Pu-yi, whose father became Regent. The Manchu Dynasty
was near its end. A modern revolution was at hand.

Amur-
Russia 1858

T reaty ports by 1887
Areas ceded to foreign powers
Boundaries of Qing c. 1900

L.
Baikal

Korea-
Japan 1895

L. Balkash Russia 1898

Japan 1905

Dzungaria-
Russia 1847

Britain 1898
Germany 1898

Britain
1842 &
1898 Taiwan-

Japan 1895 Burma-

Britain 1886

France 1898

T Tonkin-
France 1885

0
0

400 800 mi

400 800 km

Figure 10-16
The Qing (Manchu) Empire in the nineteenth century . This map
shows the extent of the Qing Empire including areas that paid
tribute to China. It also shows treaty ports and other areas
forcibly ceded to foreign powers in the era of Imperialism.

Asia's First Nationalist:
Sun Y at-sen

Sun Yat-sen was born of a peasant family in 1866. He at-
tended a mission school in Hawaii and became a Christian.
He then studied at Hong Kong Medical School and gradu-
ated as a doctor in 1892. In 1895, he joined a revolutionary
group, but this ended with the arrest and execution of most
of his compatriots. Sun spent the next 16 years in exile try-
ing to gain support for the liberation of China. He founded
the Nationalist Party (known as the Kuomintang) to pro-
mote democracy , nationalism, and equalization of land
rights. His efforts made him known around the world.
Between 1908 and 1911, the Manchus encouraged
European firms to build new railroads. This policy infu-
riated the people of Sichuan and a peasant revolt ensued
on October 10, 1910, later referred to as the Double
T Tenth. Revolution spread to central and southern China.
Sun Yat-sen returned from abroad and was quickly
elected as provisional president. He proclaimed a Chi-
nese Republic on January 1, 1912. But Sun Yat-sen
stepped down after six weeks in favor of a powerful war-
lord whom the Manchu regent had named as successor.
In 1910, Japan annexed Korea and in 1914 seized
Shandong and extended its influence in Manchuria.
Rebellions broke out in practically all regions of China as
warlords fought one another for territorial gain. Inter-
minable military campaigns ruined the harvests, causing
widespread starvation and suffering.

the Russians as their friends. A secret treaty was signed
giving the Russians rights to build railroads across
Manchuria as far as Vladivostok.
After the T Treaty of Shimonoseki concessions, there
was a torrent of requests for land, mining rights, and
other trade deals. The Germans took territories in Shan-
dong in 1897, Russia took Dalian the following year, and
France claimed Guangxi as a French sphere of influence.
Britain wanted control of the Yangzi and a region north
of Hong Kong known as the New T Territories.
Most Chinese wanted the foreigners to disappear
and were prone to support a secret anti-foreigner society
called The League of Harmonious Fists—the Boxers. The
Boxers were also anti-Christian and believed themselves
to be invincible to bullets. Efforts at reform by the
Manchu government were dismissed by the Boxers.
The country was in a state of disruption and distress
worsened by Huang He floods. In 1900, the Boxers en-
tered the capital and stormed the foreign legations. After
55 days of siege an international relief force arrived. The
Empress Dowager fled in a cart to Xian, leaving the Im-
perial Palace open to looters.
Once again, the foreign powers humiliated China
with war reparations. Scores of new treaty ports fell
firmly into the hands of foreign bankers, shipping and