China’s Rural Crisis: The Fall of Power The Qing dynasty ended in 1912 with a revolution; however, it had been declining for more than a century before it falls. Corruptions within the empire, population growth combined with food shortages, and the social unrest between the ethnic majority Han and the ruling Machus all contributed to Qing’s downfall. However, despite all of these internal issues, it was external pressures that caused the eventual collapse of the Qing society. Foreign imperialism showed China’s backwardness to its citizens and, in terms, heightened the already existed conflicts within China. It directly challenged the cultural nexus of power, which held China together for more than hundreds of years. This system combined the
…show more content…
Europeans were unable to produce goods more cheaply at the same level of quality to sell into the Chinese market, but they had access of silver coming from the new world (Brook 207). The trade created a new society characterized by social mobility with merchants as entrepreneurs. This reconfiguration was very much against the tradition set up of Chinese society. At the late 19th century, influx of foreign market forces hit the most vulnerable part of China 's economics on production. On one hand, foreign investors started building factories in China which pushed many people out of worker. These former workers became mobile migrants and many moved to places with concentrated populations such as Shanghai (Yeh 71). On the other hand, European introduced cheaper substitutes to the market that limited peasant’s income. The collapse of vegetable oil market system is a classic example of how British used kerosene to destroy the competitive of Chinese …show more content…
The fall of civil examination turned literati to modern intellectual. They rejected the old Confucian humanism for it no longer inspire the moralism that the government needed to represent, and turned to Western countries to model China 's development. The ideas of new nationalism quickly developed into a movement for political activism, urging people to voice their opinions. The country was divided between the politically active liberal nationalist who tried to help build a modern nation with pragmatic governance and students who were highly inspired by the Russian revolution and the communist ideas. Many of the latter students came from bougie families, but ended up joining the communists because they believed in its principles. Peasants from the countryside also took a part in the revolution, hoping to change their impoverished state. In a way, China’s rural crisis paved the way for communist expansion in China and the later state
Europeans were unable to produce goods more cheaply at the same level of quality to sell into the Chinese market, but they had access of silver coming from the new world (Brook 207). The trade created a new society characterized by social mobility with merchants as entrepreneurs. This reconfiguration was very much against the tradition set up of Chinese society. At the late 19th century, influx of foreign market forces hit the most vulnerable part of China 's economics on production. On one hand, foreign investors started building factories in China which pushed many people out of worker. These former workers became mobile migrants and many moved to places with concentrated populations such as Shanghai (Yeh 71). On the other hand, European introduced cheaper substitutes to the market that limited peasant’s income. The collapse of vegetable oil market system is a classic example of how British used kerosene to destroy the competitive of Chinese …show more content…
The fall of civil examination turned literati to modern intellectual. They rejected the old Confucian humanism for it no longer inspire the moralism that the government needed to represent, and turned to Western countries to model China 's development. The ideas of new nationalism quickly developed into a movement for political activism, urging people to voice their opinions. The country was divided between the politically active liberal nationalist who tried to help build a modern nation with pragmatic governance and students who were highly inspired by the Russian revolution and the communist ideas. Many of the latter students came from bougie families, but ended up joining the communists because they believed in its principles. Peasants from the countryside also took a part in the revolution, hoping to change their impoverished state. In a way, China’s rural crisis paved the way for communist expansion in China and the later state