History of China Since 1800 – S10: From Empire to Nation‑State

Qing National anthem: Cup Of Solid Gold (1911)

Chinese Exclusion and Making of America

Editorial cartoon “A Skeleton in His Closet”. Uncle Sam holding paper “Protest against Russian exclusion of Jewish Americans” and looking in shock at Chinese skeleton labeled “American exclusion of Chinese” in closet. Puck, 3 January 1912

Chinese exclusion acts as foundation of modern U.S. immigration laws:

Divisions between citizens and aliens
Construction of the alien as a marginal legal and social figure
New presidential and congressional power to bar and remove foreigners
Creation of border force and legal borders
Race as determining factor in distinguishing “good” immigrants
Vigilante violence as political tool for exclusion legislation

Closed door, Open Door

Open door policy:

Official US policy towards China during the first half of the 20th century
Promoting equal opportunity for international trade and commerce in China: Equal treatment within “spheres of interest” by various imperial powers
Respect for China’s administrative and territorial integrity
Motivated by desire not to be pushed out of China by other powers

Discuss: Overseas Chinese

Ging Cui, Wong Fook, and Lee Shao, three of the eight Chinese workers who put the last rail in place, 1867, Courtesy of Amon Carter Museum of American Art Archives, Fort Worth, Texas

Is “Chinese diaspora” a useful marker of identity and category of historical analysis?
How did Chinese migration change China?

Small community, outsize influence

Economic migration, mostly along European trade routes
Common experience of racism, exclusion, and discrimination
Migratory patterns shaped by domestic trends and home institutions (families, lineages, etc.)
Conveyer of ideas and technologies between China and the world

Diasporic nationalism

Chinese diaspora as identity

Nation-building in China and abroad politicized Chinese in diaspora
Status of Chinese abroad a direct result of China’s status in international system: Rise of local Chinese minority identity vs. Frustration with racism and marginalization as impetus for diasporic nationalism
Migrant as a representative of the motherland

Diasporic identity as false unity?

Diasporic institutions: native-place associations, chambers of commerce, Chinese language schools, etc.
Enduring differences in kinship, native-place loyalties, class, and political ideologies among overseas Chinese
How to define Chineseness: Cultural heritage, political status, ethnic / racial identity?
Diasporic identity not only defined in relation to Chinese nation-state, but also embedded in transnational institutions, flows, and connections

Key Questions

How and why did the Qing fall in 1911? Road from reform to revolution
Was the Xinhai Revolution a “failure”?
Remembering 1911: What meaning does it hold for contemporary China and Taiwan?

Tokyo: Revolutionary Incubator

Kang Youwei: In Pursuit of “Grand Unity”

Leader of Hundred Days Reform
Loyalist, constitutional monarchy
“Grand Commonality”: global utopia of human equality and solidarity
Blend of Confucianism, Buddhism, liberalism, utopianism and socialism/communism

Discuss: Zhang Taiyan’s Letter (1903)

Zhang Binglin (1869-1936), art name Zhang Taiyan

Why did Zhang Taiyan oppose Kang Youwei’s Views on Revolution?
“Although nationalism was a firmly rooted potentiality even among primitive peoples in ancient times, it began to develop only as we approached modern times.” Is this a contradiction?
Why is revolution necessary? What should be the first step?

Liang Qichao: Seeking “Chinese nation”

Fear of revolution greater than distrust of Qing
Revolution as a recipe for disorder; constitutionalism as a source of progress
“Chinese nation (zhonghua minzu)”: Narrow nationalism of ethnically pure Han vs. Greater nationalism
Nation-state as the only effective unit of struggle in social Darwinist world

Sun Yat-sen: Founding Father of the Revolution

Born in Guangdong, educated in Hong Kong and Honolulu
1894: Founding of the Revive China Society in Honolulu.
- “Expel Manchus, restore China, and establish a united government”
- Failed armed revolts in Guangzhou, Huizhou in 1895
1896: Advocacy abroad; kidnap in London
1905: Founding of the Revolutionary Alliance in Tokyo

Discuss: Three People’s Principles (1906)

Let us pause to consider for moment: where is the nation? Where is the political power? Actually, we are already a people without a nation! The population of the globe is only one billion, several hundred million; we Han, being 400 million, comprise one-fourth of that population. Our nation is the most populous, most ancient, and most civilized in the world, yet today we are a lost nation. Isn’t that enormously bizarre?… Certainly, once we Han unite, our power will be thousands of times greater than theirs, and the success of the nationalist revolution will be assured.

Discuss: Three People’s Principles (1906), continued

On the other hand, I have heard claims that the nationalist revolution is aimed at exterminating the Manchus as a people. This is utterly mistaken. The reason for the nationalist revolution is our unwillingness to let the Manchu extinguish our nation and dominate us politically, and our determination to restore our nation by liquidating their regime. Thus, we do not hate the Manchus per se, but only those Manchus who are harming the Han…

Discuss: Three People’s Principles (1906), continued

In short, the objective of our revolution is to promote the well-being of our people as a whole. Because we are unwilling to let a small number of Manchus enjoy all the privileges, we want a nationalist revolution. Because we do not want one man, the monarch, to enjoy all the privileges, we want a political revolution. And because we do not want a small number of rich people to enjoy all the privileges, we want a social revolution. Anything short of these three revolutions will not fulfill our original aims. When they have been accomplished, our nation of China will be a most perfect nation.

Discuss: Three People’s Principles (1906), continued

As to the future constitution of the Republic of China, I propose that we introduce a new principle, that of the “five separate powers. […] Under this system, there will be two other powers in addition to the three powers [legislative, executive, and judicial] just discussed. One is the examination power. Citizens have the right to freedom and equality, and officials are public servants of the citizenry. […] Therefore, the future constitution of the Republic of China must provide for an independent branch expressly responsible for civil service examinations. Furthermore, all officials, however high their rank, must undergo examinations in order to determine their qualifications. […] The other power is the supervisory power, responsible for monitoring matters involving impeachment. […] With this added to the four powers already discussed, there will be five separate powers.

Discuss: Three People’s Principles (1906)

Sun Yat-sen with members of the Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmenghui) in Singapore, 1907

How did Sun Yat-sen define nationalism?
Why are the Chinese “a people without a nation”? Whose nation?
What are the three revolutions
What is the objective of the revolution? Who is the enemy?
What is the principle of “five separate powers”?

After Rebellion, a New Revival

Year	Reform
1902	Directions for new schools
1903	Overseas study program launched
1904	Plan for establishing military academy
1905	End of imperial exam; Ministry of Education established

Chronology of New Policies

Year	Reform
1906	New ministries – law, army, civil affairs, etc. – established; Officials sent abroad to study constitutional reforms
1907	Preparations for central advisory council and provincial consultative bureaus
1908	Outline of the Imperial Constitution
1909	Provincial elections for consultative bureaus
1910	Advisory council inaugurated
1911	First cabinet formed

New Policies: Administrative Reforms

Rise of modern, activist, and fiscally efficient state
Bureaucracy streamlined: Six Boards replaced by cabinet ministries
New ministries: Trade, Education, Interior, Posts and Communication, etc.
New sales tax on consumer goods; provincial revenue contributions
Nationalization of profitable industries, mines, shipping lines

New Policies: Legal Reforms

Procession of Board of Justice Officials

Translation of Western legal texts
Synthesizing Western law and Chinese tradition
End of collective responsibility and cruel punishments
New institituional structure: Ministry of Justice, Imperial Supreme Court
New laws: criminal code, company law, citizenship (nationality by bloodline), etc.

New Policies: Military Reforms

Creating centralized modern army to supplant Eight Banners and remnants of Taiping regional militia
1903: Commission on Military Reorganization
Creation of Beiyang Army – first national army and China’s strongest military force
Rise of Yuan Shikai (1859-1916) and key warlords of early Republican era

New Policies: End of Imperial Examination

Abolished in 1905
End of traditional pathway to official service for over a millennium
Establishment of Western-curriculum schools in all localities
Modern school diploma replaced exam degree as credential for official service and social mobility

New Policies: Constitutional Reforms

Constitutional reform gathering in Guangxi

1905-1906: Overseas tour and study of political systems
1907: Commission to Study Constitutional Government established
1908: “Principles of the Constitution”, elected assemblies on local (1908) and provincial (1909) levels
1910: Provisional National Assembly convened in Beijing

Rethinking New Policy Reforms

Fin-de-siècle Qing: Not simply weak, corrupt, or “destined” to collapse
New Policy reforms laid the foundation of modern Chinese states
Rethinking the teleology of revolution: Was the end of Qing “inevitable”?

Discuss: Causes of Xinhai Revolution

Was there a trade-off between stability and reform?
Was it possible to pursue the latter without risking the former?
Why did the Qing collapse?

Tocqueville Paradox?

The regime that a revolution destroys is almost always better than the one that immediately preceded it, and experience teaches that the most dangerous time for a bad government is usually when it begins to reform.

The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856)

Road to Revolution: Railway Protection Movement

Qing attempt to nationalize all railways using foreign loans
Take-over of local railway ventures: Chuanhan (Sichuan-Hubei) and Yuehan (Guangdong-Hubei) railways
Outcry among gentry in the four provinces
Grew to national movement for railway rights retention, followed by armed revolts starting in Sichuan

Imperial Twilight

Date	Event
1911-10-10	Wuchang uprising
1911-12-29	Sun Yat-sen elected as provisional president
1912-01-01	Founding of the Republic of China (ROC)
1912-02-12	Abdication of Emperor Xuantong
1912-03-10	Yuan Shikai inaugurated as president
1912-03-01	Provisional constitution of the ROC