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China EMERGENCE OF MODERN CHINA
The success of the Qing dynasty in maintaining the old order
proved a liability when the empire was confronted with growing
challenges from seafaring Western powers. The centuries of peace
and self-satisfaction dating back to Ming times had encouraged
little change in the attitudes of the ruling elite. The imperial
Neo-Confucian scholars accepted as axiomatic the cultural
superiority of Chinese civilization and the position of the empire
at the hub of their perceived world. To question this assumption,
to suggest innovation, or to promote the adoption of foreign ideas
was viewed as tantamount to heresy. Imperial purges dealt severely
with those who deviated from orthodoxy.
By the nineteenth century, China was experiencing growing
internal pressures of economic origin. By the start of the century,
there were over 300 million Chinese, but there was no industry or
trade of sufficient scope to absorb the surplus labor. Moreover,
the scarcity of land led to widespread rural discontent and a
breakdown in law and order. The weakening through corruption of the
bureaucratic and military systems and mounting urban pauperism also
contributed to these disturbances. Localized revolts erupted in
various parts of the empire in the early nineteenth century. Secret
societies, such as the White Lotus sect in the north and the Triad
Society in the south, gained ground, combining anti-Manchu
subversion with banditry.
Data as of July 1987
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