Chapter 4

Section 4
China 1896-1916
1. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.
i. China was desperate after the Self-Strengthening movement.
ii. A series of floods and droughts had brought starvation to millions of peasants.
iii. When the reforms failed, the people blamed the foreigners and Qings.
iv. When the Boxer Rising was over, China signed the treaty Boxer Protocol (1901).
v. Sun Yixian was born in 1866
vi. Sun Yixian died in 1925.
vii. He was born in a pleasant family.
viii. People were rioting about the railway in Sichuan.
ix. Yuan Shikai was the president of the new state.
x. The fate of China rested on General Yuan Shikai.
2. Write the answer of the following questions in short.
i. Why was China desperate?
Answer: China was desperate because of many things such as:- The failure of the
Self-Strengthening Movement, The defeat by Japan and The continuous seizing of concessions
by the foreigners. The Qing Dynasty being corrupted, The old backward looking officials were in
charge everywhere and Floods and Droughts in 1890’s made millions of peasants starve.
Everything together made China desperate.

ii. What brought starvation to peasants?

Answer: In 1890, A series of Flood and Drought brought the peasants to starvation.

iii. Why did the empress seize the control of the Government?
Answer: The Empress seized the control of the Government because they saw that these
reforms would take away their jobs and power, they didn’t want any chances but they did want
the foreigners out of their country.

iv. What is the Boxers?

Answer: The Boxers was the secret society of some people, which was determined to
overthrow their enemies.

v. Why was the Boxers formed?

Answer: They were formed to overthrow their enemies with determination.

vi. Why did the empress offer to help the country's people?
Answer: The Empress offered to help the country people because they wanted the people to
support the Qings and drive out the foreigners.

vii. What is the Boxer Protocol?

Answer: When the Boxers rising was over, China was forced to sign a humiliating treated
named Boxer Protocol.
viii. What is Tongmeng Hui?
Answer: Tongmeng Hui was a secret revolutionary society which was organized by Sun Yixian.

ix. Who was the leader of Tongmeng Hui?

Answer: Sun Yixian was the leader of the Tongmeng Hui.

x. Who was the president of the new state?

Answer: Yuan Shikai was the president of the new state.

xi. Why was the Qings still powerful?

Answer: The Qings were still powerful because they controlled most of the army.

xii. Why was yuan Shikai so important for China?

Answer:Yuan Shikai was really important to China because, He was the army general, and had
the fate of China to decide whether the army would fight for the Manzhous or the
revolutionaries.

xiii. How did China become a republic?

Answer: When General Yuan Shikai agreed to bring the army to the revolutionary side, The
Qing emperor gave up his throne, the Qing Dynasty ended and China became republic.

xiv. Why did the generals leave Yuan Shikai?

Answer: The generals left Yuan Shikai because when he tasted power, he wanted more and
more. He borrowed money form the foreign banks to build up his army and make his officials
stronger. And he also organized corrupted elections to give himself more power and planned
himself to make the emperor. This was too much for his generals and the people that’s why they
left him.

3. Write the answer of the following questions in short.

i. Mention some of the reforms of the late 19th century.
Answer: In the last years of the 19th century some scholars realized that China could learn
from the West. The most important of these were Kang Youwei and his pupil, Liang Qichao.
They managed to persuade the Emperor Guangxu to introduce some reforms. The main ones
were:
modern schools and universities with both Chinese and western subjects
the abolition of the many unnecessary posts among officials;
new laws, especially against corruption; better industry, commerce and farming.

ii. How did the Boxer armies trap the western diplomats?
Answer: In 1900 the Boxer armies marched through northern China, killing foreigners and
destroying their property. Finally they trapped the western diplomats in their legations in Beijing,
but quickly an army of western soldiers captured the city. The Boxer Rising was over, and once
again China was forced to sign a humiliating treaty called the Boxer Protocol (1901). This said
that China must pay for all of the damage and must execute or punish the leaders of the Boxers.
In addition foreign soldiers were to be stationed in the main cities.

iii. What reforms did the government try to bring in the first years of the 20th
century?
Answer: In the first years of the 20th century the government did try to bring in some reforms by
changing the education system, by abolishing the old civil service examinations and by
modernizing the army under General Yuan Shikai. But it was too late.

iv. What were the aims of Sun Xiang?

Answer: Sun Yixian was born in a peasant family but studied in Hong Kong, America and
Europe. His aims were: to make China free of the rule of Manzhous and foreigners;

to make China a democratic republic.

to give everyone land and a fair wage.

v. Why did Yuan agree to bring the army to the revolutionary side?
Answer: General Yuan Shikai agreed to bring the army to the revolutionary side because if the
Qing emperor would give up the throne. He would become president of the republic instead of
Sun Yixian. So the Qing Dynasty ended and China became a republic. But still few of the
reforms had been put into practice.

vi. Evaluate the presidency of Yuan Shikai.

Answer: When Yuan Shikai tasted power, he wanted more. He borrowed money from foreign
banks to build up his army and make his officials stronger, he organized corrupt elections to give
himself more power, and finally he planned to make himself emperor. This was too much for
many people, and especially his generals. They left him, and he died soon afterwards. Then
began yet another desperate period (1916-27) for China as the warlords and generals all fought
one another for power.