1.

China’s Century of
Humiliation (1839-1949)

1
During Century of Humiliation
1. Opium wars. Britain had trade deficit with China &
sold opium after 1800 to balance trade account
2. China opposed opium so Britain attacked in 1841
3. The defeat of China in the 1841-1860 Opium wars
led to more than 70 foreign treaty ports
4. Many countries gained territory by imposing
“unequal treaties” on China, including USA

2
 During Century of Humiliation

Jan. 7, 1841, Canton, The Nemesis, an E.I.C ship, attacked Chinese ships.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/global-britain-was-built-as-a-narco-empire 3
 Opium Imports Rapidly Increased

https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR2008_100years_drug_control_origins.pdf 4
Opium Dens Distributed Drugs

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Over 70 Treaty Ports by 19 Countries

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 21 Unequal Treaties Imposed, 1842-1933
1. 21 Treaties imposed by English Name
1 Treaty of Nanking
Year
1842
Imposer
Britain
Chinese
南京條約
2 Treaty of the Bogue 1843 Britain 虎門條約
19 countries 3 Treaty of Wanghia 1844 USA 中美望廈條約
4 Treaty of Whampoa 1844 France 黃埔條約
5 Treaty of Canton 1847 Sweden, Norway 中瑞廣州條約

➢ Britain (8) 6 Treaty of Kulja 1851 Russia

中俄伊犁塔爾巴哈臺
通商章程
7 Treaty of Aigun 1858 Russia 璦琿條約

➢ Russia (7)
8 Treaty of Tientsin 1858 Britain, France, Russia, USA 天津條約
9 Convention of Peking 1860 Britain, France, Russia 北京條約
10 Chefoo Convention 1876 Britain 煙臺條約
Treaty of Saint

➢ France (6)
11 Petersburg 1881 Russia 伊犁條約

12 Treaty of Tientsin (1885) 1885 France 中法新約

Sino-Portuguese Treaty

➢ USA (3)
13 of Peking 1887 Portugal 中葡北京條約

Treaty of Shimonoseki
14 (Treaty of Maguan) 1895 Japan 馬關條約
15 Li–Lobanov Treaty 1896 Russia 中俄密約

➢ Japan (3) Convention for the

Extension of Hong Kong
16 Territory 1898 Britain 展拓香港界址專條

2. 1844 USA-China Treaty Treaty of Kwangchow

17 Wan [fr] 1899 France
Britain,
廣州灣租界條約

USA, Japan, Russia, France,

granted US citizens Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain
, Netherlands, Austro-
18 Boxer Protocol 1901 Hungaria 辛丑條約

extraterritoriality 19 Simla Accord

20 Twenty-One Demands
1914
1915
Britain
Japan
西姆拉條約
二十一條
21 Tanggu Truce 1933 Japan 塘沽協定 7
 Foreign powers carving up
China (1898)

Queen Victoria of Britain

Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany

Nicholas II of Russia

French Marianne

Japanese samurai

Ching official is powerless

8
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/image/imperialism-cartoon-1898
1860 Britain Destroyed Summer Palace
1. The Summer Palace was attacked again in 1900

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Foreign Soldiers in Beijing Boxer Rebellion, 1900-1901

Britain, USA, Japan, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, Austro-Hungarian empire soldiers 10
Loss of 10 Tributary States 1863-1931
Lost Tribute States & Territories
Territory Gained Lost Victor
1 Cambodia 616 1863 France
2 Ryukyu Islands 1372 1879 Japan
3 Vietnam 938 1882 France
4 Burma 1106 1885 Britain
5 Laos 1400 1893 France
6 Formosa/Taiwan 1683 1895 Japan
7 Korea 918 1896 Japan
8 Tibet 1720 1911 Tibet
9 Outer Mongolia 618 1912 Mongolia
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10 Manchuria 1636 1931 Japan
Japan Annexed Ryukyu Islands in 1879
1. Ryukyus consists of 55 islands from Japan to Taiwan

Korea
Japan

China

Formosa
12
Maritime Ryukyu, 1050–1650, November 30, 2018, by Gregory Smits
Summary: Century of Humiliation
1. Loss of internal territorial sovereignty (treaty ports)
2. Loss of many tributary states
3. Opium trade corrupted society
4. Missionaries ideas destabilized social order
5. Rebellions against regime (Taiping & Boxers)
6. Loss of national pride
7. Imperial system collapsed in 1911
8. Result: 1912-1949 chaos, civil war, Japanese
invasion
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2. American Humiliations
of China

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 American “Humiliations” of China
1. Americans joined China opium trade after 1776
2. 1844. USA-China Treaty allowed 5 treaty ports, US
missionaries, extraterritoriality, etc.
3. 1882-1943. Chinese exclusion act banned Chinese
immigration to US
4. 1900-1901. US Marines invaded Beijing to fight Boxer
Rebellion (which was against Western Imperialism)
5. 1906-1943. The US Court for China in Shanghai had
jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters
6. 1918 Treaty of Versailles. German concessions in
China given to Japan (created May 4th Movement) 15
 American “Humiliations” of China
7. 1945 Yalta Conference. Roosevelt conceded
Manchuria to USSR -- negating promises to China
8. 1949. US cut diplomatic relations with China
9. Taiwan (ROC) held UN seat 1950-71, Not PRC*
10. US allowed post-1945 French retaking of Indochina,
then aided France against Vietnam
11. Korean War. Macarthur ignored China’s warnings…
12. 1961-73. Vietnam-US war. USA colonialism against
a historical “tributary” state
*1945 mainland China population estimated at 526 million, Taiwan population 6 million. China pop. 88 times higher.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12292595/#:~:text=Migration%20to%20Taiwan%20occurred%20after,to%20be%20about%202.201%20million.
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American Humiliations of
China in Century of
Humiliation

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1844 US-China Unequal Treaty

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Chinese Exclusion
Act 1882-1943

The CEA adopted

38 years after
Treaty of Wangxia.

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First Immigration Restriction Targeted Chinese

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US Marines in Forbidden City, Beijing, 1900-1901

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Treaties Allowed Missionaries Access
1. Missionaries taught God is supreme, not emperor

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USA demands “Open Door” while China divided by
Germany, Italy, England, Austria, Russia, France.

Punch, Aug 23, 1899.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Door_Policy#/media/File:Putting_his_foot_down.jpg
USA demands “Open Door” while China divided by
Germany, Italy, England, Austria, Russia, France.

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Philippines Are Stepping Stone to China (1900)

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/ushistory2ay/chapter/1898-2/ 25
Americans in Opium Trade (after 1776)
1. Charles Cabot
2. Caleb Cushing
3. John Jacob Astor (Astoria, Oregon)
4. Warren Delano (FDR’s father)
5. Francis B. Forbes (John Forbes Kerry’s Grandfather)
6. Thomas H. Perkins

Source: American Merchants and the China Opium Trade, 1800-1840. Jacques
M. Downs. The Business History Review. Vol. 42, No. 4 (Winter, 1968), pp. 418-
442 (25 pages) 26
 Movies depicting era of Chinas Humiliation

55 Days At Peking The Sand Pebbles

(1900, made 1963) (1920s, made 1966)

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American Humiliations of
China Since 1993

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7/26/1993. US Congress Opposed 2000 Summer
Olympics in China (Australia selected by IOC)

https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-resolution/188/text 29
 8/28/1993. Yinhe Incident
银河 = “Milky Way”

1. US demanded to inspect Chinese ship in the Indian Ocean

2. US alleged ship was carrying dangerous chemicals
3. US prevented docking: ship was at sea 24 days
4. 8/1993 ship inspection revealed NO CHEMICALS
5. China demanded formal apology and $13 million in
damages -- US refused to apologize to China
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-06-mn-32214-story.html(银河 Milky Way) 30
1999 Bombing of Belgrade Chinese Embassy
1. US B2 hit Embassy with 5 GPS-guided smart bombs
2. 3 Chinese killed, over 20 injured
3. Most Chinese believe attack was deliberate

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China Memorializes 3 Belgrade “Martyrs”
1. Dead journalists home made memorial hall
2. Home town renamed after Chinese dead
3. Belgrade “humiliation” is remembered annually

Xu Xinghu and Zhu Ying Hall

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1148889.shtml 32
2001 Collision of US Spy plane over SCS
1. Collision downed EP-3 near Hainan Island
2. PLA pilot Wang Wei died, became PRC “martyr”
3. President Bush apologized, twice

Lt. Cmdr. Wang Wei

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 1. Feb. 3/2020. WSJ published opinion piece entitled "China
is the Real Sick Man of Asia“
2. More than 50 WSJ staff in China criticized the coverage
and urged management to apologize
3. The expression… is considered by Chinese people to be
a derogatory reference closely linked to the 100 years of
national humiliation brought about by colonialism.
4. China Daily said: “It's simply racist and offensive. …This
is not about editorial independence … It is about the
mistaken choice of a headline that was deeply offensive
to many people, not just in China."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/25/WS5e54e570a31012821727a36a.html 34
3. Century of Humiliation:
Foundation of New
Chinese Nationalism

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1990s. Nationalism Replaced Marxism as the
CCP Core Ideology
“Nobody understands Marxism… The ideals of
the past don't exist any more.
So it is right to turn to nationalism. It is the
means by which the party can maintain its
system and ideology.” (and control)

Li Rui,
former secretary of Mao Zedong, 2005

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/17/china.japan 36
Implications: Century of Humiliation
1. Nationalism has replaced communism as state ideology
2. Distrust of foreign governments intentions
3. Rejection of Western interference on human rights
4. Anti-foreign sentiment supports CCP/PRC nationalism
5. Increased political/military assertiveness
6. “Grievance-based Nationalism” increases desire for
future vengeance or vindication
7. Desire to “make China great again” through national
rejuvenation

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“Never forget national humiliation.”勿忘国耻

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“Never forget national humiliation.”勿忘国耻

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“Never forget national humiliation.”勿忘国耻

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“Never forget national humiliation.”勿忘国耻

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