Modern China

Now in a fully updated edition, this accessible text provides a balanced history of modern China in a global context. Through years of living and research in China, Taiwan, Japan, and Russia, the authors are deeply qualified to understand China's internal dynamics as well as its foreign relations over centuries. Arguing that modern Chinese history cannot be understood without a deep appreciation of the outside factors that have influenced the country, the authors focus on China's near neighbors, especially Japan and Russia. They also emphasize the tragic role of almost endless warfare throughout Chinese history. Providing a unique comparative approach, the authors bridge the cultural divide separating Chinese history from Western readers trying to understand it. Specifically geared to the teaching requirements of the semester system, the book is divided into four parts and a total of twenty-eight chapters, corresponding either to two chapters per week in a fourteen-week semester or one chapter per week in a two-semester course.

Bruce A. Elleman is William V. Pratt Professor of International History in the Maritime History Department, Center for Naval Warfare Studies, U.S. Naval War College.

List of Maps
List of Features
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Photographs
Preface
Acknowledgments
Technical Note
Introduction: A Cultural Framework for Understanding China
Top-Down Characteristics: Confucianism, Militarism, Legalism, and Sinification
Radial Characteristics: Sinocentrism, Barbarian Management, and the Provincial System
Bottom-Up Characteristics: Daoism, Buddhism, and Poetry
Cyclical Elements: Yin and Yang, the Dynastic Cycle, and Historical Continuity
Retrospective Elements: Fate and the Sources of Knowledge
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
PART I: THE CREATION AND MATURATION OF AN EMPIRE, 1644-1842
1 The Creation of the Qing Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty
The Qing Conquest of Ming China: Nurgaci and His Successors
Grafting the Manchus onto Han China under the Shunzhi Emperor
Territorial Consolidation under the Kangxi Emperor
Institutional Consolidation under the Yongzheng Emperor
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
2 The Maximization of Empire under the Qianlong Emperor
The Conquest of the Zunghar Mongols
The Conquest of the Tarim Basin and Tibet
Qing Imperial Administration: The Tributary System
Domestic Administration: Central and Local Government
The Economy of an Empire: Agriculture, Commerce, and Taxation
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
3 Chinese Society at the Zenith of the Qing Dynasty
Manchu and Han Society
The Four Social Groups: Scholars, Peasants, Artisans, and Merchants
The Legal System
Confucianism as an Ideology
Shamanism, Confucianism, and Buddhism as Instruments of Manchu Rule
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
4 The Foundations of Knowledge
Fidelity to the Past
The Confucian Classics
Thinking by Historical Analogy
Understanding the Natural World
The Examination System
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
5 The Arrival of the West
Early Explorers
The Maritime Advance: Portugal, Spain, Holland, and England
The Continental Advance: Russia
The Legal and Religious Sources of Cultural Conflict
The Technological Revolution
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
6 Systemic Crisis and Dynastic Decline
Government Corruption and Manchu Decadence
Population Growth, Ethnic Tensions, and the Miao Revolt
The White Lotus Rebellion and the Eight Trigrams Revolt
Imperial Overextension
Qing Attempts to Restore Governmental Efficacy
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
7 Expanding Commercial Relations with the West
The Tea Trade and the Silver Inflow
The Opium Trade and the Silver Outflow
The British Rejection of Sinification
Chinese Strategy and the First Opium War
The Treaty of Nanjing: Treaty Ports, Tariffs, and North-South Tensions
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
PART II: DYNASTIC DECLINE AND COLLAPSE, 1842-1911
8 Civil War and Foreign Intervention
North-South Tensions and the Origins of the Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Movement
The Taiping Capital in Nanjing
The Arrow War
Manchu-Western Cooperation to Destroy the Taipings
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
9 Quelling Domestic Rebellions
The Rise of the Empress Dowager Cixi
The Nian Rebellion (1851-68)
The Panthay Rebellion (1855-73)
The Donggan Rebellion (1862-73)
The Muslim Rebellion in Xinjiang (1862-78)
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
10 The Self-Strengthening Movement and Central Government Reforms
Military Reform: Xiang and Huai Armies, Beiyang and Nanyang Navies
Financial Reform: The Imperial Maritime Customs Service
Foreign Policy Reform: The Zongli Yamen
Educational Reform: China's First Embassy and Western Learning
Governmental Restoration: Confucian Rectification
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
11 Attacks on Chinese Sovereignty
The Burlingame Mission and the Alcock Convention
The Tianjin Massacre (1870) and the Margary Affair (1875)
Japan and Taiwan (1871-74)
Russia and Xinjiang (1871-81)
France and Vietnam (1883-85)
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
12 The First Sino-Japanese War
The Korean Crisis
The Hostilities
The Settlement
The Triple Intervention
The Scramble for Concessions
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
13 The Attempt to Expel the Foreigners: The Boxer Uprising
The Hundred Days' Reform
The Origins of the Boxer Movement
The Boxer Uprising
The Boxer Protocol and the Economic Impact of the Indemnities
The Aftermath: The Russo-Japanese War (1904-5)
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
14 The 1911 Revolution
The Reform Program of the Empress Dowager Cixi
Han Revolutionaries: Sun Yat-sen's Anti-Manchu Movement
The Rights Recovery Movement
The New Army and the Wuchang Rebellion
The Collapse of the Qing Dynasty
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
PART III: THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD, 1912-49
15 The Founding of the Republic of China
The Republic under Yuan Shikai
Relations with Russia, Japan, and Britain
The Founding of the Nationalist Party
North China Warlord Intrigues
The Republic of China Enters the First World War
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
16 Versailles and Its Aftermath
Political Ferment and New Ideas
The Paris Peace Conference Examines the Shandong Question
The Shandong Controversy
The Beijing Government's Reaction to the Compromise
The Long-Term Impact of the Treaty of Versailles
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
17 New Intellectual Currents
The New Culture Movement
The May Fourth Movement
The Karakhan Manifesto and the Comintern
The Founding of the Chinese Communist Party
The Civil Wars in North China
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
18 The Nationalist-Communist United Front
South China Diplomacy: The Origins of the First United Front
The Reorganization of the Nationalist Party
North China Diplomacy: Beijing and Manchurian Warlords
The Rise of Chiang Kai-shek and the Northern Expedition
The Beginning of the Nationalist-Communist Civil War
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
19 The Nanjing Decade
Elimination of the Unequal Treaties with the Western Powers
The Russo-Japanese Rivalry over Manchuria
The Military Side of Nation Building: Uprisings and Encirclement Campaigns
The Civil Side of Nation Building: Nationalist and Communist Ideology
The Xi'an Incident and the Second United Front
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
20 The Second Sino-Japanese War
Great Power Rivalries over China
The Regional War and the Civil War
The Global War
Soviet Efforts to Expand Their Sphere of Influence
Impact on the Chinese Population
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
21 The Civil War: Nationalists versus Communists
Renewal of the Civil War
U.S. Diplomatic Intervention
Soviet Intervention
The Nationalist Economic Implosion
The Communist Victory
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
PART IV: CHINA AND TAIWAN IN THE POSTWAR ERA
22 The Communist Victory
The Formation of the People's Republic of China
Land Reform and Agrarian Policies
The Nationalization of Industry and Commerce
Diplomatic Isolation and the Sino-Soviet Alliance
Land Reform on Taiwan
Conclusions
Note
Bibliography
23 The Korean War
The Outbreak of the Korean War
The Chinese Decision to Intervene
The Soviet War Protraction Strategy
War Termination
The Domestic Consequences of the War
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
24 Mao's Quest for World Leadership
The Hundred Flowers Campaign
The Great Leap Forward
The Great Famine (1958-62)
The Sino-Soviet Split
The Sino-Indian War of 1962
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
25 The Cultural Revolution
Mao's Weakened Position
The Phases of the Cultural Revolution
The PLA and the Restoration of Order
The 1969 Sino-Soviet Border Conflict
Sino-American Rapprochement
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
26 The Deng Xiaoping Restoration
The Impending Succession, the Fall of Lin Biao, and the Death of Mao
The Rise to Power of Deng Xiaoping
The Taiwanese Economic Miracle
Deng Xiaoping's Agricultural Reforms
Deng Xiaoping's Industrial Reforms
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
27 From Tiananmen to Xi Jinping
The Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Tiananmen Demonstrations and Massacre
Governance without a Preeminent Leader
Rising Nationalism
Xi Jinping Leader for Life
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
28 The Mandate of Heaven
Population and Prosperity
Environmental Challenges
Energy and Industrial Growth
Democracy in Taiwan
The Two-China Problem
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
Conclusion: China in Transition
Top-Down Characteristics: Civil-Military-Ideological Underpinnings of Power
Radial Characteristics: Relations with the Outside
Bottom-Up Characteristics: Education, Globalization, and Han Nationalism
Cyclical Elements: The End of the Dynastic Cycle?
Retrospective Elements: Fatalism or Choice?
Final Words
Notes
Bibliography
Appendix A: Geographical Names by Transliteration System
Appendix B: Pinyin-Wade-Giles Conversion Table
Teaching References
General
Historical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Biographical Information
Supplemental Readings
Movies
Websites
Photo Credits
Name Index
Subject Index
About the Authors