chronology1865-Jiangnan arsenal established in Shanghai
1866-Fuzhou Shipyard established with an attached naval academy 1884-1885-The first Sino-Japanese War ends in failure for Qing China |
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Key Questions
Why did the Qing administration attempt to reform between 1864-1894?
After humiliation in the Opium Wars and with internal Chinese uprisings largely defeated by 1864, senior officials in the Qing administration wanted to increase the Qing military strength in order to support their foreign policy with the Western powers.
What was the major idea behind self-strengthening?
There was an inherent contradiction in the idea of self-strengthening. This contradiction arose because the self-strengtheners felt that the Qing imperial system was superior to the West, and that all that was needed was to improve the imperial military capacity. Therefore, the self-strengtheners ignored the possibility that western military supremacy sprang from their economic and political institutions and structures, and instead thought to add western science and technology onto the confucian culture of the Qing empire.
Who were the main self-strengtheners?
Feng Guifen
Zeng Guofan
Li Hongzhang (the victor at Shanghai against the Taiping who lead a massacre of Taiping forces in Suzhou)
What projects did the self-strengtheners attempt?
Li’s coal mining complex at Kaiping, the first cotton cloth mill at Shanghai and a railway line from the mine to the port city of Tianjin. Some of the military projects included the Jiangnan Arsenal, which produced ships, ammunition, and machines. There was also the Fuzhou Shipyard, which aimed to build bigger ships than the one at Jiangnan. Attached to this shipyard was a naval academy. Other accomplishments included a network of post offices (large dragon stamps) and the establishment of an Imperial Telegraph Administration.
Were there any successes?
Self-strengthening did lead to modern trained Chinese, many of whom would play important roles in later Chinese history. It also did develop over time from a military focus to attemts to develop modern transport and industry within China which probably provided a base of expertise for later development
How did self-strengthening end?
The end is traditionally seen with China's humiliating defeat by Japan in the the first Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. After all, if the whole point of self-strengthening was to get China in a position to militarily match the West, then it had obviously failed to do that. Despite this, it is worth stressing that there was some continuity between self-strengthening and later modernization projects so it can be argued that it did not end with the defeat against the Japanese.
Why did self-strengthening fail?
Reason 1: Geography: The self-strengtheners were too few in number to enable a country as vast as China to catch up with other countries. China was also beset by natural disasters which limited state income.
Reason 2: There was resistance to the very idea of dealing with foreigners from court officials. This made implementing and maintaining reform very difficult.
Reason 3: As the rate of innovation in the West and Japan was much greater, the technology gap actually widened between China and the major powers during the self-strengthening period
Reason 4: The self-strengtheners were not businessmen and often their projects failed.
For example: Li’s steamship firm was looted by insiders and his coal mine was heavily indebted to foreigners.
Reason 5: There was almost a complete lack of administrative structures to help develop China.
For example: Traditional Chinese banks could not offer long term capital for projects and attempts to set up modern financial institutions failed
Reason 6: There was almost a complete lack of legal structures to help develop China.
For example: Projects were dependent on the favour of powerful figures at the imperial court. The problem with this was that the favour could always be withdrawn and therefore damage attempts to modernize.
Reason 7: The self-strengtheners tended to rely on their provincial bases of support. This meant self strengthening was always on a local level rather than a truly national attempt to modernize.
Reason 8: Military equipment made in China was very expensive as most materials had to be imported.
For example: Before 1875, when the shipbuilding programme was discontinued at Kiangnan, the ships built were believed to cost twice what a similar ship would cost to make in Britain
Reason 9: Human resource costs were very high, and corruption was an ever present problem particularly in construction costs and worker salaries.
For example: Foreign advisors cost a great deal and local Chinese officials would attach themselves to projects to draw a salary while contributing very little.
Reason 10: The aim of self-strengthening was probably flawed from the start, as grafting Western learning onto traditional Chinese Confucian ideals and structures for the purpose of national defence was unlikely to be successful.
Reason 11: Western intransigence, years of careful negotiating by the Yongli Zamen to partially reform the unequal treaties were rejected by majority vote in the British House of Commons in 1870.
After humiliation in the Opium Wars and with internal Chinese uprisings largely defeated by 1864, senior officials in the Qing administration wanted to increase the Qing military strength in order to support their foreign policy with the Western powers.
What was the major idea behind self-strengthening?
There was an inherent contradiction in the idea of self-strengthening. This contradiction arose because the self-strengtheners felt that the Qing imperial system was superior to the West, and that all that was needed was to improve the imperial military capacity. Therefore, the self-strengtheners ignored the possibility that western military supremacy sprang from their economic and political institutions and structures, and instead thought to add western science and technology onto the confucian culture of the Qing empire.
Who were the main self-strengtheners?
Feng Guifen
Zeng Guofan
Li Hongzhang (the victor at Shanghai against the Taiping who lead a massacre of Taiping forces in Suzhou)
What projects did the self-strengtheners attempt?
Li’s coal mining complex at Kaiping, the first cotton cloth mill at Shanghai and a railway line from the mine to the port city of Tianjin. Some of the military projects included the Jiangnan Arsenal, which produced ships, ammunition, and machines. There was also the Fuzhou Shipyard, which aimed to build bigger ships than the one at Jiangnan. Attached to this shipyard was a naval academy. Other accomplishments included a network of post offices (large dragon stamps) and the establishment of an Imperial Telegraph Administration.
Were there any successes?
Self-strengthening did lead to modern trained Chinese, many of whom would play important roles in later Chinese history. It also did develop over time from a military focus to attemts to develop modern transport and industry within China which probably provided a base of expertise for later development
How did self-strengthening end?
The end is traditionally seen with China's humiliating defeat by Japan in the the first Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. After all, if the whole point of self-strengthening was to get China in a position to militarily match the West, then it had obviously failed to do that. Despite this, it is worth stressing that there was some continuity between self-strengthening and later modernization projects so it can be argued that it did not end with the defeat against the Japanese.
Why did self-strengthening fail?
Reason 1: Geography: The self-strengtheners were too few in number to enable a country as vast as China to catch up with other countries. China was also beset by natural disasters which limited state income.
Reason 2: There was resistance to the very idea of dealing with foreigners from court officials. This made implementing and maintaining reform very difficult.
Reason 3: As the rate of innovation in the West and Japan was much greater, the technology gap actually widened between China and the major powers during the self-strengthening period
Reason 4: The self-strengtheners were not businessmen and often their projects failed.
For example: Li’s steamship firm was looted by insiders and his coal mine was heavily indebted to foreigners.
Reason 5: There was almost a complete lack of administrative structures to help develop China.
For example: Traditional Chinese banks could not offer long term capital for projects and attempts to set up modern financial institutions failed
Reason 6: There was almost a complete lack of legal structures to help develop China.
For example: Projects were dependent on the favour of powerful figures at the imperial court. The problem with this was that the favour could always be withdrawn and therefore damage attempts to modernize.
Reason 7: The self-strengtheners tended to rely on their provincial bases of support. This meant self strengthening was always on a local level rather than a truly national attempt to modernize.
Reason 8: Military equipment made in China was very expensive as most materials had to be imported.
For example: Before 1875, when the shipbuilding programme was discontinued at Kiangnan, the ships built were believed to cost twice what a similar ship would cost to make in Britain
Reason 9: Human resource costs were very high, and corruption was an ever present problem particularly in construction costs and worker salaries.
For example: Foreign advisors cost a great deal and local Chinese officials would attach themselves to projects to draw a salary while contributing very little.
Reason 10: The aim of self-strengthening was probably flawed from the start, as grafting Western learning onto traditional Chinese Confucian ideals and structures for the purpose of national defence was unlikely to be successful.
Reason 11: Western intransigence, years of careful negotiating by the Yongli Zamen to partially reform the unequal treaties were rejected by majority vote in the British House of Commons in 1870.
Source A: "The Self-Strengtheners operated on the basis of loyalty to a system which was not designed to accommodate, let alone encourage, change. The necessary legal and administrative underpinnings were missing. Traditional remittance banks could not offer sufficient long-term capital, and attempts to set up a modern financial institution came to nothing." -Jonathan Fenby
Historiography: Did self-strengthening fail because of Western Imperialism? Dr J.A.G. Roberts
Yes"The military threat from the West forced China to concentrate, in the first instance, on the establishment of modern military industries. Defeat in war weakened the authority of central government and burdened it with indemnities, so curtailing investment."
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No"However, the self-strengthening enterprises also benefited from the Western presence. A number of foreign experts were employed to establish shipyards and mines. The missionary John Fryer translated technical and scientific texts for the Jiangnan arsenal and edited the Chinese Scientific Magazine, which appeared between 1876 and 1892."
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Essay questions
- “China’s Self-Strengthening Movement (1860-1894) is often regarded as a failure.” To what extent do you agree with this assessment?
- Compare and contrast the Self-Strengthening Movement in China (1861–1894) and the reforms under the Meiji Restoration in Japan (1868–1894)
- Why did China fail to modernise effectively between 1861 and 1894?
- To what extent do the careers of Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang demonstrate the weakness of the Qing self-strengthening movement between 1864 and 1895?
