Chinese History: The Opium War, Taiping Rebellion, The Qing Empire (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name:
Professor:
Course:
Date:
Chinese history
As history shows, many countries have colonized or have been colonized by others. Empires have been established and demolished in the past. Often, to achieve this goal of colonization, the colonial masters tend to employ some tactics including assimilation. In China, the Qing dynasty employed the mentioned tactic in achieving its success. Though their Hans counterparts significantly outnumbered the Manchus, the former ruled the latter for over three centuries. An intense debate on the Qing dynasty’s success has been ranging especially with Evelyn Rawski and Ping-Ti Ho. One argues that it is through ‘sinicization’ that the dynasty succeeded while the other fervently argues on Manchuns.
However, the debate reveals that the Qing Empire’s success could be attributed to a number of things including sinicization. The Manchuness people who were the least in the region were assimilated to the Hans such that it was almost impossible to distinguish them. According to Zhang (p.214), the Manchus could even write and speaker better Chinese language than own Manchu. Consequently, this group became identical to the Chinese people, particularly the Hans. The result was that as they ruled, the Hans did not see any discrepancy from the Manchus because of this assimilation.
Additionally, the Qing Empire succeeded because it replicated the moral and political vocabulary of the Chinese precedents. Though the Manchus were different from the Hans, the former fervently pursued and embraced various attractions connected to the Chinese civilizations. Indeed, the group’s zeal exceeded Hans’ thus showing sinicization played a crucial role in the success of the group. Also, the group easily adapted to the Chinese political traditions, thus giving the Qing Empire to rule without many struggles. Though the term ‘sinicization’ has been debated intensely, it is appropriate to conclude that the Manchus may not necessarily have lost their identity, but significant acculturation occurred (Zhang, p.214).
The opium war
The British government was engaged in a war with China over the exportation of opium to China. Prior to the war, the Qing government sought to suppress the opium trade owing to the great levels of addiction rising in China. Conversely, the British, without many products to sell to the Chinese markets, imposed extraterritorial rule arguing that its laws superseded China’s. With both sides unwilling to compromise, the two went to war that culminated in the defeat of China. Subsequently, China was compelled to not only accept the extraterritorial rules but also allow the sale of opium and pay for the lost product during the war (Chandler, n.p.).
While a lot has been said on the avoidance of this conflict, this paper asserts that the war was unavoidable. First, the Chinese had a right to protect its against the opium addiction that was on the rise as it threatened its citizens’ lives. On the other hand, the British rulers felt superior as they were then in control of China. With the British feeling challenged by a seemingly inferior state and china’s urge to protect its nationals, the war was inevitable. It is imperative to understand that the British also exported the same product to India with minimal resistance thus feeling almost justified to replicate the practice in China (Chandler, n.p).
Even though the opium war ended, new negative perceptions toward the West continued with several Chinese philosophers believing the West was dictatorial and inhumane. Lin Zexu was a leader prior to the opium wars who vehemently opposed the sale of the plant. At one time, the leader forced the opium merchants to surrender the opium for destruction. Further, the merchants were forced into pledging not to import the opium. Surprisingly, even after being betrayed by the then leader and subsequently arrested, Lin maintained the stance. Similarly, Wei Yuan’s perception toward the West was evidenced by the number of writings completed advocating a free China. For instance, the leader felt that the West threatened and intimidated China and other smaller countries especially with regard to maritime defenses (Chandler, n.p).
Taiping rebellion
The Chinese people living in the 19th century lived impoverished lives, and any group promising a remedy would be followed with tremendous devotion. The Taiping rebellion, though catalyzed by a religious outfit, was intertwined with the political situation in China. In short, one could conclude that the origins of the Taiping rebellion include political alienation of people by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. Additionally, the poor state of the people in China who felt the rulers were not doing enough to address their situation (Chun p.45. Finally, this rebellion could significantly be attributed to religious extremism coup...