Modernisation of China (I): Late Qing Reform and the May Fourth Movement
FoundationFacing internal crisis and foreign pressure, the late Qing launched the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days' Reform and the Late Qing reforms — deepening reforms that still failed to save the dynasty; the 1911 Revolution ended the monarchy, the New Culture and May Fourth Movements awakened minds, and after the Nanjing government's decade of construction China's modernisation entered a new stage.
- Self-Strengthening Movement 1861–1895: Chinese essence, Western application — military and industrial beginnings; the 1895 defeat exposed the limits of hardware only
- Hundred Days' Reform 1898: from hardware to institutions, crushed in a hundred days — reform must overcome vested interests
- Late Qing reforms and the Princes' Cabinet: the reforms lost the people's trust; the 1911 Wuchang Uprising ended 2,000 years of monarchy
文體小知識：歷史敘事說明文——敘述晚清改革到五四運動的現代化嘗試，比較各次改革的動機、內容與成效。
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1The defeats of the Opium War (1840–1842) and the Second Anglo-Chinese War (1856–1860) convinced some officials of the superiority of Western ships and guns. From 1861 Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang promoted the Self-Strengthening Movement under the principle of 'Chinese learning as the essence, Western learning for application': they founded military industries such as the Jiangnan Arsenal and the Fuzhou Dockyard, later civilian enterprises like the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company and the Kaiping Mines, set up the Tongwen Guan and sent students abroad — China's first step in learning from the West.
2In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 the Beiyang Fleet was annihilated and the Treaty of Shimonoseki imposed cessions and indemnities; the Self-Strengthening Movement was judged a failure and the national crisis deepened. In 1895 Kang Youwei led the petition of the examination candidates, and in 1898 the Guangxu Emperor, adopting the advice of Kang and Liang Qichao, launched the Hundred Days' Reform — reforming offices, opening schools and encouraging industry; but the reforms touched conservative interests, Empress Dowager Cixi staged a coup, the emperor was confined, six reformers including Tan Sitong were executed, and the reform lasted barely a hundred days.
3After the Boxer Uprising and the Eight-Nation Alliance expedition of 1900, the Qing court carried out the Late Qing reforms: overhauling the bureaucracy, training a new army and opening schools, abolishing the thousand-year-old examination system in 1905, and later announcing preparatory constitutionalism. Yet the cabinet formed in 1911 was dominated by imperial clansmen — mocked as the Princes' Cabinet — and the court's sincerity was doubted. On 10 October 1911 the Wuchang Uprising broke out and provinces declared independence one after another; in January 1912 the Republic of China was founded, and in February the Qing emperor abdicated, ending more than two thousand years of monarchy.
4The early Republic saw political turmoil but an intellectual awakening: in 1915 Chen Duxiu founded New Youth, raising the banners of democracy and science and promoting the vernacular — the New Culture Movement. In 1919 the Paris Peace Conference transferred Germany's rights in Shandong to Japan; on 4 May students in Beijing protested with the slogans 'defend sovereignty abroad, remove traitors at home', and the movement grew into nationwide strikes by students, workers and merchants until the Chinese delegates refused to sign the treaty. The May Fourth Movement brought an intellectual enlightenment and the wide spread of Marxism.
5After completing the Northern Expedition in 1928, the Nanjing government launched a decade of construction: unifying finances, recovering tariff autonomy, introducing the legal-tender reform of 1935 and developing transport and industry — modernisation showed promise until full-scale war with Japan broke out in 1937. The Chinese Communist Party, founded in 1921, grew through the land revolution, the Long March and the war of resistance, and in 1949 founded the People's Republic of China. From the late Qing to the Republic, reform and revolution alternated, and China's modernisation advanced slowly through setbacks.
1Summary 重點摘要
Facing internal crisis and foreign pressure, the late Qing launched the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days' Reform and the Late Qing reforms — deepening reforms that still failed to save the dynasty; the 1911 Revolution ended the monarchy, the New Culture and May Fourth Movements awakened minds, and after the Nanjing government's decade of construction China's modernisation entered a new stage.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
The reform movement of 1861–1895 led by Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others, learning Western military and industrial technology.
The movement's guiding principle: keep Chinese institutions and culture while borrowing Western technology.
The institutional reform launched by the Guangxu Emperor with Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao in 1898, crushed by a coup after a hundred days.
The reforms from 1901 — abolishing the examinations, training a new army and preparing for constitutional government.
The revolution sparked by the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, leading to the Republic of China in 1912 and the Qing abdication.
The intellectual movement from 1915 championing democracy and science and promoting the vernacular language.
The nationwide patriotic movement of 1919 triggered by the Shandong question, both political protest and intellectual enlightenment.
The 1919 peace conference of the First World War victors, which transferred Germany's Shandong rights to Japan — the spark of May Fourth.
The 1935 currency unification by the Nanjing government, issuing legal-tender notes and aiding economic construction.
The process of a society moving from tradition to modernity, covering political institutions, economic structure and ideas.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Background and measures of the Self-Strengthening MovementFrom 1861 leading provincial officials — Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang — promoted the Self-Strengthening Movement for over three decades. Measures fell into three groups: militarily, the Anqing Arsenal, the Jiangnan Arsenal and the Fuzhou Dockyard were set up with new-style land and naval forces; economically, government-supervised merchant enterprises such as the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, the Kaiping Mines and the Hanyang Ironworks were founded; educationally, the Tongwen Guan was opened and students sent to America. For example, the Jiangnan Arsenal of 1865 built guns and ships and also ran a translation bureau publishing Western scientific works — the emblem of the whole movement.
- Step 2: The Sino-Japanese defeat and the limits of self-strengtheningBy learning technology without reforming institutions, the movement sowed the seeds of failure. The Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1894; the Beiyang Fleet, reputedly Asia's finest, was annihilated in 1895, and the Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded Taiwan and the Pescadores with an indemnity of 200 million taels. For example, Japan had comprehensively reformed its politics and education through the Meiji Restoration, while China only bought ships and guns without changing official habits — the contrast proved that importing hardware alone could not bring strength, and the defeat pushed intellectuals towards institutional reform, directly giving birth to reformist ideas.
- Step 3: Content and failure of the Hundred Days' ReformAfter the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, Kang Youwei organised the petition of candidates sitting the metropolitan examination, demanding reform. On 11 June 1898 the Guangxu Emperor issued the decree on state affairs and, employing Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, launched the Hundred Days' Reform: trimming offices, abolishing the eight-legged essay, founding the Imperial University of Peking, encouraging industry and training a new army. For example, abolishing numerous yamen and old army units enraged vested interests; on 21 September Empress Dowager Cixi staged a coup, confined the emperor and executed the six gentlemen including Tan Sitong and Kang Guangren — all the reforms were scrapped except the university.
- Step 4: Late Qing reforms and preparatory constitutionalismAfter the Boxer Protocol of 1901, the Qing court launched the Late Qing reforms to save its rule: overhauling offices, rewarding industry and commerce, training a new army and opening modern schools; the examinations were abolished in 1905, with talent recruited through schools and study abroad; in 1906 preparatory constitutionalism was announced, and the Outline of the Imperial Constitution followed in 1908. For example, the new army and the schools, meant to strengthen the dynasty, became hotbeds of revolutionary ideas — the revolutionaries inside the Hubei New Army led the Wuchang Uprising — showing the reforms ran against the court's own expectations.
- Step 5: The 1911 Revolution and the end of monarchyIn May 1911 the court formed a responsible cabinet with seven of thirteen posts held by imperial clansmen — mocked as the Princes' Cabinet; the constitutionalists despaired and turned sympathetic to revolution. On 10 October the Wuchang garrison rose, and within a month more than ten provinces declared independence; in December delegates formed a provisional government in Nanjing, and on 1 January 1912 Sun Yat-sen took office as provisional president of the Republic of China. For example, on 12 February the Qing emperor Puyi abdicated, ending over two thousand years of monarchy and giving birth to Asia's first republic.
- Step 6: The New Culture and May Fourth MovementsWith the republic nominal in the early years, intellectuals turned to ideas: in 1915 Chen Duxiu founded Youth Magazine (later New Youth), raising democracy (Mr Democracy) and science (Mr Science), while Hu Shi promoted the vernacular and Lu Xun attacked traditional ethics through fiction — the New Culture Movement. In 1919 the Paris Peace Conference transferred Germany's Shandong rights to Japan; on 4 May Beijing students marched in protest and the movement swept the nation. For example, Shanghai workers soon struck in support and merchants closed shops; the movement spread from students to business and labour, and the Chinese delegates ultimately refused to sign the treaty with Germany.
- Step 7: The Nanjing decade and the continuing modernisationThe Nanjing government was formed in 1927; the Northern Expedition was completed in 1928 with the Northeast changing flags, unifying the country in name, and a decade of construction followed: putting finances in order, seeking tariff autonomy and unifying the currency, with the legal-tender reform of 1935 and the development of transport and industry. For example, the legal-tender reform ended the chaos of taels and silver dollars and created conditions for economic construction — but full-scale war with Japan in 1937 destroyed much of the progress; meanwhile the Chinese Communist Party grew through the war and founded the People's Republic in 1949, opening a new page of China's modernisation.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Data-response practice: a student argues that 'although the three late Qing reforms failed in turn, they deepened China's modernisation step by step'. Comment on this view with reference to the motives, content and results of the Self-Strengthening Movement, the Hundred Days' Reform and the Late Qing reforms.
- Read the question: compare the motives and content of the three reforms, assess their results one by one, and finally address the phrase 'deepened step by step'
- Compare motives and content: the Self-Strengthening Movement sought strength against foreign pressure through military hardware; the Hundred Days' Reform touched institutions with constitutional aims; the Late Qing reforms were the broadest — abolishing the examinations, training a new army and preparing constitutionalism
- Assess the results: all three ended in failure or setback — defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, the coup that scrapped the reform, and the Princes' Cabinet that lost trust; yet each left legacies such as new enterprises, the Imperial University and modern talent
- Answer the view: the reforms moved from hardware to institutions to comprehensive change — a genuine deepening that paved the way for revolution and republican construction; the view largely stands
- Answer: The Self-Strengthening Movement (1861–1895), guided by 'Chinese essence, Western application', focused on military and industrial projects with the motive of gaining strength against foreign pressure, but it learned technology without reforming institutions and was judged a failure after the Sino-Japanese defeat; the Hundred Days' Reform (1898) went further to reform offices and build schools, aiming at constitutional monarchy, yet was strangled by a coup because it touched vested interests; the Late Qing reforms (from 1901) were the broadest — abolishing the examinations, training the new army and preparing constitutionalism — but the Princes' Cabinet exposed the court's half-heartedness and only hastened the revolution. The depth of the three reforms indeed progressed step by step — from hardware to institutions to comprehensive change — and although none achieved its goal, they left new industries, schools, a new army and constitutional ideas that provided conditions for the 1911 Revolution and republican construction. The view that late Qing reforms deepened China's modernisation layer by layer therefore largely stands.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1What was the guiding principle of the Self-Strengthening Movement and who were its leading figures?
Q2When did the Sino-Japanese War break out, and how did its result expose the limits of self-strengthening?
Q3Why did the Hundred Days' Reform fail?
Q4What were the main measures of the Late Qing reforms?
Q5What triggered the May Fourth Movement and what were its effects?
8Recap Recap
- Self-Strengthening Movement 1861–1895: Chinese essence, Western application — military and industrial beginnings; the 1895 defeat exposed the limits of hardware only
- Hundred Days' Reform 1898: from hardware to institutions, crushed in a hundred days — reform must overcome vested interests
- Late Qing reforms and the Princes' Cabinet: the reforms lost the people's trust; the 1911 Wuchang Uprising ended 2,000 years of monarchy
- New Culture Movement and May Fourth 1919: democracy and science enlightened minds; the Shandong question sparked nationwide protest and refusal to sign
- The Nanjing decade (1928–1937) achieved much before the war interrupted; the PRC's founding in 1949 opened a new stage of modernisation