Qing dynasty history and governance

Qing Dynasty

Modernization and the Fall of the Qing Dynasty

Modern China is a paradox. Identifying itself as a communist republic with a theoretical emphasis on the revolutionary mores of 20th century socialism, and yet giving itself over fully to a form of internationalization which has deeply impacted its culture, identity and economy, China has struggled to define itself amidst decades of continuous change and reformation. At the heart of the changes which are oft-perpetuated at the highest levels of governance has been the struggle to rectify China's popular revolutionary movements, its historically imperial proclivities and, more and more often, its modern conceits to westernization. The contradiction would be borne into Chinese cultural orientation, with the tumult of the early 20th century producing a marked transformation in its relationship to the world, and thus, its internal identity. The preemptive steps which led to the fall of China's last dynasty and its first forays into the world community would be distinctly correlated to modernity and industrialization, in which could be seen the ideological seedlings for the ends of imperialism.

The Qing Dynasty would be a final occupation of the court that would last for three centuries, particularly due to its almost total authority over a theretofore splintered and factionalized landscape. The political unification of China under the auspices of its last dynasty would be based upon the powerful influence of the Manchu emperors in creating political stability. By courting elite representation in all parts of China, the northern-based throne would bring the intellectual and artistic core banished to the South during times of Mongolian rule back into political and cultural participation. The result would be a return to the values of traditionalist and orthodox intellectualist values. In many ways, the Qing would help to create the environment within which its own power design could be diminished, allowing for the progressive intrusion of external economic, ideological and cultural forces. This would begin a process of opening the Chinese identity up to a host of foreign possibilities, including the increasingly prevalent notion of democratic reform.

And remarkably -- not to mention somewhat uniquely -- the transition would be so inexorable as to be rendered almost systematically rather than in a sudden revolution. Indeed, the Whaley text denotes that the inevitabilyt of its demise was written into the intercession of Eastern and Western cultures. As the text denotes, within this set of parameters, "peaceful commercial exchange often resulted in expansion without any fighting or negotiation -- for instance, when Chinese merchants involved in long-distance trade settled permanently in outlying areas and founded new communities. Trade was further linked to politics because of the preferred Chinese method of conducting foreign relations" (Whaley, 13)

The repercussions to Qing's inherently open orientation would be a nation that, though unified, was increasingly driven by its ability to advance collectively through interaction with other civilizations. It would be thus that many of the inherently independent aspects of China's cultural makeup would find ways to retain and even advance autonomy under a central leadership. Indeed, the cause for China's long struggle against factionalism would be due to its geographical scale and the variations in its population. Under the long stretch of Qing rule, the conditions were diminished by a perceptive approach to delegation which did not seek to fully drive out local form of leadership. In fact, throughout the course of its rule, "the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) was forced to rely on chieftainship administrative space and its tribal inhabitants as unreliable bulwarks against incursions by 'wild' tribals and Myanmar primarily because Han Chinese vulnerability to malaria precluded a more stable and direct Qing official presence." (Bello, 283) And yet, all of the ingredients which maintained this unlikely balance would ultimately conspire to the end of the imperial rule. The collective advance of individual societies beneath the rule of the dynasty would be underscored by the ability of such societies to access technologies and opportunities independently of imperial distribution. This was a product of the resource realization inherent to global industrialization.