The Self-Strengthening Movement in China - Essay Example

The Self-Strengthening Movement in China By any considerations of the great nation of China, let it be by Chinese orWestern authors, regularly begins with a mention to china long history, and the Chinese national security questions cannot be ignored. A broad analysis of 4000 years of the Chinese security can be in no doubt focus on the forces originating from the Chinese periphery, from the west populations to the Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongol populations to the Manchus and North to the Northwest, Burmese and Vietnamese in the South, alongside the ongoing potential for regional conflicts, often connected to internal rebellion or civil war. Modern scholars of Chinese national security questions would do well to give attention to a hundred-year period that marked a truly pivotal moment within that 4000-year span. The turning point in the Chinese history came in the nineteenth century, requiring as it does careful attention to the administration’s dealings with the great powers of Europe, the United States, and Japan. The Qing Dynasty which was in control more or less of the Empire since 1644, found itself at mid-century unable to ignore dealing with the foreign barbarians, and this required extensive review of its economic, diplomatic and military policies and procedures. The power to create change to these areas and modernize Chinese armed forces in particular can be remembered as the Self-Strengthening Movement1. The Self-Strengthening Movement, as the name indicates, advocated by a group of Qing officials who wanted to strengthen the weak leadership by learning technology from the western countries. The Self-Strengthening Movement was also a period of institutional reforms introduced during the late Qing Dynasty following a number of military defeats and concessions to western powers. Unfortunately, this movement can be considered as a failure because China did not be able to defend itself during the Sino-French and Sino-Japanese wars. The failure of the Self –Strengthening Movement can be connected to a number of reasons one being the limited number of skilled man power, which led to the collapse of the self-strengthening movement. Transmission of technology was small in 1881 when the project of sending boys to western countries like United States of America to study stopped. China did not realize that one of the real reasons was its corrupt system and government. There was wide spread corruption in the government of China which can be seen as a factor to the collapse of self-strengthening movement in China. An example is the Dowager Empress which spent over 30 million Taels of funds meant for the naval to constructing the Summer Palace for her own “amusement during retirement” as Hsu stated. The 30 million Taels meant to fund and support the navy of china. Hsu also noted that Li Hongzhang can be “not noted for high morals and character”. Apparently, Li left behind an estate estimated to be worth over 40 million Taels that the people close to him “milked and squeezed the factories and enterprises under their charge mercilessly.” Many more events led to the collapse of the self-strengthening movement in china one of them being the western merchants withdrawing their capital in China and ceasing to trade. The coastal merchants all became bankrupt and their original strength became extremely drained. The populace in turn, moved away and became vagrants. In some day, they may be frightened several times without being able to protect their own lives. The Chinese merchants even suffered more. In the self-strengthening movement which involved more wars, the Chinese merchants, merely caused trouble to themselves2. The Self-strengthening movement had a limited scope of activities to carry out. According to Hsu, the self-strengthening movement only went as far as improving “machines, ships, firearms, mining, light industry and communications. No efforts existed to integrate Western organizations, culture, arts, and philosophy.” in simple words, Confucian system and Western technology that the Chinese government based on did not work together as planned. It can be seen as a fact that the people of China were not willing to adapt to Western countries philosophy, culture and art because of their traditional Confucian ideals. The self- strengthening movement brought about some social and developmental propositions over the course of its existence in China which includes the following; in 1863 a foreign language school started operating at Shanghai3, in 1865, the Kiangnan Arsenal emerged at Shanghai4, with a translation bureau attached. Also, the Nanking Arsenal emerged later in 18675. It can also be seen that in 1870, a machinery factory, first established by Chung-hou in 1867 at Tientsin, expanded its operations. In 1871, a foreign-style fort's plan came into existence for Taku, outside Tientsin, and also in 1872, students went to study in America6, Officers went to Germany to learn military sciences, the China merchants steam Navigation Company got organized. The opening of coal and iron mines got a request for which can be highly seen as a social change. For over thousand years, China considered itself as the Celestial Empire and one the strongest country in the universe. Therefore, the Qing government excluded itself from the outside world. However, when the British forced China to open its market by warships and firearms, China had realized the necessity to communicate with the world and change its attitude to the western countries. The most obvious example was training students. The reason why trained Chinese students abroad was according to Tseng Guo-fan, "It can be roughly estimated that, after more than ten years, their training would be completed, and they would return to China and then the Chinese can learn the new techniques in which the Westerners are particularly strong." Therefore, by the late of Nineteenth Century, the Qing government took its first step in launching the educational missions to the western countries as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. The first educational goal was sending 120 Chinese students to Yale university in United States. Although the first educational mission cut short(1872-1881), the reformers did not give up. Basic on the experience of the first educational mission to the United States, the Qing government, sent out "30 Chinese students to England and France for technical training." After these students had taken education aboard, their views and attitudes to the western countries changed. According to Ma Chien-Chung who was studying over one years in France, he got surprised by the system such as the King of England only gave an endorsement, people voted their president in United States, becoming government officials need not came from aristocratic families in France, etc... As a result, he changed his attitude to the western nations and thought all western countries' governments were perfect because the political institution were free and democratic.7 It seemed that normal Chinese people also changed their attitudes to the foreigners, especially to the missionaries. As the Empress Dowager told Tseng Chi-Tse,"I have heard that in Fukien there are democratic. It seemed that normal Chinese people also changed their attitudes to the foreigners, especially to the missionaries. As the Empress Dowager told Tseng Chi-Tse, "I have heard that, in Fukien, there are again cases of the burning and destruction of churches and houses." In fact, normal Chinese people’s hatred for those missionaries grew with each passing day and believed the missionaries were the devils that would destroy everything. In 1875, a plan emerged to open a bureau to study foreign sciences in all provinces; also to add a new subject on foreign affairs in the civil service examinations. Students and apprentices from the foo chow shipyard went to study in England and France. Seven army officers went to Germany for advanced training. In 1878, the Kaiping coal mine opened and then in 1879, a telegraph line opened from Taku to Tientsin. Also, in 1880, a plan for a modern navy launched, as a program to purchase warships from foreign countries started. A naval school emerged at Tientsin. A telegraph land lines got requested for and sanctioned. In 18818, Li supported Liu Ming-ch’uan’s request to build railways. North of Tientsin the railroad (about six miles) finished. The first telegraph line, Shanghai-Tientsin opened, and merchants got invited to develop the telegraph service in all provinces. When it came to 18829, a dockyard got built at Port Arthur (completed in 1891). A cotton mill’s plan at Shanghai came into existence, and in 1885, a military preparatory school (an army school) started operating at Tientsin. The navy yamen inaugurated. Also in 1887, mints established at Tientsin and Paoting and in 1888, the Peiyang Army became organized, as in 1889 the Mo-ho gold mine, in Kirin, plan came through and then in 1891 the Lung-chang paper mill started to function at shanghai. A review of the new navy got started at Port Arthur. All these can be seen as social changes that the Chinese people proposed during the self-strengthening movement. By leading the Restoration Movement to meet Chinas' problems along traditional means, Tseng Kuo-Fan proved that he opposed political change in china10. It can be demonstrated from the conversation which Tseng Kuo-Fan recorded with his staff members as follows. "If the Chinese wish to find a technique of self-strengthening, then they should begin by bearing in mind the reform of institutional service and the acquiring of men of ability as a matter of urgency, and then refer of learning to make steamships and explosive shells and other instruments as the work of first priority. If only we could possess all their superior techniques, then we would have the means to return their favors when they are obedient, and we would also have the means to avenge our grievances when they are disloyal. If, on our side, we have no instruments to depend upon, then when we are wrong, we naturally take the blame; when we are right, we also take the blame. If we hate them, we ought to be blamed; if we favor them, we shall also be blamed. Though all the people in the interior flatter the barbarians, we certainly have no power to forbid them to do so. Even if, everybody hated the barbarians, we could not take advantage of it". The leaders of the self -strengthening movement were scholars, but not necessarily of high status or birth which clearly means that the views of the elites got highly regarded or considered compared to the views of the ordinary people or people with no formal education in this case education from the west. Zuo Zong-Tang for can be of a good example, born from not a well off family, and failed the imperial exam several times and he had difficulty getting his views heard or considered. The ordinary people viewed the westerners as people who came to invade their territory and hence never wanted to associate with them. This can be seen when the foreigners got followed by ordinary people with glamorous shouts and try to drive them away by stoning them with pebbles. The ordinary people all rose and up roared, no one knowing what the matter is, nor do they ask whether the foreigners are missionaries or non- missionaries, Europeans or Americans. The ordinary people rejected reforms brought about by the western people11. This was way different in the way the elites viewed the foreigners. The elites saw the foreigners as people who were to bring political and social changes in china and hence embraced them. Those who carried out the reforms during the self-strengthening movement in China were of different social classes. The reformists in China were un-coordinated with little cooperation. China adopted forms of education that included some aspect of western learning, and it included western aspects in the construction of her armies. Finally, China lowered their taxes, but still used the revenue to fund industry and enterprise. Overall, even though the Self-Strengthening Movement made significance contribution to the modernization of China, it failed12 because this movement did not recognize the importance of the political institutions that had advanced western countries to be strong. Instead of just learning technology and science from the West, to save a corrupted government, the Chinese society was still suffering from foreign encroachments after all. Works Cited Teng, Ssu-yu and Fairbank,john K. China’s Response to the West. London: Harvard University press, 1979 Teng, Ssu-yu and Fairbank,john K. China’s Response to the West. (London: Harvard University press,1979),http://books.google.com/books?id=0maVJuCh78oC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed March,13, 2013). Read More