Session 2 (9/30) - From Monarchy to Republic

[Maria Cardenas]

        Students can compare and contrast the different treaties that were unequal treaties in China. For example, the Treaty of Nanjing, Treaty of Wangxia, and the Treaty of Huangpu, and students can state the benefits for each country. Students can answer what benefits did each treaty give to China. Students should be able to make connections as to why the Chinese may have negative perspectives of foreigners in their country.

         The legacy of war and privilege affected perceptions of missionaries and their message because the Chinese lost all across during this period. Chinese may have seen the Europeans and Americans negatively just based on the treaties that were approved. The Chinese are the ones that are affected negatively in their country. Basically foreigners are the ones making decisions for their government with the signing of the treaties. 

[Maria Cardenas]

I like how you would have students imagine themselves in this time period and how they would feel receiving the terms of the treaties. Having the students make a connection by having them think if they have been treated unfairly by someone more powerful is a good way for students to understand how the Chinese felt. I think this your lesson idea would be a great success. 

[Jaclyn Wall]

The Emperor of China agreed to pay $6 million (as the value of Opium) to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain as a ransom for those who has been imprisoned and given death threats by the Chinese High Officers. This was just one of the financial agreements before the final total of $21 million was agreed upon.

Great Britian benefited from this agreement because they simply were given a huge lump sum of money and rights to Hong Kong to name a few reasons. 

 

The Treaty of Nanjing would be labeled as an “unequal treaty” because the Chinese conceded the territory of Hong Kong and agreed to have a a reasonable tariff on goods.

[Zoey McKinney]

China's defeat by Japan was traumatic because of the relationship that previously existed between them. Japan was not seen as a powerful country, particularly in comparison to China, from which it had borrowed and adapted many parts of its culture. I like the comparison to the "little brother" in the lecture - a weaker entity that looked up to China, should admire China and follow in its footsteps, not fight with it and certainly not defeat it. Any student with a younger sibling can understand that analogy easily. It might come as a surprise if your younger sibling challenges you to a game of basketball, but it will be embarrassing and deeply upsetting if they win!

This brings to mind the lessons on the British and colonial forces during the Revolutionary War when I taught 5th grade. One activity we did to illustrate the power imbalance was to play a tug-of-war game with more students and taller students on one side to represent the might of the British military. The "British" team won easily, as they expected. We then made some changes to simulate some of the advantages the colonists had - the British had to pull the rope all the way to their side, while the colonists only had to prevent the British from doing so. The colonists were incentivized with an extra reward while the British were not. The colonists finally received aid from another team (the French) to help them win. This was a really powerful activity that made the students understand that there is more to winning a war than having a bigger army.

[Zoey McKinney]

Some Chinese concluded that their culture and systems needed to change as they observed many of the tensions we have already talked about - humiliating defeats by other countries, economic struggles, administrative issues, etc. Meanwhile, technological, agricultural, military, and political developments seen in other countries were not being adopted by China quickly enough. There was no unified approach to solving these problems. 

In my class, we have recently been discussing "Who makes the rules?" and why it is important for people to vote. We can compare a democratic system with a monarchical system. If people cannot express their opinions through voting, what are other ways that they can express themselves? What are some of the pros and cons of having a democracy instead of a monarchy when the country is facing serious problems?

[Zoey McKinney]

The New Culture Movement challenged the status quo by embracing Western ideals over Chinese traditions, including democracy and science. There was movement away from traditional literary language and increased interest in individual freedom. The May 4th Movement similarly rejected traditional Chinese values in favor of Western ones. They saw democracy and science as ways to strengthen China and move it into the future. 

Lenin appealed to Chinese Nationalists and Communists because he was successfully leading reform in Russia, also an agrarian country, with the Bolshevik Revolution. I think both parties were worried about foreign imperialism, which Lenin saw as exploitation.

[Brigid Schmidt]

Lin Zexu's impassioned, but possibly unsent, letter to Britain's Queen Victoria paints a submissive picture of China that contemporary audiences wouldn't recognize. The dynamic between the two nations is reminiscent of the modern day United States profiting from the narcotics trade south of its border. Similarly, the profits enjoyed by U.S. purveyors come at the expense of Mexico's economic security and undermine stability in central America. That being said, the harsh language used to proport draconian penalties for those who violate the opium prohibition he is reminding her of seems out of place in a time when drug use slowly shifts away from crime control into the publc health domain. This burgeoning diplomatic relationship between the two nations shows signs of deteoriation because China is for the time being at England's mercy due to the ravages of an opium epidemic that they have yet to manage and capitalize on. Almost two centuries later we see a United Kingdom that has taken a back seat to the economic powerhouse that is the People's Republic of China. The times they are a changin' and perhaps keeping this letter close to Zexu's chest was in the best long-term interest for the Chinese. 

[Thomas Pineda]

• Defeat by Japan: This would be a role reversal in terms of power for China, a nation so large and historically dominant in Asia, to be defeated by a smaller or developing country. A way for my students to understand this type of power shift would be comparable to the United States of America ceding to another nation in North America. Or perhaps something more developmentally appropriate for my students would be a role reversal exercise, where they got to exercise the rights and “powers” of a teacher and their teacher became a student. Examining the thoughts or actions of both roles before and after the switch might model a similar shift in political power dynamic.

• Strengthen, Reform, Revolution: China was getting beaten by other countries continuously. They were ceding power and at the whim of multiple foreign influences. Their central leadership was failing to bring the country together or protect it, even from within (Boxer Rebellion). There were ideas of self-strengthening China from its core by advancing the technology and infrastructure by adopting more modern and western means without forsaking the nation’s Confucian ideals. There were reformers that wanted to move on from China’s “obsolete” ways of thinking and governing. Some looked to Western nations for inspiration but weren’t entirely sold on the idea that it would work well for their own nation. Then there were revolutionaries that wanted China to adopt a republic system of government like Western nations that had occupied China. They wanted the Manchus out of power and their empire dissolved, allowing the Chinese to establish their own democratic rule.

[Cynthia Jackson]

Article VIII-XII: This treaty not only expands Britain’s trading freedoms, makes Britain money, and gives them a port China, but it also allows for Britain to directly influence Chinese internal affairs. First, Britain gets China to agree to free any British citizens who have committed crimes. At first glance it seems like a normal agreement between two countries who might both have prisoners of war. However, the longer I thought about it, I realized that the language does not specify prisoners of war or those imprisoned during specific dates. It states that China is to “release unconditionally all Subjects” meaning that any British citizens committed of crimes before and during the war are considered as having paid “their debt to society” in full. It occurred to me that British merchants who had broken Chinese laws for foreigners before the Opium War were released as the result of a treaty that increased theirs and their country’s power immensely. This treaty takes it one step further though- Britain dictates that China absolves all of its own citizens of having aided or sided with the British in any way during the war. 

...a full and entire amnesty and act of indemnity, to all Subjects of China 

on account of their having resided under, or having had dealings and 

intercourse with, or having entered the Service of Her Britannic Majesty, 

or of Her Majesty's Officers, and His lmperial Majesty further engages to 

release all Chinese Subjects who may be at this moment in confinement 

for similar reasons... (Treaty of Nanjing, Article XIV)

 

The inclusion of the agreement above seems particularly odd as Britain did not take over China completely or directly. However, by deciding what China would do with its own citizens, blocking trade, and occupying coastal China for years until all 21 million in “debts” were paid, Britain behaved with China as if they were being added to the imperial empire. The treaty makes it clear that the British do not trust the Chinese to honor their loss in the war or their “debts”, and is considered insulting to someone reading it two centuries later. If this was the beginning of their troubles with foreign nations, it makes sense that China has described these years and the following century as their Age of Humiliation.

[Cynthia Jackson]

To teach unequal treaties, I would like to give my students modified excerpts from several of these sources. (In 7th grade, my students very much struggle with modified texts too- as I got reminded last week with a two day lesson on Moctezuma and Cortes meeting- so I would need to be very intentional about which parts I would select when creating my own treaty question packet for hands on learning. The question for the day would be: What do these treaties indicate about China’s perceptions of foreigners and foreign nations perceptions of China?) Primary sources are a great teaching tool and my students better remember their learning and practice their historial skill set when they engage with primary sources. Since this would be taught in December, my students will have had a lot more practice evaluating sources, the steps of which I taught last week during our pre-unit. By giving them the sources and reminding them to use those steps, I believe students will be able to draw conclusions about China’s increased wariness of foreigners and distrust of western cultures including practiced religions.

[Cynthia Jackson]

After learning about both Opium Wars, I’m left feeling sad and wondering why this history was not taught better when I was in school. Opium’s effects on people was referenced in Charles Dickens's novels or quickly in a history textbook, but the socio-cultural and political impacts were not reviewed. I like the idea of reviewing these wars- time period, causes, “players” events- and then focusing on how this changed life for Chinese within their empire. Perhaps comparing and contrasting how life changed in Beijing and Nanjing by reading accounts and looking at images (paintings, photographs, architecture) could be a good way to help students grasp the vast amount of conflict, devastation, and change experienced in China during the 19th century.

[Jaclyn Wall]

          Kang Youwei was fighting for women and wanting to change the status of education. He had two younger supporters, Liang Qichao and Tan Sitong. Communists ended up not liking what these three and their followers were up to so they made it known. Sitong ended up being captured while Youwei and Qichao escaped eventually to the United States of America. These are just a few of those mentioned in the lecture, but without people like them willing to stand up and use their voice to fight for what they feel is right, a lot of history wouldn't have been paved the way it has been for centuries.

     With the upcoming election, I have been talking to my class about why it is so important for our voices to be heard no matter our age. We discussed how although they aren't able to legally vote, they are able to speak up for what they believe in both inside and outside of the classroom. We discussed how our Zoom sessions are a safe space to ask questions and learn from one another, but also a great place to get ideas on how to better the world. This transitioned into a beautiful discussion on our polluted oceans and how the crayfish (currently learning about in our Science unit) won't always be able to survive if they don't have clean water to live in. Although crayfish live in fresh water and not salt, this led to my class wanting to organize a socially distanced beach clean up to do their part to help solve a problem.

     

[Jennifer Cutler]

I think the way to introduce students to the paradoxical history of 20th Century China would be through readings on communism and some of Sun Yat-sen himself. Because Sun Wen spent so much time abroad both parties were able to lay claim to his legacy: he was Chinese after all who wanted to overthrow the Manchus and form a Chinese Republic but he was also heavily influenced by his life abroad, where was exposed to ideas "foreign" to China. Having students read his "Three Principles of the People" could reveal his antiforeigner bias which would reveal why so many Chinese were quick to follow his doctrine - especially after the internal problems caused from external forces (ie Boxer Rebelllion.) But if students really focus on the third principal, "People's Livlihood" then they can join the debate that historians have surrounding socialist influence. Have students read an excerpt from the third principle and weigh in on any Marxist ideology they may notice. Of course, this may mean that students would have to have some familiarity with Marxism, but this could be done in conjunction with "Three People's Principles." 

As Prof Dube mentioned, the literati at the turn of the century was a burgenoing group - and with that comes feelings of resentment and feelings of ineffectuallness towards those in power - especially the Qing warlords who were attempting to hold on to those remnants of fading power. Having students look at the some of the literature from this time could allow students to understand why new ideas flooded into the fringes of society through this new class of intellectuals. Ask students to look at some of the historians who debate about this complex relationship between Nationalists and Communists could be a way for students to formulate their own opinions and understanding about their symbiotic existence. 

[Thomas Pineda]

5.4 & New Culture Movement: Both of these highlighted shortcomings of the current ruling party in China and mishandling over the past 50 or so years. They catalyzed the acceptance of new ideas and technology (democracy and science) that China had previously been obstinate towards adopting. In Sun YatSen’s particular case, his training in medicine and exposure to Western culture made him a conduit for these ideas to be transplanted into a revolutionary movement against the Manchus.
The Communist and Nationalist parties mirrored similar situations that Leninists experienced. They were all ruled by an obsolete mode of thinking that had failed to adapt and left their country divided and picked apart by various foreign influences.

[Susie Suh]

In the context of U.S. History, I can definitely use this example to compare with how the U.S. developed, especially when discussing the creation of the American financial system after the American Revolution. There is always a section on Alexander Hamilton's ideas of economic stability and growth, and how that conflicts with other founding fathers' ideals. Then again when we cover the Industrial Revolution, we can talk about the difference between industries growing vs quality of life being improved. We can go in depth into the lives of the factory workers and movement to urban areas vs the growth of various industries, also bringing into the picture the part about slavery in the South which helped these industries grow due to cheaper cost of goods being moved up. 

[Author]

Posts