by Calvin Kennedy 16 days ago
73
19th Century China World Fair
by Calvin Kennedy 16 days ago
73
Confucianism, are the Values Necessary?
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The Impact of Societal Expectations:
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The Highs and Lows of Emperors:
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Explore the wonderous history behind 19th century China as you experience for yourself the highs and lows of the Qing Dynasty, how wars like the Taiping Rebellion altered the course of history along with how Confucianism impacted both past and present day.
This section of the World's Fair will be focused on the Qing Dynasty. Known as the last imperial Dynasty in China, the Qing Dynasty was kickstarted in the Qing territory of China in 1644 and lasted all the way into 1911/12. This section will go over the major events that happened in the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century while also focusing on the emperor's who held power during that time.
The Qing Dynasty, the last of the Dynasty era was an established monarchy that had twelve different emperors from 1644-1911. Created by northeastern Asians who proclaimed themselves as 'Manchu's,' they conquered China in 1644 and while they didn't complete reform the government, created a monarchy where a Manchu ruler would hold power and make decisions on behalf of the entire country.
The twelve Qing Emperors during this Dynasty are:
Additionally, some notable facts about the Qing Dynasty during this era are:
The emperor's of the Qing Dynasty that ruled during the 19th century are:
The key focus of this subtopic will be around the Xianfeng Emperor.
The Guangxu Emperor
The Guangxu Emperor, also known by his personal name Zaitian, was the ninth emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the fifth and last emperor to rule the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century, ruling from 1874/1845-1911/1912). Adopted by the Tongzhi Emperor's wife, his most notable deeds include:
The Tongzhi Emperor
The Tongzhi Emperor, also known by his personal name Zaichun, was the eighth emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the fourth emperor to rule the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century, ruling from 1861-1874/75. Being the only surviving son of the Xianfeng Emperor, he became the next in line to become the emperor and was tasked to restore the Qing Dynasty from the after effects of the Taiping Rebellion. Some notable things that occurred during his reign are:
The Xianfeng Emperor
The Xianfeng Emperor, also known as Yizhu, the Emperor Wenzong of Qing, was the seventh emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the third emperor to rule the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century. His rule was anything but easy, as while he was emperor there were various infamous wars and rebellions that occurred that he had to fight, such as but not limited to:
Imperialism in 19th Century China
Think of how the Manchu's conquered China in 1644 before reading this definition by Britannica on what imperialism is:
"Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other territories and peoples."
Imperialism and some notable events in 19th Century China included:
Negatives
Negatives that the Qing Dynasty brought with it's imperialism focused government in the 19th century:
Xianfeng's Impact on China
The Xianfeng's Emperor's impact on China can be argued to be one of the biggest when compared to the emperors that came in the Qing Dynasty before him. Responsible for dealing with both the Taiping Rebellion and the Second Opium War, his reign left a massive mark on history. Here are a few noteworthy things that he did during his time as emperor that impacted China, for better or worse:
Fall of the Empire
The fall of the Qing Dynasty didn't come from one person or reason, but rather a multitude of factors, both big and small, that eventually led to the collapse of it and the Dynasty era of China as a whole. Whether or not imperialism is dead in China though is still a heavily contested topic. Some reasons for why the Qing Dynasty are but not limited to:
When the Qing Dynasty ended, China officially transitioned into the Republic of China which would last from 1912 to 1949.
Is an Emperor Necessary?
The answer is a resounding no! Depending on the context of your country, it really depends if having an emperor, and by virtue imperialism, is the right fit for your government. For China, it had it's high and lows. While the Qing Dynasty was arguably the most successful Dynasty era and brought lots of positives into the country, there's no denying that there were also very low negatives.
There is never a 'need' for having an emperor, as having one doesn't guarantee success or having a bustling thriving economy, see countries who had emperors like Africa with the Central African Empire and the Inca Empire which had countries like Bolivia, both these countries in the past and present day still have low GDPs. While you could look at Japan and mention how it has an emperor and is a high GDP country, there's a point to be made that it's the only country in the world to have one still, because it works for them, and even then there are still suspicions if having one is truly necessary.
Positives
Positives that the Qing Dynasty brought with it's imperialism focused government:
The Daoguang Emperor
The Daoguang Emperor, also known by his personal name Mianning, was the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the second emperor to rule the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century, ruling from 1820-1850. Much like the Jiaqing Emperor, he had little success and by the end of his rule was arguably more unpopular than the Jiaqing Emperor. Some notable things that occurred during his rule are:
The Jiaqing Emperor
The Jiaqing Emperor, also known as Yongyan, was the fifth emperor during the Qing Dynasty, his rule lasted from 1796 to 1820. Known as one of the weakest Emperor's of the Qing Dynasty, for the first 3 years of his rule almost all the decision making and power was held by the Chinese courtier Heshen. Some notable things that happened during the Jiaqing Emperor's rule are:
This section of the World's Fair will focus on societal expectations and how they're a feature that affects our everyday lives whether it's a conscious or unconscious decision. Whether it be by obeying the law by wearing proper attire, choosing to skip breakfast or trying your hardest to get into a good university, these expectations can have an affect on a person's physical and mental health. In this section, it will review Hong Xiuquan, a Chinese Christian man into his descent into madness and kickstarted a war that killed tens of millions due to the societal pressure from his family, village and government.
Hong Xiuquan was a Christian Chinese man born in January 1st 1814 in the Guangdong province of China. Born into poverty, Hong Xiuquan was the youngest of four children and was deemed to be a genius among his peers.
He is renowned worldwide in history for being the leader of the Taiping Rebellion and being the self-proclaimed 'brother' of Jesus Christ, he spread Christian values to Chinese citizens, where before this Confucianism was the most popular religion among the poor in China. He wanted to overthrow and reform the entire Chinese government by changing social class, convert all Chinese citizens to Christianity, create a utopian society and more.
Due to Hong Xiuquan's natural intellect, while he and many others in his village lived in poverty, his village did their best to fund his education in hopes of him eventually passing the Chinese civil examinations so that he could one day lift the entire village out of their seemingly eternal life in the lower class.
He seemingly had it all and was in a good spot in his life. He was going to take the test, a school teacher in his village and obtained a Confucian scholarship, but it wasn't enough. Despite all the monetary support he received from his local community, who expected him to gain a position in the Chinese Confederacy to uplift them all from poverty, he failed three different times. His cousin, noticing his despair, gifted him a Chinese translation of the New Testament. At first, he feigned indifference to the book, but it became an important stepping stone into his life later on.
The Vision
During the third failure of the exam, he went through emotional anguish and eventually fainted and went through an emotional collapse. During this several day period, he had hallucinations of an old man with a golden beard speaking to him about the evil's of the world, how the authority that governed the world was ran by evil demons and entrusted Hong Xiuquan to defeat them.
The Last Exam - Cause of the Rebellion
After failing his final exam, Hong Xiuquan in his grief turned to the Chinese translated Testament that his cousin brought him, and after reading it thoroughly, he had a revelation. To him, it was the answer to the constant visions he had of the old man with the golden beard, and he started to proclaim himself as Jesus Christ's brother, with his duty being to be the saviour of China. Suspected as using this discovery for the religion as a coping mechanism, he vowed his life mission to destroy and exterminate the Qing Dynasty and those in power, as to him, they were the devils that were running China that the old man mentioned, and he wanted to save China from the devil himself.
How he gained Support
While Hong Xiuquan might've seemed like a crazed mad man with religious fervor, it's important to understand the context of 19th century China on why people followed his movement, and eventual rebellion, in the first place. By clicking the following sections 'China's Cult Problem' and 'Social Class,' you'll learn more about why people decided to follow Hong Xiuquan and his beliefs.
Social Class
Thanks to the population almost doubling in the span of just short of a country along with various other factors like the agriculture business for low class citizens being unprofitable due to land shortages, still not fully recovering from the losses of the Opium Wars in 1842 along with growing contempt from non-high class citizens with how the Qing Dynasty was ruling China, Hong Xiuquan took this as an opportunity to gather potential followers by promising the poor that by joining him, they would grant equality for all, sharing resources like food and shelter which gathered him interest and support.
Eventually, this support would grow with the religious movement gaining an estimated 10 thousand members by 1851, only for it to continue expanding as the rebellion furthered.
God Worshipping Society
The movement and eventual rebellion co-created by Hong Xiuquan in 1843, the God Worshipping Society was made to spread Christianity and Hong's religious teachings all through out China while using it to completely reform how the government functioned while exterminating the demons who were 'destroying' China. Influenced by a propaganda booklet titled 'Benevolent Words to Advise the World,' he managed to influence in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi with the help of Feng Yunshan and together they co-founded the God Worshipping Society.
While the Chinese government knew about it's existence, no one could be prepared for the tragedy that would soon occur because of it.
Rebellion vs Revolution
Although some might think the words have similar meanings, the definition, and by virtue, the label of what a 'revolution' or 'rebellion' is has great depth and difference to each other.
The Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, commonly known and agreed upon as one of the greatest tragedies in both 19th century China and in all of Chinese history is the civil war led by religious cult leader Hong Xiuquan against the Qing Dynasty in order to completely reform China's social class, hierarchy, religious views, leaders and more.
Hong Xiuquan kickstarted his own Dynasty, titled the 'Taiping Tianugo,' meaning 'Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace,' and proclaimed himself as Tianwang, which meant 'Heavenly King.' He led the God Worshipping Society to revolt against the Qing Dynasty by spreading propaganda about the evils of those in power and how they were demons and that Hong Xiuquan was Jesus's brother and would lead China to salvation. As the members grew to the millions, they began to create divisions of soldiers that would start capturing cities owned by the Qing Dynasty and would create expeditions to slay members of the Qing Dynasty's military and would try to control and usurp the capital of Beijing.
The displays of violence led the Qing Dynasty to fight back and would cause over an estimated 20 to 30 million lives taken in the span of only 14 years, leading to one of the highest death counts of any war in all of history. Even though the Qing Dynasty eventually defeated the Taiping Tianugo, the damage done was so severe that it was a key contributor into the end of the Dynasty era of China.
End of the Rebellion
The rebellion would end with Hong Xiuquan committing suicide by poisoning himself on June 1st 1864 as the Qing Dynasty's army led by Zeng Guofan slain the almost all of the influential members of the Taiping Tianugo. With Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Tianugo and the God Worshipping Society dead, the Taiping Rebellion finally ended after 14 years in the Summer of 1864.
Aftermath and the Impacts on China
Aftermath and the impacts it had on China:
Was it all his fault?
While it's easy to blame Hong Xiuquan for everything that happened with the tragedies that occurred during the Taiping Rebellion, and he is in no way shape or form innocent, it's important to note that the society he was born and grew up in along with the pressures of his community played a key role in why the Taiping Rebellion even happened.
Reasons include:
It's also interesting to note that in Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea, the societal pressures of modern day Asia also share similarities to what Hong Xiuquan had to face, with Asian children having to constantly study for tests like the Gaokao in China which children as young as two study for their entire lives just to take it once, as it means the difference between a successful or unsuccessful life in their societies.
China's Cult Problem
The Oxford Language Dictionary refers to a cult as "a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object."
While Confucianism was practiced by the Qing Emperors and added to the state doctrine as the official religion of China, it didn't stop citizens from following their own religious beliefs and other citizens from using those beliefs to fuel their own goals and ambitions, gathering individuals who either shared their own beliefs or were influenced because of promises of good fortune to join their 'societies.' While some of these cults were recognized by the Qing Dynasty and even were allowed to be integrated to the religious doctrine such as the White Lotus Society, they were seen by the emperors as nothing more than a potential problem that could've been disastrous if left for too long, which is what eventually occurred with the God Worshipping Society.
Some notable cults during the Qing Dynasty include but are not limited to:
This section of the World's fair will focus on how the various different religions practiced in China, primarily Confucianism has impacted Chinese society in both negative and positive ways.
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, religion is referred to as "A personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs and practices."
While religion was always an important aspect of Chinese culture, once the Manchu's successfully took over Beijing and created the Qing Dynasty, the religion that most Chinese citizens practiced labelled 'Chinese Folk Religion,' the practice and beliefs of their being supernatural entities and worshipping them and making wishing to both your ancestors who passed on and the gods, became obsolete. Instead, the religion that became the 'official' one by the Qing Dynasty was Confucianism, although they followed more of a Neo-Confucianism ideology. The other notable religion during this time was Taoism, which was the second most followed religion during the Qing Dynasty.
Taoism
Taoism is both a religion and philosophy of life created by Lao Tzu, who created teachings followed by those around him about how humans and animals should live in balance with the universe as to not destroy or create imbalance in it. This religion is extremely spiritual, believing in ancestorial spirits, the afterlife and spiritual immortality.
Other Religions Practiced
While the two main religions, Confucianism and Taoism were extremely popular during the Qing Dynasty, there were other religions Chinese citizens followed, such as but not limited to:
Confucianism
Created and followed by the creator of Confucianism, Confucius, the basis of Confucianism was to hold yourself to a high moral code and to always keep improving your own character. Confucianism guided it's followers with 5 constant values and three fundamentals so that you can so that you and everyone else can lead a long, happy and successful life in harmony.
The 5 constant virtues, being:
Three Fundamentals Bonds
The three Fundamental Bonds are:
These three bonds were chosen as being the most fundamental in Chinese culture due to the fact that it was the best way to have an excellent and prosperous social life.
Neo Confucianism - Why was it chosen?
However, not only was Confucianism the major ideology that the emperors would make the Chinese people, but also Neo-Confucianism, which is the emphasized self-improvement as the main way to gain both fulfillment and create a true society and state filled with peace and harmony without any conflict.
Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism was chosen to be the official ideology in the Qing Dynasty for two main reasons:
Criticism of Neo Confucianism - Gu Yanwu
While Neo Confucianism was seen as the 'correct' and 'right' ideology to follow to live a successful life, there was one man who criticized with the notion that Neo Confucianism was the correct ideology for Chinese society to thrive in and remain in harmony with one another. That man was Gu Wanyu.
Gu Wanyu was a Chinese scholar who lived from 1635-1709 and was the main pillory against the way Confucianism was used in the Qing Dynasty, stating how it had various different contradictions, such as:
How it impacted China in the Qing Dynasty
During the entire Qing Dynasty, Confucianism impacted:
Aftermath - Present Day China
Even though Confucianism after the Qing Dynasty wasn't the main ideology that the Chinese people would have to follow and declined in popularity, in present day China it's still one of the most common religions that many Chinese citizens still practice in present day. It impacts various different aspects of the lives of those who follow it as they follow the five constant values and the three fundamental bonds and can even be referenced as a reason for why China devalued female children for so long due to not fitting in the mold for the fundamental bonds Confucianism preached. This however led to a massive country-wide issue in China where because of the one-child policy and abandonment of female children, the gap between how many men and women live in China are starting to increase, causing issues relating to a declining population, the rampant sexism crisis along with social issues like marriage.
The Five Constant Values
The 5 constant virtues, being:
