6.32 The far east: a.d. 1801 to 1900

The far east

Back to The Far East: 1701 to 1800

Asians decided that polished white rice (like the white flour in the west) was ideal food, but polishing rice removed the drab-colored, outer sheath, which contains the nutritious germ carrying important foodstuffs. Some people were developing the deficiency diseases such as Beri-beri, which affects nerves, heart and digestive systems. (See also Southeast Asia .)

China and manchuria (continued manchu dynasty)

The Manchu rulers clung tenaciously to their 2,000 year old institutions but 2 types of pressures hastened the collapse of imperial China. The first was the increasing power and ambitions of the West. English, Dutch, Spanish, French and Portuguese all had colonial empires in Asia as well as America and were calling for free-trade. By 1800 and after, westerners found they could sell the Chinese abundant quantities of opium, even if illegally and get tea, silk, porcelains and silver back. By 1839 this had provoked war with England - the Opium War of 1839-42 - chiefly coastal skirmishes, which went badly for China, nevertheless. Five ports from Canton to Shanghai were opened to foreign residence and trade and foreign influence began to be felt. China's fate in the 19th century echoed that of India in the 18th in regard to creeping western invasion. (Ref. 292 )

The second factor leading to the collapse of imperial China was the growing domestic discontent. For 2,000 years China had sustained a highly advanced culture, although static. Regardless of various foreign invader-rulers, the huge majority of its people lived on the land in self sufficient and contained villages, living by ancestral precept. Although at the mercy of nature, in some ways their technology was well advanced with city walls, efficient irrigation systems and grand palaces and they lived-with dignity, rich and poor. (Ref. 242 ) In the first part of this l9th century travelers reported that the Chinese "have tranquility without happiness, industry without improvement, stability without strength and public order without public morality"