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China At The Turn Of The 20th Century Analysis

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There were many negative and positive consequences that came with the contact between China and the European powers at the turn of the 20th century. These consequences are evidently seen in the impacts of European technology. China had no to intentions to welcome the arrival of Europeans and attempted to control the entry of foreigners into the Middle Kingdom. The assumed barbaric behaviour came from a group of Portuguese sailors during the sixteenth century that had set Chinese attitudes against Europeans. The Chinese banned these bothersome Europeans from entering the land, referring to them as ‘barbarians from the Western Ocean’. On the other hand European traders continued to seek Chinese goods such as silk, tea and porcelain, the proud Chinese expressed …show more content…

Japan soon triumphed over the Chinese army by gaining control of Beijing. The defeat revealed Chinese weaknesses to the European powers, allowing them to gain opportunities for them to gain more Chinese land. Chinese independence soon was defeated. It was clear that the use of the modern weapons was not enough to protect China against being fully modernised. Modern leadership was needed and mastering the technology that came from the western countries was necessary to understand the Europeans political and legal systems. The determination to change was led by a scholar from Canton named Kang Yuwei. He believed that westernisation and Confucianism could exist together in harmony. Kang Yuwei awed the emperor with his plans for change he named the ‘Hundred Days of Reform’. Between June and September of 1898 forty decrees were announced including: the founding of a new school and university system including a curriculum based on the teaching of Western science and technology, restructuring aimed at the retraining and modernising of the army and navy, the creation of a national assembly, based on the model of a British parliament, to manage

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