1978-06-02 — Page 26

買二第張七第日七十月四年午戊歷夏 WAH KIU YAT PO

歷史科建議答案

胡應亮

Suggested Answers to Histor

【Paper I), Hong Kong

Certificate of Education

Examination, 1978.

By Philip Y. U. Woo

Section A

East Asia, 1870 - 1952

1. Why did the Boxer Rising (1900-01) take place? What impact did it have on China?

The Boxer Movement, known as the I-ho ch'uan at the very beginning, resulted from both dynastic decline and foreign encroachment in late 19th century China, Both internal and external factore helped bring about it. Internally, there were factors that characterized the downward awing of a dynasty, like official corruption' political inaptitude, government malpractice, social injustice, or economic distress, AI1 these contributed to the revival (or intensification) of secret society activities at the grass-root level of Sucb China's countryside... activities were clearly anti-dynastic. Secret societies, like those that the Boxers joined, aimed at overthrowing the dynasty and starting a new one. In times of the Hancbu rule's decline, they were Externally, most active.

there were different forms of foreign encroachment, be they political, economic, social, or even religions and cultural. Politically, the imposition of unequal treaties on the Middle K Kingdom hurt Chinese cultural pride, especially among the scholar-gentry, whe, one must remember, were the bearers of the Confucian tradition, Economically, the import of cheap foreign goods and the advantageous position of foreign trade in China. disrupted the traditional Chinese economy, thereby adding weigh to social poverty. Socially, the presence of foreign settlements in Chinese territory and of foreign missionaries in the Chinese interiors aroused dissatisfaction among the local Chinese populace. Culturally or relegiously, the spread of Western thoughts met with (or stimulated) strong Chinese conservatiam, The combined effects vere to raise anti- foreign feeling in China. Anti-foreignism was age-old in China. The. Confucian scholar-gentry -hated foreigners because

the latter represented products of Western imperialism. In particular, Western missionaries aroused bitter feeling among both the Chinese gentry and commoners. They bought land, established churches. and gave protection (often unjust one) to locally recruited Chinese. Christians. While therefore to the Chinese gentry the missionaries were challeng- ing their social leadership, to the commoners the church protected crimes committed by the Chinese converts who often bullied other local people. To both the gentry and commoners, Christianity, which foreign missionaries brought to China, threatened Chinese customs, local fung-shui (geomancy) and Confucianian.

Yet anti-foreigniam was not confined to society. It grew increasingly intense at the Ch'ing court too. One must bear in mind, for example, that towards the ending years of the 19th century, there was the Scramble for Concessions, when foreign powers competed to secure imperialist concessions from China. Besides, after the unsuccessful 1898 Reform Movement, conservat- ive and die-hard Manchus like Kang-i' and Jung-lu reasserted their political influence and position at the Ching court. In particular, the Empress Dowager Tzu-hsi harboured growing resentment at

foreigners. Afterall,

Kang Yu-wei and Liang Ch 1- chao, both of whom the

Empress ordered to arrest

after the abortive Hundred

Day Reform (1898), were

aided by the British and

the Japanese respectively

8

:

to escape.

And when Tzu- hai later intended to dethrone Emperor Kuang-hɛù and choose new emperor, foreign consuls jointly. checked ber, In short, both the government and the people were getting more and more anti-foreign in outlook in the late 19th century..

In Shantung, economic hardship and foreign imperialist demonstration coincided. First, when foreign railways were built, the traditional Grand Canal in North China lost its function of transport. As a result, thousands of unemployed Chinese innkeepers, workers and boatmen rushed into Shantung, providing potentially rebellious elements for Boxer member-

ahip.. Secondly, in 1898,

the Germans seized Kiaochow, News of foreign coming. aroused great fear among : local Shantungese people. Thirdly, natural disastera:

The hit Shantung badly. Yellow River flooded in“ 1898, followed by a serious drought in 1900. For self- protection against threats as such (both foreign economic or otherwise), they joined Boxer societies and became the Boxers

But the Boxers were at

anti-dynastic first as much

as anti-foreign, It vas, afterall, the dynasty ta weakness and impotence that accounted for and invited growing Western aggression. When there were social

disorder and poverty, it was natural for the Boxers.. to put the blame on someone, That someone was either the Westernere, or the imperial dynasty, but most probably, both. Here, however, the role of the Ching court in the. Boxer Uprising came into the picture. In an attempt to whitewash her share of blame for China's weakness the Ching court sided with the Boxers, the rebela, and won their support.

Thus the government provided both military training grounds, and financial aida for the

With such official Boxers.. encouragement, the Boxers. changed their slogan fros the original "overthrow the Ch'ing and exterminate the foreigners" to help the Ch'ing

and exterminate the forein foreigners" in 1899) Then, in 1900, the Empress Dowager even invited the Boxers into Chihli to show her their magical kung-fu. The end outcome was the Ch'ing court plunging into the mid- summer madness: declaration of war on ALL the foreign powers and counting on the Boxers for the ensuring. national struggle. sanction, in short, neutralized the "anti- dynastie nature of the Boxer. Movement, turning it exclusively anti-foreign.

official

The Boxers were of course no match for the Allied. foreign troops, which were far superior in arms. The Boxer, Protocol, which concluded the brief Boxer uprising, weakened China further. The large indemnity that China had to pay, which amounted to some 450 million taels of silver, for example, drained the Ching's treasury and deprived of China much money that could otherwise

be used for constructive social and economic reform. As thẹ Ch'ing government. agreed to destroy the Taku forte near Peking, halt the import and production of armed and ammunitions, allow foreign troops to. guard strategic sites of Peking, abolish the likin tax (internal transit tax) on foreign goods, as well as place all native customs houses under the supervision of foreign inspectorate customs, China's sovereignty was severely infringed-

Her national defence upon, was badly shaken, and her internal administration was widely, interfered with.

Within the Manchu court, ever the Empresa Dowager bad by now realized the impossibility of fighting foreigners. She recognized

報日僑華

the need for deeper reform to save Manchu rule in

China. Hence the Late Ch'ing

Reform (1901-11). But as

五期星

the Ching dynasty's power. declined further (as a result of the allied occupation of Peking and the Russian advance into Manchuria), the reform was unsuccessful in saving the dynasty in the end. In particular, political decentralization, a phenomenon that began ever since the 1860s, was worsened after 1901, since provinces like Kwangtung and Kwangai had asserted independence and disobeyed Peking's orders during the Boxer disturbances.. Unable to resist foreigners,

the Manchu dynasty had brought national humiliation to China. Social discontent and distress, were aggravated when the government increased taxation to pay for the heavy indemnity. Consequently revolution, not reform, was welcome by more and more people as an effective, indeed the only, way of saving China. The downfall of the Ch'ing dynasty was hastened when revolutionary activities were quickened.

On the level of Sino- Western relations, the Chinese people's determinat- ion to resist foreign imperialism în the Boxer Movement had the effect of moderating foreign encroachment upon China. In a general desire to reduce international tension and maintain the status-quo in China, the imperialist powers accepted- America's Open Door advocacy. The breakup of China. thereby avoided.

What were the problems concerning Japan's relations with China, Britain and. "the United States when the Washington Conference

(1921-22) was called? To what extent were these. settled at that conference?

Japan's foreign policy in the age of pre-World War I imperialism in East

Asia was generally peaceful. The Japanese government cooperated with the Western Powers in the game of imperialism. They respected one another's interests in East Asia. During World War I, however, the Japanese made use of the opportunity when the European Powers were preoccupied with the life- and-death struggle in Europe and secured, exclusive interests from China in disregard of other powers' reactions. In the eyes of the Western Povers, the growth of Japanese' influence in the Far East tended to upset the balance of power in the areas.

Many problems were created as regards Japan's relations with the Western Powers and China,

In China, the Japanese bad seized the German rights, in Shantung, including. Kiạochow, as early as 1914), In 1915, there was the historically, famous 21 Demands presented by Japan to Yuan Shih-k'ai, then the Chinese Fresident These two episodes aroused much Chinese resentment towards the Japanese. Many Chinese nationalists protested against the Japanese, aggression, like in the May Fourth Incident of 1919. It was China'a policy to demand that Japan give up the war-time gains. Little wonder, therefore when the peacemakers at

the 1919 Versailles Conference refused to pay head to China's demands, Chinese nationalista vore gravely disappointed and disillusioned, Not only Japan but also the Western Powers realized that the growing militant and radical force of Chinese nationalism would create instability in East Asia.

With regard to American- Japanese relations, one must remember that confronation between the two countries appeared as early as the aftermath of the Busso-Japanese War of 1904-05. The First, World War elevated the US as a dominant world power

日二月六年八七九一饜公年七十六國民中 育教僑號

and the likelihood of

an American-Japanese war

was thus increasing.

At

least world opinion had it.

The Americans intended to roll back the tides of Japanese influence established during the

var.

The formerly German island colonies in the Pacific, for example, were in Japanese bande. Besides, the US and Japan were engaged in a naval race. Both countries, however,. wished to put a stop to it, Japan because of the rise of party rule since 1918, the US because the Congress (American parliament) was sure not to pass any increase in naval budget. In other matters too, the US and Japan did not ace eye to eye with each other. Their disagreements ranged from the Siberian problem (when the US expected an early withdrawal of Japanese troops in Siberia), the four-power consortium issue (when the powers worked to present a loan to China), to the immigration questions (when the US wanted to keep. Japanese immigrants from entering America).

Britain's relations with Japan centred on the Anglo- Japanese Alliance, which was due to expire in 1921. There was thus the need to reconsider relations between the two countries. Yet Britain did not wish the alliance to renew, since she did not want to be involved as an ally of Japan in case an American-Japanese war. broke out. The Commonwealth countries, who were enger to remain on good terms with. the US, were anxious that. Britain drop the link with Japan;

It was in such circumst- ances that the Washington Conference took place in 1921. Like all peace conferences in history, however, it can just be- expected that not all the problems discríbed earlier were successfully solved in the strictest sense. Neither, however, should one overlook the achievements of the conference. For example, the Four-power Pact, signed by the US, Britain, Japan and France, replaced the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, which was abolished, thereby removing much American and Commonwealth fear and suspicion of any continued. Anglo-Japanese military cooperation. Naval disarmament was to a certain extent successfully conducted, The Five-power Naval Limitat- ion Treaty, which was signed by the US, Britain, Japan, France and Italy, contained an agreed ratio of capital- ship ownership for the respective signatories: 5 for the US and Britain, 3 for Japan, and 1.67 for both. France and Italy, Aa history of the 1920s and early 1930s shoved, such naval disarma- ment efforts proved to be the most successful among all Washington Conference agreements in stabilizing great-power relatione, As regards the China problemy the nine countries 'present at the conference came to a Nine-power Treaty, by which the signatories promised :-- not to violate one another's rights in China; not to seek further exclusiveħand. separate interests from G China, to abolish traditional spheres of influence, and to respect China's national rights and territorial àdministration. Yet,-whereas to the US the treaty had the practical affect of nullifying. Japan's war-time gaina in China, to Japan the treaty served to confirm them on the contrary, N bilateral agreement between China and Japan resulted in the restoration of Kizochov and Chinese sovereignty in Shantung. But Japan'a continued economic privileges there and over China at large did not altogether sooth Chinese nationalist anger. The problem of anti- Japanese and anti-imperialist nationalism remained unsolved unsolved, Under American pressure, Japan promised to withdraw her troops from Siberia and Northern Sakhalin. However, the immigration question waɛ not taken up for discussion, at the conference. Ap later events showed, 'it. created much American- Japanese uneasy feeling.

As a conference designed

to check on Japan's A

expansionism, the Washington

Conference, one cannot help

but conclude, failed the mission, despite the considerable success it had in reconeiling great- power relations. Other than the Naval Limitation Treaty,.. the pacts agreed upon lacked practical enforcement on the powers' part.

The way to the Pacific War vos already opened.

3. Explain the policies

successive Chinese Governments towards Japanese encroachment upon China during the period 1914-1937.

There were

two periods

in the 20th century when Japan's encroachment upon China was particularly aggressive. One was dụring. World War I, the other from

1931 to 1945, when the ascendancy of militarism controlled the Japanese.

In the interval. government. between the two periods, the

Japanese aggression seemed somehow alowed down, due to the rise of party rule in the Japanese government, In China there were. ... different governments in the period as a whole. First, Yuan Shib-k'ài attempted a dictatorship, even a restored monarchy. Then, successive warlord regimes having limited jurisdiction ruled Peking and the around region and no more. It was not until 1928 that Chiang Kai-shek, and the Nationalists (the KMT) succeeded in "unifying“ Chine.

Even then, political unification was far from complete. In short, long years of political instability in China had the effect of encouraging the rapacity of Japanese imperialism. In turn, it is of interests to see how the successive Chinese governments responded to the Japanese threat, which, one must bear in mind, was on a national scale.

After the Japanese declared war on Germany in 1914, they immediately seized the German rights in Shantung, including Kiaochow, the German leased area. Yuan Shih-k'ai, President of the Chinese Republic, requested the withdrawal of Japanese

troops there, on the ground that China was stil a neutral country in World War I The Japanese response was further aggression: in 1915, the 21 Demanda were presented. to Yuan. Yuan realized the impossibility of resisting Japan slone. Understanding that Japan was exploiting the opportunity when the European Povera vere preoccupied with the First World War to encroach upon China, he deliberately and systematically revealed the Japanese demands (which vere, as insisted by Japan, kept in secret) to the Western Powers, especially the US, whom Yuan considered the least imperialist among all This foreign imperialists. tactic did not work effectively. And when Japan sent an ultimatum to China, Yuan found himself obliged to accept the Japanese demanda. The reasons for his doing so were in part selfish in nature.

He vas afterall, at the moment preparing to restore monarchy. He was thus eager to prevent foreign attention from focusing on his monarchical design and to get Japanese financial aid.

1

Yuan's monarchical attempt failed and he died a bitter man in 1916. China vas thereafter broken up into separate warlord regimos. Any warlord government who occupied Peking was recognized as China's de jure Government. In other words, the Chinese Government in the warlord

· period (1916–28) did not represent China's national interesta as a whole. In 1917-18, the Japanese, in an effort to make China formally recognise their gains, extended the O- called "Nishihara Loans” tô the Peking Chinese warlords in exchange for some secret