Was China's 'Century of Humiliation' Inevitable? History of China 1839-1895 Documentary 2/10

First Sino-Japanese War, Qing Dynasty, Century of Humiliation, Sino-French War, Opium Wars, Taiping Rebellion, Nian Rebellion, Dungan Revolts, Qing China, History China, Chinese HIistory, British China War, Second Opium War,

[giannb]

This history shows exactly why the Communists took power in China. Chinese Communism was basically Left-Wing Nationalism, like the anti-colonial movements in Africa and Asia. You don't just want political independence, you also want to take control of your economy that is controlled by foreigners.

[Tommykey]

Another advantage Japan had when it embarked on modernization is that it did not rule over extensive non-Japanese subject populations who were prone to revolt like China did.

[liamh]

The neverending story of the middle kingdom never ceases to intrigue us.

Thank you for taking the time to narrate the chronicle out :)

[alkopolityk]

Revolts (including those with religious motivation), corruption, external interventions and the attempts to politically and militarily modernize which didn't stop the eventual demise- all these remind me of the fall of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

[Tommykey]

Qianlong reigned too long. Maybe a younger more curious emperor would have been more interested with the McCartney expedition in 1793 and made modernizing the empire a priority. Having an old codger like Qianlong and you have a resistance to change, plus corrupt officials like Heshen who could take advantage of the situation.

[HWDragonborn]

"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, but one which crumbles from within is dead forever."

China: hold my beer

[Tommykey]

The Qing forces were like fingers that never came together to form a fist.

[HistoryOfRevolutions]

"As long as there shall be stones, the seeds of fire will not die"

- Lu Xun

[sumanmgr]

4:30 Interesting fact about the Sino-Nepalese War. Nepal actually faced overwhelming odds during the war. The Nepalese were facing their own rebellion and it was as worse as the rebellion Qing was facing, but the difference is that Qing had lots of resources and manpower while Nepal didn't. The Qing Emperor sent 70, 000 soldiers while Nepal could only muster less than 30, 000 soldiers. During the war, when Qing was approaching with their massive army, a Nepalese force of fewer than 200 soldiers used a tactic where their soldiers carried lit torches in their hands, tying them to the branches of trees, and tying flaming torches on the horns of domestic animals and driving them towards the enemy. This proved very effective and the Qing army suffered defeat.

[Koguma_ei]

Another difference between the implementation of reforms of Japan and China was that, In Japan, westernization coincided with its efforts in restructuring the country from a feudalist society to a centralized monarchy. In China however, feudalism ended two thousand years ago. By the time of its interaction with the west, China has been a highly centralized state for two millennia, any political or social reform would only be perceived through the lens of maintaining the status quo, for the ruling class see no other benefit.

[jevinliu]

Speaking about the Chinese navy, in 1880 they ordered the ironclad battleships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan from a German shipbuilder. However, due to the breakout of the Sino-French War, Germany confiscated them to prevent tensions. Considering that the opposing French fleet comprised of smaller, more obsolete vessels, they might have proven effective during the war.

Their existence made the Chinese fleet actually superior to the Japanese fleet in 1895, as the Japanese opted to build cruisers with battleship guns instead of battleships. Thing is, although Japanese heavy guns proved lackluster, lighter guns proved more effective, and Chinese command and training problems didn't help either. Therefore, the two major naval battles, Yalu River and Weihaiwei, went to the Japanese.

[Alex-ecwu]

it is cixi fault. the young emperor was going through reforms before she stopped him.

[Daniel_Jed]

Hey Jabzy. I remember your channel when it was just you talking into a camera traveling the world. Glad to see it evolve. Would like to see some of that old school content if you are able to.

[KageNoTenshi]

They closed off trade when they were strong, because they were afraid other might steal their trades and knowledge, but as a result they fell behind just like Japan did when they closed their boarder and trade

[oriffel]

ah i liked this one. less talking heads the better. Nicely done.

[paiwanhan]

Very well made, and you really offered a pretty comprehensive review of that period. There was always an underlying Manchu vs Han struggle underneath all these events. The ruling Manchus were essentially the colonizer of China, and they would rather lose to another colonial power than to those they colonized.

[Tengzhichong]

Imagine how terrible the situations of famine and poverty were, that you’d be willing to spare your own child the lengthy withering death for a short one.

[AlexS-ojqf]

The thing about being proud is that your enemies will focus on humiliating and humbling you.

[xuchenglin]

It's very interesting to watch this history from this point of view. As someone who lives there, we know this history but the angle of view is very different. What we are told is more from a view that only focus on within the border scope, through the eyes of the emperor or the government at that time, with predefined judgment and emotion. Our commonly told narrative is more like "bad people make useless incidents one after another, just to disturb and distract the emperor, so he cannot focus on the big things, they are annoying bad people" . While the view in the video is more vast and multi-directional, and international of course, situation is indeed very bad from a long time ago, things happen for a reason. I think this is more objective, and it's very interesting and informative to someone who already know part of this history.

1 thing to mention: The correct pronunciation of Cixi is "Tsiz Shei" not "cici". Just assume you would like to know.

[CuriousBiscuit]

This is a pretty cool documentary Jazby, but do you think you can put the sources you used in the description? I just want to be able to learn more about the topics that were discussed.

I hope you understand... Keep up the great work!!!