Chinese History - From Imperial Rule to Republic Quiz

Answer: Empress Dowager Cixi

Cixi (tenure 1861-1908) was the spouse of Xianfeng (reigned 1850-1861), who died at the age of 30. Cixi's only biological son, Tongzhi (reigned 1861-1875), succeeded as the 8th Qing emperor when he was only 5 years old.

After the death of Tongzhi at the young age of 19, he succeeded Cixi's nephew Guangxu (reigned 1875-1908) who rose to the throne at the age of 4. During Guangxu's reign, the country was largely ruled by Cixi until her death in 1908.

Answer: Summer Palace

Between 1884 to 1895, Cixi (1835-1908) was alleged to approve spending of up to 22 million silver taels for the reconstruction of Summer Palace, which was originally allotted for the upgrading of the Beiyang Fleet (Northern Seas Fleet). The lack of funding to upgrade the navies had a big impact on the destiny of the Qing dynasty.

The Chinese navies were modernized in 1870s became the most powerful naval force in Asia. They retained that position until the 1880s.

Answer: Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese (25 July 1894-17 April 1895) was a conflict between the Qing dynasty and Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Korea. Korea was a protectorate state of China. The unbroken victories over 6 months by the Japanese land and naval forces forced the Qing government to sue for peace.

At the Battle of Weihaiwei, the Beiyang Fleet was almost completely destroyed by the superior Japanese naval force.

Answer: Treaty of Shimonoseki

After being utterly defeated by Empire of Japan, the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The terms of the treaty covered the following 5 articles:

"Article 1:
To recognize the independence and autonomy of Korea (Korea was a protectorate state of China)

Article 2 & 3:
To cede Formosa (Taiwan) and Penghu Islands to Japan
To cede Liaodong Peninsula (N.E China)

Article 4
To pay Japan 200,000,000 Kuping taels as a war indemnity

Article 5
To grant Japan most favoured nation status for foreign trade"

The territories were returned to China 50 years later in 1945 after the Empire of Japan was defeated in WWII.

Answer: Hundred Days' Reforms

From 1889 to 1898, Guangxu was allowed to rule on his own without the influence of Cixi. He initiated the Hundred Day's Reform. The 103-day political reform movement was stopped by Cixi, who launched a coup in 1898. Guangxu was immediately put under house arrest and he became powerless for the rest of life until his death.

The chief advocates of the reforms were the "Six Gentlemen of Wuxu". The 6 men were Tan Sitong, Kang Guaren, Lin Xu, Yang Shenxu, Yang Rui and Liu Guangdi were ordered to be executed. Tan Sitong was the only executed in the public as he refused to escape.

The two main reformists, Kang Youwei (brother of Kang Guanren) and his student Liang Qichao, fled to Japan and formed the "Protect the Emperor Society".

Answer: Boxer

In 1900, the Boxer Rebellion was started by a secret organisation named the "Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists", which led an uprising in northern China against the spread of Western and Japanese influence. They killed foreigners and Chinese Christians and destroyed foreign property.

From June to August, the Boxers besieged the foreign district of Beijing for about 55 days until an international force that included American troops subdued the uprising.

In 1901, the rebellion ended with the Qing government and Eight-Nation Alliance signing the Boxer Protocol. The Qing government agreed to pay more than $330 million in reparations and the foreign powers to station troops in Beijing.

The Eight-Nation Alliance consisted of 45000 troops from: Germany, Japan, Russia, Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and Austria-Hungary.

Answer: Death of Guangxu and Cixi

On 14 November, Guangxu died of arsenic poisoning. It was suspected that Cixi had ordered the chief eunuch to poison Guangxu. She wanted to ensure Guangxu died before her. At age 37, Guangxu died without an heir. A day later, Cixi passed away.

Guangxu's young nephew Puyi (1906-1967) became the last emperor of Qing dynasty at the age of 2.

Answer: Wuchang

The New Army soldiers formed by the revolutionaries staged a mutiny in Wuchang District (now a district in Wuhan) and occupied the residence of the Viceroy of Huguang. The success of this uprising and eventual revolution directly caused the downfall of the Qing dynasty.

On January 1, 1912, the founding of the Republic of China was declared in Nanjing. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the first leader of Kuomingtang, KMT in short (Nationalist Party) became the provisional president on the same day. He relinquished the position to Yuan Shikai on March 10, 1912.

Answer: Assassination of Song Jiaoren, founder of the KMT party

Yuan Shikai (1859-1916), a former Qing senior official was used by the revolutionaries as the intermediary to convince the Qing royal family to step down. In return for the favour, he was promised by the revolutionaries the post of the presidency, which he assumed on March 10, 1912.

Song Jiaoren (1882-1913), the founder of the KMT party, led his party to win a majority of the seats in the general elections in 1913, winning the right to form the government.

Yuan, who feared losing his authority and power, was suspected to be the one behind the assassination. Sun and his supporters had to escape to Japan after the failure of the second revolution.

Answer: Declared himself as emperor

In December 1915, Yuan decided to declare himself as Emperor Hongxian, which led him to lose many of his former supporters and foreign powers.

On 25 December 1915, Yunnan's military governor Cai E rebelled by launching the National Protection War. Governors from a few provinces followed and declared independence.

On March 1, funding for his accession ceremony was cut, forcing him to abolish the post on March 22. However, he continued to serve as the president from March 22 until his death on June 6. He was succeeded by Li Yuanhong.