Century of Humiliation
“”The opening of
 China by  Western powers  through the  Opium Wars was not about civilizing an ancient culture, but about  commercial greed and  imperialism. |
—  John King Fairbank
|
The century of humiliation was a period in 
Chinese history beginning with the First Opium War (1839–1842, 
Qing Dynasty), and ending in 1945 with 
China emerging out of the Second World War as one of the Big Four. During this period of roughly a hundred years, China was is typified by decline, defeat and political fragmentation. Foreign, mainly 
European powers like Britain and 
Russia exploited China for goods and clay. They intervened, annexed and subjugated China. In the century of humiliation, China is seen as a weak and crumbling empire.
History
Chinese 
nationalists in the 1920s and the 1930s dated the Century of Humiliation to the mid-19th century, on the eve of the First Opium War amidst the dramatic political unraveling of Qing China that followed.
Defeats by foreign powers cited as part of the Century of Humiliation include the following (WIP):
Western and 
Japanese Trade in 
Opium to 
China (1800s–1940s)- Defeat in the First Opium War (1839–1842)
British occupation of 
Hong Kong (1841-1997)- Treaty of
Nanking (1842) - Treaty of
Whampoa (1844) - Defeat in the Second Opium War (1856–1860)
- Treaty of
Aigun (1858) - Treaty of
Peking (1860) - The sacking and looting of the Old Summer Palace by Anglo-French
forces (1860) - Partial defeat during the
Sino-French 
War, which resulted in losing suzerainty over 
Vietnam and influence in the 
Indochinese Peninsula (1884-1885) - The British
Sikkim expedition (1888) - Treaty of
Shimonoseki (1895)
Collapse of Qing Dynasty
ROC defeated Qing Dynasty during the Xinhai Rebellion of 1911 to abolish 
monarchy and kicked out the 
Manchus. However, China was still weak and unstable, so the so-called "humiliation" did not end.
Criticism
Many 
historians have criticized the view of China being weak in the 19th century. They argue that vulnerability and weakness to foreign imperialism in the 19th century are based mainly on Qing's maritime naval weakness and achieved military success against Westerners on land. The allegation that China refused to modernize or was unable to defeat Western armies was also criticized, noting that China embarked on a massive military modernization in the late 1800s after several defeats, bought weapons from Western countries, and manufactured his own arsenals, such as the Hanyang Arsenal during the 
Boxer Rebellion. In addition, the claim that Chinese society was traumatized by the Western victories was also questioned, as many Chinese peasants (then 90% of the population) lived outside the concessions and continued about their daily lives uninterrupted and without any feeling of "humiliation".
As 
Edward L. Dreyer stated, China's nineteenth-century humiliations were strongly related to his weakness and failure at sea. At the start of the First Opium War, China had no unified navy and not a sense of how vulnerable he was to attack from the waters. 
British navy forces sailed and steamed wherever they wanted to go, and in the Second Opium War (1856–1860), the Chinese had no way to prevent the 
Anglo-French navy expedition of 1860 from sailing into the 
Gulf of Zhili and landing as near as possible to 
Beijing. Meanwhile, new but not exactly modern Chinese armies suppressed the midcentury rebellions, bluffed 
Russia into a peaceful settlement of disputed frontiers in Central Asia, and defeated the French forces on land in the Sino-French War (1884–85). But the defeat at sea, and the resulting threat to steamship traffic to 
Taiwan, forced China to conclude peace on unfavorable terms.
Quotes
| “ | Today's China has long been weak. With foreign threats and internal troubles, if we do not strengthen ourselves, the great powers will surely carve us apart. | ” | |
How to draw
Century of Humiliation has a drawing rating of hard.
- Draw a ball.
- Fill it with yellow.
- Draw an upside down blue Chinese dragon with red and green hair and white scales in the middle. It’s head should be facing left.
- Add the imperialism symbol on top of the dragon.
- Add Chinese eyes and you are done!
| Color Name | HEX | |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | #FECD21 | |
| Blue | #00386A | |
| Green | #09866C | |
| Red | #E6170F | |
| White | #FFFFFF | |
| Black | #000000 | |
