The Gathering Storm: Imperialist Ambitions in Late 19th Century East Asia The late 19th century witnessed the transformation of Western […]
The Roots of French Imperialism in Indochina The story of France’s colonial foothold in Southeast Asia begins much earlier than […]
The American Designs on Taiwan and the Origins of Foreign Aggression In 1857, American diplomat Peter Parker sent a secret […]
A Princely Birth in the Mansion of Prince Chun On June 28, 1871 (the 28th day of the 6th lunar […]
The Rise and Rivalry of Prince Gong The political landscape of Qing China in the 1860s was dominated by two […]
The Foundations of Modern Industry in Late Qing China The latter half of the 19th century witnessed the painful birth […]
The Collapse of China’s Cotton Textile Handicraft Industry The 1860s marked a turning point for China’s centuries-old economic structure when […]
Introduction: The Self-Strengthening Movement’s Arsenal Initiative During the tumultuous period between 1865 and 1890, China’s Self-Strengthening Movement embarked on an […]
The Humble Origins of a Future Empress Yehenara Xingzhen, later known as Empress Dowager Cixi, was born into the Manchu […]
Fraternal Rivalry and Court Factions in the Xianfeng Era The tumultuous reign of Emperor Xianfeng (1850-1861) witnessed one of the […]
The Roots of Conflict: Trade Imbalance and Imperial Ambitions The mid-19th century witnessed a dramatic clash between China’s traditional world […]
The Rise and Fracture of the Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) began as a radical uprising against the Qing […]
The Rise of Hong Xiuquan and the God Worshippers Society In the early 19th century, China under the Qing dynasty […]
The Collapse of Traditional Forces and the Birth of a New Army In the wake of the devastating Taiping Rebellion […]
A New Emperor’s Ambitious Beginning When Emperor Xianfeng ascended the throne in 1850 at the age of 19, he inherited […]
A Monarch’s Dilemma: The Uncertain Succession of Emperor Daoguang The year was 1846, and the aging Emperor Daoguang of the […]
The Ancient Doctrine of Hua-Yi Distinction For millennia, Chinese civilization developed under the profound influence of what scholars called the […]
The Opium War and the Collapse of Traditional Boundaries The Treaty of Nanjing (1842) marked a catastrophic turning point in […]
The Road to Conflict: Britain’s Long-Term Ambitions in China British designs on China took shape decades before the first shots […]
The Flourishing of Literary Compilation in Qing China The Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) witnessed an unprecedented surge in the compilation of […]
The Qing Dynasty’s Promotion of Confucian Orthodoxy The early Qing rulers systematically promoted Confucian philosophy and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as state […]
The Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of Chinese literature, particularly in the realm of fiction. Amidst the rigid […]