Modern States of China: Map & History

During the 19th century, the Qing territories experienced a series of famines, natural disasters, economic problems and defeats at the hands of foreign powers; these events have come to be collectively known as China's century of humiliation. Farmers were heavily overtaxed, rents rose dramatically, and peasants started to desert their lands in droves. The Qing military had recently suffered a disastrous defeat in the First Opium War, while the Chinese economy was severely impacted by a trade imbalance caused by the large-scale and illicit importation of opium. Banditry became more common, and numerous secret societies and self-defence units formed, all of which led to an increase in small-scale warfare.

From Wikipedia: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom · Background: Crisis during Qing dynasty (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Initially, the followers of Hong Xiuquan were called God Worshippers. Hong's faith was inspired by visions he reported in which the Heavenly Father greeted him in Heaven. Hong had earlier been in contact with Protestant missionaries and read the Bible. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was based on Hong Xiuquan's syncretism with Christianity, which differed from mainstream Christian prayers, rituals, and holidays. The libraries of the Buddhist monasteries were destroyed, almost completely in the case of the Yangtze delta. Temples of Daoism, Confucianism, and other traditional beliefs were expropriated to be used for the new religion, as schools or hospitals, or simply defaced.

From Wikipedia: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom · Policies: Religious affairs (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In its first year, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom minted coins that were 23 mm × 26 mm (0.91 in × 1.02 in) in diameter, weighing around 4.1 g (0.14 oz). The kingdom's name was inscribed on the obverse and "Holy Treasure" (聖寶) on the reverse; the kingdom also issued paper notes.

From Wikipedia: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom · Policies: Currency (CC BY-SA 4.0)

While the Taiping rebels did not have the support of Western governments, they were relatively modernised in terms of weapons. An ever growing number of Western weapons dealers and black marketeers sold Western weapons such as modern muskets, rifles, and cannons to the rebels. As early as 1853, Taiping Tianguo soldiers had been using guns and ammunition sold by Westerners. Rifles and gunpowder were smuggled into China by English and American traders as "snuff and umbrellas". They were partially equipped with surplus equipment sold by various Western companies and military units' stores, both small arms and artillery. One shipment of weaponry from an American dealer in April 1862 already "well known for their dealings with rebels" was listed as 2,783 (percussion cap) muskets, 66 carbines, 4 rifles, and 895 field artillery guns, as well as carrying passports signed by the Loyal King.

From Wikipedia: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom · Policies: Military procurement (CC BY-SA 4.0)

An attempt to take Shanghai in August 1860 was initially successful but finally repulsed by a force of Chinese troops and European officers under the command of Frederick Townsend Ward. This army would later become the "Ever Victorious Army", led by Charles "Chinese" Gordon, and would be instrumental in the defeat of the Taiping rebels. Imperial forces were reorganised under the command of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and the Qing government's re-conquest began in earnest. By early 1864, Qing control in most areas was well established.

From Wikipedia: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom · History: Fall (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1856, a massacre of Muslims organized by a Qing Manchu official responsible for suppressing the revolt in the provincial capital of Kunming sparked a province-wide multi-ethnic insurgency. The Manchu official who started the anti-Muslim massacre was Shuxing'a, who developed a deep hatred of Muslims after an incident where he was stripped naked and nearly lynched by a mob of Muslims. He ordered several Muslim rebels to be slowly sliced to death. However, Tariq Ali claimed in his works that the Muslims who had nearly lynched Shuxing'a were not Hui, but belonged to another ethnicity; nevertheless, the Manchu official blamed all Muslims for the incident.

From Wikipedia: Panthay Rebellion · Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Sultanate's power declined after 1868. The Chinese Imperial government had succeeded in reinvigorating itself. By 1871 it was directing a campaign for the annihilation of the obdurate Hui Muslims of Yunnan. By degrees the Imperial government had tightened the cordon around the Sultanate. The Sultanate proved unstable as soon as the Imperial government made a regular and determined attack on it. Town after town fell under well-organized attacks from imperial troops. Dali itself was besieged by imperial forces. Sultan Sulayman (also spelt Suleiman) found himself caged in by the walls of his capital. Desperately looking for outside help, he turned to the British for military assistance. He realized that only British military intervention could have saved his Sultanate.

From Wikipedia: Panthay Rebellion · Course of the war: Decline (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Qing dynasty did not massacre Muslims who surrendered, in fact, Muslim General Ma Rulong, who surrendered and join the Qing campaign to crush the rebel Muslims, was promoted, and among Yunnan's military officers serving the Qing, he was the strongest.

From Wikipedia: Panthay Rebellion · Aftermath: Impact on Muslims (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After two centuries, the seclusion policy, or sakoku, under the shōguns of the Edo period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa which came when American commander Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan in 1854. Thus, the period known as Bakumatsu began.

From Wikipedia: Empire of Japan · History: Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The idea of a written constitution had been a subject of heated debate within and outside of the government since the beginnings of the Meiji government. The conservative Meiji oligarchy viewed anything resembling democracy or republicanism with suspicion and trepidation, and favored a gradualist approach. The Freedom and People's Rights Movement demanded the immediate establishment of an elected national assembly, and the promulgation of a constitution.

From Wikipedia: Empire of Japan · History: Political reform (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the 1920s, the whole global economy was dubbed as "a decade of global uncertainty". At the same time, the zaibatsu trading groups (principally Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, and Yasuda) looked toward great expansion. Their main concern was a shortage of raw materials. Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe combined social concerns with the needs of capital, and planned for expansion. Economic growth was stimulated by certain domestic policies and it can be seen in the steady and progressive increase of materials such as in the iron, steel and chemical industry.

From Wikipedia: Empire of Japan · History: Economic factors (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Japan entered World War I on the side of the Allies in 1914, capitalizing on the opportunity of Germany's distraction with the European War to expand its sphere of influence in China and the Pacific. Japan declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914. Japanese and allied British Empire forces soon moved to occupy Tsingtao fortress, the German East Asia Squadron base, German-leased territories in China's Shandong Province as well as the Marianas, Caroline, and Marshall Islands in the Pacific, which were part of German New Guinea. The swift invasion in the German territory of the Kiautschou Bay concession and the Siege of Tsingtao proved successful. The German colonial troops surrendered on November 7, 1914, and Japan gained the German holdings. In 1920, the League of Nations established the South Seas Mandate under Japanese administration to replace German New Guinea.

From Wikipedia: Empire of Japan · History: World War I (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the 1860s, Japan began to experience great social turmoil and rapid modernization. The feudal caste system in Japan formally ended in 1869 with the Meiji Restoration. In 1871, the newly formed Meiji government issued a decree titled Senmin Haishirei (賤民廃止令 Edict Abolishing Ignoble Classes) giving burakumin equal legal status. It is currently better known as the Kaihōrei (解放令 Emancipation Edict). However, the elimination of economic monopolies over certain occupations actually led to a decline in general living standards, and social discrimination simply continued. For example, the ban on the consumption of meat from livestock was lifted in 1871, and many former burakumin moved on to work in abattoirs and as butchers. However, slow-changing social attitudes, especially in the countryside, meant that abattoirs and workers were met with hostility from local residents.

From Wikipedia: Empire of Japan · History: Transposition in social order and cultural destruction (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sadao Araki was an important figurehead and founder of the Army party and the most important militarist thinker in his time. His first ideological works date from his leadership of the Kōdōha (Imperial Benevolent Rule or Action Group), opposed by the Tōseiha (Control Group) led by General Kazushige Ugaki. He linked the ancient (bushido code) and contemporary local and German and Italian fascist ideals (see Kokkashugi), to form the ideological basis of the movement (Shōwa nationalism).

From Wikipedia: Empire of Japan · History: Nationalism and decline of democracy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Evidence of early humans such as Homo erectus in China dates to the Paleolithic, around 1.7 million years ago, with unconfirmed sites as old as 2 million years ago. Modern Homo sapiens are attested from around 50,000 years ago. Following the end of the Last Glacial Period, in about 8,000 BCE, pottery-making Neolithic cultures emerged. By the 6000s BCE, sedentary agricultural societies had spread across the lower Yellow River basin. These societies became increasingly complex, urbanized, and stratified, but many experienced a population collapse in the late 2000s BCE for unclear reasons.

From Wikipedia: China · History: Prehistory (CC BY-SA 4.0)

China is a unitary state under the absolute leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Since the 1980s, the CCP has called its guiding theories and policies socialism with Chinese characteristics, which it considers an adapted form of Marxism–Leninism that emphasizes a market economy as the primary stage of socialism. China describes itself as a socialist state, and a people's democratic dictatorship. Many academic sources describe it as an authoritarian state, although others dispute this label as reductive, or as oversimplifying its methods of political control.

From Wikipedia: China · Politics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The modern PRC is often described by analysts as an example of state capitalism or party-state capitalism, with both market forces and the state playing a major role in the economy. Various state organs manage the economy according to the State Council's five-year plans. China describes its economic system as a socialist market economy, in which the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation under the control of a socialist state. The Chinese economy has expanded more than 20 times since 2000. It is now the second largest economy by GDP (135 trillion yuan) and the largest when adjusted for purchasing power parity. China has brought roughly 800 million people out of extreme poverty, more than any other country in history.

From Wikipedia: China · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Traditional sports such as martial arts and dragon boat racing have been practiced in China for over a millennium. The ball game cuju predates the Qin dynasty and remained popular for millennia, declining during the late Qing dynasty. Chuiwan (similar to modern golf) and polo were popular sports among elites throughout portions of the imperial period, while commoners played regional ball games. Evolving out of Chinese martial arts in the Qing period, tai chi incorporates Taoist practices into a form of gymnastics.

From Wikipedia: China · Culture: Sport and games (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In response to Japan's "Twenty-One Demands", China signed the "Treaty Concerning Southern Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia" and the "Treaty Concerning Shandong" after more than three months of negotiations. In June 1915, the treaty texts were exchanged. Later, there was a sudden rumor in Japanese newspapers that Yuan Shikai intended to proclaim himself emperor. Although Yuan Shikai strongly denied it, the statement that "republicanism is not suitable for China's national conditions" gradually spread in society.

From Wikipedia: Empire of China (1915–1916) · Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The KMT traces its ideological and organizational roots to the work of the Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, a proponent of Chinese nationalism and democracy who founded the Revive China Society at the capital of the Republic of Hawaii, Honolulu, on 24 November 1894. On 20 August 1905, Sun joined forces with other anti-monarchist societies in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, to form the Tongmenghui, a group committed to overthrowing the Qing dynasty and establishing a republic in China.

From Wikipedia: Kuomintang · History: Founding and Sun Yat-sen era (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Kuomintang Party Charter was adopted on January 28, 1924. The current charter has 51 articles and includes contents of General Principles, Party Membership, Organization, The National President, The Director-General, The National Congress, The Central Committee, District and Sub-District Party Headquarters, Cadres and Tenure, Discipline, Awards and Punishment, Funding, and Supplementary Provisions. The most recent version was made at the Twentieth National Congress on July 28, 2019.

From Wikipedia: Kuomintang · Organization: Party charter (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Chiang Ching-kuo, appointed as KMT director of Secret Police in 1950, was educated in the Soviet Union, and initiated Soviet style military organization in the Republic of China Armed Forces, reorganizing and Sovietizing the political officer corps, surveillance, and KMT activities were propagated throughout the whole of the armed forces. Opposed to this was Sun Li-jen, who was educated at the American Virginia Military Institute. Chiang Ching-kuo then arrested Sun Li-jen, charging him of conspiring with the American CIA of plotting to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT, Sun was placed under house arrest in 1955.

From Wikipedia: Kuomintang · Ideology in mainland China: Soviet-style military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The KMT purged China's education system of Western ideas, introducing Confucianism into the curriculum. Education came under the total control of the state, which meant, in effect, the KMT, via the Ministry of Education. Military and political classes on KMT's Three Principles of the People were added. Textbooks, exams, degrees and educational instructors were all controlled by the state, as were all universities.

From Wikipedia: Kuomintang · Ideology in mainland China: Education (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The October Revolution and Marxist theory inspired the founding of the CCP. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were among the first to publicly support Leninism and world revolution. Both regarded the October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · History: Founding and early history (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In practice, the delegates rarely discuss issues at length at the National Congresses. Most substantive discussion takes place before the congress, in the preparation period, among a group of top party leaders. In between National Congresses, the Central Committee is the highest decision-making institution. The CCDI is responsible for supervising party's internal anti-corruption and ethics system. In between congresses the CCDI is under the authority of the Central Committee.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · Organization: Central organization (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Deng did not believe that the fundamental difference between the capitalist mode of production and the socialist mode of production was central planning versus free markets. He said, "A planned economy is not the definition of socialism, because there is planning under capitalism; the market economy happens under socialism, too. Planning and market forces are both ways of controlling economic activity". Jiang Zemin supported Deng's thinking, and stated in a party gathering that it did not matter if a certain mechanism was capitalist or socialist, because the only thing that mattered was whether it worked. It was at this gathering that Jiang Zemin introduced the term socialist market economy, which replaced Chen Yun's "planned socialist market economy".

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · Ideology: Economics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The CCP continued supporting the Wuhan KMT government, but on 15 July 1927 the Wuhan government expelled all communists from the KMT. The CCP reacted by founding the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, better known as the "Red Army", to battle the KMT. A battalion led by General Zhu De was ordered to take the city of Nanchang on 1 August 1927 in what became known as the Nanchang uprising.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · History: Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the 1960s and 1970s, the CCP experienced a significant ideological separation from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which had gone through a period of "de-Stalinization" under Nikita Khrushchev. By that time, Mao had begun saying that the "continued revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat" stipulated that class enemies continued to exist even though the socialist revolution seemed to be complete, leading to the Cultural Revolution in which millions were persecuted and killed. During the Cultural Revolution, party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, and He Long were purged or exiled, and the Gang of Four, led by Mao's wife Jiang Qing, emerged to fill in the power vacuum left behind.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · History: Sino-Soviet split and Cultural Revolution (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Compared to other senior party officials like Hu Hanmin and Wang Jingwei, the political status of Chiang Kai-shek in the Kuomintang (KMT) was lower in the beginning. Chiang began his rise to prominence in 1917 during the Constitutional Protection Movement and the formation of the Guangzhou government, where he displayed his military talent. The turning point came in 1923 when Chen Jiongming launched a rebellion against Sun Yat-sen in Guangzhou. Chiang's role in helping Sun to retreat from Guangzhou ultimately helped him to become Sun's protégé.

From Wikipedia: Central Plains War · Background: Rise of Chiang Kai-shek (CC BY-SA 4.0)

On 18 September Zhang Xueliang and the Northeast Army abandoned their neutrality and declared their support for Chiang. Several days later the Northeast Army entered the North China Plain through Shanhai Pass and captured Peking two days later. The Shanxi Army withdrew to the north of the Yellow River, while the Northwest Army collapsed as the morale of the anti-Chiang coalition no longer existed. On 4 November both Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang announced their resignations from all of their positions, which effectively ended the hostilities and brought an end to regional challenges against the Nanjing government.

From Wikipedia: Central Plains War · Second phase: Northeast Army intervenes (September – November 1930) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The October Revolution and Marxist theory inspired the founding of the CCP. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were among the first to publicly support Leninism and world revolution. Both regarded the October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · History: Founding and early history (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In practice, the delegates rarely discuss issues at length at the National Congresses. Most substantive discussion takes place before the congress, in the preparation period, among a group of top party leaders. In between National Congresses, the Central Committee is the highest decision-making institution. The CCDI is responsible for supervising party's internal anti-corruption and ethics system. In between congresses the CCDI is under the authority of the Central Committee.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · Organization: Central organization (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Deng did not believe that the fundamental difference between the capitalist mode of production and the socialist mode of production was central planning versus free markets. He said, "A planned economy is not the definition of socialism, because there is planning under capitalism; the market economy happens under socialism, too. Planning and market forces are both ways of controlling economic activity". Jiang Zemin supported Deng's thinking, and stated in a party gathering that it did not matter if a certain mechanism was capitalist or socialist, because the only thing that mattered was whether it worked. It was at this gathering that Jiang Zemin introduced the term socialist market economy, which replaced Chen Yun's "planned socialist market economy".

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · Ideology: Economics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The CCP continued supporting the Wuhan KMT government, but on 15 July 1927 the Wuhan government expelled all communists from the KMT. The CCP reacted by founding the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China, better known as the "Red Army", to battle the KMT. A battalion led by General Zhu De was ordered to take the city of Nanchang on 1 August 1927 in what became known as the Nanchang uprising.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · History: Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the 1960s and 1970s, the CCP experienced a significant ideological separation from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which had gone through a period of "de-Stalinization" under Nikita Khrushchev. By that time, Mao had begun saying that the "continued revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat" stipulated that class enemies continued to exist even though the socialist revolution seemed to be complete, leading to the Cultural Revolution in which millions were persecuted and killed. During the Cultural Revolution, party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, and He Long were purged or exiled, and the Gang of Four, led by Mao's wife Jiang Qing, emerged to fill in the power vacuum left behind.

From Wikipedia: Chinese Communist Party · History: Sino-Soviet split and Cultural Revolution (CC BY-SA 4.0)