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Li Hongzhang (Wade–Giles: Li Hung-chang), Marquis Suyi of the First Class (February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901), was a Chinese civilian official who ended several major rebellions, and a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire. He served in important positions of the Imperial Court, once holding the office of the Viceroy of Zhili.<br/><br/> William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898), was a British Liberal politician. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times (1868–74, 1880–85, February–July 1886 and 1892–94), more than any other person, and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister; he resigned for the final time when was 84 years old.<br/><br/> The Black Flag Army (Chinese: Heiqi Jun) was a remnant of a bandit group that may have been former Taiping rebels that crossed the border from Guangxi province in China into Upper Tonkin, in the Empire of Annam (Vietnam) in 1865. They became known mainly for their fights against French forces in cooperation with both Vietnamese and Chinese authorities. The Black Flag Army is so named because of the preference of its commander, Liu Yongfu, for using black command flags.
This map was produced at the height of British Imperial power and shows direct British rule extending all the way from Iran (Persia) to Thailand (Siam). Most of the contiguous Indian Ocean littoral, from South Africa to Singapore and Australia, was also under British administration or de facto control.<br/><br/> It is relevant to note that the map shows Sikkim extending north into the present-day territory of China's Tibetan Autonomous Region. Similarly Darjeeling is shown in eastern Nepal, while Bhutan is elongated to the east and most of India's Arunachal Pradesh province is shown as part of the Qing Empire. In Kashmir, by contrast, the disputed Aksai Chin region, now under Chinese control, is shown as part of India.
The First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–42), known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice.<br/><br/> Chinese officials wished to stop what was perceived as an outflow of silver and to control the spread of opium, and confiscated supplies of opium from British traders. The British government, although not officially denying China's right to control imports, objected to this seizure and used its newly developed military power to enforce violent redress.<br/><br/> In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking—the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties—granted an indemnity to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island, thereby ending the trade monopoly of the Canton System. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–60). The war is now considered in China as the beginning of modern Chinese history.
Li Hongzhang (Wade–Giles: Li Hung-chang), Marquis Suyi of the First Class (February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901), was a Chinese civilian official who ended several major rebellions, and a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire. He served in important positions of the Imperial Court, once holding the office of the Viceroy of Zhili.<br/><br/> Although he was best known in the West for his diplomatic negotiation skills, after the 1894 First Sino-Japanese War, Li became a symbol in China for late Qing-dynasty Chinese weakness vis-a-vis foreign powers. His image in China remains largely controversial, with criticism on one hand for his lack of political insight and failure to win a single external military campaign against foreign powers, and praise on the other hand for his role as a pioneer of industrial and military modernization, his diplomatic skills, and the success of his military campaigns against the Taiping Rebellion. For his life work the British Queen Victoria made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.
Li Hongzhang (Wade–Giles: Li Hung-chang), Marquis Suyi of the First Class (February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901), was a Chinese civilian official who ended several major rebellions, and a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire. He served in important positions of the Imperial Court, once holding the office of the Viceroy of Zhili.<br/><br/> Although he was best known in the West for his diplomatic negotiation skills, after the 1894 First Sino-Japanese War, Li became a symbol in China for late Qing-dynasty Chinese weakness vis-a-vis foreign powers. His image in China remains largely controversial, with criticism on one hand for his lack of political insight and failure to win a single external military campaign against foreign powers, and praise on the other hand for his role as a pioneer of industrial and military modernization, his diplomatic skills, and the success of his military campaigns against the Taiping Rebellion. For his life work the British Queen Victoria made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.
'The Real Barbarian', by Edward Linley Sambourne, Illustrated London News, 5 January, 1861.<br/><br/> Several documents known as the 'Treaty of Tien-tsin' were signed in Tianjin (Tientsin) in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The Second French Empire, United Kingdom, Russian Empire, and the United States were the parties involved. These treaties opened more Chinese ports (see Treaty of Nanking) to the foreigners, permitted foreign legations in the Chinese capital Beijing, allow Christian missionary activity, and legalized the import of opium.<br/><br/> In addition, China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and France of 2 million taels of silver respectively, and compensation to British merchants of 3 million taels of silver.<br/><br/> The treaty was ratified by the Emperor of China in the Convention of Peking in 1860, after the end of the war.
The Jap in a China Shop: 'Now then, you pig-headed old pig-tail open your shop - and hand me the keys!' At the time of the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese were seen by many Westerners as 'plucky' rather than imperialist aggressors.<br/><br/> The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895) was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea. After more than six months of continuous successes by Japanese army and naval forces and the loss of the Chinese port of Weihaiwei, the Qing leadership sued for peace in February 1895.<br/><br/> Direct results of the war showed that the military strength and sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty had been severely weakened during the nineteenth century; and it demonstrated that forced reform had modernized Japan significantly since the Meiji Restoration in 1867, especially as compared with the Self-Strengthening Movement in China. Regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan; and the Qing Dynasty, along with the classical tradition in China, suffered a major blow. These trends would later manifest in the 1911 Revolution.
'The Open Mouth', by Edward Linley Sambourne, Illustrated London News, 10 May, 1859:<br/><br/> British Lion: 'It's alright, Johnny Chinaman. We've come to a perfectly friendly arrangement'.<br/><br/> Russian Bear (pleasantly): 'We're going to invade you'.<br/><br/> Several documents known as the 'Treaty of Tien-tsin' were signed in Tianjin (Tientsin) in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The Second French Empire, United Kingdom, Russian Empire, and the United States were the parties involved. These treaties opened more Chinese ports (see Treaty of Nanking) to the foreigners, permitted foreign legations in the Chinese capital Beijing, allow Christian missionary activity, and legalized the import of opium.<br/><br/> The treaty was ratified by the Emperor of China in the Convention of Peking in 1860, after the end of the war.