THE THEORY: EARLY PROPOSALS FOR SELF-STRENGTHENING

The suppression of the rebellions during the T'ung-chih period enabled the Ch'ing dynasty to survive for another half century, even thought China's international position on the whole worsened after the treaty settlement of 1860. The humiliation of the Anglo-French occupation of Peking could not easily be forgotten by the statesmen who lived through the event. However, not until the mid-1870s did the rise of Japan and European encroachment again make a foreign war likely. The intervening years of peace gave the Ch'ing government an opportunity to build its military and financial strength in preparation for future confrontation with the powers. Such strength was of course also valuable for the maintenance of internal order.

Beginning in 1861, the phrase ‘self-strengthening’ (tzu-ch'iang) appeared frequently in memorials, edicts and the writings of the literati-officials. It expressed the realization that a new policy was needed to meet the unprecedented change in China's position in the world. A considerable range of activities was proposed toward this end, but not all the proposals were put into effect, and among them, not all were carried out successfully. In time, ‘self-strengthening’ became less a rallying cry for genuine efforts at innovation than a shibboleth that served to justify expenditures and vested bureaucratic interests. Domestic order was in general maintained: numerous local outbreaks were easily suppressed. But China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894—5 revealed the failure of a policy proclaimed to be for defence against foreign powers.