Conclusion Li Hung-chang: An Assessment

Abstract

China in the year 1775 was a great empire. Under the long and dynamic reigns of the K'ang-hsi and Ch'ien-lung emperors the country had expanded its boundaries in all directions. It had a long and illustrious history. Its population, largest by far among all other peoples for centuries, enjoyed a relatively high standard of living. China was powerful, rich, and the cynosure of all the world, or so it seemed. Yet by 1900 the nation had been utterly humiliated, her sacred capital of Peking defiled under the boots of the eight barbarian nations in the wake of the Boxer debacle. By then, world opinion regarded China as another fading empire like that of the Persians, the Romans, and the Ottomans; the self-assurance of the Chinese themselves was severely shaken. The nineteenth century was a tragic period in Chinese history.