Tongzhi Restoration

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The Tongzhi Restoration (c 1860–1874) was an attempt to arrest the dynastic decline of the Qing dynasty of China by restoring the traditional order. The rude realities of the Opium War, the unequal treaties, and the mid-century mass uprisings caused Qing courtiers and officials to recognize the need to strengthen China. The Tongzhi Restoration was named for the Tongzhi Emperor (1862–1874), and was engineered by the young emperor's mother, the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908). The restoration, however, which applied "practical knowledge" while reaffirming the old mentality, was not a genuine program of modernization. Academics are varied whether the Restoration was of value to delay the dynastic decline, or whether it brought its earlier, though unavoidable, occurrence.

[edit] References

• Wright, Mary Clabaugh. The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism: The T'ung-Chih Restoration, 1862 -1874. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1957.

[edit] See also

• Meiji Restoration