Re-examine the origin of the fall of Qing Dynasty prior to the First Opium War.

Abstract

From the beginning of the study of Qing China, the period between the First Opium War in 1839 and the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 has been extensively researched by various historians in both East and West as the pivotal point for the Qing Dynasty as the irreversible and rapid decline started. However, I intend to further contribute to the research on the period between 1790 and 1839, which some historians have pointed out with a renewed focus as to the origin of the Qing Dynasty’s rapid decline. Therefore, with that research aspect in mind, by reexamining this period between 1790 and the 1830s, this research paper primarily focuses on the financial cost of the White Lotus War, the Qing’s internal expenditures, the Year Without the Summer in 1816, and finally reexamining the true cost of the uncontrolled opium smuggling with the previous events considered. In the end, I am advocating a fresh look at these four critical blows between 1796 and 1830s that were either more or less equal to the aftermath of Western imperialism and the Taiping Rebellion on the Qing Dynasty.