Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

To make up the shortfall, the state enacted a new land tax and property tax and took control of the salt monopoly.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[101] The last strong emperor of the Tang dynasty was Xianzong, who came to power in 805.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

During his time, administrative and economic reforms were undertaken and a few successful war expeditions were carried out, restoring social order and still seeing a hint of former glory.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Xuanzong was murdered by eunuchs who undertook a secret plot in 820.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[94] [88] An equally strong emperor for the Tang dynasty did not come again.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

As the economic situation tightened, Emperor Wuzong, who supported Taoism, directed his persecution on Buddhists in 840.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

40,000 monasteries were closed and their properties confiscated.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Buddhism revived under the succeeding emperors, but it never again returned to its former grandiose status in China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In contrast, the foreign religions Zarathustranism, Manichaeism and Nestoriism also subjected to persecution disappeared from China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[104] [100] The Uyghurs were also subjected to persecution after the overthrow of the Uyghur Kingdom by the Kyrgyzis in 840.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[100] The final destruction of the Tang dynasty originated with the drought that hit the Henan region in 874, when the population of the region rose in a revolt led by Huang Chao.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The forces under his leadership took over the capital Chang'an and Luoyang.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[88] [105] The rebellion was defeated in 883, but the Tang dynasty was no longer able to restore its power; local military leaders continued to operate independently.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[106] [105] Formally in power there was a Tang emperor for another couple of decades, although they were in reality minor puppet rulers of the warlords.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[107] The last Tang emperor was ejected from power in 907, when Zhu Wen, who had served him and formerly belonged to Huang Chao's camp, was brought to power by the warlord Zhu Wen, who declared himself the first emperor of the later Liang dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[107] [108] Late Emperor Period Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms The period after the fall of the Tang dynasty in Chinese history is referred to as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

During this period, Northern China was ruled by five short-lived dynasties that followed each other and southern China had been divided into several small states operating independently.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[109] [108] [110] [111] [112] The era lasted only half a century.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

All northern dynasties remained in power for an average of ten years and were eventually defeated in internal strife.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In the south, the states lived with each other relatively peacefully.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] The dynasties that ruled from the north were the later Liang dynasty in 907—923, the later Tang dynasty from 923 to 936, the later Jin dynasty 936—946, the later Han dynasty 947—950, and the later Zhou dynasty 951—960.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[108] [112] Despite dispersion, the economy and farming methods developed, commerce was brisk, and the use of paper money became more widespread.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The art of bookprinting developed, enabling the spread of literature to both scholars and laymen.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[108] [110] In the series of dynasties, the sixth was the Song dynasty, which evolved into a dynasty unifying China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 960, upon the death of the emperor of the later Zhou dynasty, the child ruler who succeeded him was dethroned as a result of a rebellion.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The warlord Taizu proclaimed himself the first emperor of the Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[108] [113] [111] Song dynasty The beginning of the reign of the Northern Song Song dynasty has been regarded as a transformation of the Chinese Empire.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Its administration relied firstly on civil servants instead of the earlier ruling nobility.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

During the Song period, the status of Confucianism as a state ideology was strengthened.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] [114] [115] Instead of military rule, Taizu, the dynasty's first emperor, strengthened the country's civilian administration, despite the fact that he himself had come to power supported by his military forces.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The emperor understood the military threat coming from the army, and prominent warlords were persuaded to abandon their duties in exchange for a large reward.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[116] [117] Emperor Taizu significantly reduced the country's army, despite the fact that the country was threatened on its northern borders by the Liao kingdom of the Kitans and the Xi Xia kingdom of the Tanguts in the northwest.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[115] [111] In this way, the Song dynasty accepted its military weakness, to counter the internal threat posed by the army.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[117] The Song dynasty directed its expansion efforts primarily southwards, where under Taizu's successor Taizong, it took over the last Southern Chinese Empire by the end of the 970s.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[117] [111] The threat from the barbarian peoples who threatened from the North was aimed at countering by bribing them to become peaceful.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[116] [117] In 1004, the Liao dynasty of the Kitans advanced as far as Kaifeng, the capital of the Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[118] The threat posed by the Kitans was only lifted when the Song Emperor agreed to pay the Liao dynasty a large annual coercive tax.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[118] [119] In 1044, the Song dynasty tended to pay a similar forced tax to Xi Xia of the Tanguts as well, realizing that the Song dynasty army was incapable of defending against Tangutian cavalry.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[118] For the Liao dynasty, the forced tax paid by the Song Emperor was the most significant source of income and it allowed the Liao dynasty to flourish.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] Taizu's followers no longer followed this policy regarding the army, as the Song rulers did not trust their northern neighbors.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

By 1040, the country's army was more than 1.3 million men in strength, who were kept in readiness on the frontiers of the kingdom.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[116] [111] Inflated administrative and military costs and bribes paid to barbarian peoples drove the country into economic difficulties.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Due to government spending, the people were particularly burdened by the collected forced taxes that sought to cover expenses.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[116] [120] When Emperor Shenzong rose to power in 1068, he appointed Wang Anshin as his main advisor.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

This led to the creation of a major reform programme to improve the living conditions of the farmer population, which would increase production and thus lead to a strengthening of the state economy.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[121] Wang Anshi's reforms included government loans to farmers at low interest rates and the establishment of a marketing system whereby the state could regulate the prices of products.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The duty of day work was abolished and replaced by a tax on income and property, meant to equalise the disparities between rich and poor.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Commercial shipping was promoted, with the growth of foreign trade and adjusted customs duties increasing state tax revenues.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The army was also developed and general conscription was again introduced.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Out of the traps of the reforms, government spending fell by almost half, but opposition from old officials and grand ranchers increased discontent among the elite.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Wang Anshi's most prominent patron Emperor Shenzong died in 1085, and Wang Anshi himself the following year.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Some reforms were left behind him in effect.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Wang Anshi has remained one of the great political and economic reformers in Chinese history, although he could not solve all the dynasty's economic problems.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[121] [120] During the Song dynasty period, economy, industry and technology developed by great leaps and bounds.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[120] Important factors were the development of agricultural methods and new crops, as rapidly imported rice from the direction of Kampuchea gave two and three harvests per year in the warmer regions of the south.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[122] During the Song period, conditions in the northern parts of the country were uneasy, driving the inhabitants south in large numbers.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In the early 12th century, the country's population was 100 million.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

More than half of them lived south of the Yangtze River, thus making the southern regions the most economically important region for the Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

According to historical sources, most of the country's revenue was collected from the southeastern provinces.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[122] The reforms of the Song dynasty also included improving transport links, which also developed commerce.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Kaifeng, the capital of the dynasty, developed into a major center of transportation and commerce.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[122] [119] Its population grew to over one million, and many other towns in the south also grew equally large.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[120] Trading was developed by the increasing prevalence of the use of paper money, as carrying copper coins was cumbersome and often dangerous.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[122] Paper money also developed as part of the Song period due to the foreign policy of the northern parts, as the dynasty feared its northern neighbours would collect the coins and melt them down for reuse.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Many times the value of the metal contained in the coins was greater than the face value of the coin.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The generalization of paper money was also promoted by the emerging proficiency of book-printing.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[123] The development of bookprinting skills also had a significant impact on the development of art and culture of the Song period.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[123] [124] Fiction became an important part of the country's culture and landscape painting became a major art direction.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[125] [126] [114] Southern Song Chinese culture, governance customs and ways of living of the common people spread from the territory of the Song Empire to the northern Liao Empire as well.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Partly because of this, the Kitans' hold over neighbouring peoples deteriorated from the early 12th century onwards.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[118] [127] The Manchurian Jürchen people no longer agreed to submit to the Liao rulers and they founded their own Jin dynasty in 1115.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[127] The Song Emperor Huizong allied with the Jürchens against the Liao dynasty, but the alliance was only ostensible, as the Jin dynasty defeated the Liao dynasty without significant assistance from the Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[118] [111] The Jin dynasty in 1125 overran the territories controlled by the Liao and the Liao court fled to the west, where they established the Karakitai Empire.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[118] [128] After the fall of Liao, the Jin dynasty turned against the Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[128] [129] The Song Emperor agreed to pay the Jürchens a forced tax similar to that of the Kitans in the past, but the Jin dynasty was not satisfied with this; in 1126, the Jin army took over Kaifeng, the capital of the Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[129] [115] [127] Song court was captured, but one of the princes of the ruler family fled south, where he founded the Southern Song dynasty, with Nanjing as its main seat, and since 1135, Hangzhou.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[129] [115] [127] The migration of the Song court to the south started the Southern Song dynasty period, but it was nevertheless the same dynasty and there was no major breach between the Northern and Southern Song.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] The most important factor in this was the fact that the focus of the Song kingdom was already in the south.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[127] The state of war between the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty still continued, but the Song army was able to defend against invaders in the warmer climate of the south and the rampant terrain.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[129] In 1142, peace was finally concluded and the Huai River was formed as the border of the kingdoms.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In addition, the Song Emperor bent to vassal status and agreed to pay the Jin dynasty an annual forced tax.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[118] [111] Peace was not complete, as in the early 1160s the Jin dynasty re-attacked from land and sea, but the Song army was able to repel the attacks while at the same time breaking away from its vassal position.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[130] [111] [127] After 1165, the Jin dynasty no longer engaged in attempts at conquest against the Southern Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[127] The Southern Song, thanks to its strong fleet, was able to repel outside conquerors for the next over a hundred years.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[115] A long period of peace lived in the Song kingdom and its governance was stable.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The capital, Hangzhou, grew into an even larger city of Kaifeniak.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] In the administration of the country, the old decree distinctions were gradually eliminated and clerical degrees began to become an important pathway to positions.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] [114] A long period of peace allowed technological advances, the Song period developed especially the steel industry.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

New inventions such as the compass and gunpowder also spread into the consciousness of Europeans.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] [114] The northern neighbor of the Song state, Jin, also flourished in the early 13th century and it gradually began to become Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] The power relations of the states began to change with the emergence of a new power in the northern steppes in 1206 following the rise of Genghis Khan to the supreme ruler of the Mongols.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[131] The expeditions of conquest pursued by Genghis Khan were initially directed towards the region of northern China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The mounted forces of the Mongol Empire subjugated the Xi Xia Empire to their control and subsequently continued in the direction of the Jin Empire.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Jin Emperor was forced to flee the Mongols from his capital, Beijing, to Kaifeng in 1214.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In the meantime, Xi Xia allied himself with Jin against the Mongols.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Mongols made Xi Xia's revenge expedition in 1226, destroying the entire state and estimated only about one percent of the country's male population survived.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[132] [131] The Jin dynasty succumbed to the Mongols definitively under Genghis Khan's successor Ögödei Khan in 1233.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

After the fall of the Jin dynasty, the Mongols directed their war expeditions as far as Europe.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[132] [111] Kublai Khan, the successor of Ögödei Khan, continued his war expeditions to Etellian China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] [133] In 1253, the Mongols took over the city of Dali, which was the capital of the Nanzhao Empire.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[134] After the Mongols conquered Nanzhao, the Thai people were forced to flee from Mongol rule to the territory of present-day Thailand.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[135] [136] Against the Song Empire, the Mongols invaded in 1268.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Song Army was able to resist the Mongol army in a long long siege battle, with these attention focused on the Korean and Japanese conquests.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] [133] Japan, however, was never subjugated under their rule by the Mongols.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[137] The Mongols finally gained control of Hangzhou, the capital of the Song dynasty, in 1276.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

For the first time, foreign invaders had gained control of the entire territory covering China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[111] [133] Yuan dynasty The Mongols were the first foreign-born people to rule China, although they were not even a literate and writing-skilled people in the early 13th century.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[138] [139] The Mongols were good wargoers, but the Mongols who made a living in nomadic life mainly pursued pasture land for their cattle.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The establishment of a civil administration that settled in place was a foreign idea to the Mongols and normally the Mongols massacred or enslaved the populations of conquered countries and took control of those lands.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[138] However, the situation changed when Yelü Chucai, a descendant of the Liao dynasty kinghouse who was elevated to an important advisor to the Mongol Khan, pointed out that by saving the lives of the Han Chinese and taxing them, he would be able to accumulate great wealth.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Ögödei Khan noticed the rationality of the proposal and the massacres carried out in the conquered territories were abandoned.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Several dozen years later, under Kublai Khan, conquered southern China was subjugated considerably more bloodless.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[132] [138] [140] Administratively, the Mongols had no way of collecting taxes, so the land was divided into fiefdoms and the tax collection right was sold to Central Asian Muslim merchants.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Later taxes related to commerce were also introduced.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[141] Kublai Khan further developed the administration of the country.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

After the conquest of southern China, the country was divided into provinces and the Mongol style of governance began to become Chineseized.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The most significant difference from the earlier one was that clerical examinations were abolished and the posts became hereditary.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Han Chinese population was discriminated against and top posts were given to Mongols and other non-Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[141] [142] The preference for foreigners explains the high position Marco Polo gained in the court of the kingdom.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[141] [114] Kublai Khan made Beijing the winter capital of the country and it was the first time Beijing was the capital of all of China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[143] At the same time, the focus of Mongol administration shifted from Mongolia to the territory of China proper.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Kublai Khan also adopted the Chinese dyndish name Yuan.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[142] [144] Beijing grew into a large metropolis under the Mongol rule, but its surroundings were unable to feed the growing population, so grain had to be imported from the south.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

By the time of the Yuan Dynasty, the Emperor's Canal had fallen into disrepair, having fallen short of use after the Song dynasty lost the northern parts of the country.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The canal was refurbished and extended as far as Beijing.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Maritime transport also grew in importance.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[143] Commerce developed under Mongol rule, as the Confucian superiority that previously held power was not favourable to commerce.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Foreign trade was limited during the Song period, but in the Mongol period it was buoyant.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Foreign trade was mainly handled by Muslim traders from central and south Asia.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[142] The status of small farmers under the Yuan regime was tukalin.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Mongols had almost no knowledge of farming methods.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Upon reaching power, the Mongols had confiscated large farmlands as pasture land or distributed it to overlords, beating the maintenance of lavi's irrigation systems.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Unable to pay large taxes, the peasant population applied to become laborers of large ranchers.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[142] The Mongols sought to prevent their own ruling elite class from mixing with the Chinese of the mainstream population.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The population was divided into several categories based on their social status.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The top classes were exempt from taxation, while the majority of taxpayers were southern Chinese low-class citizens.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[145] [114] [139] In the south, Mongol resistance was strongest.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[143] Administratively, the Mongols had to find the fact that they were forced to rely on literate Chinese officials.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[145] [143] Many Confucian officials viewed the Mongols with hostility.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[144] Under Mongol rule, the Confucian civil service examination system decayed as civil servants no longer needed to know classical texts.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[145] The Mongol administration quickly became Chinese-made after the death of Kublai Khan's successor, Temür Khan, in 1307.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The civil service examination system was restored in 1313, but success in examinations did not guarantee high officialdom, as Chinese were still not allowed into senior positions.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[146] [145] [144] The Mongols were very tolerant of various religions, and did not attempt to spread their own animist religion, which involved Shamanistic features.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Libertarianism aimed at religions undermined Mongol dominance, as Buddhist monks were later implicated in anti-Mongol secret societies.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[147] The first 50 years in power of the Yuan dynasty was a period of relative stability and the kingdom was largely ruled in accordance with Chinese governance.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

One factor weakening the dynasty was the method of choosing a new emperor, which was different from Chinese tradition.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The position of emperor was not inherited directly, but the power was inherited in accordance with Mongol tradition so that a new khan was elected from the members of the ruling family by election.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

This made the changes of power often bloody.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[139] The greatest moment of weakness for the Mongol power came in the 1320s, when the country was ruled by five weak rulers.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

At the same time, the country was hit by famines and floods.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[139] Rebellions broke out among the lowest social class of the worst-oppressed Chinese population in the southern parts of the country, which, however, the private armies of major landowners were able to defeat.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[148] In the following decade, rebellions became increasingly common.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The rebelling peasants disrupted the transport of grain to Beijing and the southern parts of the kingdom gradually began to break away from the Mongol grip.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[144] From the 1340s onwards, revolts against Mongol rule were a recurring phenomenon, fuelled by epidemics of pestilence and several roofing years thought to have been caused by the cold period of the Little Ice Age of the Middle Ages.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[139] Under the prevailing circumstances, the popular rebellion movement and various secret societies joined forces into a secret society of Red Turbans with the objective of defeating the Mongol power and the grand landowners allied with them.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

When the Yellow River breached its riparian embankment in 1351, the rebellion movement gained 100,000 new supporters from among the peasants who had been commanded into forced labour by the Mongol power to repair the damage.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Rebellions quickly spread across the kingdom.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[148] Zhu Yuanzhang, who was of low descent, emerged as the most prominent rebel leader.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[149] [150] He rose to the leadership of the rebellion movement and emphasized his independence from red turbans, whereupon the grand landowners also began to join the ranks of opponents of Mongol rule.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[148] Rebel forces led by Zhu Yuanzhang captured the city of Nanjing and gained control of southern China, most central to the kingdom's economy, by 1367.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Zhu Yangzhang established a Ming dynasty kingdom independent of northern Mongol rule in the south and declared it to be the legitimate successor of the Song dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

After the conquest of southern China, the rebels continued north and the Mongol power was defeated in 1368.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Mongols were forced to retreat north of the Great Wall of China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[148] [150] Ming dynasty The first emperor of the Ming dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang is also known by his emperor name Hongwu.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The kingdom he controlled from Nanjing was able to drive the Mongols north and after this the Ming army was able to further expand its empire.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[151] [150] The threat posed by the Mongols did not completely go away, so during the Ming dynasty the Great Wall of China was restored and, in its present form, is very much from the Ming period.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[150] During Emperor Hongwu's reign, an administratively totalitarian social order was created for the Chinese Empire, which persisted until 1912.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Emperor Hongwu borrowed much for his administration from the Mongols, but the Ming regime began to become more despotic during Hongwu's reign.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1380, he executed his prime minister and centralized his duties on himself, as well as conducting administrative purges and 40,000 people executed.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[152] [149] [153] The Emperor gathered for himself all decision-making powers and ruled singularly by means of ministries inherited from previous dynasties.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Decision-making was hampered by reforms because the emperor became a bottleneck in the political system.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[152] [154] Hongwu ordered to be taken into practice the tradition that the emperor's power would be inherited by his eldest surviving son.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Hongwu died in 1398 and since his eldest son had already died, power was inherited by this son Jianwen.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Hongwu's second son and uncle of the emperor started a rebellion, resulting in the emperor's death and the ascension of an uncle to power, the emperor name Yongle.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

This rise to power further consolidated the authoritarian empress as the regime was purged of the legitimate emperor's backers.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[151] [152] [155] Emperor Yongle was a strong emperor and during his time the Ming Empire continued to expand.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

To increase his power, he sent many expeditions to South and Southeast Asia and all the way to East Africa.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The most notable of the expeditions' leaders was the emperor's confidant eunuch admiral Zheng He.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The expeditions were not merely on trade voyages, but involved diplomatic legations intended to persuade the rulers of the territories to recognize Chinese domination.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

However, long sea voyages became so expensive that the revenue from them did not cover the cost and the expeditions were abolished in the early 1430s.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[152] [156] [157] The influx of the kingdom's population into southern China had begun as early as the beginning of the Song period, which had already led to overpopulation of the southern parts of the empire.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

During the Hongwu and Yongle periods of government, efforts were made to halt development and Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The population was forced to migrate north, as this was done to ensure the northern border of the kingdom and strengthen the economy of the northern parts.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Farmers moved north were supported in the early stages and farming works were also taken over by the country's army.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[158] With the advent of agricultural works, the Ming army became self-sufficient in terms of maintenance.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[154] The population of the southern parts of the country declined drastically, but Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou continued to remain major trading centers.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[158] With Yongle's death in 1424, the kingdom drifted into an era of weaker emperors and real power began to live into the hands of the court unuchs.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Xuande, who ruled from emperors after Yongle from 1426 to 1435, established a palace school for eunuchs in what has been considered the beginning of the era of eunuch rule.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] [160] In the absence of a strong emperor, the kingdom began to decay.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Major construction projects initiated during the Yongle period, such as the construction of the Temple of Heaven, put a strain on the country's economy.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[160] [155] The army suffered military desertion and the upper class oppressed the rich population, causing unrest.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Rebellions began to emerge in the southern provinces and also the Mongols, who had fallen under Oirati rule, were again organized and they already posed a real threat to the Ming dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1449, Mongol forces made a raiding expedition into northern China and they took the reigning emperor Zhengtong prisoner, with the intention of extorting a large ransom from the Ming dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

However, Yu Qian, a minister who served the Ming dynasty, elevated the emperor's brother Jingtai to the throne.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Mongols freed Zhengtong for free to provoke agitation and Zhengtong managed to return as emperor upon Jingtai's death in 1457.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[160] [159] In the early 16th century, the power of the hovieunuchs grew to its peak during Emperor Zhengde's reign between 1505-1521.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] [158] The era of Jiajing, who ruled from 1521 to 1567, Zhengde and his successors, has been regarded as a demotion period for the prestige of the Ming emperors.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] Zhengde rose to power as a minor and he gave real power to the entrusted eunuchs, Liu Jin became the most prominent eunuch leader.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

He assembled power in his own hands and used his position ruthlessly to benefit his own interest.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

He amassed a huge fortune for himself by, among other things, blackmailing officials.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Liu Jin was eventually prosecuted for treason and in 1510 he was sentenced to be cut into strips, the harshest possible punishment imposed by law.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[158] [159] Zhengde had no boyhood, which is why power was inherited by his cousin Jiajing.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[152] Also, Jiajing gave administration of the kingdom to his unpopular ministers and withdrew himself from his imperial duties.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] During his time, the period of peace enjoyed by the kingdom came to an end, as the Ming dynasty again faced external threats from the Mongols on the northern frontier, with Japanese pirates on the coast causing trouble.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

As new arrivals, Europeans had also come to China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] [161] [162] The Portuguese were among the first Europeans seeking to gain their share of China's trade.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1557, the Emperor gave the Portuguese permission to lease Macau as a storage place for their goods and it became an important trading base for them.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[163] [164] After the Portuguese, the Spanish and Dutch entered the Chinese market.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Spanish were given permission to trade along the southeastern coast of China in the 1750s and in 1626 they established their base on the island of Taiwan, but in 1642 the Dutch drove them off the island.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[161] [162] As the most recent colonial power, the English arrived in the area under the command of the East India Trading Company, in 1636.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[162] Not only commerce, but also Christian missionary work was one of the motivations of Europeans to come to China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

A prominent spreader of Christianity rose to be the Jesuits, among whom the Italian Matteo Ricci, who managed to get out of favour with the emperor as well.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[161] [162] The Jesuit order was a useful companion to the Ming dynasty, having helped in the manufacture of these war-needs.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[161] However, the religious intolerance that came with Europeans and the pursuit of their own commercial interests later became destructive for the Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[165] The last notable Ming emperor was Wanli, who ruled from 1572 to 1620.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

During his reign, the administration of the country was stable and the Ming army was able to repel Japanese invasions of Korea led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1590s.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] [152] However, the Korean war expeditions became costly and had to be financed through increased tax collection.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

One of the biggest drivers of government spending, however, was the overbloated Ming court.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[166] Increases in taxes caused unrest, exacerbated by the canopy periods experienced in the 1610s and subsequent famine.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[166] [152] Emperor Wanli, towards the end of his reign, relied increasingly heavily on eunuchs.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] At the end of the Ming period, eunuchs practically ruled the land.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[166] With the death of Wanli in 1620, the Ming court was mired in turmoil and a time of weaker emperors.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Moreover, peace in the kingdom began to unsettle with the rebellions of the Interior.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[159] [152] [166] The main external threat of the Ming dynasty came from the northern Jürchen tribe.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Jürchens were united under the leadership of their chief Nurhaci and began to refer to their tribe as Manchut.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

By the early 17th century, the Manchus controlled large areas north of China and they had already gained control of most of the Mongol neighbourhoods.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1618, they took over the Liaodong region.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[152] [167] [168], however, in the 1620s the Ming dynasty was able to prevent the expansion of Manchupower through the use of canons manufactured by the Jesuits.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Nurhaci died in 1625, but under the leadership of his son Abahai, the Manchus continued their war expeditions to China and they carried out raiding all the way to Beijing.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[167] [169] [159], however, the Ming dynasty was definitively defeated due to internal revolts.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The kingdom suffered repeated periods of disappearance between 1632 and 1643, causing famines and epidemics of disease.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Due to periods of loss, tax revenue was no longer coming in, which is why the army was left without its pay.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[152] One of the Yangtze Valley military leaders Li Zicheng undertook a rebellion against the Ming dynasty in 1644 and his forces took Beijing without much resistance, as the last Ming emperor Chongzhen was unable to raise sufficient troops to resist the rebellion.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Chongzhen committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree and the Ming dynasty's reign came to an end.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[166] [152] [159] Li Zicheng declared himself the new emperor, but the shambles situation was exploited by the Manchus.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[170] [169] Abahai had died in 1643 and command of Manchu forces was in the hands of Regent Dorgon.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Supported by the former Ming army, Manchu forces overran Beijing to defeat Li Zicheng.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Manchus and the Ming army ripples succeeded in driving Li Zicheng out of Beijing, but after a victorious battle, the Manchus had no desire to leave Beijing, instead declaring their own Qing dynasty founded.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

There were rebellions against Qing rule in the southern parts of the country until the 1680s, when Taiwan was overthrown by Qing rule.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

With the rise to power of the Qing dynasty, China again came under foreign rule.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[169] [171] [172] Qing dynasty The real ruler of the Qing Empire in its early years was the regent Dorgon.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

He maintained the administrative practices of the Ming period and encouraged Chinese officials to serve the Qing dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[173] At his behest, all Chinese men were also required to wear a plait of hair as a sign of submission, which caused opposition and many would rather opt for death, but over time many were subservient.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[173] [174] Dorgon died in 1650 and power passed to the first emperor belonging to the Qing dynasty family and Abahai's son, Shunzi.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Emperor Shunz's reign fell short, for he died of smallpox in 1661.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[175] [176] [173] His third son Kangxi was chosen as his successor, because he had already contracted smallpox and survived.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Upon his rise to power, Kangxi was a minor, but became one of the most prominent emperors in Chinese history.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[173] [174] Emperor Kangxi ruled the Qing dynasty from 1661 until 1722.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

It was during this period that the most glorious era of the Qing Empire began.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The Qing dynasty extended its power in Central Asia to Turkestan and the kingdom also became Tibet, and for a while Chinese rule reached as far as Nepal.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[168] In Tibet, Chinese rule was not recognized and Tibetans allied with the Mongols against the Qing dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The westward expansion of the Qing dynasty brought the Chinese into conflict with the Russians for the first time, who were expanding their living areas eastward.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Qing dynasty feared that the Russians might have allied themselves with the Mongols and they thus wanted to make peace quickly.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Qing dynasty and Moscow Russia concluded in 1689 the Nerchinsk Peace Treaty, in which the borders of the kingdoms were determined and the Russians were also allowed to establish an ecclesiastical legation in Beijing.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] [176] [177] After the peace with the Russians, in 1696, the Mongol armies were defeated by the Qing army, and this is considered to have ended the threat posed by the Mongol Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Russians also expanded their power in Central Asia at the expense of the old nomadic tribes.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Qing Empire also occupied Tibet in 1720 and established its own administration in the region.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] One of the major factors driving the success of the Qing dynasty was the development of farming, which allowed crops to be more abundant, as well as large population growth.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Between 1750 and 1850, the number of the Chinese population doubled from 200 million to 400 million.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

This was made possible by better fertilizers, new fast-ripening varieties, and new crops that came mainly from the new world, which included maize, sweet potato, peanut and potato.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[178] [174] [179] Clearing farmland also began to present problems, as rainwater spilled from bare cleared hills caused erosion and risk of flooding in the valleys.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The same development has continued until our days.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[178] Administratively, the Manchus ensured that they had supremacy over the Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The Grand Council was the main advisor to the Emperor.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] Below that, the administration was divided into several agency groups whose functions overlapped in part to prevent any agency from gaining too much power.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[180] Provincial administration had been put into the hands of Chinese officials, whose actions were overseen by senior Manchus.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] Posts lower than provincial level administrative posts were usually solely in the hands of the Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[168] There were 18 provinces during most of the Qing period, these did not count Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang and Manchuria, which were governed differently from provinces.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[181] Military administratively, the manchus were divided into flags and every citizen knew which flag belonged to.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The purpose of the flag was to satisfy the recruiting needs of the military forces.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

For flags placed on the territory of China proper, lands were confiscated from the Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The original intention of the Manchus was to consider themselves a superior ruler caste, always receiving replenishment from the north where necessary.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[168] Mixed marriages between Manchus and Chinese were forbidden and Han Chinese were barred from migrating to Manchuria.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] However, Manchuja constituted only 2% of the total population.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] However, Manchu quickly began to become Chinese and as early as the 18th century the Chinese language supplanted the Manchu language as the main governing language.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[168] Kangxi died in 1722 after ruling the kingdom for 61 years.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

After him came to power was his son Yongzheng, who rose to power controversially.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

His governance was very autocratic and if he had not died unexpectedly in 1735, there might have been unrest in the kingdom.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Yongzheng was succeeded as emperor by his son Qianlong.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[182] Qianlong, like his grandfather Kangxi, was one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

He ruled the country right up until 1795, when he renounced the crown out of respect for his grandfather Kangxi, as he did not want to rule him for longer.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[182] [174] During Qianlong's reign, the power of the Qing dynasty extended as far as the present borders of China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The 18th century was a time of prosperity for the Qing Empire, conditions were calm and the economy was booming.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] Foreign trade with Europeans was also advantageous to the Chinese, as large quantities of silver flowed into the country as payments for commodities.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Tea was formed as the main export item.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Other notable products included silk, porcelain, lacquer items, spices and sugar.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[180] However, the Qing dynasty sought to restrict trade with Western merchants as early as the Kangxi regime, as Western countries were seen as a threat.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The Qing rulers were very suspicious of mutually hostile Europeans and they feared Western ideas would destabilise the Qing Empire living in stable time.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] [183] In 1757, the Qing dynasty restricted trade with Europeans to be allowed only in a trading post located off Canton.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Due to its actions to restrict trade, the Qing dynasty has been seen as hostile to trade and ununderstanding of the importance of commerce.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In fact, it was understood in the Qing court that trading was not itself a problem, but who was engaged in it.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] Around the same time, the British were about to conquer India, and the Qing dynasty was concerned about the potential hostile intentions of the foreigners.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[183] Europeans were annoyed by limited trade and they tried to improve their positions in Chinese trade.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The English attempted to improve their positions by sending an embassy led by Lord Macartney to the Qing court to establish diplomatic relations, but the legation failed in its mission, as the emperor speculated that the dispensation granted to the English would cause others to claim them.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Furthermore, Macartney refused to kneel before the emperor as a sign of submission, which Westerners found humiliating.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[183] [174] [184] Qianlong relinquished power in 1795 and he died the following year.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] [176] After him, the Qing dynasty no longer received as strong an emperor and the Manchupower began to decay.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[185] The Qing dynasty was mired in economic difficulties due to war expeditions under Qianlong and the misappropriation of state funds by corrupt advisor He Shen.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Upon Qianlong's death, He Shen was arrested and his immense property, which amounted to about half of the state's annual income, was confiscated.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] [185] The decline of Qing power coincided with the strengthening of Western power in the East.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

European seafaring peoples were also irritated by the fact that Russians received better treatment in China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[185] [186] Western countries, especially the English, also did not accept that the Chinese opposed free trade.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Conflicts between cultures culminated into the opium trade between the English and the Qing dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The Portuguese were the first to discover that the sale of opium to the Chinese was economically productive.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Soon, however, the dominance of the opium trade passed to the English.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[186] [174] The English East Indies Trading Company did not formally operate the ocontract trade, but gave its management to private merchants.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[186] Opium poppy, from which opium is obtained, had been a well-known drug in China for a long time.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

With European production methods, opium production was so abundant that the price was so low that the problem blew into hand.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[186] [174] Qianlong brought into effect an imperial law in 1729 banning the sale and burning of opium.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The ban had little effect, as Chinese officials were usually bribed from illegal trade.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[186] The opium trade grew so drastically that by the arrival of the 1820s the total trade balance was in deficit to China and silver was now flowing out of the country more and the kingdom began to suffer economic hardship.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[185] [174] The Qing dynasty was unable to stop the opium trade with prohibitions or suppress opium smuggling.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

There was also disagreement within the dynasty's administration, as others wanted to legalise the opium trade and tax it.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[186] [174] However, the Emperor adopted the opposite position.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1838, Emperor Qing Emperor Daoguang introduced tougher means and sent Commissioner Lin Zexu to Canton to oversee the implementation of a full ban on the opium trade.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

All of Canton's opium stockpiles were confiscated and destroyed by this.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] Before the confiscation, the representative of the British government in Canton had taken all opium belonging to British merchants under its own responsibility, so that the matter was no longer between private traders and the Chinese authorities.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[186] [174] England felt that it should receive compensation for the destroyed opact and the situation led to the First Opium War.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The British fleet occupied all the main Chinese ports and went up the Yangtze River to Nanjing, occupying the city.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Qing dynasty had been forced to agree to peace talks and conclude the Treaty of Nanjing whereby Hong Kong was ceded to the Britons and China had to pay large war reparations.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Not a word was mentioned in the peace treaty about opium, but the Qing dynasty no longer attempted to prevent the opium trade.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[187] [174] [188] The Nanjing Peace Treaty was humiliating for the Manchupower and it generated growing anti-Manchuism among the Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Qing dynasty feared the Chinese alliance with Western nations and thus tried to restrict foreigners' access to the country.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[189] Fear was not unwarranted, since in 1850 the Taiping Revolt began in central China, which became a civil war that claimed the lives of 20 to 30 million people.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The Taiping rebellion was led by Hong Xiuquan, a convert to Christianity, who claimed to be Jesus' younger brother.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

He incited the Chinese to revolt to liberate the country from Manchurule and already had more than ten thousand supporters when the revolt began.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1851, the Taiping movement engaged in open rebellion against the Qing dynasty and advanced into the northern parts of the country, looting the land.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1853, the rebels regained control of Nanjing and made it the center of their theocratic rule.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] [190] The Taiping rebels received no support from Western countries, as these did not accept the form of Christianity practiced by the rebels and the rebellion also cut off trade on the Yangtze River.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Officially, Western nations remained neutral, but foreign mercenaries enlisted in support of the Qing dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The military forces available to the Qing dynasty were unable to resist the rebel advance, so the Manchu regime turned to local forces led by Han Chinese warlords to defeat the rebels.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] [190] [191] The Taiping Rebellion was significantly weakened by the internal dispersion of the rebels, which eventually led to the defeat of the rebellion.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[192] Once and for all, the rebellion was defeated by the local armies of the Chinese, who had morphed into the private armies of the generals.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

They financed their operations by collecting taxes from the provinces they administered.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] With the support of private armies, Nanjing was recaptured in 1864.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The main reason for the defeat of the Taiping Rebellion was that the rebellion was poorly run.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Had the insurgency movement not had a religious fanatic under its leadership, it might have received the support it needed from Western and Confucian Han Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[192] Western countries managed to profit from the mayhem caused by the Taiping Rebellion to expand their influence in China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The British were dissatisfied with the activities of the anti-foreigner authorities and when twelve Chinese sailors were arrested by the Chinese, under this pretext, started the Second Opium War in 1857, with the Taiping Rebellion still underway.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The French joined the war alongside the British.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[192] [174] The British and French fleets struck the Qing army and the dynasty agreed to a peace treaty in 1859, but the Chinese did not comply with it and the war continued.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Second Opium War ended when the British and French conquered Beijing in 1860 and the Qing dynasty was forced to conclude a peace treaty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Under the treaty, the Chinese had to pay large war reparations and British territories in Hong Kong were expanded.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Russia acted as a conciliatory party to the peace treaty, and as compensation Russia ceded the territories east of the Amur River from Manchuria.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[192] [174] [193] Following the Glandular Treaty following the Second Opium War, relations between the Qing Dynasty and Western powers began to improve.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Western countries withdrew from Beijing, and the Qing regime also began to adopt the view that the Western countries were not so much interested in the conquest of China as they were interested in developing trade relations.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[191] [185] The Western powers felt that it was advantageous for them to support the pro-Western Qing dynasty and the Western countries were very helpful in defeating the Taiping rebellion.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[185] In the era following the Opium Wars, Western influences increased and the Chinese began to adopt Western technology.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] [194] This brief period of peace has been called the Reconstruction Period named after Emperor Tongzhi, who ruled from 1862 to 1874.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] In place of Tongzhi, who had risen to emperor as a child, real power was exercised by Ci Xi, the widow of the deceased Emperor Xianfeng and mother of the sitting emperor.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[195] [196] Tongzhi died at the age of 18 in 1875.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[197] He had no heirs and Ci Xi succeeded in elevating to the throne another child emperor of Guangxu, thus the real power still remained in his hands.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[195] Despite the period of peace following the Opium Wars, the internal and external threats of the Qing Empire did not go away.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Western parts of the country suffered famine, which claimed the lives of some 20 million people.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Russian Empire threatened land in the north.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In the south, China was threatened by the French from their Vietnamese colony and a war was fought between the two countries from 1884 to 1885.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

However, a rapidly modernized Japan had become the main external threat.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[194] [198] Japan conquered the island of Taiwan in 1874 and the Reef Bully Islands in 1879.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Subsequently, Japan directed its expansion efforts towards Korea.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[194] Korea was an important buffer state to the Chinese, recognized by Chinese supremacy between Japan and China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[199] China's dominance of Korea was at odds with Japan's imperialist aspirations and in 1894 Japan took advantage of internal unrest within the Joseon dynasty that ruled Korea.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

War broke out between China and Japan when the Japanese attacked Chinese troops sent in support of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[174] The conflict expanded rapidly and became a disaster for the Chinese, as Japan quickly destroyed the Chinese fleet and advanced inland, conquering parts of Manchuria.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

China had been forced to enter into the Shimonoseki Peace Treaty, where only French German and Russian intervention in the so-called triple intervention prevented the expansion of Japanese rule as far as the Liaodong Peninsula.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In the aftermath of the war lost to Japan, Western powers established new bases in China upon discovering the weakness of the Qing dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[200] [198] [201] After the end of the war, the Qing emperor Guangxu came of age and gained power from Dowager Empress Ci Xi.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [195] War defeat to Japan was considered a disgrace and the country's doctrine appealed to the emperor for reforms.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The emperor founded a reform movement led by the name Kang Youwei.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[200] [198] [195] Under this leadership, the country was to implement the Hundred Days reforms in 1898, under which the country would move towards constitutional rule and implement administrative reforms.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] For high-ranking officials in the Qing court, whose dominance reforms would have taken away, these reforms did not.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

They turned to Dowager Empress Ci Xi and in her name ordered the emperor to be placed under house arrest, where she lived the rest of her life.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The reforms were cancelled and reformers executed.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Kang Youwein, with the help of the British, managed to escape to Hong Kong.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [195] [202] Power passed again into the hands of Dowager Empress Ci Xi.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

This had the usurping of power as a great aid to military leader Yuan Shikai.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[203] [195] Around the same time in the late 1890s, an anti-foreigner movement known as the Boxar Revolt began simmering in eastern parts of the country in Shandong.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [204] In China, foreigner hatred had already been rising since the 1860s as missionaries sought to spread Christianity among the Chinese.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[205] Christians also received dispensation before justice, as Chinese officials often feared intervention by Western powers.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

This inequality indignant the Chinese population.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[205] [198] The mood in the region had intensified after the Germans took control of Qingdao, following the murder of two German missionaries.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [205] The Boxars began attacking all signs of Westernization, such as telegraph lines and churches, during 1899.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] Attacks against missionaries also became more frequent.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[199] After Ci Xi seized power in the Qing court, power was held by reactionary xenophobic officials.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[205] Ci Xi issued an instruction in 1900 to allow boxers to operate; however, most provincial governors did not do so.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] Many governors regarded the Qing court's decision to support boxer shorts and driving out foreigners as absurd.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[195] One of the Boxars' opponents was Yuan Shikai and the forces he led had the rebellion suppressed from Shandong.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[205] [204] After the rebellion was defeated in Shandong, unrest moved northwards.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In Beijing, the number of supporters of boxers increased and the situation began to become increasingly serious.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In June 1900, the Boxers assassinated a Japanese legation secretary and a German ambassador.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[204] Foreign powers had begun to react to the situation and a coalition of eight foreign powers invaded Beijing through Tianjin.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

After the fighting in August 1900, foreign troops occupied Peking and the Boxar Revolt was defeated.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[204] [205] The Qing court fled the Allies to Xi'an.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [206] Under the peace treaty concluded after the Boxar Revolt, China was forced to pay large war reparations and foreign powers were entitled to increase their forces in China to safeguard their own interests.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

What was most fatal to the Qing dynasty was that its prestige had plummeted.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [205] The people were increasingly dissatisfied after the revolt.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The heaviest burden of paying war reparations had to be borne by the peasant population.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[204] [205] At the beginning of the 20th century, the country began to increasingly vociferously call for a constitutional monarchy on the Japanese model.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[204] A republican movement emerged in the country, particularly supported by young Chinese students.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The most famous leading figure in the republican movement was Sun Yat-sen, who received a Westerner education.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[207] [198] The republican Tongmenghui organisation he founded in 1905 received support, especially from Chinese living abroad.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[208] The Qing dynasty was still trying to improve its position by implementing the Hundred Days reforms it had previously rejected.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] Dowager Empress Cixi had to bend under pressure and she acquiesced to the transition to a constitutional monarchy in 1908.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[209] At the end of the same year he died.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Emperor Guangxu died just a day before him, possibly poisoned.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The minor Pu Yi, whose power was held by regents, was elevated to the new emperor.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [209] However, the republican Tongmenghui organization did not initiate the final rebellion that defeated the Qing dynasty, but was prompted by the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, which led to the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The rebellion was very indecisive and was quickly defeated, but the rebellion quickly spread to nearby towns.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [210] [208] Many Manchus were massacred by the Han Chinese and the situation spiralled out of the hands of the Qing dynasty.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The situation led to the abdication of power by the Qing emperor Pu Yi, by which time the period of Chinese emperor lasting 2133 years had come to an end.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] Modern Republic of China When the republican revolution finally began, Sun Yat-sen was on a fundraising trip in the United States, and the Tongmenghui organization played no part in the revolution at first.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[207] [198] The revolution began in the city of Wuhan, where, after an explosion of gunpowder storage by the insurgents, the local police got hold of the membership lists of the rebel organisation.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The uncovered were threatened with a death sentence, for which they went into rebellion at once.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[198] [205] The rebellion quickly spread to other cities, where it also received support from the upper social classes that had previously remained peaceful.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[210] The situation had soon escaped the control of the Qing dynasty and 15 provinces announced independence from Qing rule within a month and a half.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[207] [208] Sun Yat-Sen returned in December 1911 to China and was elected the first interim president of the Republic of China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[210] [208] [211] A republican government was established in Nanjing, but the country was still fragmented and Beijing was still dominated by the Qing government.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[207] [212] The decisive figure in the overthrow of Manchua rule emerged as the military leader Yuan Shikai.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] [198] Yuan Shikai became the most powerful man in the country during the remainder of the reign of the Qing dynasty, because if the Qing army under his command were to defend Manchu rule, the army could still have been able to defeat the republican revolution.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Thus, either a civil war between the republicans and the Qing army led by Yuan Shikai, or a compromise solution lay ahead.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In order to be spared the civil war, Sun Yat-Sen turned to Yuan Shikai, as only he had so much influence that he would be able to force the Manchu emperor to abdicate the crown.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The republican movement promised Yuan that if this caused the Manchu Emperor's regent to renounce the crown and support the republicans, Yuan would be made President of the Republic of China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] [211] [208] The offer caused Yuan to switch sides and on February 12, 1912, Yuan Shikai issued the Emperor's proclamation abdicating the crown.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Sun Yat-Sen resigned the office of president in favor of Yuan and a new Republic of China government was established in Beijing.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] [198] [212] [213] The success of the Xinhai Revolution had been the result of many compromises on which no stable republican administration could be established.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Many who supported the republic primarily wanted to overthrow the Manchu regime, and Sun Yat-Sen's attempts at democracy meant nothing to them.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] [198] Quite soon Yuan Shikai, who rose to the presidency, set about consolidating his own power.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

To consolidate his power, he was guilty of assassinating Kuomintang vice-president Song Jiaoren after he won the 1913 elections.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[214] [213] [215] The Kuomintang was declared illegal and its leader Sun Yat-Sen fled to Japan.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[214] [213] [212] Yuan Shikai ruled the Republic of China with dictatorial gestures, appointing as military governors of the provinces his own supporters, ousting those connected to the Kuomintang.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] [213] Yuan attempted to restore emperor power in 1915 by becoming emperor himself; however, he failed to gain support for his company, as many influential Chinese no longer accepted the monarchy.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] [214] The popularity of the Yuan also began to decline after the start of World War I.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Japan took control of the old German-administered territories in Shandong and made the so-called 21 demands to China which, if realised, would effectively make China a colony of Japan.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Yuan acquiesced to the demands, which weakened his support nationwide.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[213] [214] [212] Yuan, under pressure and due to the unrest that had arisen, was forced to give up his dreams of emperor.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The opposition demanded he step down from the presidency as well.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The question was resolved by itself, as Yuan Shikai died unexpectedly at the age of 56 in June 1916.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[213] After Yuan Shikai's death, China lacked a powerful leader and the country slipped into an era of regional warlords holding power.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[213] [216] [212] In northern China, a group of military leaders tried to restore the Manchu to power and in 1917 they elevated Pu Yi to emperor again, but after only a few days, another northern forces aborted the restoration of Manchupower.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] The official leader of the country was the President, who was always the warlord who had ruled Beijing at any given time.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In practice, the country had been divided into provinces operating independently, run by warlords competing with each other.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[214] [212] Sun Yat-Sen returned from exile and he led a republican government established and operated from Canton, which opposed the government forces in the country.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

He tried in vain during World War I to persuade the Circum-Powers to recognise the Cantonese government.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[212] [213] China supported the Circum-Powers in World War I to thus regain the territories formerly belonging to Germany that Japan had occupied.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

More than 100,000 men were sent from China to assist the Allies in supply missions.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[214] According to the Peace of Versailles drawn up after the war in 1919, previously German-controlled territories located in China were ceded to Japan, contrary to China's claim.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[217] [214] In particular, Chinese doctrine reacted critically to the peace agreement unfavourable to China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Disillusionment with the peace treaty and ensuing discontent spread across China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

A large demonstration took place in the country in 1919, named as the Fourth of May Movement after the time of its event.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[217] [214] [218] The protests mobilised large segments of the population and spread to the urban middle and working classes.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[216] [217] As one result of the Fourth of May Movement, communist ideology began to arise in China as well.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Marxism began to spread rapidly in China and the Comintern soon offered its support to the socialist movement.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Communist Party of China held its first General Assembly in 1921.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[219] [220] As a result of the Fourth of May Movement, the Kuomintang also strengthened their positions in the south of China and Sun Yat-Sen led the southern government operating in Canton.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[221] [216] During his lifetime he did not have time to consolidate republican rule and bring China into unity.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Sun Yat-Sen died in 1925.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

A young general named Chiang Kai-šek rose to be his successor at the Kuomintang leadership.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[221] [217] The Soviet Union did not yet believe in the power of the Communist Party of China, as according to the Marxist cause, the revolution of the proletariat was preceded by a revolution of the bourgeoisie, which is why the Bolsheviks felt that support had to be given to Sun Yat-Sen and much larger than the Communist Party of China Kuomintang.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[220] [214] The Russians called on Chinese communists to join the Kuomintang and seek to leftist its policies.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[220] Sun Yat-Sen was ready to engage in cooperation with the Communists and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China entered into a cooperation agreement in 1923.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Their common goal was to promote a national revolution against local warlords and to counter the colonialism that threatened China by Western powers and Japan.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[220] [214] The Kuomintang and the Communist Party, supported by the Soviet Union, began a joint war expedition in 1926, with the goal of unifying all of China.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In nine months, half of China had already been overrun.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[216] [214] [221] However, war success also led to internal fighting.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

After Sun Yat-Sen's death, the Kuomintang had split into a right-wing and left-wing wing whose aspirations diverged.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[216] Chiang Kai-šek led the right wing of the Kuomintang and did not agree to cooperate with the communists.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Led by Chiang, right-wingers seized power in the Kuomintang, many communists were shot and pro-communism became a crime worthy of capital punishment.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Legitimate activities for the Communists became impossible and they were forced to switch to underground activities.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Communist bases began to emerge in areas intermediate between the districts of power and distant mountainous areas.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[216] [220] By 1928, all of China had been at least nominally conquered under the right-wing government of Chiang Kai-šek and also gained international recognition as the country's only legitimate government.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[221] The polittic situation in China remained in disarray despite the successful war expedition, as provincial generals supported the Kuomintang only if it was in their own interests.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[220] [216] The Nanjing government sought to make a major modernization, but reforms fell short.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The administration's resources were plentiful expended on the fight against the Communists and preparing for the Japanese threat.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[216] [214] The communists had succeeded in establishing new Soviet territories in the periphery.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Of these, the most significant bases emerged under Mao Zedong in Jiangxi Province, where the Communists had their own regional administration.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[214] [221] Even greater than the Communists, a threat to the Kuomintang republican government was formed by Japan, which had begun to pursue an aggressive policy of expansion.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The Japanese had regarded military units in Manchuria as justified by a peace treaty drawn up after the Boxer Rebellion.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

In 1931, in the so-called Mukden Incident, the Japanese staged a terrorist attack against themselves and under its guise occupied Manchuria, where they established a puppet state called Manchukuo, with Pu Yi named as its nominal ruler.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[214] [222] However, Chiang Kai-šek felt that the threat of communism came to defeat first and the Japanese later.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

[223] [224] Chiang Kai-šek, supported by Germany, managed to organize the army into battle against the communists and in 1935 Kuomintang forces managed to militarily subdue the Jiangxi Soviet area.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

The communists had to flee Jiangxi and were able to break through the Kuomintang lines and retreat for the 5000 km journey to Yan'an in northern Shaanxi.


Question: Was the Chen dynasty before the Song dynasty?

History of China

Thus, the communist legend of the long march was born, of which only about one in ten of those who went on the march survived, with others in karate or dead.