A. Data-based Questions

1. a) The Imperial Constitution was carried out merely as an act to prolong Manzu rule and protect the absolute ruling of the Manzu royal blood. Therefore, the Imperial Constitutional Council was set up only to protect the power of the Manzus. The cartoonist must have noticed the real intention of the establishment of the Constitution and mocked the council by naming it the ‘Emperor Protection Society’- apart from mocking it, he called it so also to warn the people, to tell them that this was only a ploy to pacify them.

b) He must have been skeptical and cynical about the late Qing Constitutional Movement. Also, he found it hopeless. He alerted the whole society to the fact that the movement was only a ‘trap’ for ‘fools’. He criticized it with negative wordings such as ‘trap’ and ‘for fools’, showing his dislike against the movement. Secondly, he told the people to wake up and take a good look at the movement which claimed to bring ‘improvement’ to the community. For what? To let them see the flaws in this movement, to let them notice the real intentions of prolonging Manzu rule behind it. He knew it was a mask for the Manzu’s protection for their imperial rule, and he must’ve had negative views against it to bring about such a statement.

c) With reference to source B, the lack of close communication between the government and the people made the government weak and inefficient.

d) According to source B, their justifications for deciding not to adopt a constitution hastily were blamed on the uneducated level of the people- they claimed them to be unready for a constitution; moreover, they stated that it would be nothing more than a paper constitution if it were adopted at such a quick pace, meaning that it would be nothing more than statements on a piece of paper rather than actual improvement being carried out as actions.

e) No, they do not. The definition of ‘adequate’ is ‘to equal to’- the given sources do not reflect all of the limitations of the reforms. Yes, they do reflect a few, with source A showing the lack of sincerity of the government when they are establishing a Council that is actually set up to prolong the Manzu rule and create a reason for the unsatisfied, aggressive citizens to quiet down. It also shows the rising popularity in revolutionary ideas- the cartoon itself is a rebellious action, warning people against the government. Those who have looked at the cartoon would’ve realized the potential problems in the movement and joined the ranks of rebelling against the Qing government, thus limiting the process of the reform. Source B proves the incapability of government, how it never admits its own weaknesses, blames other factors for its failures and how it never faces its problems with a solution. Apart from the aforementioned limitations of the movement, the lack of capable leaders, either executed, imprisoned or forced to retire was a factor that held back the progress of the reform. Also, source A and B never mentioned the lack of funds the Qing government was facing then; owing to heavy indemnities and foreign loans. The basis of a successful reform is money- yet it was one factor they didn’t have to push their project forward.

f) The people are not idiots; they could spot the flaws and insincerity of the reforms the Qing government was carrying out without much trouble. Yet the government insisted it was conducted on an improvement basis, in the favor of the people. With this as the anger factor, the people continued to channel their dissatisfaction into actions which eventually became the 1911 Revolution. Of course, it wouldn’t have worked with anger alone- firstly, the educational and military reforms helped build up the foundation of their rebellious acts. The educational reforms created a new type of intellectuals who criticized strongly against the traditional methods and customs of the Qing government, owing to the Western education they received that was introduced during the reforms. The military reforms strengthened the regional authorities enough to be independent of central control, since many young, potential officers and soldiers of the New Army had been educated according to a Western-style syllabus. With these anti-dynastic ideas being spread among the people, their disappointment in Cixi’s insincere constitutional changes grew and urged the people to overthrow the government by way of revolution.

B. Essay-type Questions

1. How far did the late Qing Reforms contribute to the modernization of China?
I shall respond to this question in the four following aspects: The introduction of modern political institution, the creation of a modern army, the establishment of a modern educational system and the enlightenment of the people. The whole Reform was to receive reassessment- despite the real intentions of Cixi wanting to rebuild the authority of the Qing Dynasty and regain lost support, the reassessment did prove to be successful in demolishing the old ideas which the Qing Dynasty had instilled into the people and thereby motivate them to overthrow the corrupt government, leading China onto its track of modernization.
Firstly, with reference to the reform programmes, the constitutional, administrative and judicial reforms were extensive and radical, including the replacement of the old Six Boards with new ministries of Finance, Law, Industry, Commerce and Education. The establishment of such new ministries was to install a more effective constitutional government in China in which it could operate smoothly without the traditional customs and methods hindering progress. The adoption of a new political system is a step that led to more radical reforms in the future- when they were finally willing to take a bigger risk in changing their traditional norms, people would take the initiative to continue in pursuing a newer angle in politics for the better.
As the institutional changes were being conducted, military modernization was also attempted. This leads us to my second point, where military reforms contributed to the modernization of China. As the Qing government had accepted the Western and Japanese education (which had been proven successful) as their model, they sent officers and trainees to accept foreign education which was much more modern and efficient. Those who were taught under foreign ideas returned to China and, under Yuan Shikai’s command, formed the New Army that showed more loyalty to Yuan than the Qing government, which, under comparison, appeared to be much more unreliable and weak. Therefore, the modernized New Army was much more independent of central control and open to new ideas.
With the modernization of the political and military system, a reform in the educational system was also introduced. The abolition of the civil service examination and the acceptance of western learning led to the practice of sending students to overseas institutions for further education progress. With the modern syllabus adopted by western education, students were exempted from the traditional teachings preferred by the Qing government and allowed to have independent, new ideas which pushed progress in China forward- thus leading to modernization.
With all of the above measures, foreign ideas were introduced to the common people of China- plus the social reforms that were carried out, including the prohibition of traditional practices such as foot-binding and slavery. The actual reason behind this action was due to the government’s will to stop western countries from looking down on China, as they had commented on these traditions as ‘barbaric’ and ‘uncivilized’. The people should have received these comments, and taken them into account with the resolution to improve. Chinese people were enlightened with realizations that they could do away with their traditions without much fuss; that they were actually unnecessary- and therefore the acceptance of new ideas that pushed China closer to modernization.
Andrea Cheung (05) 4A

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