Second Ming Expansion and Imperialism (1850-1914) (Chinese Meiji)

This article is part of the Chinese Meiji universe.

Economic and Social Transformation
In practice, China was ruled by a small cadre of top ministers who had a far-reaching program to modernize the country, and the Emperor was nothing but a figurehead. In order to be able to catch up to the European powers, the Chinese needed to learn Western knowledge. In the 1850s, the government sent hundreds of thousands of students to Europe and the United States and hired foreign experts to teach the Chinese the how to build railroads, operate a modern economy, and run an efficient bureaucracy.

The government was particularily interested in Western technology and science. In order to be among the most advanced nations in the world, they reasoned, they must have a good educational system. The government set up vocational, technical, and agricultural schools and founded ten Imperial Universities.

The Chinese government also highly encouraged industrialization. They set up state-owned enterprises that sold items in the global market in order to pay for their modernizing efforts. The government also sparked a boom in privite enterprises by providing loan guarantees and governmental subsidies to entrepreneurs. This new capitalist environment stimulated innovation due to increased competition between industries and companies and led to a growing middle class. In 1880, innovations in electrical generation and distribution made Beijing the first city in the world to have a modern power grid. At the turn of the century Beijing was knicknamed "Paris of the East" after another famous City of Lights.

The government-backed modernization was expensive, however. Chinese farmers were taxed heavily and many lost their land. The displaced peasants were encouraged by the government to migrate away from the densely populated fertile plains to cultivate the "wastelands" farther to the west and north.