Ch'ing: Collapse of the Dynasty

Following foreign suppression of the Boxer Uprising, Tz'u Hsi changed course and allowed some moderate educational and administrative reforms. However, the dynasty acted slowly upon the demands of intellectuals, social leaders, and progressive provincial governors for a national assembly and a change to constitutional monarchy.

From abroad Sun Yat-sen helped to foster and lead a movement for the revolutionary overthrow of the Manchus and establishment of a republic. A coalition, which included moderate leaders in S China, revolutionary students who had returned from the West, and military officers, finally overthrew the dynasty in the Revolution of 1911. Following the collapse of the Ch'ing, China abandoned its 2,000-year tradition of monarchic rule in favor of a republican form of government.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Collapse of the Dynasty
• Western Imperialism and Internal Pressures
• The Early Ch'ing
• Background
• Bibliography

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