Conventional history provides us a fairly robust view of daily life throughout the ages, but it’s almost entirely European. Just what was going on in Continental Europe during the latter half of the 19th century?
The Chinese Taiping Rebellion (1850 – 1864)
Well, after a good amount of reading I can say that this century wasn’t a very kind one when it came to daily life for the average person. This is a century marred by European imperialism, colonization and disaster.
China saw a horrible recovery from the humiliating Opium Wars of 1839 – 1842 and went straight into a period of brutal upheaval. The Chinese ruling dynasties, which had for ages held themselves with an air of cultural superiority, were suddenly faced with expansion and military aggression from foreigners with advancements they couldn’t compete with. China was suddenly under much outside pressure politically while internally, a series of disasters would put the average person in crisis for the latter half of the decade.
China was experiencing a massive population boom (the population grew 56% in the 19th century!), farmers were being consistently overtaxed, rents were skyrocketing and peasants were abandoning their land in mass numbers. The amount of cultivatable land wasn’t increasing to meet these population growths. A rebel religious cult uprising sprang up in this era, igniting the Taiping Rebellion: one of the bloodiest wars in human history. An estimation of 20 – 100 million people lost their lives as the entire country descended into abject chaos as the ruling Manchus were seized and cast down. Hot off the heels of this would follow a brutal famine in 1876 that would last three years, killing an additional 9.5 million people.
Many would flee to California to seek their fortune in the Gold Rush, while others would stay continue subsistence or export farming, growing spices, rice and peppers to be sold elsewhere in Europe as trade forced its way in.
A Japanese print from 1854 describing the terror of the Black Ships forcing their way into Edo.
Meanwhile in Japan, the isolation ordered by the Tokugawa Shogunate would come to an abrupt end in 1853 as Commodore Perry would sail four of his Black Ships into Edo Bay and demand entry, beasts of war belching smoke and bristling with guns. They were an object of terror for the Japanese populace, and he would return with them in twice the number as before. The Shogunate collapsed, sending Japan into a period of uncertainty as it too succumbed to imperialist interests.
French soldiers occupying Saigon
At this time, Vietnam would fall prey to total colonization by France in 1883, falling entirely under their rule. This would follow a reign of brutal suppression from french rule, with widespread subjugation and atrocities committed on a populace now forced to work on export crops.
Much of Asia at this time would also be marred by the destruction caused by the Imperial interests in the tremendous profits to be made in the opium trade.
All in all, for the average person in Asia this was a time of uncertainty, of foreign interference, oppression and rule. The theories of Social Darwinism and the invented fears (such as Yellow Peril) gave rise to an era of brutal subjugation wrought on populaces already struggling under famine and war.
Reflection and class lecture:
This is a fascinating time to be diving through, in particular I absolutely love the aesthetics we were exploring in French poster design and the beginnings of the art nouveau movements. The entire period has some of my favorite craft and illustrative techniques/elements second only to the Gothic tradition, so I was absolutely living for diving into the Arts and Crafts segments that neatly married the two. We didn’t touch too much on the political goings-on of the time, but particularly after doing the research for this segment… yikes.
Sourcing:
http://numismatics.org/east-and-south-asia-in-the-19th-century/
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/china_modern_timeline.htm
http://teachingresources.atlas.illinois.edu/chinese_exp/introduction04.html
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_demographic.htm
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/10/sse.html
Images:
https://www.quora.com/How-much-damage-did-France-cause-to-Vietnam-when-it-colonized-Vietnam-during-the-19th-20th-century
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ships#/media/File:Japanese_1854_print_Commodore_Perry.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Regaining_the_Provincial_City_Anqing2.jpg
Leave a Reply