DBQ1
Source A
The following cartoon was published in 1900, and represented a Western cartoonist's view of China 's situation.
Source B
Extract 1 and 2 present different viewpoints on approaches to saving China in the late Qing period.
Extract 1
" Your Majesty is wise enough to know the cause of the malady. Now that the cause has been known, here is the remedy. Now that adherence to conventions is known to have contributed to our calamity and defeat, old practices must be thoroughly changed and renovated in order to achieve self-strengthening.
When we speak of reform, we must start with the modification of our institutions and laws. Only then can this be called reform. At present, the changes which people talk about are just changes of miscellaneous things, but not reforms...
However, all the serving senior officials are senile and conservative with little understanding of foreign countries. If your Majesty were to rely upon them to carry out reforms, it would be like climbing a tree to catch fish...The problem is not that senior officials pay no attention to affairs of state. It is that by the time they have reached high offices through seniority and service, their vitality and energy have declined. Moreover, since they hold many concurrent positions, they have no time available to pursue studies and are left with no alternatives. Hence, when they receive repeated decrees ordering them to operate modern schools and to manage commercial affairs, they indeed cannot cope with such tasks which they had not learnt when they were young...
The cause of the present trouble stems from the fact that the minds of the people are not enlightened... The cause for the lack of enlightenment in the minds of the people stems from the system of writing 'eight-legged essays' as a means of selecting officials."
(Extract adapted from Kang Youwei's conversation with the Guangxu Emperor, 1898)
Extract 2
" The Manchus must be expelled for the sake of independence and salvation...If not, the Han people will forever remain a subjugated people without independence, and, being enslaved by a backward race, will finally perish with it in wars with advanced foreign peoples...
This government is regarded as evil in that an evil race has usurped our government. Its evil deeds are rooted in the nature of its race, which cannot be eliminated or embellished, nor are they just limited one or two bad policies. Therefore, although there are pretentious reforms, evils remain. Despite hasty adoption of a Western constitution and laws, evils still remain.
(Extract adapted from Hu Hanmin's writing, published in 1906 in the Tongmenghui's journal, Minbao)
Source C
The following table outlines major happenings in China in the period 1901-19.
1901 / Zhang Zhidong and others proposed 'New Policies'.Sinecures were abolished. The practice of the sale of office was terminated.
1902 / The 'eight-legged essay' was abolished. Current topics were to be tested in the Civil Service Examination.
1904 / A new school system was decreed.
1905 / Japan defeated Russia in Manchuria.
The Civil Service examination was abolished.
1906 / The Six Boards were replaced by new ministries.
1908 / The Qing government promised the inauguration of a constitutional government by 1917.
The Guangxu Emperor and the Empress Dowager, Cixi, died.
1909 / Provisional assemblies met.
1910 / The National Assembly met.
1911 / The Wuchang Uprising broke out.
1912 / Sun Yixian was elected Provisional President of the Chinese Republic at Nanjing.
The Puyi emperor abdicated.
Sun Yixian resigned.
Yuan Shikai became Provisional President of the Chinese Republic in Bejing.
1913 / The Guomindang won parliamentary elections.
Guomindang leader, Song Jiaoren, was assassinated.
The Second Revolution broke out and was suppressed by Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Shikai banned the Guomindang.
1915 / Japan presented the 21 Demands to China.
Yuan Shikai attempted to restore the monarchy.
1916 / Yuan Shikai died.
Warlordism emerged.
1917 / China entered the First World War.
1919 / The May Fourth Incident occurred.
Refer to Source A
i. What can you infer from Source A about the cartoonist's view of China's attitude towards foreign powers? Justify your answer with reference to the Source. (3 marks)
ii. Based on your own knowledge, explain whether you agree with the cartoonist's view. (4 marks)
Refer to Source B
iii. Identify the approaches to saving China as suggested by Kang Youwei and Hu Hanmin. (2 marks)
iv. How did Kang and Hu justify their views? (4 marks)
Refer to Source B and C
v. Do you think that Kang Youwei would be satisfied with the reform programmes carried out by the Qing government in the period 1901-11? (7 marks)
Refer to Source A, B and C
vi. Do you think that China in the early Republican period was very different from China in the late Qing period? Explain your answer with reference to Sources A, B and C. (10 marks)