Wang Shuzeng

2.81276 learners

Set against the crumbling backdrop of late 19th-century China, *1901: The Back View of an Empire* pulls back the curtain on the Qing Dynasty’s final years, weaving intimate, untold stories into a vivid narrative of power, chaos, and quiet transformation. Starting with the 1899 medical exam of Emperor Guangxu—a small event that shattered the imperial court’s secrecy and exposed bitter power struggles between the emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi—the book traces the empire’s downward spiral: the catastrophic Sino-Japanese War rooted in systemic corruption, the failed Hundred Days’ Reform derailed by court intrigue, the rise of the Boxer Rebellion as a desperate outcry of impoverished peasants, and the brutal foreign invasion that led to the humiliating 1901 Boxer Protocol. Through vivid details—from Viceroy Yulu’s jade thumb ring symbolizing bureaucratic decay to Li Hongzhang’s grueling negotiations with foreign powers—author Wang Shuzeng captures the full complexity of the era: a dying empire clinging to tradition, while glimmers of modernity (Western clothing, women’s public speaking, telegraph technology) began to pierce the darkness. More than a history lesson, this book reveals how the chaos of 1901 laid the groundwork for China’s 20th-century transformation.

Ji Chen

3.5995 learners

Dive into the tangled diplomacy, internal power struggles, and devastating aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War in The Expensive Peace. Ji Chen unpacks the lead-up to the 1894 conflict, from the superficial cordiality between the Qing Dynasty and Meiji Japan to the eruption of war over Korea. The book lays bare the Qing court’s bitter divide between war hawks and peace advocates, tracking Li Hongzhang’s desperate, unauthorized attempts to avoid battle and the court’s fumbling efforts to seek foreign mediation as losses mounted. It chronicles the dramatic Shimonoseki negotiations—including Li’s assassination attempt that forced minor Japanese concessions—and the signing of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, which stripped China of Taiwan, the Liaodong Peninsula, and imposed crippling war reparations. Ji also explores the Three-Power Intervention that forced Japan to return Liaodong (for a hefty ransom) and the lasting scars of this 'expensive peace' on China’s national identity, urging readers to move beyond resentment to learn critical historical lessons.