but was run by foreigners with close diplomatic contacts with caused by the drain resulted in a 20 to 30%depreciation of foreign powers.The proceeds collected by Customs were the copper currency in common use and a sbarp rise in the directly turned over to the service of foreign debts;when in cost of living.Debased coinage came into use.Foreign 1917 a surplus appeared,the Powers took over the right of cotton goods and other commodities drove Chinese approving its release and restricting its use.Furthermore,the bandicrafts to the wall,especially in the soutbern treaties gave the Powers the right to set the Chinese tariff;they provinces.... kept it at a low 5%of value in order to encourage the opening The accumulative result of all these agencies of of the China market to foreign trade.This not only kept China dissolution was mass pauperization and the creation of a from protecting her industry but deprived her of income. large floating population.... Tbe Financial Drain.The treaties involved China in fiancial Tbe imperialists,on tbeir part,baving battered the obligations to foreigners that were crippling to government Mancbu court into submission and adapted tbe upper strata finance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.To pay the of cbinese society to their own uses,became the protectors 1895 indemnity of about 30 million pounds,the Chinese took of tbe Cbinese rulers against the wratb of the people.... loans which it took approximately 100 million pounds to [Later]the rivalries of the different Western powers fed on repay.For the $333 million Boxer indemnity,the Chinese had separatist conflicts whicb undermined the central autbority to make installment payments at a rate that absorbed almost and encouraged provincial and regional satrapies wbich all the central government's income and would have reached, corresponded rougbly to tbe "spberes of influence. with interest,about $739 million.(Since part of the debt was By adapting to its own uses the mercbants,landlords, cancelled after the first world war,the payments ultimately officials,and militarists,imperialism belped perpetuate the amounted to only $250 million.) precapitalist forms of Cbinese social organization....The Tbe Missionary Invasion.The treaties required the Chinese Cbinese ruling class could not liberate the peasantry to permit missionaries in the interior.Missionaries reached because,as a result of the peculiar conditions and about half of China's bsien,?and must have been seen or heard belatedness of its growtb,it was too organically tied to the by a substantial portion of the population.Driven by an exploitation of tbe peasantry. evangelizing fervor ("Shall not the low wail of helpless, hopeless misery,arising from one-half of the heathen world, With violence to the eloguence,but not,I hope,to the pierce our sluggish ear,"8 etc.)the missionaries did not content of this argunent,we might reduce it to two sets of hesitate to intervene in Chinese politics and lawsuits to propositions about imperialism's effects. strengthen their local position.They were generally quite A.Economic effects. willing to share information on local conditions with their 1.Foreign economic activity "drove Chinese handicrafts to the wall'and thus contributed to the immiseration of the consuls,for whom they therefore acted as virtual spies.The racism and contempt implicit in the concept of China as a peasants. "Niagara of souls"falling to perdition was only enhanced for 2.Foreign dominance of the treaty port economy stifled most missionaries by the physical deprivation of life in China the growth of native industry and commerce. and the frustration of trying to reach the largely unresponsive 3.Unfavorable terms of trade (plus indemnities)drained "heathen." China's wealth,increasing the misery of the people and the We now recognize the moral ugliness of nineteenth and weakness of native enterprise. early twentieth century imperialism in China.But what were B.Political effects. its concrete effects?Isaacs argues as follows: 1.The Powers gave direct support to reactionary forces(the dynasty,the warlords)and thus helped to postpone Tbe Chinese economic and social structure,already in revolution. crisis,reacted swiftly at top and at bottom to tbe corrosive 2.Imperialism distorted normal political evolution-the influence of the foreign invasion.Economically,Cbina was growth of a bourgeoisie to lead the revolution against laid prostrate.With the belp of opium,the foreign traders feudalism-and fostered instead the growth of a treaty port established a balance of trade permanently in their compradore class which was a non-revolutionary outgrowth of favor....Tbrough the breacb made by the drug and the feudal landlord class. widened by Britisb and lrench cannon in the Opium Wars How well do these propositions stand up to the evidence? of 1842 and 1858,manufactured commodities made their First,did foreign imports drive Chinese handicrafts to the wall, way.As Britisb cotton goods came in,the export of leading to mass pauperization of the peasantry?Recent Cbinese woven clotb (nankeens)began to fall off and research tends to suggest that this did not occur. disappeared almost entirely by 1833....The flow of First of all,it is questionable whether there was any secular commodities was soon followed by capital investment and trend toward mass pauperization in modern China.The loans.Foreign sbipping companies,cotton mills,railways, existence of severe economic distress in the countryside from and telegrapb lines occupied by the end of tbe century all the 1920s onwards was observed by all who visited the Chinese the commanding positions in Cbinese economic life.... village,but it may be a mistake to project this back much The spread of opium,tbe drain of silver,and the influx before 1910,or to argue that it was a result of structural of macbine-made commodities greatly aggravated the crisis features of the Chinese-economy-plus-imperialism.Rhoads in the countryside,wbich arose primarily from the rapid Murphey has shown that European observers of the 19th growth of population and the sbortage of cultivable land. century and before tended to describe China as equally or Tbe widespread use of opium caused a flow of wealtb from more prosperous than Europe except for areas that were tbe countryside to the towns and led to an alarming temporarily suffering from the devastations of war,flood or contraction of the internal market.Tbe silver sbortage drought.0 If,as Dwight Perkins has argued, foodbut was run by foreigners with close diplomatic contacts with foreign powers. The proceeds collected by Customs were directly turned over to the service of foreign debts; when in 1917 a surplus appeared, the Powers took over the right of approving its release and restricting its use. Furthermore, the treaties gave the Powers the right to set the Chinese tariff; they kept it at a low 5 % of value in order to encourage the opening of the China market to foreign trade. This not only kept China from protecting her industry but deprived her of income. The Financial Drain. The treaties involved China in fiancial obligations to foreigners that were crippling to government finance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To pay the 1895 indemnity of about 30 million pounds, the Chinese took loans which it took approximately 100 million pounds to repay. For the $333 million Boxer indemnity, the Chinese had to make installment payments at a rate that absorbed almost all the central government's income and would have reached, with interest, about $739 million. (Since part of the debt was cancelled after the first world war, the payments ultimately amounted to only $250 million.) The Missionary Invasion. The treaties required the Chinese to permit missionaries in the interior. Missionaries reached about half of China's hsien, 7 and must have been seen or heard by a substantial portion of the population. Driven by an evangelizing fervor ("Shall not the low wail of helpless, hopeless misery, arising from one-half of the heathen world, pierce our sluggish ear,"s etc.) the missionaries did not hesitate to intervene in Chinese politics and lawsuits to strengthen their local position. They were generally quite willing to share information on local conditions with their consuls, for whom they therefore acted as virtual spies. The racism and contempt in:t.plicit in the concept of China as a "Niagara of souls" falling to perdition was only enhanced for most missionaries by the physical deprivation of life in China and the frustration of trying to reach the largely unresponsive "heathen. " We now recognize the moral ugliness of nineteenth and early twentieth century imperialism in China. But what were its concrete effects? Isaacs argues as follows: The Chinese economic and social structure, already in crisis, reacted swiftly at top and at bottom to the corrosive influence of the foreign invasion. Economically, China was laid prostrate. With the help of opium, the foreign traders established a balance of trade permanently in their favor. . .. Through the breach made by the drug and widened by British and French cannon in the Opium Wars of 1842 and 1858, manufactured commodities made their way. As British cotton goods came in, the export of Chinese woven cloth (nankeens) began to fall off and disappeared almost entirely by 1833.... The flow of commodities was soon followed by capital investment and loans. Foreign shipping companies, cotton mills, railways, and telegraph lines occupied by the end of the century all the commanding positions in Chinese economic life . ... The spread of opium, the drain of silver, and the influx of machine-made commodities greatly aggravated the crisis in the countryside, which arose primarily from the rapid growth of population and the shortage of cultivable land. The widespread use of opium caused a flow ofwealth from the countryside to the towns and led to an alarming contraction of the internal market. The silver shortage caused by the drain resulted in a 20 to 30% depreciation of the copper currency in common use and a sharp rise in the cost of living. Debased coinage came into use. Foreign cotton goods and other commodities drove Chinese handicrafts to the wall, especially in the southern provinces . ... Tile accumulative result of all these agencies of dissolution was mass pauperization and the creation of a large floating population . ... The imperialists, on their part, having battered the Manchu court into submission and adapted the upper strata of chinese society to their own uses, became the protectors of the Chinese rulers against the wrath of the people . ... [Later] the rivalries of the different Western powers fed on separatist conflicts which undermined the central authority and encouraged provincial and regional satrapies which corresponded roughly to the "spheres ofinfluence. ".... By adapting to its own uses the merchants, landlords, officials, and militarists, imperialism helped perpetuate the pre capitalist forms of Chinese social organization . ... The Chinese ruling class could not liberate the peasantry because, as a result of the peculiar conditions and belatedness of its growth, it was too organically tied to the exploitation of the peasantry. 9 With violence to the elo<;uence, but not, I hope, to the content of this argument, we might reduce it to two sets of propositions about imperialism's effects. A. Economic effects. 1. Foreign economic activity "drove Chinese handicrafts to the wall" and thus contributed to the immiseration of the peasants. 2. Foreign dominance of the treaty port economy stifled the growth of native industry and commerce. 3. Unfavorable terms of trade (plus indemnities) drained China's wealth, increasing the misery of the people and the weakness of native enterprise. B. Political effects. 1. The Powers gave direct support to reactionary forces (the dynasty, the warlords) and thus helped to postpone revolution. 2. Imperialism distorted normal political evolution-the growth of a bourgeoisie to lead the revolution against feudalism-and fostered instead the growth of a treaty port compradore class which was a non-revolutionary outgrowth of the feudal landlord class. How well do these propositions stand up to the evidence? First, did foreign imports drive Chinese handicrafts to the wall, leading to mass pauperization of the peasantry? Recent research tends to suggest that this did not occur. First of all, it is questionable whether there was any secular trend toward mass pauperization in modern China. The existence of severe economic distress in the countryside from the 1920s onwards was observed by all who visited the Chinese village, but it may be a mistake to project this back much before 1910, or to argue that it was a result of structural features of the Chinese-economy-plus-imperialism. Rhoads Murphey has shown that European observers of the 19th century and before tended to describe China as equally or more prosperous than Europe except for areas that were temporarily suffering from the devastations of war, flood or drought. 1O If, as Dwight Perkins has argued, 11 food