I.THE BEGINNINGS OF REFORM At the opening of the nineteenth century,the Chinese Empire,a state of vast territory and numerous people with more than two millenniums of civilized existence behind it,was the dominant power of Asia.When the twentieth century dawned,the Chinese Goliath had been defeated by tiny Japan,the Occidental powers had secured Chinese leaseholds,concessions, and "spheres of influence,"and the debility of a once-great power was visible to all.The changes which China experienced in the nineteenth century made necessary the reform movement which is the subject of this work and constitutes the background for the revolutionary movement in progress in China today. In the eighteenth century,China was truly the "Middle Kingdom." Around her were dutifully obedient vassal states which sent tribute to Peking.Her civilization was the model for eastern Asia.Her government, her classical learning and the system of official examinations on which that government was based,and the patriarchal family system,which was the fundamental social grouping,had stood the test of centuries.True,the emperor who occupied the Dragon Throne was an alien.for in the sev- enteenth century the Manchu tribesmen had conquered China and were to rule in Peking until the fateful year of 1911.But the Manchu conquerors had wisely taken over the civilization of the conquered Chinese with but few changes.The earlier rulers of the dynasty,especially Kang Hsi and Chien Lung,were men of remarkable ability,under whom the empire had prospered.With the nineteenth century came decline.The rulers were weaklings,their vitality sapped by palace life,or puppet emperors taken from the schoolroom to the throne.The efficiency of the administration had declined and the corruption of the official class was a byword.Anti- Manchu feeling grew,and minor rebellions in the first years of the century were followed by the Taiping rising,one of the greatest rebellions of history.The rebellion failed,but the dynasty was dangerously weakened and in the eyes of many of its subjects had suffered an almost irremediable loss of face.Foreign relations constituted a source of additional difficulty. In 1793 Chien Lung could address a British envoy as a Western barbarian, representative of a remote vassal state eager to secure the products of the great Middle Kingdom.Foreign trade was restricted to Canton for sea- farers and to Kiakhta for the Russians,and was carefully regulated.The attempt of the government to stop opium smuggling and the desire of the British to be treated as diplomatic equals led to armed confict in 1840- 1841,in which the Chinese troops were decisively defeated.Almost twenty [9] [9