How did China's 2,000-year empire collapse?
Sep 22, 2026 22:04
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China.
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A cradle of world civilisation.
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The land that invented\h printing, paper and gunpowder.
0:31
And under successive dynasties, the centre\h of a vast empire that stretched from the\h\h
0:37
Pacific Ocean to the Himalayas... and from the\h eastern steppe to the tropical South China Sea.
0:48
The Chinese call it Zhōngguó - the\h Central State, or Middle Kingdom.
0:55
And for more than two thousand years,\h\h
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its Emperors claimed a divine mandate to\h rule over Tianxia - "all under heaven".
1:06
Since 1644, this great empire has\h been ruled by the Qing dynasty.
1:14
They are ethnic Manchu from the north, though\h most of their subjects are Han Chinese.
1:22
By the 19th century, the empire\h spans 14.5 million square km,\h\h
1:29
and receives tribute from many smaller neighbours.
1:33
Around 450 million people live within these\h borders – one third of the world’s population.
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It is also estimated that China accounts\h for one third of the world’ wealth.
1:48
The imperial capital, Peking,\h and major hubs such as Nanking,\h\h
1:53
and Canton, are among the\h greatest cities in the world.
1:58
It is a multi-ethnic empire, whose self-proclaimed\h aim is not economic or political expansion, but\h\h
2:05
the maintenance of ‘harmony’... a worldview that\h derives from Confucius, the 6th century BC sage.
2:14
His teachings have governed society, in both\h public and private realms, for two thousand years.
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Fundamental values - such as reverence\h for parents and ancestors, loyalty,\h\h
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and benevolence - seek to create\h an orderly and harmonious society.
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It is also one that is rigidly conservative.
2:38
Young men from well-to-do families spend\h years studying the Confucian classics,\h\h
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in preparation for the imperial civil\h service exam. This is the only route\h\h
2:49
to the higher levels of the Qing administration.
2:54
But – governed by scholarly bureaucrats,\h and an emperor who is both revered and\h\h
2:59
feared - China is failing to keep\h up with a rapidly changing world.
3:07
For the time being, foreign merchants are\h restricted to the southern port of Canton.
3:13
Such splendid isolation will\h prove impossible to sustain.
3:39
1839 marks the beginning of\h China’s ‘Century of Humiliation’.
3:45
For years, British merchants had been smuggling\h\h
3:48
opium from India into China\h – a vastly lucrative trade.
3:55
The consequences for China\h are an addiction epidemic.
4:00
But when Qing officials seize and destroy\h large quantities of the drug in Canton,\h\h
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the British react with force.
4:09
Using superior naval technology, the British\h quickly overpower the antiquated Chinese fleet.
4:18
The Chinese are forced to sign the\h Treaty of Nanking - the first of\h\h
4:22
what will later be called ‘the unequal treaties’.
4:27
The treaty grants special rights to the British,\h\h
4:31
opening five ports to British merchants,\h and ceding the territory of Hong Kong.
4:37
A second opium war soon extends similar\h advantages to France and the USA...
4:44
The Russian Empire further exploits Chinese\h weakness, to seize territory in the northeast...
4:52
While a horrifying civil war - the Taiping\h\h
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Rebellion - devastates south\h and central China for 14 years.
5:02
The death toll is estimated at 40 million, making\h it one of the bloodiest conflicts in history.
5:10
While China suffers, her enemies grow stronger.
5:15
In 1895, a newly modernized Japan,\h long seen as inferior to China,\h\h
5:22
easily defeats the Qing navy, and wins\h territorial concessions of its own.
5:31
Westerners mock China as ‘the sick man\h of Asia’: a giant fallen prey to the\h\h
5:39
imperialism of foreign powers, better\h adapted to life in the modern world.
5:47
But, by the turn of the twentieth\h century, there is a growing sense of\h\h
5:52
outrage among the Chinese people...\h and a determination to fight back.
6:22
In 1899, a movement emerges in\h northern China, calling itself\h\h
6:28
the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists.\h Its members become better known as the Boxers.
6:39
They are outraged by the weakness of the\h Qing dynasty, the spread of Christianity,\h\h
6:47
and China’s repeated humiliations. Their\h goal: to expel all foreigners from China,\h\h
6:56
and end the shameful concessions made to them.
7:00
The Boxers begin by attacking\h western-funded railways,\h\h
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Christian missionaries, and Chinese converts.
7:10
In June 1900, thousands of Boxers enter Peking and\h\h
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lay siege to the area in the\h city where foreigners live.
7:20
They adopt the slogan “Uphold\h the Qing, Destroy foreigners!”
7:26
For the ruling Empress Dowager Cixi, the\h Boxers are a problem – but also an opportunity.
7:35
Cixi decides to throw the weight of\h the Qing state behind the Boxers,\h\h
7:40
and declares war on the foreign powers.
7:43
It is a terrible miscalculation.
7:48
In response, a 20,000-strong\h Allied Expeditionary Force,\h\h
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combining troops from eight different\h nations, descends on Peking.
7:59
Amidst numerous atrocities,\h the Boxers are crushed,\h\h
8:03
and the city is looted by the allied armies.
8:08
The Qing court is forced\h to sign the Boxer Protocol.
8:13
Under its terms, China must pay\h crippling indemnities over four\h\h
8:17
decades... almost twice the\h government’s annual revenue.
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This is China’s greatest humiliation yet.
8:31
Under huge pressure to modernise the state,\h\h
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Cixi and the Qing Court finally\h undertake sweeping reforms:
8:40
The archaic civil service exam is abolished,\h\h
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to be replaced by modern schools\h with a western curriculum.
8:48
The first steps are taken\h to create a constitution,\h\h
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which will impose limits on\h the power of the emperor.
8:56
The military is reorganised along Western lines,\h\h
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with improved officer training,\h equipment, and weaponry.
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Its most powerful contingent is the Beiyang Army,\h\h
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based in northern China,\h under general Yuan Shikai.
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But many believe the Qing\h reforms do not go far enough,\h\h
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and that only wholesale revolution can save China.
9:26
One such would-be revolutionary... is Sun Yat-sen.
9:32
From a humble Cantonese family, Sun\h was educated outside China, in Hawaii.
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He is very different from China’s old\h Confucian elite. A Christian convert,\h\h
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Sun speaks fluent English but\h struggles with classical Chinese.
9:50
Following his involvement in several\h failed uprisings against the Qing,\h\h
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he lives in exile in Europe.
9:58
In 1905, Sun travels to Japan.
10:03
In Tokyo, he founds the Tongmenghui,\h a revolutionary alliance whose goal is\h\h
10:10
to overthrow Manchu rule, and replace the\h Qing monarchy with a democratic republic.
10:18
He advocates the three principles of nationalism,\h democracy, and the people’s livelihood.
10:27
To his supporters, Sun Yat-sen\h represents hope in a new future.
10:33
And that future seems to be drawing closer.
10:38
In 1908, after a turbulent 47-year reign,\h Empress Dowager Cixi dies at the age of 72.
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The imperial throne of China falls\h to a two-year-old infant, Pu Yi.
10:55
At a time of crisis and mounting opposition,\h the Qing dynasty has never been weaker.
11:25
9th October 1911. Hankow, Hubei Province.
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Members of a secret revolutionary society - with\h\h
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links to the Tungmenghui - are making\h bombs... when there’s an explosion.
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Their cover blown, the authorities arrest and\h later execute several of the group’s leaders.
11:54
But it only pours fuel on the fire.
11:58
An uprising breaks out in the\h neighbouring city of Wuchang.
12:04
Crucially, soldiers of Hubei Province’s New Army\h are persuaded to mutiny, and join the revolt.
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After 24 hours of fierce fighting,\h\h
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claiming hundreds of lives, Wuchang\h falls to the revolutionaries.
12:20
On 12th October, a new Military Government\h claims authority in the province.
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It publicly denounces the\h crimes of the Qing dynasty,\h\h
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and calls on other provinces to join\h it in overthrowing the monarchy.
12:38
The revolution spreads like wildfire\h - mostly in cities and towns,\h\h
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where there is deep-seated\h resentment against Qing rule.
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Within 6 weeks, 16 of China’s\h 26 provinces have seceded.
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In many areas, such as Shaanxi, the\h ruling Manchu are targeted, and massacred.
13:04
Panic grips the Qing court in Peking.
13:10
General Yuan Shikai of the Beiyang Army\h is summoned to crush the revolutionaries.
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China is soon in a state of open civil war,\h\h
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between Yuan’s forces in the\h North, and the rebels in the South.
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In the chaos of war and revolution,\h\h
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both Tibet and Outer Mongolia declare\h their independence from China.
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On 1st January 1912, in Nanking, the rebels\h\h
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proclaim the establishment\h of the Republic of China.
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Sun Yat-sen, who has just returned to China from\h the USA, is sworn in as its provisional president.
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After years of exile, fundraising and plotting,\h Sun has finally secured political power.
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His government immediately begins\h work on a new democratic constitution,\h\h
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and passes far-reaching reforms. \h
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Archaic practices are abolished, such\h as growing queues – the long hair that\h\h
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symbolises submission to the Manchu –\h as well as foot-binding, and kow-towing.
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In the new multi-ethnic Chinese\h Republic, all will be equal.
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Its flag will have five colours,\h for ‘Five Races Under One Union’:\h\h
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Han, Manchu, Mongol, Muslim, and Tibetan.
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But for now the Republic\h only occupies the southern\h\h
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half of China, and the success of the\h revolution remains far from certain.
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So to unite China and secure the future of the\h republic, Sun Yat-sen makes a shock offer to\h\h
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general Yuan Shikai: if he can persuade the Qing\h imperial family to abdicate, he can be President.
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Yuan accepts, and informs the\h imperial family that only by\h\h
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giving up the throne can their\h lives and comfort be guaranteed.
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On 12th February 1912, six-year-old\h Emperor Pu Yi abdicates – though for now,\h\h
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he and his court continue to live in\h Peking’s palace complex, the Forbidden City.
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More than 2,000 years of imperial\h rule in China are at an end.
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In its place, the only major republic in Asia.
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Three days later, General Yuan Shikai becomes\h provisional president of the Republic of China.
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But almost immediately, the revolutionaries fall\h\h
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out with the new president, whose\h personal ambition is all too clear.
16:06
Now in opposition, Sun Yat-sen and\h his allies establish the Kuomintang,\h\h
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or KMT, an evolution of the Tongmenghui.
16:17
Elections are held at the end of the year\h – the first nationwide democratic elections\h\h
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ever held in China, though only around\h 5% of the population are allowed to vote.
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The Kuomintang win convincingly – taking nearly\h half the seats in the new National Assembly.
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Kuomintang leader Song Jiaoren,\h a close ally of Sun Yat-sen,\h\h
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is all but guaranteed to\h become the next prime minister.
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On 20th March 1913, as he is boarding a train\h in Shanghai, he is shot twice at close range.
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No conclusive evidence is ever found,\h\h
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but it’s widely believed the assassination\h was carried out on President Yuan’s orders.
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China’s first democratic elections\h – will prove to be its last.
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The next year, rivalry between the\h Kuomintang and President Yuan’s\h\h
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government explodes once more into armed conflict.
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But Yuan’s Beiyang Army is too strong.
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The Kuomintang and its supporters are\h\h
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defeated – the party is outlawed - and\h Sun Yat-sen returns to exile in Japan.
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Yuan Shikai has successfully\h grabbed power for himself.
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China is now in effect a military dictatorship.
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But the President is unable to solve any of the\h problems he’s inherited from the Qing Empire.
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He dies of natural causes just three years later.
18:04
And China… slides back into chaos.
18:30
The 1911 revolution failed to\h establish a stable republic in China.
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But it does open the way for an\h avalanche of radical new ideas.
18:43
Across China, young intellectuals are increasingly\h\h
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convinced that only a total break with\h China’s past can secure its future.
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Their ideas crystalize in\h the ‘New Culture Movement’.
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Chen Duxiu is one of its most prominent leaders.
19:02
From a wealthy family, Chen had been immersed in classical Chinese teaching\h\h
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from a young age, but later turned\h his back on Confucian thought.
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In 1915, he founded the magazine ‘New Youth’,\h\h
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which became home to the most\h important radical writers in China.
19:21
As a young professor at Peking University,\h\h
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Chen gathered like-minded intellectuals\h around him... such as Hu Shih, who calls\h\h
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for traditional Chinese characters to be replaced\h by Baihua, which better represents spoken Chinese.
19:39
Among their students - a young man from\h rural Hunan province, named Mao Zedong.
19:48
Chen Duxiu and the New Culture Movement argue\h for a complete rejection of Confucianism.
19:55
In its place, they want democracy,\h science, Chinese nationalism,\h\h
20:00
and radical social change, including female\h emancipation and greater gender equality.
20:08
They will soon have their chance\h to take these ideas to the nation.
20:14
In 1919, World War One’s victorious\h powers are meeting in Paris,\h\h
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to agree the post-war settlement.
20:24
During the war, China had sided with the allies,\h\h
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and sent 140,000 men to serve as\h labourers on the Western Front.
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In recognition of this contribution,\h\h
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the Chinese expected to regain control\h of Germany’s territory in Shandong.
20:42
But now news arrives that this colony\h has instead been awarded to Japan.
20:49
The response in China.. is outrage.
20:54
On 4th May, 3,000 angry students take to the\h streets of Peking. They gather at Tiananmen,\h\h
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the entrance gate to the Forbidden City.
21:07
Inspired by the New Culture Movement,\h\h
21:09
their placards – in Chinese, English and French\h – call for ‘Mr. Democracy’ and ‘Mr. Science’.
21:19
Protests spread across the country,\h uniting students and workers against\h\h
21:24
the government and the Western powers who\h are seen to have betrayed China yet again.
21:32
The protests achieve little in the\h short term.. but will come to be\h\h
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seen as a watershed in China’s march\h towards a modern, nationalist future.
21:43
Many protesters are now disillusioned\h with western liberal democracies.
21:48
Some turn to Marxism, inspired by the\h success of the 1917 Revolution in Russia,\h\h
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which seems to offer a model for\h total national transformation.
22:01
Among these converts, the 25-year-old Mao\h Zedong. He writes: “I venture to make a\h\h
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singular assertion: one day, the reform of the\h Chinese people will be more profound than that\h\h
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of any other people, and the society of\h the Chinese people will be more radiant\h\h
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than any other people... Our golden age, our\h age of glory and splendour, lies before us!”
22:33
In July 1921, the founding congress of the Chinese\h\h
22:38
Communist Party takes place in\h the French concession in Shanghai.
22:43
There are just 13 members\h present, who meet in secret.
22:48
Disrupted by French police, the group\h moves to a pleasure boat on South Lake.
22:56
Mao Zedong is a founding member.
22:59
The first General Secretary is Chen Duxiu.
23:04
Despite their tiny numbers, they are determined\h to seize control of China’s revolution.
23:34
Following the death of the dictator Yuan\h Shikai, China had slid back into civil war.
23:41
Generals compete to control the government in\h Peking... while the country is torn apart by rival\h\h
23:48
warlords with their own private armies. Some are\h little more than organised criminals in uniform.
23:56
The most prominent groups are the\h Zhili clique, the Anhui clique,\h\h
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and the Fengtiang clique, each named\h after their provincial powerbase.
24:07
By 1921, Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang has established\h a military government of its own, in Canton.
24:16
Both the Kuomintang and Communists realise\h\h
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they can only obtain power if\h they first defeat the warlords.
24:25
Both believe they can use the\h other to reach their goal.
24:30
In 1923, with the Soviet Union’s backing,\h the Chinese Communist Party allies itself\h\h
24:37
with the Kuomintang, in a pact\h known as the First United Front.
24:45
Chinese Communists are urged\h to join the Kuomintang,\h\h
24:49
which is itself transformed with the\h help of Soviet advisors, funds and arms.
24:57
Soviet advisers also help to set up\h a military academy on Whampoa Island.
25:05
It will be run by Sun’s chief military adviser,\h a rising star named Chiang Kai-shek. His aim\h\h
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is to mould the Kuomintang army into a\h disciplined and effective fighting force.
25:20
But just months later... while\h visiting the north to negotiate\h\h
25:24
with the warlords, Sun Yat-sen falls ill.
25:29
On 12th March 1925, he dies\h from cancer in Peking, aged 58.
25:38
His last words: ‘Peace...\h Struggle... Save China.’ \h
25:48
Sun’s death leaves the Kuomintang in disarray,\h\h
25:51
and China at a crossroads. The only\h certainty seems to be further civil war.
26:00
For Sun’s loyal lieutenant,\h however, the road ahead is clear.
26:06
On hearing news of Sun Yat-sen’s\h death, Chiang Kai-shek tells his wife:
26:11
‘If I control the army, I will have the power to\h control the country… It is my road to leadership’.
26:22
In Peking, the Forbidden City lies empty.
26:26
The last emperor, Pu Yi, had\h been evicted by a local warlord,\h\h
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and left to seek Japanese protection.
26:35
Whoever is to lead China now,\h will face enormous challenges:
26:41
Fragile alliances... a fragmented country...
26:45
And powerful neighbours, that seek to plunge\h China back into an age of humiliation.
26:58
Can’t wait for the next episode? Great news – we already made it.\h
27:03
Episode 2 of The Rise of China covers the rise of\h\h
27:07
Chiang Kai-shek, as his Kuomintang\h Army takes on the warlords.. and the\h\h
27:12
Communists.. forcing Mao and others to\h undertake their legendary 'Long March'.\h
27:21
But once again, foreign predators wait in\h the wings, ready to exploit a divided China.\h
27:29
And if you want to watch it right now, 5 weeks\h before it’s on YouTube, you can head over to\h\h
27:35
prestige streaming service, Nebula. There, you can see this\h\h
27:39
episode - and our entire catalogue - ad-free. Plus every sign-up actively supports our work, as\h\h
27:46
we strive to bring you ever more ambitious history\h documentaries, across a wide range of topics.
27:53
Nebula is built and curated by creators like us,\h which means that it’s a platform where you’re\h\h
27:59
guaranteed to find high-quality videos, made with\h passion and integrity, about fascinating topics.
28:06
If you wanted to learn more about China –\h for instance - we would highly recommend\h\h
28:11
PolyMatter’s Nebula Original, “China, Actually”. This far-reaching series explores the contrast\h\h
28:17
between the image presented by Beijing, and the\h real lives of 1.4 billion people. Across several\h\h
28:24
episodes, it uncovers the truth behind some of\h China’s most controversial policies, from domestic\h\h
28:30
censorship to assertive foreign relations. So, once you’ve explored the origins of modern\h\h
28:37
China with Epic History, you can lift the lid\h on contemporary China with PolyMatter. And,\h\h
28:42
because this is a Nebula Original, you\h won’t be able to see it anywhere else.
28:48
There are hundreds of other exclusive programmes\h and great creators on Nebula, across all genres.
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So whether you’re after original\h movies and entertainment,\h\h
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or documentaries covering\h everything from gaming and film,\h\h
29:01
to science and engineering … you’re bound\h to find something that you’ll enjoy.
29:06
Plus there’s a great – and growing - range of\h Nebula Originals, only available to subscribers.
29:13
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Even better, the Nebula lifetime plan\h offers lifetime access, no strings,\h\h
29:31
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29:42
allowing full access to Nebula for a week. So now\h\h
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29:50
Thanks to all our existing Nebula subscribers,\h\h
29:53
and for everyone else watching,\h we hope to see you there soon.
30:00
Thank you to our series historical consultant,\h Doctor Lily Chang of University College London.
30:06
Thanks also to Taylor Bradford,\h for advice on pronunciation.
30:10
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Join their ranks by joining us on Patreon, where\h you’ll get early, ad-free access to new videos.
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