Chapters 3-5 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 3: From Preeminence to Decline

"As the nineteenth century progressed, China experienced almost every imaginable shock to its historic image of itself. Before the Opium War, it conceived of diplomacy and international trade mainly as forms of recognition of China's preeminence. Now, even as it entered a period of domestic turmoil, it faced three foreign challenges, any one of which could be enough to overturn a dynasty."

Threats came from European nations. The Europeans did not mean to overtake China's beloved dynasty, they were seeking to impose world trade concepts on the country. Of course, this felt like a threat to Beijing. Other threats came from Russia who took issue with borders since it did not recognize boundaries.

In order combat these threats, China relied on two of its most traditional resources - the endurance of its people and...