TIMELINE
Food in Chinese Culture Late Imperial to Present Days
The Jiaqing emperor forbids to buy opium from Western merchants
effective; merchants and corrupt government officials cooperate with British
merchants instead of suppressing the opium trade and use
1816 Lord Amherst leads a delegation to
Company. Just as Lord Macartney during the
first British embassy to
1793 Lord Amherst does not want to kowtow to the Chinese emperor. The
delegation is expelled from
open the Chinese market without official support from the Chinese
government.
1821
The Daoguang emperor succeeds
his father on the throne. Jiaqing had died in
the previous year.
1826 Since the
promotes the creation of a merchant navy that could improve grain supply to
profit from the
1834 The British East India Company looses its
monopoly in the trade with
Other British merchants try to start trading with
1836 Christian publications distributed by Protestant missionaries despite Manchu
laws are confiscated and destroyed.
1839 Imperial commissioner Lin Zexu orders Chinese opium addicts to hand in their opium supplies and pipes. Many addicts are arrested. Western traders are
ordered to hand over their opium cargo. Since no compensation is offered the
Western traders don’t comply. Lin Zexu orders trade with the Western
merchants to stop completely until 20,000 chests (with 3 Mio pounds of opium)
are handed over to the Chinese authorities and are destroyed. Most Western
merchants are allowed to leave
to Lin Zexu’s measures 4,000 British troops and 20 ships start the Opium
War in
1841 Peace talks result in: 1. the
payment of 6 Mio. silver taels of indemnity by the Chinese. 2. The
1842 The Manchu surrender. In the
Treaty of Nanjing the British are given consular and residential rights
in
1843 The British receive the mot favored
nation status. The Manchu government receives fixed tax payments from the
trade with tea, silk, and cotton.
1844 American missionaries are allowed
to proselytize in
1850 Chinese population: 450 Mio people. Food and land shortages created anti-Manchu sentiments. A revolt is started by Hong Xiuquan. He founds the (Chinese) Heavenly Kiingdom of Great Peace. The rebellion develops quickly and is quelled 20 Mio people loose their lives.
1858 The treaty of
1864 With the death of Hong Xiuquan
the Taiping rebellion is suppressed.
1869 Opening of the
1879
1894 Japan attacks and invades
1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki:
1898 The reformers Kang Youwei
and Liang Qichao are granted
a period of 100 days by the emperor in which they develop a reform program
that calls for the modernization of education. It is abolished by the empress
dowager Cixi. She places the emperor under arrest,
annuls his edicts, and arrests many reformers. Kang and Liang
can flee. Some reformers are executed, others go into exile and study methods
of modernization in
1900 Xenophobic ‘patriotic’ Boxer
uprising; directed against foreign control and Christian missionaries. 200
foreigners, a German diplomat, and the Japanese head of the legation quarter
are killed, railways and railway stations as well as telegraph lines are destroyed.
1901 Founding of a Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and creation of a new ‘modernized’ army that replaces the Manchu banners.
1905 Sun Yat-sen
founds the Revolutionary Alliance in
1. Expulsion of Manchu rule and restoring Chinese rule under a republican government.
2. Land reform with re-distribution of land to the peasants.
1908 Creation of a constitutional
monarchy and a national assembly with a transition period of 9 years. Election
of local and provincial assemblies.
1912, 1/1: Proclamation of the Republic
of
1914 Yuan Shikai
becomes president of the Republic. Japanese troops take over German colonial
territory in
1916 Gubernatorial revolt against
Yuan Shikai.
1918 National assembly convenes in
1919 Comintern
founded in
1921 First Congress of the Chinese
Communist Party in
1923 Under the influence of the Comintern
a revised constitution is adopted by the Guomindang.
It concentrates on Nation, democracy, and welfare. The
1924 First Congress of the Guomindang
with participation of three top CCP members.
1925, May 30. Industrial strikes used
as expression of opposition. British troops open fire on Chinese students
who protest against continue foreign presence in the country.
1926 The CCP supports the Guomindang
efforts against warlordism.
1927
1928 Stalin promotes a separation
of Guomindang and CCP.
1931
1933
1937 Sino-Japanese war. (Marco-Polo
Brdige incident).
1941 CCP-GMD alliance shattered when
GMD units attack CCP units.
1946 Further attacks of GMD against
CCP.
1948
1949 CCP takes
1950 Sino-Soviet friendship treaty.
1952 Land reform: Elimination of landlords,
rich peasants. Rural collectivization.
1953 Grain markets are closed. The
state holds a monopoly in agricultural produce. Grain quotas are fixed at
low prices for the cities and the military. Peasant protests are suppressed.
1955 Individual landownership abolished.
1957 Campaign against four pests:
rats, sparrows, mosquitoes, flies.
1958 Great Leap Forward: Collectivization
of peasants into communes, steel production in rural areas. Droughts in the
north and floods in the south are further causes for a vast famine n which
ca. 20- 30 Mio people die between 1959 and 1961.
1960
1961 Grain imported from
1966-1976 Great Proletarian Cultural
Revolution
1971
1972 Nixon visits
1976 700,000 people killed in the
earthquake of
1977 Deng Xiaoping restored to office.
1978 Coca Cola corporation admitted
to the Chinese market.
1979 ‘One child’ policy introduced.
1980 ‘Special Economic Zones’ established.Special
concessions granted to foreign investors.
1988 Inflation rises to 20%. Panic
buys of food.
1989 Massacre on
1990 First McDonald’s opens in
2001 China’s population: 1.34 billion people.