The Early Stage of the Modernization Process in China Its Promotive and Obstructive Forces

Had the modernization drive conducted in the late Ch’ing period achieved its expected goal, a modernized China with a monarchy would have emerged. Of course, the fall of the monarchy is not something to be regretted. Nevertheless, Ch’inas failure to realize modernization has been the cause of much poverty among her people. In the study of Ch’inas modernization, many scholars have compared the modernization process in China and Japan and have asked why Japan achieved its goal more rapidly. Looking at the question from a political point of view, some scholars have emphasized the inadequate leadership of the Manchu government. Others, from an economic point of view, have maintained that it was because China failed to develop rational bourgeois capitalism. Still others have viewed the question from the angle of cultural heritage and said that it was because traditional Confucian doctrines lacked the impetus for any progressive change in society. Actually, progression and retrogression in a society should not be attributed just to one cause. The reasons for the Manchu government’s failure to speed up its modernization drive were complicated. In this article, the author will try to examine this question from a historical point of view, emphasizing cultural and economic factors and China’s relations with the Western powers.