Following the disastrous and tragic Taiping rebellion, the Manchu attempted to rebuild China in what was called the Self-Strengthening Movement, also called the

Tongzhi Restoration, named for the emperor Tongzhi (ruled 1862-74). The real power in China was the young emperor's mother, the "Empress Dowager" Ci Xi (born 1835, died 1908). No woman in China could hold real political power as an emperor, and only by ruling through a male member of the family could Ci Xi push through her policies. However, the attempt to adopt European technology while maintaining traditional Manchu- Chinese institutions did not succeed. The movement was championed by scholar-generals like Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) and Zuo Zongtang (1812-85), who had fought with the government forces in the Taiping Rebellion. From 1861 to 1894, leaders such as these, now turned scholar-administrators, were responsible for establishing modern institutions, developing basic industries, communications, and transportation, and modernizing the military. But despite its leaders' accomplishments, the Self-Strengthening Movement did not recognize the significance of the political institutions and social theories that had fostered Western advances and innovations, and this led to the movement's failure. More territory and power was lost to the European powers of Russia, France and Britain, plus the United States. While the Uighurs were reconquered after their successful revolt, this was only possible due to British loans.

But worse was to come. Japan, having gone through its own modernization movement, defeated China in the war of 1894-95. The Treaty of Shimonoseki forced China to cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan, pay a huge indemnity, permit the establishment of Japanese industries in four treaty ports, and recognize Japanese hegemony over Korea. Japan had become a colonial power in its own right, but only at the expense of the Chinese. In 1898 the British acquired a ninety-nine-year lease over the so-called New Territories of Kowloon, which increased the size of their Hong Kong colony.

These humiliations of the Manchu led to a serious anti-foreigner rebellion led by an offshoot of the White Lotus sect, called the I Ho Ch'uan (Fists in the Name of

Harmony and Justice), who came to be better known to the Euroepans as the Boxers. The rebellion breaks out in 1899 in north China, with Chinese Christians the first targets of violence. Some Manchu nobles hoped to use the rebellion to expel the Europeans, while other Manchu leaders thought a peasant revolt might be just as dangerous to them as to the hated colonial powers. Ci Xi herself attempted to follow a middle policy, secretly supporting the rebels, but without giving them open help.

However, in 1900, the Manchu capital, Beijing was attacked and occupied by the Boxers. A small joint-European military force was defeated, but then a much stronger military force, more than 19,000 men, was landed and marched on Beijing. The Boxers were defeated, and Ci Xi was forced to sign another humiliating peace. The whole rebellion was not put down until the end of 1901.

In 1904, hoping that a victorious small war would distract public criticism, the Tsar Nicholas attacked Japan over the control of Korea. Instead of the expected victories, the Japanese army and navy inflicted surprising and serious defeats on the Russians. Among the worst was the virtual annihilation of the Russian fleet at the battle of Tsushima by the Japanese admiral Togo, and the defeat of the Russian army at the battle of Mukden and the siege of Port Arthur. These victories made Japan the most powerful state in Asia. It was the first time in modern history that an Asian country had scored a decisive victory over a major European power, inspiring anti-European nationalist movements in much of colonial Asia.

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