1820-1850. Taukwang.

The exclusive privilege of the East India company ceasing in 1834, lord Napier was appointed superintendent of British trade († 1834). Imperial prohibition of the opium trade. Commissioner Lin sent to Canton with extraordinary powers (1838). Surrender of opium by Capt. Elliot, British commissioner to the Chinese, by whom it was destroyed (over 20,000 chests), 1839, Mar.-June. The continuance of the trade, and the English demands that the loss be made good to their traders, caused the

1840-1842. First war with Great Britain (Opium war).

A

treaty concluded by Keshin, successor of Lin (Hong-kong ceded to England), was rejected by the emperor. The English captured Amoy (1842, Aug. 27), Ning-po (Oct. 13), Shang-hai (1842, June 19), and stormed Ching-keang (July 21).

1842, Aug. 29. Treaty of Nanking.

1. Canton, Amoy, Fuhchau, Ning-po, Shanghai, opened to British trade. 2. Hong-kong ceded to England. 3. The Chinese paid $21,000,000. 4. Establishment of a regular tariff. 5. Official intercourse to be on a basis of equality.

1844, July 3. Treaty with the United States (Caleb Cushing, ambassador). Treaty with France (Oct. 23).

1850-1860. Hienfung.

1850, Aug. Outbreak of the Tai-ping rebellion (1850–1864). The leader was Hung Sui-tsuen, who called himself Tien-teh ("celestial virtue "), and claimed to have been commissioned by heaven to conduct a political and religious reform of the empire. Promulgation of a religious system based on some knowledge of Christianity. 1853. Capture of Nanking (Mar. 19), Shanghai (Sept. 7). Suitsuen proclaimed emperor.

1855. Failure of the attack made by the rebels on Peking.

1856, Oct. 8. The lorcha1 Arrow, owned by a Chinese, but commanded by an Irishman and flying the British flag, was boarded at Canton by Chinese officers in search of suspected pirates; twelve natives were carried off and the flag pulled down. 1856, Nov. Three Chinese forts destroyed by the American fleet under commodore Armstrong, the Chinese having fired upon American boats.

The attempt of the English government (Palmerston, p. 543) to obtain a disavowal of the attack upon the Arrow, or an apology therefor, resulted in the

1857-1860. (Second) war with Great Britain allied with France. Lord Elgin, English envoy. Destruction of the Chinese fleet (1857, May 26, 27). Capture of Canton (Dec. 28, 29). Treaties of Tientsin (June, 1858) with Great Britain, France, the United States.

Infraction of the treaty (1859, June), renewal of the war. Repulse of the English attempt to force the passage of the Pei-ho forts (June

1 Lorcha: a light Chinese sailing vessel, carrying guns, built after the European model, but rigged like a Chinese junk. -IMPERIAL DICTIONARY.

25). Chinese defeat at Palikao (1860, Sept. 21). Destruction of the summer palace (Oct. 6), surrender of Peking (Oct. 12).

1860, Oct. 24. Treaty of Peking.

Ratification of the treaty of Tientsin; toleration of Christianity; revised tariff; payment of an indemnity; resident ambassadors at Peking.

1860-1875. Tungchi, six years old.

Palace revolution. Administration of prince Kung. Reorganization of the imperial army under general Ward, an American († 1861), and colonel Gordon, an Englishman. The "ever victorious force."

1862-1864. Suppression of the rebellion.

Capture of Nanking

(1864, July 19). Suicide of Hung Sui-tsuen. 1866. Successful rebellion of Yakub Beg († 1877) in Kashgar. 1868. Embassy of Anson Burlingame (and two Chinese envoys) to the treaty powers. (Burlingame † 1870.)

1870, May. Mohammedan rebellion in the northwest (Yun-nan, Kan-suh).

1871. Russia annexed Kuldja, until the Chinese power should be reëstablished in that region.

1873. Settlement of the audience question; foreign ambassadors received by the emperor without the ceremony of prostration (kotow). Suppression of the Mohammedan rebellion.

1875 -x. Kwangsii, three years old (Tsai-tien).

1876, June 30. Opening of the first railroad in China (Shanghai to Woosung, eleven miles).

1877-1878. Terrible famine in the north of China.

1877, Dec. Defeat and assassination of Yakub Beg. Capture of Kashgar.

1879, June. Treaty with Russia negotiated by Chung-how: China obtained only a portion of Kuldja and paid an indemnity. Rejection of the treaty.

1881, Aug. Peace with Russia negotiated by the marquis Tseng. Cession of nearly all of the Kuldja district; China paid the expenses of Russian occupation.

1882. A threatened war with Japan avoided by Chinese diplomacy. Dispute with the French over Tonquin (p. 535).

Growing dissatisfaction with the usurped power of the shoguns among the samurai; jealousy of the long possession of the shogunate by the Tokugawa family (1603-1868) among the great daimios. 1853, July 7. Commodore Perry, of the United States navy, en

tered the harbor of Yedo with four vessels, but soon departed; in Feb. 1854, he returned, and concluded a

66

1854, Mar. 21. Treaty between Japan and the United States, which was signed by the shogun, whom Perry took to be the "secular emperor "of Japan, under the newly assumed title of taikun (tycoon, great prince," properly a title of the mikado). Treaties with Great Britain (1854, Oct. 14), and Russia (1855, Jan. 26). In 1858 treaties (peace, amity, unrestricted commerce) concluded with the United States (Townshend Harris), Great Britain (Elgin), France, Russia, — all signed by the shogun.

1859. Yokohama, Nagasaki, Hakodate, opened to trade.

These unwarranted assumptions of power on the part of the shogun angered the mikado and the Kioto court, where the foreigners were regarded with deep distrust.

1860. First Japanese embassy to the United States sent out by Ii, prime minister of the shogun (assassinated Mar. 23). 1861-1865. Civil dissensions. Outrages upon foreign representa

tives. Death of an Englishman (Richardson) in a broil with the train of the brother of the prince of Satsuma, avenged by the bombardment of Kagoshima (in Satsuma), and the exaction of $625,000 (1862).

1862. The daimios, released from compulsory residence at Yedo, flocked to Kioto.

1863. Some American, Dutch, and French vessels, having anchored in the forbidden roadstead of Shimonoseki after due warning, were fired upon. In reprisal these powers bombarded the batteries, inflicting considerable loss. In spite of this

1864, Sept. 4. Bombardment and destruction of the Shimonoseki batteries by English, French, Dutch, and American vessels. Exaction of an indemnity of $3,000,000, of which the United States received $785,000.1

1865, Nov. 25. Ratification of treaties extorted by the foreign pow

ers.

1867, Nov. 19. Resignation of Keiki, the last shogun.

1868. Restoration of the mikado. End of the dual gov

ernment.

The proclamation setting forth the resumption of government by the mikado (1868, Jan. 3) was followed by the revolt of Keiki and by open war, which, after severe fighting (battles of Fushimi, 1868, Jan. 27-30; Wakamatsu, Hakodate), ended in favor of the imperialists (June, 1869).

1869, Nov. Residence of the mikado transferred from Kioto to Yedo (Jeddo), the name of the latter place having been previously changed to Tokio ("the eastern capital ").

1870.

The mikado, by advice of the leading samurai (Okubo), changed front, and welcomed the foreigners. 1871. Embassy to the United States and Europe.

1871. Abolition of feudalism; relegation of the daimios to private life; abolition of the title; exchange of their revenues for pensions.

1 In Feb. 1883, the house of representatives accepted a favorable report upon the Japanese indemnity bill. Repayment of the $785,000 without interest.

Assimilation to western civilization. Issue of a code of criminal law (revised 1881); establishment of a government post; introduction of the telegraph; railroad from Yokohama to Shinogana (1872); bureau of education; adoption of the Gregorian calendar (1874, Jan. 1); female normal school (1875); university of Tokio (1873); reëstablishment of the Shinto faith (p. 32); new military system. 1874. Expedition to Formosa, avenging the murder of Japanese sailors on that island.

1876. Enforcement of a treaty with Corea.

1877. Rebellion in Satsuma (Saigo, Kirimo) suppressed after heavy fighting (Saigo,† Sept. 24). Large issue of inconvertible paper money to defray the expenses.

1878. Establishment of local elective assemblies for regulating local taxation, and with right of petitioning the central government ; franchise secured to all males twenty-one years of age who pay a land tax of $5.00.

1881. Negotiations with the foreign powers relative to the adoption of a higher tariff, and to the abolition of the privilege enjoyed by foreigners of living under the jurisdiction of their native country. Dispute with China over the Loo-Choo islands.

1882, Oct. Imperial decree establishing a new constitution; promise of a national assembly in 1890.

INDEX.

ABBREVIATIONS: a. abbot; adm. admiral; b. bishop; burgr. = burggrave; c. count;
duke; e. earl; el. elector; g. d. = grand duke; H. R. E. Holy Roman Empire; k. =
king; landg. = landgrave; margr. : margrave; pr. prince; q.queen; U. S. United States
of America; visc. viscount.