Key Historical Figures and Events in East Asia

These flashcards cover key historical figures and events in East Asia, focusing on the Qing dynasty's reforms, the Taiping Uprising, Ottoman Empire's modernizations, and Japan's transition from isolationism to modernization.

Emperor Qianlong

Qing emperor who expanded China’s territory and ruled during its peak power in the 1700s.

Taiping Uprising

Massive mid-1800s civil war against the Qing led by religious rebels, causing millions of deaths.

Hong Xiuquan

Leader of the Taiping Uprising who believed he was the brother of Jesus Christ.

Hakka

Ethnic subgroup of Han Chinese; many followers of the Taiping movement came from this group.

Opium Wars

Two wars between China and Britain over trade and opium that weakened Qing control.

Commissioner Lin Zexu

Qing official who tried to stop the opium trade, helping trigger the First Opium War.

Unequal treaties

Treaties forced on China after wars that favored foreign powers and reduced Chinese sovereignty.

Informal Empire

Control of a region through economic and political influence rather than direct colonization.

Self-strengthening

Qing reform movement focused on adopting Western military and industrial technology.

Boxer Uprising

Anti-foreign rebellion (1899–1901) aiming to expel Westerners and missionaries from China.

Qiu Jin

Chinese feminist and revolutionary who fought against Qing rule and for women’s rights.

Hundred Days of Reform

Failed 1898 attempt to rapidly modernize China through political and educational reforms.

Chinese Revolution

Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China.

Sultan Selim III

Ottoman sultan who attempted military and government reforms to modernize the empire.

Tanzimat

19th-century Ottoman reform era aimed at modernizing the state and granting equal rights to citizens.

Young Ottomans

Intellectual reformers who supported constitutional government and modernization in the Ottoman Empire.

Sultan Abd al-Hamid II

Ottoman sultan who ruled autocratically, suspended the constitution, and resisted reforms.

Young Turks

Nationalist reform group that pushed for constitutional rule and later took power in the Ottoman Empire.

Matthew Perry

U.S. naval officer who forced Japan to open trade with the West in 1853.

Tokugawa Shogunate

Feudal military government that ruled Japan from 1603–1868 and enforced isolation.

Meiji Restoration

1868 movement restoring imperial rule and rapidly modernizing Japan.

Fukuzawa Yukichi

Japanese thinker who promoted Western education, technology, and modernization.

Zaibatsu

Large, family-controlled Japanese industrial and financial conglomerates that dominated the economy from the Meiji Restoration.

Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1902

Alliance recognizing Japan as a major power and countering Russia.

First Sino-Japanese War

1894–1895 war where Japan defeated China, showing Japan’s modernization success.