EMPEROR XIANFENG DOCUMENTARY - THE SECOND OPIUM WAR
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- FIRST OPIUM WAR : • THE FIRST OPIUM WAR EX...
As the Qing dynasty continued to decline after the first opium war, the reins of the crumbling empire were passed unto 18 year old prince Yizhu, who would be crowned as emperor Xianfeng. His rule, that would see the rise of multitudes of revolts including the Taiping rebellion, Nian rebellion and Panthay rebellion, and the second opium war, would bring china from a tenuous position, to near collapse.
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♫ MUSIC ♫
The Han Palace Autumn Moon
Total War Shogun 2 - Resolve
Restless Natives
Sao Meo Orchestral
They're coming - Alexander Hof
Lost in the Forest
Civilization V - Napoleon War Theme
Civilization V - Bismarck War Theme
Qing Court Music
🎬 VIDEO CREDITS 🎬
Warlords (2007)
📜 MAIN SOURCES 📜
Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912) , (1943), Arthur W. Hummel, Sr.
Timeline of the Ming & Qing Palace Events (The Palace Museum website)
🏷️ TAGS 🏷️
second opium war
taiping rebellion
nian rebellion
hsieng feng
convention of peking
xianfeng documentary
Introduction: (0:00)
Early life: (00:29)
Early reign: (03:50)
Mid reign: (12:00)
Late reign: (17:06)
Aftermath: (25:55) - Zábava
Minister, "Majesty there's been a disaster!"
Emperor Xianfeng wearily, "You're going to have to be more specific..."
"Im one of the rebel leaders/foreign invader generals"
*Xianfeng smashes his fists on throne*
"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?"
Emperor Daoguang made a bad choice when he picked Xianfeng as his successor.
I've read Stephen R. Platts book, 'Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. China, the West, and the epic story of the Taiping civil war'. And according to the author, when Daoguang secretly selected his successor, he asked each of his two favorite sons (Gong and Xianfeng) what they would do if they ascended the throne.
Gong said that he would initiate a series of political reforms and improve China technological backwardness, improve diplomatic relationships with the West, and modernize China.
Xianfeng on the other hand, went down on his knees and cried that it meant that his father had died.
In Daoguangs mind, this act proved that Xianfeng was the most filial of the two, and therefore selected him to be his successor. If only he knew how illsuited Xianfeng were.
wow this guy was so unlucky. He literally lived during the worst time in Qing history.
Taiping Rebellion
Panthay Rebellion
Nian Rebellion
Second Opium War
and just decline in general
Taiping Rebellion
Nian Rebellion
Panthay Rebellion
Miao Rebbelion
Second Opium war
Red turban rebellion
Really Emeperor xianfeng was poor
this continuously miserable period for china would continue until mao's death
And don't forget Russia! LOL
@@realgamer1099 yes
That, and he didn't seem too enthusiastic to rule in general, put on him without warning too. He couldn't even enjoy a reclusive life of luxury, sex and drugs!
The portrait of his shown there with a cane, if he came to the thronw at 19, and rules for about 11 years, then he died at about 30. He looks in his 50s, there, and no wonder...
His indulgence in late reign was regarded as a "chronic suicide" by Qi Gong, one of Qing's royal family descendents. He did all he could, and gave up struggling at the end. As an emperor he was unable to suicide, so he sought this way, broken and disillusioned, at sunset of the empire.
a great narrator who speaks fine English and pronounces all his chinese just as well... very well made
Poor Emperor Xianfeng... Reigning at the worse possible time of the Dynasty.
Poor Xianfeng
Yep, that was pretty much the point when the century of humiliation is getting more deadly.
These are by far the best historical documentaries on China I have ever seen. Very clear, precise, informative illustrations and narration. Thank you
Thanks for your comment!
Excelent video! Before you do the Empress Cixi (Zishi), you should do a video of concubine organization and inner working.
Thank you ! I will do just that
@@History_of_China I also submited a Spanish subtitles for your Daoguang videos. Hope they are to your liking.
@@o19g78e Thank you so much ! I'm not fluent in Spanish but it seems fine to me, I just published them :)
You sir made his most popular video
This series was great!! Thanks so much for this, I can tell this took a long time.
You actually make history enjoyable to watch and learn!
11 months ago you already did the video on the first Qing emperor. I guess you’re taking your time to make these videos a masterpiece and might take some more months to cover all Qing emperors. Excellent video though!
Thanks for your comment ! It feels weird as I'm getting near to the end of the series. Looking forward to covering the rest until the grande finale with Puyi ;)
Qing emperors were universally delusional. They had no grasp on reality and thus eventually lost their throne
If the Discovery tv channel or other related enterprises call. Say yes.
Thank you for the great video! Keep it up!
I’m fascinated by Chinese history.
You should, will be useful after Australia becomes a Chinese colony
@@buttman7830 probably Taiwan first
@@buttman7830 ？
@@buttman7830 Lol, nobody cares about Australia, they literelly have nothing, just Kangurus....
Excellent video yet again. Thank you so much. Sir you are an asset to youtube, Chinese history and history in general.
Thank you for following sir !
this whole series are very good, thank you
I'm glad you are enjoying it ! Cheers :)
man I love your videos!
Very well made and educational video! Thank you!
Awesome video as usual! :D I remember reading in a textbook that Hong Xiuquan was given "good word" tracts from the Bible as he was about to take the examinations for the third time. He didn't open these tracts until he failed for the 4th time and upon reading them connected the passages to his delirium and decided that he must be the Son of God. I guess one of the lessons here is.... brochures and ads really work! >__>
Oh look, my two favorite CZcams channels on Chinese history are here.
I love your history videos, keep it up 😀
Cheers ! Glad you enjoy :)
Man this is very dark and sad, when you try keep things in one Peace, but it never works
Great series, learning so much, most appreciated thankyou
Cheers !
Fantastic documentary. Thank you!
I'm glad you enjoyed :)
Keep it up, great work👍🏻
Thank you !
Very well done, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed!
Prince Gong would have made a better Emperor. It’s a pity Xianfeng was chosen. It seems he made no attempt to understand the failures of the first Opium War,
Also gong
Tbf, it looks like most in the court didn't, and would never truly. Considering the 100 days reform unfortunately failed around 1896-1898 and Cixi had enough popular support to take back control along with the other ultra conservatives, clearly shows how tone deaf they were...
Then they put Puyi, a 2 year old, on the throne, and only by like the last year or two, do they suddenly decide to make some sort of constitutional representation (and even then, it was heavily stacked)
There's a good reason, much of global feudalism and monarchy came crashing down in the modern age
Great bideo. Thank you
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed
This series leaves out one huge event: In 1848 the Yellow River, which used to flow south of the hill country of Shandong Province and meet the sea just north of Shanghai, jumped its banks and now flows out near Beijing (near the Tagu Forts). Also the Grand Canal, which brought rice to the North, silted up. The results were devastating, and millions starved or died in the floods.
20:22 man these people are behaving like the vikings..constantly returning for their yearly raids
Thanks
Great video! easy to understand, not too long and very well put together.
Do you think emperor Xianfeng would have gotten the same outcome even without the western/opium influence because of the amount of corruption, distrust in the officials around the country, as well as uprising in Han Chinese nationalism and declining quality of the different armies/warlords around the country?
It seems like the country was asking for a late industrial revolution.
Thanks for your comment ! The country was already in a bad state without the Western influence after Qianlong's rule, regarding corruption, public opinion, and decline of administration. Xianfeng proved unfit to adequately rule even before the Second Opium War broke out. While this event precipitated his death, I'm not sure he could have smoothly solved the issue of corruption, rebellions etc. had he lived for another couple of decades.
In my opinion, his brother Yixin/Prince Gong would have made a far better ruler in general, as he seemed truly interested in politics and in the welfare of his country, and dare I say braver and smarter than Xianfeng.
That being said, had Xianfeng had prior political experience and more time to prepare before ascending to the throne, he might have done better in his reign
@@History_of_China Thank you!
Of course this will all be speculations, but I agree with you. Xianfeng was clever but might not have been interested enough in the wellbeing of his countrymen as you said.
Looking forward to future videoes :)
@@History_of_China but the Qing dynasty had a polich of discouraging princes from preparing for the throne, it was considered unfilial. Most of them inherited the throne stupid. Xianfeng's father was 38 when he took the throne and still stupid
Remember when a cult took over a chunk of China? { 6:51 } Pepperidge farms remembers!
Well done.
Thanks!
Every empire destroys itself from the inside out, before external forces can cause its ultimate demise.
If ever you start running-low on major-Qing-history-events to do videos on... Perhaps you could make some in-depth episodes about the Other major-rebellions going on at this same time----- [??]
*( . . .pretty-Please?!)*
Episodes covering the: Nian, Miao, Red-Turban, & Panthay rebellions... just like you have already [Excellently!] covered the Taiping Rebellion.
**I just Love your videos/channel So-Much; and now i am So'o'o'O fascinated by China-during-this-era/the-Qing-Dynasty----- ...that i want more, More!, MORE!! . . .Absolutely as many videos and as in-depth on the topics as you possibly-can-make!
All these incompetent rulers contributed the fast decline of China. They caused a lot of poverty and sufferings to the people. But they make great stories for Chinese historical dramas today.
I wouldn't call them incompetent per se (at least the emperors after Daoguang). It's just that East Asia weren't exposed to the Industrial Revolution happening in the West and were left behind technologically speaking. And due to vast distances between Asia and Europe/Western Hemisphere, the Qing, like the Tokugawa (Japan) didn't understand just how inferior they've become or the rapid change in the balance of power across the world. By this point in time, the Qing imperial system has become antiquated and deeply corrupt that it was just impossible for any emperor to change the tide.
The only thing you can blame them for is their stubborn ignorance and refusal to modernize quickly which Meiji era Japan did.
Absolutely wonderful video once again. Could you do a video explaining about the system of royal consorts? Were they wives, concubines, something like the harem system? What kind of power did they wield?
Keep making these man, they're simply wonderful!
Thanks for your comment ! I plan to do just that. I'll make a video on the Qing dynasty Imperial Harem System, and possibly later a general video on harem systems in Imperial China in general
Good
Almost time for Tongzhi, Guangxu, and Empress Dowager Cixi.
Hahhaa very much looking forward to Cixi :D
And Xuantong
excellent video..same for the first part
Thank you !
I am crying...so sad history
*(Why was the 2nd-Opium-War referred to as such? Unlike the 1st-Opium-War, ....i don't recall hearing opium mentioned once as a cause/driving-force in this conflict at all-- [?] )
♪ It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se!
??
@@Har0Id in the cartoon serie named avatar the last airbander they're is a city named ba sing se which is the capital of the earth kingdom .and the cartoon serie mostly based on Asia and that's why ba sing se palace based on forbidden city palace in Beijing
Can I ask what the erhu song in the background is?
The music credits are in the description :) but I think you're looking for the piece called "Autumn Moon over Han Palace". I'm not sure about the performer in this rendition though.
And just when you think the curb stomping can’t get any worse...
Great video! Kudos!
Say, does anyway happen to know of any historical sources that get into how much art was destroyed vs. looted when Anglo-French forces torched the Old Summer Palace? I assume they looted quite a bit, and that those pieces were therefore spared, but a trove of imperial pieces must have been destroyed, as well. Thanks!
Thank you! From my knowledge, most of what was lost was looted rather than destroyed. Soldiers and officers were eager to get their hands on treasures to keep/sell back in Europe. It's however undeniable that a portion of the artifacts were destroyed (probably more so with books than vases and paintings), either deliberately or in the chaos of the pillage. I don't think there are many (any?) sources on this precise matter, though.
Grazie per il video. Dovresti fare un video su Marco Polo e le voci che lo circondano.
Video on what is considered age of humiliation? When it begins and ends.
I probably will make such a video eventually !
This part of Chinese history is sad, so much humiliation
But now the Chinese as a nation are on the rise and once more will take their place as a great and respected nation.
Read about the Arrow incident in Broomhall's long biography of Hudson Taylor recently, and got the impression that the British were pretty high-handed - it had been a pirate ship before as you say, so the Chinese response was eminently understandable. Were the British angling for another war to open up more ports?
Definitely. Chinese goods were increasingly demanded in the West, and this was the perfect opportunity for the British (and the French, Russians and Americans) to obtain even more privileges from China (trade ports, trade advantages, and political concessions)
China could have been saved had Prince Gong been Emperor
China could have been saved if mao become an emperor back then
Thank u to our believe we are now
See the history of the world
And wee knows who we are
And also love our NBH
We love u china from🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
Can u do a vid on heshen. No one talks about him on CZcams
I probably will eventually, but not before I finish the Qing emperor series
Do you have any plans to cover the warlord period?
I do. When I finish my Qing emperors series I'll probably make a few general videos and then move on to the Beiyang Government
What is the comic at 18:57 ?
that's exactly what we otaku wanna know😂😂😂
Prince Gong would have solved all the problems if he was the emperor.
It certainly seems that way! If he had been, and was able to enforce reforms, we might have seen a modernisation in China similar to the Meiji Restoration.
Opium made it to Denver by way of San Francisco. Now, it's coming from Afghanistan. The stuff messes people up big time. Thanks Queen Victoria.
Hi, Im Frederik Morch and I am currently writing a piece of work regarding Japan and China's modernisation and to what extent Japan's modernisation was more successful. I am interested in your education + name as I would like to use some of your videos in my work (Yuan Shikai and The Era of Modernization in Japan). If that could be possible I would be very thankful :)
Hello Frederik, thanks for your comment ! I'd be happy to answer your questions. You can reach out to me at history.of.china1@gmail.com :)
According to the death tolls too, the sum total of what all these rebellions caused in terms of casualties, throughout the span of each rebellion was MINIMUM 56.67 MILLION deaths... (and according to wiki the Red Turban Revolt has unknown death toll)
If we're going by the maximum, especially for the very hard to calculate Taiping Rebellion, that's ANOTHER 20 MILLION stacked on... Putting that up to 76.67 million, barely 4 million under the total overall death toll of the Second World War...
Even with the minimum though, that's 16 million more deaths than the overall death toll of WWI, and almost THREE QUARTERS of the overall death toll of WWII...
This is also largely just the start of the century of humiliation too
The Taiping Rebellion is the bloodiest Rebellion in human history, and ALONE is about the 3rd or so worst conflict by death toll in human history. China in this century of humiliation would also face the worst human made famine in human history too (Great Chinese Famine, as a result of Mao's GLF)
I laughed so hard when that guy thought he was Jesus’ long lost brother, it was the way you said it too😂😂😂
Read the book: "God's Chinese Son"-The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan by author Jonathan D. Spence.
Que emperador es con Ruyi, urala ?
Es emperador Qianlong :)
22:57 - To pay war prices makes sort of sense (if war was fought at a neutral site then it would make real sense), but to burn a world class palace is surely not something done by any civilized being, kind of like torching the Notre Dame cathedral. This kind of impulsive behavior must stem from ethnic or cultural mentality as not all people would do it.
The Chinese written language is fascinating. not sure which dialect is shown, but the written words symbols seem to almost be an exact representation of the person, place or thing it is describing. 2:53 "Barbarian" could represent an armored person, with a cross at it's core. This represents the Western person in the eyes of the Chinese.
And 5:36 discussing Christianity, the symbol/word shown seems to show 3 crosses (representing the Crucifixion of Christ).
The battle of poontang remember it well
Will you cover those rebellions ?
In time, yes, though I'd like to finish the Qing emperors series first :)
@@History_of_China thanks for reply 😇
Are you going to talk about emperor tongzhi in your next video?
I'm hesitating on doing either Tongzhi - Guangxu - Cixi or Tongzhi - Cixi - Guangxu. In any case I would make a video on the Qing Imperial Harem system before doing Cixi.
@@History_of_China I wish you would do Step Empress Nàra of Qiànlong 17 ceñtury. Her tenure was 1750 to 1766. Her last year spent in house arrest for supposedly cutting her hair. There was no witness to this and she went into house arrest immediately and was dead a year later. A lot of mystery surrounding Empress Ulanara. Did the Emperor just say this so he could quietly get dispose of her and replace her with Ling who was in his favor. I guess we will never know as they say the Draft History of Qing is undisputed riddled with error. Neither the less people all over the world are interested in her. She has become famous because of Ruyis Royal Love in the Palace mini series based loosely on the historical Ulanara Empress
didn't you have a video on the 2nd Opium War by itself once?
I haven't covered the 2nd Opium War specifically yet, only the 1st, but I will one day :)
interesting coincidence ... that emperor's name YiZhu can be accurately translated into English as 'Joe Biden' ...but I'm sure that's just a coincidence
Can you get someone to make English and Chinese subtitles?
English subtitles would be very good for some of us non-native english speakers. I perceived about 75% of the words spoken in the videos speed, in combination with the chinese words here and there.
I'll keep it in mind!
Love your Chinese pronunciation
Thanks!
14:31 is consort Yi.....Cixi Taihou!? If she is then WHOAAAAAAA
When a side character from the earlier seasons come back as a main character in the last season!
Why British used capture and send them To different countries
could you share its webtoon name?
Hi, I'm not sure what you're referring to. Could you be more specific?
What a chain of failures in decision making
Being a history honours student studying chinese history is too hard😢 Why we Indian has to study about them whereas chinese people don't need to study our💔💔
Everyone fish in trouble water, especially Russia. When she take a huge chunk of territory from China
15:55 what french comic?
It's called LaoWai, and was published in 2017 :)
@@History_of_China Ah man you responded and i found your reply by chance! Cool.
@@History_of_Chinaany english name? can't find in manga or manhwa
We need a series on the Taiping Rebellion, one of the worst in Chinese history!
I covered the Taiping Rebellion as my first ever video, but the quality is pretty terrible in retrospect. I might remake them some day
@@History_of_China Ohhh, just saw them in your older videos. Keep up the awesome work! I've been binging your videos on the Qing emperors for the past couple of days!
WHY DO YOU KEEP PUTTING ALLCAPS ON YOUR TITLES LIKE THIS?
SO THAT PEOPLE WILL SEE IT AS CZcams IS FULL OF ANTI-CHINA BULLSHIT
The BRITISH army burned the Old Summer Palace.
The French army had no part in it. Montauban refused to be part of this shameful act.
Both armies looted it.
Empress Cixi made situation worsen IMO
Taipen rebellion is today's Falong Ku
Opium was not illegal in Europe at all. Nor was it illegal in Qing Empire until the War.
Guess, he was born at the wrong time. haha. He's okay for when China was strong. Gg for when China is falling behind already.
Pretty much all emperors after Qianlong were born at the wrong time lol
I do however think even in times of peace and prosperity, Xianfeng would have been a mediocre emperor
@@History_of_China Truth. Haha
wHY DID YOU NOT MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT A CHINESE EMPORER EDICT: THAT KILLED MANY CHINESE DRUG ADDICTS?
Again I blame the brits
China was defeated in the 1st opium war by poor leadership, the british made minor victories in the coast and traitorous eunichs convinced the emperor to sign peace even though the British had not encountered a single chinese land army
In the second opium war they lost because of poor national unity with the Han people revolting instead of helping the Qing against the foreigners
📩5🐀
No wonder Xi Jinping wants to settle some old beef.
Why didn’t the Xiang army which was a modern one fight British and French
The Xiang army was based in Hunan, and the Second Opium War never went inland except in the Imperial domain. In any case, it was too busy fighting the Taiping rebels
China always get conquered ffs.
谁在讲中国的历史？
This video makes out like the west caused all the problems because of greed. I agree that greed had a lot to do with it. The narrator doesn’t take into account the totalitarian regime of the emperor. I’m sure that the emperor and his wealthy elites would love to have continued with their reign and control of the country. However, sooner or later the people of China would have learned that the emperor was not a demigod and that they deserved better lives than to just be subjects of those aforementioned. I’m NOT condoning what England and France did. Especially the the evil East India Trading Company. I’m just saying that the narrator seems to completely demonize the west when their own people are the ones who started the uprisings.