THE POSSIBILITY
Foreign powers were feared but came to be resented and hated with unprecedented foreign aggression on the one hand and the massive and violent Taiping Rebellion (one of several at the time) on the other. It’s unclear how anyone unable to directly command the court could’ve managed much better than she did, at least in the years leading to her nephew’s majority. Blaming Cixi for everything that went wrong is almost a misogynistic sport in China, but it’s a perspective that Chinese historians have increasingly come to question. If anything made the Qing’s fall inevitable, it was the pressures inflicted on it by Great Britain and other imperialist powers.
Did the influence of religion and belief create a barrier to reforms? What could have been done?
particular faith. It is true that the most emblematic representatives of anti-reform, the Boxers, cultishly embraced various aspects of traditional beliefs. On the other hand, there have been many attempts at reforms of the imperial system, some of them quite sweeping (such as those of the Song dynasty visionary Wang Anshi) and some initiated by emperors themselves (such as the first Ming emperor’s decision to deny education to eunuchs in order to mitigate against their ability to interfere with political affairs – later overturned by a successor, leading to much eunuch-led trouble).
Would reforms only be at the consent of the West? What would be allowed and what would they look like?
The imperialist powers controlled the concessions, managed the collection of customs duties for the Qing, but didn’t have a say in how the court ruled.
Western powers weren’t particularly supportive of Chinese reformists, either, given that they were all about strengthening the country, including its military defences against the West. When revolution came in 1911, the Qing had already begun the process of reform. It had appointed a National Assembly and was planning a transition to constitutional monarchy by 1917. Too little too late, of course. That said, the philosophies of the European Enlightenment, democratic systems, and practical modern ideas around such things as the virtues of physical education and sport, the liberation of women, and even policing, were a great inspiration to many Chinese reformers and revolutionaries as well.
If reform of the military had been sustained and complete and a true regional power created, then the balance of power in the region may have been very different. No longer pushed around by the West and the Japanese, a militarily strong China would have had a true voice and influence. This would bring the stability to modernise effectively. With Japan having such a strong neighbour it may have thought differently about its own ambitions. Trade deals between China and the USA could have formed an uncomfortable alliance which may have made Japan think again before launching its audacious actions of WWII.