Westernization Self-improvement Movement. History Speech Presentation

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Every country usually has its own time of the so-called awakening or embracement of a certain form of civilization. All the ancient cultures also had the same instances and some still experience it to this day. Ancient China was a beneficiary of the same over time, always redefining and rebranding itself through the embracement of new cultures and practices that awakened the society. The ancient kingdoms, such as the Qing Dynasty, came into contact with the western cultures in one of the traditional forms of interaction. Having experienced the new western culture, the dynasty was at a crossroads to embrace some of the western aspects. In one way or the other, it was inevitable that this was bound to happen in what would be called the Westernization Movement. Progressive reforms were made, which placed the nation on the path of prosperity.
The Westernization Movement
The Self-Strengthening Movement, also known as the Westernization or Western Affairs Movement was a period of institutional reforms initiated in China during the years 1865-1895 under the Qing Dynasty after the military disasters left behind the opium wars between the French and British (Chang Jun, 2013).This led to certain events such as the burning of the old summer place in 1860 as Chinese rebel armies marched north, forcing the imperial court to take note of the ongoing crisis. A foreign affairs ministry was established putting Prince Gong the regent and overall councilor who also was to be the head of the newly established foreign affairs ministry.
In order to establish a peaceful environment with Western powers and mobilize Chinese support, Prince Gong and his counterparts appointed Chinese officials among them Zeng whose responsibility was to prosecute anyone who was part of the rebels (Palm,Daniel,2014). Commander Zeng and his armies finally managed to defeat the rebel fighters and they were prosecuted which eventually led to the importation of the western technological military and scientific knowledge. This enabled them to establish schools, industries and arsenals which managed to be successful under the leadership of Prince Gong.
Between the years 1870-1880, those who succeeded the previous regimes used their positions as officials of the provinces to establish strong railway transportation as well methods of shipping. The Chinese proved to make a quite successful progress in regards to modernizing their industries and military prowess. But there was still doubt by other Chinese elites who didn’t believe in westernization apart from the modernization of heir militaries and improvement of infrastructure (Liu, Ching, Samuel, 2016). The self-strengthening movement still managed to secure the popularization of westernization which prevented the demise of the Chinese dynasties for a very long time.
As the 18th century came to an end, the decline of the Chinese the bureaucracy was proving to be more and more imminent. This was because of the presence of the Chinese Confucians who were campaigning for institutional reforms in the country. Their only focus as the establishment of state powers and how they could acquire their own wealth without the help of the western powers (Chappelle, 2018). Th...