What lasting effects did their experience with Western imperialism, an experience unprecedented in China's long history, and referred to in modern China as the Century of Humiliation, have on their perception of the West, the world, and themselves? These are the questions that will be addressed in the following discussion.
The age of Western imperialism in China may be regarded as having begun with the abortive British trade mission of 1793, and having ended with the establishment of Communist rule over mainland China in 1949. Aggressive European action in China did not begin until the late 1830s, but the failed trade mission serves as a benchmark for Chinese-Western relations, and Chinese attitudes toward the West, at the beginning of the process.
At the other end of the period, while Hong Kong and Macao remained as political relics of the Treaty Port system (they will finally return to Chinese administration in 1997), by 1949 China was at last master in its own house, and a few months later Chinese troops would be challenging the West in neighborin
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