The Fall of the Qing: How a Dynasty Entered History During a Hundred-Day Crisis

Qing's Fall: How a Dynasty Entered History During a Hundred Days of Crisis explores why a dynasty entered history in the midst of a hundred-day crisis.

History cannot be undone, and there is no need for regret. What has passed is past.

A century later, as we look back on the Qing Dynasty, especially when analyzing why this seemingly powerful dynasty proved so vulnerable in the face of a crisis, what lessons can we learn from the process? These are the questions explored in this book, Qing's Fall: How a Dynasty Entered History During a Hundred Days of Crisis.

The book focuses on the path taken by the Qing in its final decades: from the reform era that began in 1894, to the New Policies launched in 1901, and then the preparations for constitutional monarchy. The Qing court struggled to reform in an attempt to save the empire as it teetered on the brink of collapse. But several mistakes by the late Qing court undid all its efforts and ultimately sent the dynasty into history.