The Urban Life of the Qing Dynasty

The year 1840 was a watershed year for China's Qing Dynasty, the last autocracy in China's feudal society. From 1840 onwards, the traditional system of a feudal society suffered constant failure and humiliation in face of bigger, stronger powers. This book provides a clear account of the scale, pattern, and function of China's cities in the Qing Dynasty and the enormous role these cities played in China's social development to the present day. The book outlines the complicated layers and structures of life in a large Chinese urban center at this time, and it examines the key developments and changes that foreshadowed the forthcoming collapse of the feudal autocratic rule. (Series: Insight on Ancient China)