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MODERN HISTORY OF CHINA

Objective chronological listing of significant events leading up to modern China.

1868 - 1880

• 1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan
  
• 1870 – Korea, a Chinese protectorate, rejects Japan’s offer to establish diplomatic relations.
  
• 1870 – Anti-Christian riots in Tianjin.
  
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War begins.
  
• 1871 – Proclamation of the German Empire.
  
• 1872 – Chinese boys are sent to the United States for education.
• 1873 – Foreign representatives meet the emperor without kowtowing.
  
• 1873 – All significant rebellions in China have been quelled.
  
• 1873 – French attempt to take over northern part of Vietnam blocked by Chinese reinforcements.
  
• 1874 – Second Treaty of Saigon. Vietnam is recognized by the French as a country independent from China.
  
• 1875 – Japan occupies the Ryukyus.
  
• 1875 – Zuo Zongtang leads an army into Xinjiang.
• 1876 – China purchases modern gunboats from Europe.
  
• 1879 – Japan annexes the Ryukyus and renames it Okinawa.