A period of institutional reforms initiated during the late Qing dynasty in China, spanning roughly from the 1860s to the 1890s, aimed to modernize the country’s military and economy in response to internal rebellions and foreign pressures. The focus was on adopting Western military technology, establishing modern arsenals and shipyards, and promoting industrial development while maintaining Confucian values and political structure. An example includes the establishment of the Jiangnan Arsenal and the Fuzhou Arsenal, centers for producing modern weaponry.
The significance of this transformative period lies in its attempt to navigate the challenges posed by Western imperialism without fundamentally altering China’s traditional social and political order. Although it achieved some progress in modernizing the military and stimulating economic growth, it ultimately failed to prevent further foreign encroachment and internal weaknesses. This failure highlighted the limitations of adopting Western technology without corresponding political and social reforms, setting the stage for subsequent revolutionary movements.