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| 1886, July 24 |
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| A British protectorate in Burma was recognized in return for continuance of decennial tribute. | 1 |
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| 1887, Dec. 1 |
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| The Portuguese secured the cession of Macao on the promise that they would not alienate it. | 2 |
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| 1888 |
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| The first imperial railway (Tangshan-Tianjin, 80 miles) was opened and extended to Shanhaiguan (1894) and to Fengtai outside Beijing (1896). Zhang Zhidong (1837–1909), governor-general of Hubei and Hunan, opened coal mines, the great Daye iron mines, and the Hanyang steel works, as necessary preliminaries to interior railway construction. Formerly a ferocious conservative, Zhang is credited with formulating a compromise reformist concept of using Chinese learning for the “essence” of reform together with Western learning for “practical utility.” | 3 |
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| 1890 |
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| The Board of Admiralty was abolished, and the new and promising Chinese navy fell subsequently into neglect, as a result of the resignation of Capt. William Lang (British) and the death of Prince Chun (1891) and Zeng Jize (1890). | 4 |
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| 1894 |
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| SUN ZHONGSHAN (SUN YAT-SEN, 1866–1925) organized in Guangzhou the first of several secret revolutionary societies, with which he tried many times before late 1911 to overthrow the Qing dynasty. After his first failure (1895), he scarcely set foot in China until after the success of the 1911 revolution. During those years, he organized the Chinese in Honolulu and the United States, and was kidnapped and held for ten days by the Chinese legation in London (1896), narrowly escaping execution. | 5 |
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| July 23–1895, April 17 |
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| The SINO-JAPANESE WAR erupted after ten years of rivalry and intrigue concerning Korea. A revolt of the Tonghak Society (Eastern Learning Society) in southern Korea afforded the Japanese an opportunity to seize the Korean queen and appoint a “regent” loyal to Japan (July 21). The British vessel Kowshing, carrying Chinese troops to Korea, was sunk (July 25) by the Japanese; the Korean regent declared war on China (July 27); China and Japan declared war on each other (Aug. 1). The European powers and the United States attempted in vain to mediate. The Japanese won a string of victories on land and sea: at Bingyang (Sept. 16), off the Yalu River at Lüshun (Port Arthur, Nov. 21), and at Weihaiwei (Feb. 21, 1895). Again, the court turned to Li Hongzhang to negotiate a peace. | 6 |
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