1840: Why the 19th-century opium wars between imperial China and Britain are still relevant in modern China

A colonial-era building in Shamian in Guangzhou, where a Western concession was set up in 1861 after the Qing defeat in the Second Opium War. [Photo by Satarupa Bhattacharjya/China Daily]

Blow to monarchy

China's last emperor, Puyi, abdicated in 1912 but held onto his royal title until 1924. The original Manchu name of the Qing house was Aisin Gioro, or "golden clan".

Although historians have different views on whether the opium wars ultimately resulted in the demise of monarchy in China, most have little doubt that the wars dealt a huge blow to it.

The wars reduced confidence in the dynasty for not only its inability to protect the country but also for the ensuing economic crises owing to the excessive outflow of silver to Britain and the heavy taxes levied on the Chinese. People felt the country's economy wasn't safe in Qing hands. The dynasty's control over territory also weakened.

"I think it's fair to say that the wars－the opium wars and the colonial wars that follow do a great deal to destabilize the monarchy but the monarchy itself did make some attempts to reform and that's worth remembering also," Mitter says.

In the first decade of the 20th century, the Qing initiated political, educational and diplomatic reforms, he says of a lesser-known aspect of the dynasty that is viewed to have failed China in many ways.

Few members of the Qing bloodline are alive.

Jin Yuzhang, a son of Puren, the fourth younger brother of the last emperor, told People's Daily in 2000 that "conservatism in the Qing era resulted in an underdeveloped state, which made the country vulnerable to foreign attack". Jin was then a Beijing district official but is now retired.

His surviving cousins include a singer and a former schoolteacher.