Century of humiliation

Century of humiliation
Traditional Chinese	百年國恥
Simplified Chinese	百年国耻
Literal meaning	100 years of national humiliation
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin bǎinián guóchǐ Bopomofo ㄅㄞˇ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄔˇ Wade–Giles pai3-nien2 kuo2-chʻih3 Tongyong Pinyin bǎi-nián guó-chǐh IPA [pàɪ.njɛ̌n kwǒ.ʈʂʰɻ̩̀]

The "century of humiliation" (Chinese: 百年国耻, lit. "hundred years of national disgrace") is a term used among the Sinosphere to describe the period in Chinese history beginning with the First Opium War (1839–1842), and ending in 1945 with China (then the Republic of China) emerging out of the Second World War as one of the Big Four and established as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, or alternately, ending in 1949 with the founding of the People's Republic of China (which is considered by many today to be a great power — even potential superpower). The century-long period is typified by the decline, defeat and political fragmentation of the Qing dynasty and the subsequent Republic of China, which led to demoralizing foreign intervention, annexation and subjugation of China by Western powers, Russia, and Japan.^[1]

The characterization of the period as a "humiliation" arose with an atmosphere of Chinese nationalism in opposition to the Twenty-One Demands made by the Japanese government in 1915, and grew further with protests against China's poor treatment in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Both the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party both popularized the characterization in the 1920s, protesting the unequal treaties and loss of Chinese territory to foreign colonies. During the 1930s and 1940s, the term became common due to the Japanese invasion of China proper.^[2] Although formal treaty provisions were ended, the epoch remains central to concepts of Chinese nationalism, and the term is widely used in both political rhetoric and popular culture.^[3]