romikgosai/squad_modified_2 huggingface dataset:
The Taiping Rebellion in the mid-19th century was the first major instance of anti-Manchu sentiment threatening the stability of the dynasty. Hong Xiuquan, a failed civil service candidate, led the Taiping Rebellion, amid widespread social unrest and worsening famine. In 1851 Hong Xiuquan and others launched an uprising in Guizhou province, established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with Hong himself as king, claiming he often had visions of God and that he was the brother of Jesus Christ. Slavery, concubinage, arranged marriage, opium smoking, footbinding, judicial torture, and the worship of idols were all banned. However, success and subsequent authority and power led to internal feuds, defections and corruption. In addition, British and French troops, equipped with modern weapons, had come to the assistance of the Qing imperial army. It was not until 1864 that Qing armies under Zeng Guofan succeeded in crushing the revolt. The rebellion not only posed the most serious threat towards Qing rulers; it was also "bloodiest civil war of all time." Between 20 and 30 million people died during its fourteen-year course from 1850 to 1864. After the outbreak of this rebellion, there were also revolts by the Muslims and Miao people of China against the Qing dynasty, most notably in the Dungan Revolt (1862–77) in the northwest and the Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873) in Yunnan.

Q1: What marked the first occurence of anti-Manchu feeling?
A1: The Taiping Rebellion
Q2: Who led the Rebellion?
A2: Hong Xiuquan
Q3: When did the Rebellion start?
A3: 1851
Q4: What entity was established in Guizhou province?
A4: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Q5: Who was king of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?
A5: Hong
The Western powers, largely unsatisfied with the Treaty of Nanjing, gave grudging support to the Qing government during the Taiping and Nian Rebellions. China's income fell sharply during the wars as vast areas of farmland were destroyed, millions of lives were lost, and countless armies were raised and equipped to fight the rebels. In 1854, Britain tried to re-negotiate the Treaty of Nanjing, inserting clauses allowing British commercial access to Chinese rivers and the creation of a permanent British embassy at Beijing.

Q1: Were the European empires satisfied or unsatisfied by the Treaty of Nanjing?
A1: unsatisfied
Q2: Who did the Europeans support during the Rebellions?
A2: Qing government
Q3: When did the British try to redo the Treaty of Nanjing?
A3: 1854
Ratification of the treaty the following year led to resumption of hostilities and in 1860, with Anglo-French forces marching on Beijing, the emperor and his court fled the capital for the imperial hunting lodge at Rehe. Once in Beijing, the Anglo-French forces looted the Old Summer Palace, and in an act of revenge for the arrest of several Englishmen, burnt it to the ground. Prince Gong, a younger half-brother of the emperor, who had been left as his brother's proxy in the capital, was forced to sign the Convention of Beijing. Meanwhile, the humiliated emperor died the following year at Rehe.

Q1: Whed did the British and French invade Beijing?
A1: 1860
Q2: Where did the emperor go?
A2: Rehe
Q3: What happened to the Old Summer Palace?
A3: burnt it to the ground
Q4: What did Prince Gong sign?
A4: Convention of Beijing
Chinese generals and officials such as Zuo Zongtang led the suppression of rebellions and stood behind the Manchus. When the Tongzhi Emperor came to the throne at the age of five in 1861, these officials rallied around him in what was called the Tongzhi Restoration. Their aim was to adopt western military technology in order to preserve Confucian values. Zeng Guofan, in alliance with Prince Gong, sponsored the rise of younger officials such as Li Hongzhang, who put the dynasty back on its feet financially and instituted the Self-Strengthening Movement. The reformers then proceeded with institutional reforms, including China's first unified ministry of foreign affairs, the Zongli Yamen; allowing foreign diplomats to reside in the capital; establishment of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service; the formation of modernized armies, such as the Beiyang Army, as well as a navy; and the purchase from Europeans of armament factories.

Q1: Who put down the rebellions?
A1: Zuo Zongtang
Q2: How old was Tongzhi when he came to power?
A2: five
Q3: What year did Tongzhi take power?
A3: 1861
Q4: What would the Chinese use to continue Confucian values?
A4: western military technology
Q5: What was the name of a modern Chinese Army?
A5: Beiyang Army
The dynasty lost control of peripheral territories bit by bit. In return for promises of support against the British and the French, the Russian Empire took large chunks of territory in the Northeast in 1860. The period of cooperation between the reformers and the European powers ended with the Tientsin Massacre of 1870, which was incited by the murder of French nuns set off by the belligerence of local French diplomats. Starting with the Cochinchina Campaign in 1858, France expanded control of Indochina. By 1883, France was in full control of the region and had reached the Chinese border. The Sino-French War began with a surprise attack by the French on the Chinese southern fleet at Fuzhou. After that the Chinese declared war on the French. A French invasion of Taiwan was halted and the French were defeated on land in Tonkin at the Battle of Bang Bo. However Japan threatened to enter the war against China due to the Gapsin Coup and China chose to end the war with negotiations. The war ended in 1885 with the Treaty of Tientsin (1885) and the Chinese recognition of the French protectorate in Vietnam.

Q1: Who did the Chinese lose territory to in exchange for help?
A1: Russian
Q2: When was the Tientsin Massacre?
A2: 1870
Q3: When was the Cochinchina Campaign?
A3: 1858
Q4: Which territory did France control?
A4: Indochina
Q5: What triggered the Tientsin Massacre?
A5: murder of French nuns
Historians have judged the Qing dynasty's vulnerability and weakness to foreign imperialism in the 19th century to be based mainly on its maritime naval weakness while it achieved military success against westerners on land, the historian Edward L. Dreyer said that "China’s nineteenth-century humiliations were strongly related to her weakness and failure at sea. At the start of the Opium War, China had no unified navy and no sense of how vulnerable she was to attack from the sea; British forces sailed and steamed wherever they wanted to go......In the Arrow War (1856–60), the Chinese had no way to prevent the Anglo-French expedition of 1860 from sailing into the Gulf of Zhili and landing as near as possible to Beijing. Meanwhile, new but not exactly modern Chinese armies suppressed the midcentury rebellions, bluffed Russia into a peaceful settlement of disputed frontiers in Central Asia, and defeated the French forces on land in the Sino-French War (1884–85). But the defeat of the fleet, and the resulting threat to steamship traffic to Taiwan, forced China to conclude peace on unfavorable terms."

Q1: What was the main problem the Qing had in preventing invasion from Europe?
A1: naval weakness
Q2: When was the Arrow War?
A2: (1856–60)
Q3: Where did the French and English land in 1860?
A3: Gulf of Zhili
Q4: Which historian blamed naval weakness for European imperialism in China?
A4: Edward L. Dreyer
In 1884, pro-Japanese Koreans in Seoul led the Gapsin Coup. Tensions between China and Japan rose after China intervened to suppress the uprising. Japanese Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi and Li Hongzhang signed the Convention of Tientsin, an agreement to withdraw troops simultaneously, but the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895 was a military humiliation. The Treaty of Shimonoseki recognized Korean independence and ceded Taiwan and the Pescadores to Japan. The terms might have been harsher, but when Japanese citizen attacked and wounded Li Hongzhang, an international outcry shamed the Japanese into revising them. The original agreement stipulated the cession of Liaodong Peninsula to Japan, but Russia, with its own designs on the territory, along with Germany and France, in what was known as the Triple Intervention, successfully put pressure on the Japanese to abandon the peninsula.

Q1: What coup happened in 1884?
A1: Gapsin Coup
Q2: Who was involved in the Gapsin Coup?
A2: pro-Japanese Koreans
Q3: What resulted between the Chinese and Japanese after the Coup?
A3: Tensions
Q4: Who signed the Convention of Tientsin?
A4: Itō Hirobumi and Li Hongzhang
Q5: When did the First Sino-Japanese War happen?
A5: 1895
These years saw an evolution in the participation of Empress Dowager Cixi (Wade–Giles: Tz'u-Hsi) in state affairs. She entered the imperial palace in the 1850s as a concubine to the Xianfeng Emperor (r. 1850–1861) and came to power in 1861 after her five-year-old son, the Tongzhi Emperor ascended the throne. She, the Empress Dowager Ci'an (who had been Xianfeng's empress), and Prince Gong (a son of the Daoguang Emperor), staged a coup that ousted several regents for the boy emperor. Between 1861 and 1873, she and Ci'an served as regents, choosing the reign title "Tongzhi" (ruling together). Following the emperor's death in 1875, Cixi's nephew, the Guangxu Emperor, took the throne, in violation of the dynastic custom that the new emperor be of the next generation, and another regency began. In the spring of 1881, Ci'an suddenly died, aged only forty-three, leaving Cixi as sole regent.

Q1: What was the name of Xianfeng's concubine?
A1: Cixi
Q2: Who was Cixi's son?
A2: Tongzhi
Q3: When did Tongzhi Emperor die?
A3: 1875
Q4: Who took over from Tongzhi?
A4: Guangxu
From 1889, when Guangxu began to rule in his own right, to 1898, the Empress Dowager lived in semi-retirement, spending the majority of the year at the Summer Palace. On November 1, 1897, two German Roman Catholic missionaries were murdered in the southern part of Shandong Province (the Juye Incident). In response, Germany used the murders as a pretext for a naval occupation of Jiaozhou Bay. The occupation prompted a "scramble for concessions" in 1898, which included the German lease of Jiazhou Bay, the Russian acquisition of Liaodong, and the British lease of the New Territories of Hong Kong.

Q1: Where did the Empress Dowager spend most of her time?
A1: Summer Palace
Q2: When were two missionaries killed?
A2: November 1, 1897,
Q3: Where were the missionaries killed?
A3: Shandong Province
Q4: What was the murders of the missionaries called?
A4: Juye Incident
In the wake of these external defeats, the Guangxu Emperor initiated the Hundred Days' Reform of 1898. Newer, more radical advisers such as Kang Youwei were given positions of influence. The emperor issued a series of edicts and plans were made to reorganize the bureaucracy, restructure the school system, and appoint new officials. Opposition from the bureaucracy was immediate and intense. Although she had been involved in the initial reforms, the empress dowager stepped in to call them off, arrested and executed several reformers, and took over day-to-day control of policy. Yet many of the plans stayed in place, and the goals of reform were implanted.

Q1: What did the emperor do in response to so many defeats by the Europeans?
A1: Hundred Days' Reform of 1898
Q2: Name an advisor to Guangxu?
A2: Kang Youwei
Q3: Who took over the policy of China?
A3: empress dowager
Widespread drought in North China, combined with the imperialist designs of European powers and the instability of the Qing government, created conditions that led to the emergence of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists, or "Boxers." In 1900, local groups of Boxers proclaiming support for the Qing dynasty murdered foreign missionaries and large numbers of Chinese Christians, then converged on Beijing to besiege the Foreign Legation Quarter. A coalition of European, Japanese, and Russian armies (the Eight-Nation Alliance) then entered China without diplomatic notice, much less permission. Cixi declared war on all of these nations, only to lose control of Beijing after a short, but hard-fought campaign. She fled to Xi'an. The victorious allies drew up scores of demands on the Qing government, including compensation for their expenses in invading China and execution of complicit officials.

Q1: Where was there a drought?
A1: North China
Q2: What was another name for the Boxers?
A2: Righteous and Harmonious Fists
Q3: When did the Boxers begin to kill missionaries and Chinese Christians?
A3: 1900
Q4: Who invaded China?
A4: A coalition of European, Japanese, and Russian armies
Q5: Where did Cixi go after Beijing fell to the 8 armies?
A5: Xi'an
By the early 20th century, mass civil disorder had begun in China, and it was growing continuously. To overcome such problems, Empress Dowager Cixi issued an imperial edict in 1901 calling for reform proposals from the governors-general and governors and initiated the era of the dynasty's "New Policies", also known as the "Late Qing Reform". The edict paved the way for the most far-reaching reforms in terms of their social consequences, including the creation of a national education system and the abolition of the imperial examinations in 1905.

Q1: What did Cixi do in 1901?
A1: issued an imperial edict
Q2: What were the governments New Policies also called?
A2: "Late Qing Reform"
Q3: When were imperial examinations halted?
A3: 1905
The Guangxu Emperor died on November 14, 1908, and on November 15, 1908, Cixi also died. Rumors held that she or Yuan Shikai ordered trusted eunuchs to poison the Guangxu Emperor, and an autopsy conducted nearly a century later confirmed lethal levels of arsenic in his corpse. Puyi, the oldest son of Zaifeng, Prince Chun, and nephew to the childless Guangxu Emperor, was appointed successor at the age of two, leaving Zaifeng with the regency. This was followed by the dismissal of General Yuan Shikai from his former positions of power. In April 1911 Zaifeng created a cabinet in which there were two vice-premiers. Nonetheless, this cabinet was also known by contemporaries as "The Royal Cabinet" because among the thirteen cabinet members, five were members of the imperial family or Aisin Gioro relatives. This brought a wide range of negative opinions from senior officials like Zhang Zhidong. The Wuchang Uprising of October 10, 1911, led to the creation of a new central government, the Republic of China, in Nanjing with Sun Yat-sen as its provisional head. Many provinces soon began "separating" from Qing control. Seeing a desperate situation unfold, the Qing government brought Yuan Shikai back to military power. He took control of his Beiyang Army to crush the revolution in Wuhan at the Battle of Yangxia. After taking the position of Prime Minister and creating his own cabinet, Yuan Shikai went as far as to ask for the removal of Zaifeng from the regency. This removal later proceeded with directions from Empress Dowager Longyu.

Q1: What year did Guangxu die?
A1: 1908
Q2: What year did Cixi die?
A2: 1908
Q3: Who ruled after Guangxu?
A3: Prince Chun
Q4: How old was Prince Chun?
A4: two
Q5: What year was the Republic of China created?
A5: 1911
With Zaifeng gone, Yuan Shikai and his Beiyang commanders effectively dominated Qing politics. He reasoned that going to war would be unreasonable and costly, especially when noting that the Qing government had a goal for constitutional monarchy. Similarly, Sun Yat-sen's government wanted a republican constitutional reform, both aiming for the benefit of China's economy and populace. With permission from Empress Dowager Longyu, Yuan Shikai began negotiating with Sun Yat-sen, who decided that his goal had been achieved in forming a republic, and that therefore he could allow Yuan to step into the position of President of the Republic of China.

Q1: Who led the Qing?
A1: Yuan Shikai
Q2: Who negotiated with Yuan Shikai to prevent war?
A2: Sun Yat-sen
Q3: Who led the Republic of China?
A3: Sun Yat-sen,
Q4: Who became the President?
A4: Yuan
On 12 February 1912, after rounds of negotiations, Longyu issued an imperial edict bringing about the abdication of the child emperor Puyi. This brought an end to over 2,000 years of Imperial China and began an extended period of instability of warlord factionalism. The unorganized political and economic systems combined with a widespread criticism of Chinese culture led to questioning and doubt about the future. In the 1930s, the Empire of Japan invaded Northeast China and founded Manchukuo in 1932, with Puyi, as the emperor. After the invasion by the Soviet Union, Manchukuo collapsed in 1945.

Q1: What year did the end of Imperial China occur?
A1: 1912
Q2: How long did Imperial China last for?
A2: 2,000 years
Q3: When was Manchukuo created?
A3: 1932
The early Qing emperors adopted the bureaucratic structures and institutions from the preceding Ming dynasty but split rule between Han Chinese and Manchus, with some positions also given to Mongols. Like previous dynasties, the Qing recruited officials via the imperial examination system, until the system was abolished in 1905. The Qing divided the positions into civil and military positions, each having nine grades or ranks, each subdivided into a and b categories. Civil appointments ranged from attendant to the emperor or a Grand Secretary in the Forbidden City (highest) to being a prefectural tax collector, deputy jail warden, deputy police commissioner or tax examiner. Military appointments ranged from being a field marshal or chamberlain of the imperial bodyguard to a third class sergeant, corporal or a first or second class private.

Q1: Who split the leadership roles in the Qing dynasty?
A1: Han Chinese and Manchus
Q2: Where did the Qing find their officials?
A2: imperial examination system
Q3: How many ranks were there in civil service in the Qing dynasty?
A3: nine
The formal structure of the Qing government centered on the Emperor as the absolute ruler, who presided over six Boards (Ministries[c]), each headed by two presidents[d] and assisted by four vice presidents.[e] In contrast to the Ming system, however, Qing ethnic policy dictated that appointments were split between Manchu noblemen and Han officials who had passed the highest levels of the state examinations. The Grand Secretariat,[f] which had been an important policy-making body under the Ming, lost its importance during the Qing and evolved into an imperial chancery. The institutions which had been inherited from the Ming formed the core of the Qing "Outer Court," which handled routine matters and was located in the southern part of the Forbidden City.

Q1: Who was the main leader of the Qing?
A1: Emperor
Q2: Which ethnicities made up the Qing government?
A2: Manchu noblemen and Han officials
Q3: What happened to the Grand Secretariat?
A3: evolved into an imperial chancery
In order not to let the routine administration take over the running of the empire, the Qing emperors made sure that all important matters were decided in the "Inner Court," which was dominated by the imperial family and Manchu nobility and which was located in the northern part of the Forbidden City. The core institution of the inner court was the Grand Council.[g] It emerged in the 1720s under the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor as a body charged with handling Qing military campaigns against the Mongols, but it soon took over other military and administrative duties and served to centralize authority under the crown. The Grand Councillors[h] served as a sort of privy council to the emperor.

Q1: Who controlled the "Inner Court"?
A1: imperial family and Manchu nobility
Q2: Where was the Inner Court?
A2: Forbidden City
Q3: What was the Grand Council?
A3: core institution of the inner court
From the early Qing, the central government was characterized by a system of dual appointments by which each position in the central government had a Manchu and a Han Chinese assigned to it. The Han Chinese appointee was required to do the substantive work and the Manchu to ensure Han loyalty to Qing rule. The distinction between Han Chinese and Manchus extended to their court costumes. During the Qianlong Emperor's reign, for example, members of his family were distinguished by garments with a small circular emblem on the back, whereas Han officials wore clothing with a square emblem.

Q1: What shape of emblem signified a Han official?
A1: square emblem
Q2: What shape of emblam signified members of the royal family?
A2: circular
Q3: Which two ethnicities made up each position in government?
A3: Manchu and a Han Chinese
In addition to the six boards, there was a Lifan Yuan unique to the Qing government. This institution was established to supervise the administration of Tibet and the Mongol lands. As the empire expanded, it took over administrative responsibility of all minority ethnic groups living in and around the empire, including early contacts with Russia — then seen as a tribute nation. The office had the status of a full ministry and was headed by officials of equal rank. However, appointees were at first restricted only to candidates of Manchu and Mongol ethnicity, until later open to Han Chinese as well.

Q1: Who governed the areas of Tibet and Mongolia?
A1: Lifan Yuan
Q2: Who administered the minority groups?
A2: Lifan Yuan
Q3: How many boards were there in the Qing government?
A3: six
Even though the Board of Rites and Lifan Yuan performed some duties of a foreign office, they fell short of developing into a professional foreign service. It was not until 1861 — a year after losing the Second Opium War to the Anglo-French coalition — that the Qing government bowed to foreign pressure and created a proper foreign affairs office known as the Zongli Yamen. The office was originally intended to be temporary and was staffed by officials seconded from the Grand Council. However, as dealings with foreigners became increasingly complicated and frequent, the office grew in size and importance, aided by revenue from customs duties which came under its direct jurisdiction.

Q1: What was the foreign service called?
A1: Zongli Yamen
Q2: Who performed the tasks of the Zongli Yamen before it was created?
A2: Board of Rites and Lifan Yuan
Q3: What was the war called fought between the British and French against the Qing?
A3: Second Opium War
There was also another government institution called Imperial Household Department which was unique to the Qing dynasty. It was established before the fall of the Ming, but it became mature only after 1661, following the death of the Shunzhi Emperor and the accession of his son, the Kangxi Emperor. The department's original purpose was to manage the internal affairs of the imperial family and the activities of the inner palace (in which tasks it largely replaced eunuchs), but it also played an important role in Qing relations with Tibet and Mongolia, engaged in trading activities (jade, ginseng, salt, furs, etc.), managed textile factories in the Jiangnan region, and even published books. Relations with the Salt Superintendents and salt merchants, such as those at Yangzhou, were particularly lucrative, especially since they were direct, and did not go through absorptive layers of bureaucracy. The department was manned by booi,[o] or "bondservants," from the Upper Three Banners. By the 19th century, it managed the activities of at least 56 subagencies.

Q1: Which emperor followed Shunzhi?
A1: Kangxi
Q2: Where were textile factories located?
A2: Jiangnan region
Q3: What did China trade with Tibet and Mongolia?
A3: jade, ginseng, salt, furs