China

China during the 19th century

By the 19th century, district magistrates at the lowest level of the Chinese bureaucracy were responsible for the welfare, control, and taxation of an average of 250,000 people. This left control and responsibility for government increasingly in the hands of local leaders.

In the West of China a series of natural catastrophes and man-made disasters hit China in the late 19th century. Many rebellions took place in the later part of this century; for example the moslem rebellions that took place over 1855 to the year 1873, and the Taping rebellions that took place from 1851-1864. During this rebellion they take control of a large portion of China.