Question

What was the goal of the Chinese self-strengthening movement started by Prince Gong in the late nineteenth century?
A) To fight corruption in the bureaucracy by enforcing a strict version of Neo-Confucian ethics.
B) The Expulsion of foreigners from China by military force, which was rebuilt with increased taxes on the landowning class.
C) The adoption of Western technology and governmental systems to prevent further outside domination of China.
D) To unite the nations of East Asia, Japan especially with China in order to better oppose European and American exploitation of Asia.

Answer 1

Hint: In the rich Yellow River region of the North China Plain, China arose as one of the world's first civilizations. From the first to the nineteenth centuries, China was one of the world's most powerful economic powers.

Complete answer:
The growth of military industries, including the construction of military arsenals and shipbuilding dockyards to reinforce the Chinese navy, was the most significant goal of the Self-Strengthening Movement.

Regional leaders like Zeng Guofan, who erected the Shanghai arsenal with the help of the western-educated Yung Wing, Li Hongzhang, who built the Nanjing and Tianjin arsenals, and Zuo Zongtang, who built the Fuzhou Dockyard, spearheaded this programme.

Foreign consultants and administrators, such as Léonce Verny, who assisted in the construction of the Ningbo Arsenal in 1862–64, and French commander Prosper Giquel, who led the construction of the Fuzhou Arsenal in 1867–74, were instrumental in the establishment of the arsenals. The Jiangnan Arsenal was built in collaboration between Zeng and Li.

The goal of the Chinese self-strengthening movement started by Prince Gong in the late nineteenth century is the adoption of Western technology and governmental systems to prevent further outside domination of China.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: Yixin, sometimes known as Prince Kung or Gong in English, was an imperial prince of the Aisin Gioro clan and a key figure in China's Manchu-led Qing dynasty. From 1861 to 1865, he was the empire's regent, and he exercised enormous power at other times as well.