Shen Pao-chen and China's Modernization in the Nineteenth Century

The Opium Wars ushered in an era of intensive Western imperialism in China, at a time when the Ch'ing dynasty was already in decline, forcing a small number of Chinese officials to come to the realisation that China must protect itself by adopting the same military technology that had brought it national humiliation. Shen Pao-chen was one such official. Abandoning the comfort of his successful career, Shen devoted his life to building China's first modern naval dockyard and academy. His suc...