New Machinery Industry Development In Guangdong Region Of The Late Qing Dynasty And The Society Changes

The outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 forced the Qing government open the door, along with modern production facilities and treaty powers of force protection, there was a massive influx of Western lifestyle into China, bringing about a strong impact and challenges on Chinese original production thus, triggering conflicts in economic, political, ideological, culture and social life. In the history of social change, economic change is the basis of change in social life and ideology. Production technology, especially the use of machinery in industry, is the key to changing the entire economic structure. In the face of a new technological revolution, the public mood is conceivable in the early opposition. After all, thousands of years of traditional production methods is not something we can change. However, it is undeniable that the introduction of this new machinery industy has increaed the convenience and attraction to machine-made items for people. This thesis will place Guangdong against a broad background, by analyzing the rise of industrial machinery and the Westernization movenment in the country, and the focus will be on the Guangdong region, in particular the Pearl River Delta region. By summarizing the situation of development in machinery industryin Guangdong and the analyzing the reaction of different strata of the population and the impact of the new reflection, Guangdong modern characteristics of the road from rural to urban areas, emerges as a consequence. And the people in Guangdong meet this particular change in their way.