H. Beginning of Communism

At the age of five, Emperor Tongzhi began his reign. His mother Ci Xi and his Uncle Dong along with an exceptional group of provincial officials managed to reinvest the Qing dynasty with a new sense of purpose, shore up the economy, and develop some significant new institutions. Zeng established new schools to learn foreign languages, scientific studies, and Western ideas. He reformed the land policies and established a modern machine shop using American tools and equipment. He sent a young man Yung to America to Yale who graduated in 1854, the first Chinese to graduate from an American University.

The Qing established the first foreign ministry in 1861 and began to study international law. During the Prussian-Danish war of 1864, the conflict spread to China. The Prussians seized three Danish ships in Chinese waters. The Chinese using international law forced the Prussians to release the Danish ships and pay compensation to the Chinese.