The final result, a crushing burden of war reparations, made things even worse. The foreign powers increased pressure for concessions and powers, increasing the animosity of large segments of the population. On all of these counts, the Qing Dynasty was caught in a vicious downward spiral. The series of rebellions further damaged the central government, whose very weakness had caused some of the rebellions to occur. What is most surprising is the fact that the shell of Qing central power continued to survive so long.
Even as the Dynasty succeeded in meeting the challenges posed by internal turmoil, it was creating a new set of problems. Within the structure of the Qing there began a trend toward regional power centres and a loosening of central control. Regional leaders came to the fore by suppressing rebellions and initiating experiments in military and economic reform. Some of these regional leaders were leaders in the movement to adopt Western technology and thinking. Some were able, on a regional basis, to experiment more freely than the heavily-layered Qing bureaucracy could tolerate at a central level. A few even had personal networks of contacts with foreign officials. The pitiful state of communications and transportation infrastructure, combined with the Chinese tradition of personal loyalty to leaders, made these able servants of the Qing a growing power in their own right. Many retained the loyalty and organization of their troops, solidifying their independent power centers. In other words, as the Dynasty defended itself, its most effective bureaucratic methods were creating even graver threats.
Why did the Dynasty last so long? Like a punch-drunk fighter languishing on the ropes, it seemed to stagger and yet to refuse to fall. The inertia of any system is a partial explanation. It is difficult to transform any society. This may have been heightened in the case of the Qing by the enormous chasm separating an ancient Chinese empire from a modern nation state.
