revolutions were the thing

[Angela Chong]

You brought up the idea that if the Chinese monarchy reformed their government and empowered citizens to have a "stake in their government," perhaps they could have avoided revolution. It made me wonder if that could have been the case? There were countries and Empires with an abslute monarchy that were able to transition to a consitituional monarchy, letting go of some power and satisfying some of the desires of the revolutionairies. Not letting go of absolute power does't seem to have served any monarchy very well, and loosening the reigns seems better than being completley overthrown. During the lecture my impression of the revolutionaires in China were wreckless, but as I read the documents after class I saw something completely different. I think my view of revolutionairies in China were influenced by Mao's version of having young people destroy all the old, but revolution isn't always about destruction. In the case of revolutionairies against an absolute monarchy it may be the only option if they aren't willing to give up power.