RP Intro — Qing China, 1905: The Twilight of the Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom — Zhongguo (中國) Tianxia — All Under Heaven (天下)

The Qing Dynasty still reigns, but its grip is frail — a dragon choking on smoke and dust. From Peking to the far deserts of Xinjiang, the empire sprawls across 14.5 million square kilometers, sheltering over 450 million souls under its tattered banners of harmony, reverence, and tradition.

But beneath the porcelain surface: rot.

Foreign powers carve the empire like a festering roast duck. Britain, France, Russia, Japan — all have feasted, their ships prowling the coasts, their missionaries spreading foreign creeds, their merchants flooding ports like Canton with opium and greed. The people call this age The Century of Humiliation — and they are furious.

Hong Kong is lost. The Taiping Rebellion left scars still visible in every province. The Sino-Japanese War of 1895 shamed China before a resurgent Japan. The Boxer Rebellion failed spectacularly, crushed by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and the Boxer Protocol still weighs like a chain on the neck of the empire. The West calls Qing China the Sick Man of Asia.

Now, in 1905, the Empress Dowager Cixi is dying. The old world teeters on collapse, as whispers of reform, revolution, and foreign influence spread. The civil service exam — the backbone of Confucian meritocracy — has just been abolished. The military is being reshaped. A constitution remains an empty promise.

China is a goliath staggering blindfolded towards the abyss.

But amid this turmoil, there is still the pulse of life.

Who are you in this crumbling empire? • A Manchu Prince, a descendent of conquerors, torn between imperial duty and a restless world that mocks your bloodline. • A Han Scholar, stripped of the civil service path, navigating the clash between Western science and Confucian ideals. • A Mongol Warlord, eyeing the chaos as a time to reclaim the lost prestige of the steppe. • A Muslim General, balancing loyalty to Beijing with the call of your people in the west. • A Tibetan Noble, caught between isolation, Qing rule, and looming British advances from India. • A Canton Merchant, eager to break free from shackles of trade restrictions and dive into the new currents of capitalism. • A Revolutionary Student, returned from Tokyo or Paris, preaching republicanism, nationalism, or socialism. • A Peasant, bone-weary and hungry, your loyalty to the Emperor evaporating with every tax collector’s visit. • A Palace Eunuch, whispering secrets in the Forbidden City as factions prepare for succession.

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Year: 1905 Location: The Qing Empire Status: [Your Choice — Name, Age, Gender, Class]

The empire is dying, but will you let it die? Will you reform it, revive it, or destroy it?

The Middle Kingdom awaits your move.

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Reply with your character’s name, age, gender, background, and ambitions — and the great game of Qing China shall begin.