Once Upon a Time in Beijing First settled in the 11th century B.C., the region of China that we now know as Beijing has effectively served as the political and cultural center of the Middle Kingdom since the city became a capital in 1421. Since then, Beijing has survived the rise and fall of dynasties, revolutions, and civil war. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, imperial Beijing hit a low point. Defeat in the Opium Wars had forced China to open up to foreign powers. Diplomats, merchants, and missionaries from Europe, the United States, and Japan filled the city, competing for power and influence over the struggling empire. The influx of Westerners brought new technologies, but it also highlighted tensions in Chinese society and the weaknesses of the ruling Qing Dynasty. These tensions would eventually culminate in the short-lived Boxer Rebellion; the fall of the Qing and the end of Imperial China came soon after. These photos, drawn from the Library of Congress, paint a picture of a traditional society just beginning to grapple with the influence of the West; the spectacular transformations of the 20th century that would shape the country we know today had yet to arrive. Here, we see Qianmen Gate, one of the main entrances to the once-walled city of Beijing, in 1901. Library of Congress Here, American photographer James Ricalton poses on a two-humped camel outside of Beijing in 1901. Camels have been used in China as a method of transport since ancient times, and camel trains were a primary mode of transport connecting Beijing to the Mongolian regions to the west until the spread of automobiles in the mid-20th century. A British officer chats with a soldier at the Qianmen railway station, circa 1902. Following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), concessions to foreign powers led to the rapid expansion of Chinese railroads. The sign in the photo reads "Peking" instead of "Beijing" and "Chien Men" instead of "Qian Men"-- pinyin, the system most commonly used today to write Chinese words in Roman letters, had not yet been developed. Manchu men sit to be photographed in 1901. The description reads, "Type of the race which rules China." The Manchus, from northeastern China (Manchuria), are considered a separate ethnic group from the Han, who make up the majority of China's population. The Manchu conquered China during the 17th century and established the Qing Dynasty, which would rule until 1912. A man is publicly whipped for beating his wife in 1901. Though traditional forms of punishment remained, late-Qing reforms of the legal code, based on the German Civil Code of 1900, decreased the frequency of corporal punishment. City policemen stand at attention, circa 1902. Here, a funeral procession passes through the streets of Beijing, circa 1910 to 1915. A crowd gathers to free a pony that has collapsed while pulling a heavy cart -- "a familiar incident on a street in Peking" -- circa 1902. A beggar lies in the streets. In traditional Chinese society, vagrancy was not necessarily seen as government's responsibility. But by the late-Qing period the influence of European governance and penal codes, as well as the increasing problem of opium addiction, led Chinese rulers to view poverty as a social problem in need of an active remedy. Chinese men and boys dine at a table in an open-air restaurant, circa 1924. Scaffolding surrounds the Qianmen Gate, circa 1907. The gate was heavily damaged during the Boxer Rebellion by Western troops seizing the city. Here, the gate is shown under repair. Today, Qianmen Gate is a leading tourist attraction, a still-standing symbol of old Beijing. Chinese children play at the Peking Mission School, circa 1902. Along with modern technology, foreigners brought Christianity to China, which they sought to spread through the establishment of missionary schools such as this one. The spread of Christianity was a major grievance of the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, or the "Boxers," who targeted missionaries and Chinese Christians during the rebellion. A cart crosses a stone bridge in 1901. A man sits on a crumbling wall with the American Legation in the distance. Taken in 1901, just a year after the Legation was besieged by the Boxers, the photo shows lingering damage to the exterior of the building. Soldiers from the 9th U.S. Infantry camp in the Forbidden City in 1901. Following the defeat of the Boxers, foreign troops occupied and looted the city, brutally punishing those suspected of collaboration with the rebels. Prince Su in 1901. Su was a high-ranking, pro-foreign official in Empress Dowager Cixi's court. During the Boxer Rebellion, Su allowed his palace, which lay adjacent to the British Legation, to be used as a sanctuary for Chinese Christians. Su himself, however, was forced to evacuate by European troops. Two students from the Imperial University in Beijing wear white armbands to mourn the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1908. One of the more complicated figures in modern Chinese history, the formidable Cixi effectively ruled the country through her young son and then her nephew from 1861 to 1908, at times overseeing attempts at technological modernization but also resisting her nephew's efforts to reform and revitalize China's govering system. Cixi joined forces with the Boxer Rebellion, but after China's defeat she embraced European-style reforms. The Qing Dynasty, already weak, disintegrated rapidly after her death. A masked priest poses with a pupil, circa 1901. A soldier stands guard outside the U.S. Legation, circa 1915 to 1925. An itinerant barber shaves a customer's head, circa 1902. The practice of street shaving or hair-cutting dates back to at least the 14th century, when professional barbers set up stalls in cities to solicit customers. Wealthy merchants are entertained at dinner by a group of singing girls in 1901. In ancient Chinese society, merchants were the lowest of the "four occupations" deemed socially necessary, but the commercialization of Chinese society in later dynastic periods (particularly the Ming and Qing) corresponded to a rise in the social status of merchants. Visitors in Western dress walk in the courtyard of the Summer Palace in northwest Beijing in 1901. Japanese Minister to China Dr. Eki Hioki and his family pose with a car in front of the Japanese Legation, circa 1910 to 1915. While China was indecisive about Western culture, Meiji Japan sought to fully emulate European powers, adopting both methods of statecraft and manners of dress. The decision appeared to have paid off when Imperial Japan defeated China -- traditionally the dominant Asian power -- in the First Sino-Japanese War. An American sailor from the U.S.S. Huron poses beneath a dragon statue, circa 1920 to 1927. A street scene in Beijing in 1919. U.S. Marines, pulled in a cart by a Chinese guide, circa 1905 to 1927.