By the time that the reigns of the emperors Ch'ien-lung and Chia-ch'ing had ended, China's Ch'ing Dynasty had already entered an rea of weakness; successive incidences of domestic strife and international conflict continually plagued the dynasty; crisis loomed over the nation. However, during this state of crisis, there did arise ample opportunity to positively change this country's plight. Still, after the mid-nineteenth century, authorities had yet to take advantage of these opportunities, nor did they seek windows of change from within the crisis situation which enveloped them. This article will center upon a general discussion of foreign negotiations and treaties of the Ch'ing Dynasty's final 70 years: from the Treaty of Nanking, to the Treaties of T'ien-chin and Peking, to the more severe Treaty of Shimoneski and Peace Treaty of 1901. Furthermore, this article will examine the glut of catastrophe that each of these treaties brought to China. The fundamental reason behind modern China's loss of rights is precisely the invasion of foreign power. Without forceful foreign invasion, China would not have been stripped of national rights, and Chinese people might have avoided the numerous painful experiences which ensued. In looking back at the treaty negotiations of the late Ch'ing dynasty, we find that officials did not prompt scrupulous reform of these treaties, but instead allowed opportunities for reform to merely pass by unheeded. They allowed crises to accumulate, and caused people bitter feelings of resentment and regret.