Which was the greater of the Qing dynasty's problems during the 19th century: foreign encroachment, or domestic upheaval? (For instance, you may want to discuss the impact of the Opium Wars, the Sino-Japanese War, and other imperialist encroachments compared to the impact of major domestic troubles such as the Taiping Rebellion, the Nian Rebellion, drought and flood, and so on.)
Regarding further guidelines for the essay, please see the following four important points:
1. REFERENCING. Just as in the bibliographic assignment, referencing should follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition.
2. WORD LIMITS. It is OK if you go 10% over the word limit (1500-1650 words).
Assessing your course essay (and test/exam answers):
Does the essay have clear introduction and conclusion?
Is the structure clear and meaningful?
Does the essay answer the question directly?
Are all points supported by evidence, examples or arguments?
Have the references been done correctly and meticulously?
Does the essay effectively use more than five good, printed sources?
A further question was asked about the number of sources required. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO CITE FIVE (5) ACADEMIC SOURCES. Academic sources include primary sources (i.e the text of New Year's Sacrifice, the film of New Year's sacrifice, the Analects, the Daodejing, the Zhuangzi, the Mengzi, digital newspaper accounts from 1854 about the Taiping Rebellion, etc.) and secondary sources (journal articles, chapters in books, historical surveys, etc.). FYI, Wikipedia is not an academic source.