The 1860s saw the end of the second Opium War, the destructive Tàipíng Rebellion in China, and the establishment of the Meiji Emperor as political leader of Japan.
1860
- 1860 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Political Events
- March 18: Ansei era ends, Man'en era begins in Japan
- October 18: Convention of Peking signed, ending the Second Opium War
- October: Destruction of the Summer Palaces
1861
- 1861 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Yìnguāng 印光 and Zōngyǎng 宗仰 are born
- Political Events
- Zongli Yamen 總理各國事務衙門 (Foreign Office) established
- February 19: Man'en era ends, Bunkyū era begins in Japan
1862
- 1862 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Political Events
- Tongwen Guan 同文館 foreign language school established
- January 29: Xiánfēng era ends
- January 30: Tóngzhì era begins
1863
- 1863 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Political Events
1864
- 1864 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Luó Jiālíng 羅迦陵 and Hú Zǐhù 胡子笏 are born
- Political Events
- Most territories of the Taiping reclaimed by the Qing
- March 27: Bunkyū era ends, Genji era begins in Japan
1865
- 1865 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Tán Sìtóng 譚嗣同 and Shī Shěngzhī 施省之 are born
- Political Events
- May 1: Genji era ends, Keiō era begins in Japan
- June 25: James Hudson Taylor founds the China Inland Mission
1866
- 1866 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Dàojiē 道階 is born
- The Jīnlíng Scriptural Press 金陵刻經處 is founded in Nánjīng 南京 by Yáng Wénhuì 楊文會
- Political Events
1867
- 1867 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Political Events
- January 30: Death of Emperor Kōmei 孝明天皇
- February 3: Abdication of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu 徳川慶喜
1868
- 1868 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Jìchán 寄禪 is tonsured
- Zhāng Tàiyán 章太炎 is born
- Political Events
- Tàipíng Yuánnián era ends
- January 3: Meiji Emperor proclaims his restoration
- August 22-23: Yángzhōu 揚州 riots against foreign missionary presence in China
- October 23: Meiji era begins in Japan
1869
- 1869 in the Western calendar is roughly equivalent to:
- Buddhist Events
- Timothy Richard 李提摩太 sails for China
- Political Events