← 1880 1879 1878 1877 1876 1881 in China → 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886
Decades:	1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
See also:	Other events of 1881 History of China  • Timeline  • Years

The following lists events that happened during 1881 in China.

Incumbents

• Guangxu Emperor (7th year)
  • Regent: Empress Dowager Cixi

Viceroys

• Viceroy of Zhili — Li Hongzhang
• Viceroy of Min-Zhe — He Jing
• Viceroy of Huguang — Li Hanzhang
• Viceroy of Shaan-Gan — Yang Changjun then Zeng Guoquan then Tan Zhonglin
• Viceroy of Liangguang — Zhang Shusheng
• Viceroy of Yun-Gui — Liu Changyou
• Viceroy of Sichuan — Ding Baozhen
• Viceroy of Liangjiang — Liu Kunyi then Peng Yulin then Zuo Zongtang

Events

February

• February 24 - Zeng Jize and the Russian representative concluded the Treaty of Saint Petersburg.^[1]

July

• July 20 - earthquake of magnitude 6.5 occurred in Gansu and Lanzhou.

Deaths

• April 8 - Empress Dowager Ci'an. (aged 43; Born on 12 August 1837)^[2]