How did the Qing state manage the demographically driven problems in Chinese society and the economic depression from 1790 to 1820? Please correlate at least one social reform solution with one economic reform solution. Did the Qing state succeed or fail? Why?

The trials and tribulations the Qing government faced between 1790 and 1840 were, ironically, a result of their successful rule during the eighteenth century. While strict methods of control were imposed upon Chinese society under early Qing rule, they were also wisely paired with necessary economic and social reforms. Embracing Confucian ideals, Qing officials encouraged the growth of the agrarian and manufacturing classes, with a resulting increase in internal trade. New methods of farming were introduced, including the introduction of new crops imported from the West such as corn, which grew well in dryer areas, and sweet potatoes, which did well in sandy soil. As a result, by the late 1700s, most of the arable land was being utilized and everyone was being fed. Thus, China prospered under Qing rule. But it wasn’t to last.
The stability during the 1700s led to a higher standard of living. With improved living conditions came better overall health and lower mortality rates. The result was rapid population growth. It is estimated that China’s population almost doubled between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. Some factors that may have contributed to this rapid growth include almost complete peace under Manchu rule during the eighteenth century, an improvement in the transportation system throughout the empire, the opening of Canton to foreign trade, more effective disease control, and improvements in the food supply.
Not surprisingly, such explosive population increase soon began to put a strain on the available resources and led to severe shortages, particularly in the eastern provinces. The shortage of land, excess of labor, and lack of food led to periodic famines. Further, high taxes imposed on the manufacturing class, coupled with a high degree of corruption by Qing officials, led to growing dissatisfaction with Qing rule, particularly among the peasant and working classes. Rapidly deteriorating conditions resulted in widespread unrest that would eventually unravel the cords that bound the Qing Empire together.
In the end, it was foreign trade that proved to be the bane of the Qing Dynasty, for with trade came opium. The two "Opium Wars" of the mid-nineteenth century (1839–42 and 1856–60) effectively exposed the Qing’s military weakness and political impotence. The resulting loss of Qing respect, both internally and externally, invited the rise of reformers and revolutionaries from within and opportunistic nations from without.