Qing Dynasty
(1644
1911 A.D)
Government
• Form of military organization that the Qing used was one
of the best in the world.
• Adopted the form of government used by the Ming (w/
only minor adjustments).
Ex. One Manchu and one Chinese were in the same position, with the
Manchu having more power.
• They organized their troops under banners, each of
which was a separate unit. The number of banners grew
from 8 in the beginning to 24.
• The emperor owned the men.
• The men were incredibly loyal to the emperor.
Eight Banner System
• Established by Nurhachi in the early seventeenth century
• “banners”: military units
•
For the Banner Soldiers: A salary system was instituted, ranks
standardized, and the Eight Banners became a sort of hereditary
military caste, though with a strong ethnic inflection.
• Banner soldiers took up permanent positions, either as defenders of
the capital, Beijing, where roughly half of them lived with their
families, or in the provinces, where some eighteen garrisons were
established.
• The largest banner garrisons: Beijing, followed by Xi'an and
Hangzhou.
Hierarchy
(BANNER SYSTEM)
• The banners had a hierarchical structure:
The smallest unit was niru (or 佐領 zuoling in Chinese; 300
men). The next was jalan (or 參領 canling); 5 niru and 5 jalan
consisted a gūsa (banner). Of course, these were ideal numbers
and their actual sizes varied substantially.
Effectiveness
•
Although the banners were instrumental in the Qing Empire
takeover of China proper in the 17th century from the Ming Empire,
they began to fall behind in rising western powers in the 18th
century, and were to ultimately become highly ineffective in modern
warfare by the second half of the 19th century. The later banners
proved unable to defeat Western powers, such as Britain, in the
Opium Wars and were also seriously challenged by the Taiping
Rebellion.
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Strategy (part I)
• Successful as foreign rulers in China.
• They maintained their domination of the Chinese by
preserving their own identity.
• They spent their summers in their homeland of
Manchuria, which was closed to the Chinese.
• They banned intermarriage among the Chinese.
• Continued to speak their own language.
• Did not make their documents available to the Chinese.
Strategy (part II)
• They retained military strength over the Chinese by
separating the duties of the Chinese troops and of the
Manchu troops. The Chinese were not trained as a
striking force.
• To keep the Mongols away, they first immobilized and
divided the Mongols under a similar fashion as the Ming
had done.
Clothing
• Required the Chinese men to shave their heads and
wear queues.
• They also required them to wear Manchu clothes rather
than the clothing style of the Ming Dynasty.
• The Qing did not require the Chinese women to change
their dress, yet they did forbid them to bind their feet.
This proved impossible to enforce and in 1668 A.D. the
ruling was withdrawn.
Agriculture
• A custom the Qing did not attempt to change.
• The Qing favored an isolationist policy, which proved
fatal.
• The lack of trade hurt China
economically.
History of
Qing Dynasty
“Latter Jin”
• One of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and
Ten Kingdoms Period in China
• Set up by Nurhachu, leader of the Man Ethnic Minority.
• Man people were the offspring of the Nuzhen people
who had always been living in Northeast China. After
reunifying all the Nuzhen tribes, Nurhachu proclaimed
himself emperor in 1616. Thus a new regime called
Latter Jin was founded in Hetu Ala (in current Liaoning
Province) during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the
Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644).
Formation of the Manchu State
• Nurhachi
- formed the Manchu State in the early 17th century
- 1609 - he declared himself Emperor of the Later Jin
- he expanded the state's economic and human resources as
well as technology by enslaving the Chinese inhabitants of
Manchuria
- 1625 – he established his capital at Shenyang
- 1626 - the following year he suffered his first major military defeat
to the Ming general Yuan Chonghuan
- Nurhaci died the same year. One of his most important
achievements was the creation of eight banner units responsible for
the civil and military administration of all its troops and their families.
After Nurhachi
• Hong Taiji
- son of Nurhachi, continued to build on his father’s
foundation
- adopted many Ming political institutions into his Manchu
state, but also provided for Manchu domination of those
institutions through a quota system
- Mongols surrendered to the Manchus and gave the great
seal of the Yuan Emperor to Hong Taiji
- 1636 - Hong Taiji renamed the state Qing (pure)
suggesting ambitions beyond Manchuria
- In a series of military campaigns, he won the submission
of Inner Mongolia, Korea and took control of the Amur
River (Heilongjiang) region
Conquest of China
• April 1644 - Beijing was sacked by a coalition
of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng
• Ming dynasty officially came to an end when
the last Ming emperor committed suicide by
hanging himself on a tree on the hill overlooking
the Forbidden City
• Li Zicheng led an army of 60,000 strong to
confront Wu Sangui, the general commanding
Ming's
100,000
strong
garrison
guarding Shanhaiguan
• Wu, caught between two enemies, decided to cast his
lots with the Manchus and made an alliance with
Dorgon, regent to the then six-year old Shunzhi, son of
Huang Taiji who had passed away the year before.
• May 27, 1644 - Together the two armies met Li Zicheng's
rebel forces in battle
• June 6 - Even though the rebel forces were routed, Wu's
army was so weakened by the day's fighting that he had
no choice but to join the Manchus forces as they
captured Beijing and began their conquest of the whole
of China.
• The process took another seventeen years of battling
Ming loyalists, pretenders and rebels.
….Forbidden City
Kangxi and Consolidation
• Controlling newly won empire a daunting task
- The vastness of China's territory meant that there were only
enough banner troops to garrison key cities forming the backbone of
a defense network that relied heavily on surrendered Ming soldiers.
• Kangxi
- Personally led China on a series of military campaigns against Tibet,
the Jüün Ghar, and later Russia.
- He arranged the marriage of his daughter to the Khan Gordhun to avoid
an invasion
- Civil order and recognition by the people of Qing was Kangxi's
foremost agenda.
By the end of the 17th century, China was at its most
powerful since the early Yuan Dynasty.
The Yongzheng & Qianlong emperors
• Yongzheng
– was a very hardworking ruler
– His first big step towards a stronger regime came when he
brought the State Examination System back to its original
standards
– 1724 - he cracked down on illegal exchange rates of coins,
which was being manipulated by officials to fit their financial
needs
– was known as harsh, and in many ways, ruthless
– did show trust in Han officials, and appointed many of his
proteges to prestigious positions
– Nian Gengyao was appointed to lead a military campaign
– Yonzheng's reign saw more consolidation of territory, a
toughened stance towards corrupt officials, and the creation of a
Military Affairs Department
– Yongzheng died in 1735, shortly after he ordered his third son, Hongshi,
to commit suicide. This was followed by the succession of his son
Hongli as the Qianlong Emperor.
– Qianlong was known as an able general. Succeeding the throne at the
age of 23, Qianlong personally led the military in campaigns
near Xinjiang and Mongolia. Revolts and uprisings in Sichuan and parts
of southern China were successfully calmed.
– Around fourty years into Qianlong's reign, the Qing government
saw a return of rampant corruption. Officials such as Ho Shen
was arguably one of the most corrupt in the entire Qing Dynasty.
He was eventually executed by Qianlong's son Jiaqing (r. 1796 1820).
The Rule of Empress Dowager Cixi
•
•
•
•
The Qing dynasty then proceeded to deal with problem of modernization, which it attempted with
the Self-Strengthening Movement
In the late 19th century a new leader emerged. Empress Dowager Cixi, who was the mother of
child emperor Tongzhi, and Aunt ofGuangxu successfully controlled the Qing government and was
the de facto leader of China for close to 40 years. She was known for her "behind the curtain"
participation in politics.
10 years into the reign of Guangxu (r. 1875 - 1908), western pressure was so big on China that
she forcefully gave up all sorts of power
In 1898 Guangxu attempted the Hundred Days' Reform (百日维新/戊戌变法
), in which new laws were put in place and some old rules were abolished.
Newer, more progressive-minded thinkers like Kang Youwei was trusted and
recognized conservative-minded people like Li Hongzhang were removed
from high positions. but the ideals were stifled by Cixi and Guangxu was
jailed in his own palace
• Cixi, on the other hand, only concentrated on her own power and
well being. At the occasion of her 60th Birthday she spend over 30
million taels of silver for the decorations & events, an unthinkable
amount even by today's terms.
• In 1901, following the murder of the German Ambassador, the
Alliance of Eight Nations (八國聯軍) entered China as a united
military force for the second time. Cixi reacted by declaring war on
all eight nations, only to see Beijing under their control within a short
period of time. Along with the Guangxu Emperor, she fled to Xi'an.
As a military compensation, the Alliance listed scores of demands
on the Qing Government, including an initial hitlist which had Cixi as
No. 1. Li Hongzhang was sent to negotiate and the Alliance backed
down from several of the demands.
Rebellion and Unrest
• 19th Century
- Qing control weakened
- Prosperity diminished
- China suffered massive social strife, economic stagnation,
and explosive population growth
• starting with the reign of the Daoguang Emperor (r. 1820 1850), Western penetration and influence was more freely
allowed into the country
• Britain's desire to continue its illegal opium trade with China
collided with imperial edicts prohibiting the addictive drug,
and the First Opium War erupted in 1840. China lost the war;
subsequently, Britain and other Western powers, including
the United States, forcibly occupied "concessions" and
gained special commercial privileges.
• Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842 under the Treaty of
Nanjing.
Fall of the Dynasty
• Mass civil disorder had also begun and
continuously grown.
• 1908 - Cixi and the Guangxu emperor both
died, leaving a relatively powerless and
unstable central authority
• October 10, 1911 – Wuchang Uprising
• Numerous provinces began "separating"
from Qing control
After The Fall Of Qing Dynasty
• The unorganized political and economic systems
combined with a widespread criticism of Chinese culture
led to questioning and doubt about the future.
• China's turbulent history since the overthrow of the Qing
may be understood at least in part as an attempt to
understand and recover significant aspects of historic
Chinese culture and integrate them with influential new
ideas that have emerged within the last century.
• In the 1930s, Imperial Japan invaded Manchuria (Manchu's
homeland) and founded Manchukuo in 1934, with Puyi, as
the nominal regent and emperor.
• After the invasion by the Soviet Union, Manchukuo
collapsed in 1945.
Or
de
r
Name
Notes
Reign Time
(years)
1
Emperor
Taizu
(Nurhachu)
Founder of the Latter Jin regime which later turned into the Qing regime; He
created the military organization called Banner System.
1616 - 1626
2
Emperor
Taizong
(Huang Taiji)
The eighth son of Nurhachu; actually the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty. He
moved the capital to Shenyang.
1626 - 1643
3
Emperor
Shunzhi
(Fulin)
Son of Huang Taiji; In his reign, the Qing army defeated the Ming Dynasty
(1368 - 1644) and moved the capital into Beijing.
1643 - 1661
4
Emperor
Kangxi
(Xuanye)
The third son of Emperor Shunzhi; One of the greatest emperors in the Qing
Dynasty; His reign was the beginning of the heyday of the Qing Dynasty.
1661 - 1722
5
Emperor
Yongzheng
(Yinzhen)
The fourth son of Emperor Kangxi; A fairly wise and competent emperor who
maintained the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty
1722 - 1735
6
Emperor
Qianlong
(Hongli)
Son of Emperor Yongzheng; Inheriting the prosperity brought by his
predecessors, his reign reached the zenith of the Qing Dynasty.
1735 - 1796
7
Emperor
Jiaqing
(Yongyun)
Son of Emperor Qianlong; He prosecuted the infamous corrupt official, He
Shen, who used to be a favorite chancellor of Emperor Qianlong.
1796 - 1820
8
Emperor
Daoguang
(Minning)
Son of Emperor Jiaqing; His reign saw the outbreak of the First Opium War
in 1840, from which China entered the modern history.
1820 1850
9
Emperor
Xianfeng
(Yizhu)
Son of Emperor Daoguang; In his reign, the Qing Dynasty apparently
began to decline. The well-known Taiping Rebellion broke out in that period.
1850 1861
10
Emperor
Tongzhi
(Zaichun)
Son of Emperor Xianfeng and Empress Dowager Cixi; died early
1861 1875
11
Emperor
Guangxu
(Zaitian)
Grandson of Emperor Daoguang; a progressive emperor who tried lots of
methods to save the declining Qing Dynasty
1875 1908
12
Emperor
Xuantong
(Puyi)
The last emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the last feudal monarch of
China; He was imprisoned at Shenyang till 1959 when Chairman Mao
remitted him.
1908 1911
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