Qing Dynasty

The Qing dynasty (1636-1912), sometimes known as the Manchu dynasty, was founded by a Manchu clan, the Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China. Qing dynasty emperors went on to extend their control over the Chinese provinces of the Ming dynasty and the surrounding territories of Inner Asia, establishing the Empire of the Great Qing (Chinese: 大淸帝國). The Qing was the last imperial dynasty of China, its emperors occupying their capital, Beijing, from 1644 until 1912, when, in the aftermath of the 1911 revolution, the last emperor abdicated and a new Republic of China was established.

Table of contents

1 Overview 2 Formation of the Manchu state 3 The conquest of China 4 Kangxi and Consolidation 5 The Yongzheng & Qianlong emperors 6 The 19th century 7 The First Opium War and colonialism 8 The fall of the Manchus 9 Qing society 10 Qing politics 11 The Qing military 12 Qing dynasty emperors 13 Other notable figures 14 Related topics

Overview

The 268 years of Qing dynasty China saw glorious successes, humiliating defeats, and profound changes to virtually all aspects of life. Today's China has in many ways been shaped by these experiences. The consolidation of Qing power was accompanied by territorial expansion, and the borders of modern China largely reflect successful Qing military campaigns. The incorporation of new lands and peoples required careful handling, and Manchu experience of nomadic culture and a willingness to adopt different postures toward different groups such as Mongols and Tibetans enhanced Qing diplomatic effectiveness. The seeds of the huge population increase were perhaps sown during the stability of the first 200 years of Qing rule, with its economic expansion, the opening up of new land for cultivation, and the spread of certain crops that were able to grow in poor quality soil. Many great works of art and literature originated during the period and the Qianlong emperor in particular undertook huge projects to preserve important cultural texts. The novel form became widely read and perhaps China's most famous novel, Dream of the Red Chamber, was written in the mid-eighteenth century. The Taiping Rebellion in the mid-nineteenth century was the first major instance of anti-Manchu sentiment threatening the stability of the Qing dynasty, a phenomenon that would only increase in the following years. However, the horrific number of casualties of this rebellion - as many as 30 million people may have died - and the complete devastation of a huge area in the south of the country have to a large extent been overshadowed by another significant conflict. Although not nearly as bloody, the outside world and its ideas and technologies had a tremendous and ultimately revolutionary impact on an increasingly weak and uncertain Qing state.

The collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912 brought an end to over 2000 years of imperial history in China and began an extended period of instability, not just at the national level but in many areas of peoples' lives. Obvious political and economic backwardness combined with 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. The Qing dynasty is the source of much of this magnificent culture, but its perceived humiliations also provide much from which to learn.

Formation of the Manchu state

The Manchu state was formed by Nurhaci in the early 17th century. Originally a vassal of the Ming, he declared himself Emperor of the Later Jin in 1609. In the same year, he expanded the state' economic and human resources as well as technology by enslaving the Chinese inhabitants of Manchuria. In 1625, Nurhaci established his capital at Shenyang] (also Shenjing; Manchu: Mukden), but 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 adminstration of all its troops and their families.

Nurhaci's successor Hong Taiji (Abahai) continued to build on his father's foundations, incorporating the first Chinese banners into his army. Hong Taiji also adopted many Ming political institutions into his Manchu state, but also provided for Manchu domination of those institutions through a quota system. When Lingdan Khan, the last grand-Khan of the Mongols, died on his way to Tibet in 1634, his son Ejei surrendered to the Manchus and gave the great seal of the Yuan Emperor to Hong Taiji. In 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.

The conquest of China

After years of civil unrest, the Ming capital Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng. The 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. After taking Beijing in April 1644, Li Zicheng led an army of 60,000 strong to confront Wu Sangui, the general commanding the Ming's 100,000 strong garrison stationed at Shanhaiguan (山海关). Shanhaiguan is the pivotal northeastern pass of the Great Wall of China located fify miles northeast of Beijing and for years its defenses were what kept the Manchus at bay and out of China. 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 Hong Taiji who had passed away the year before.

Together the two armies met Li Zicheng's rebel forces in battle on May 27, 1644. 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 on June 6 and began their conquest of the whole of China. The process took another seventeen years of battling Ming loyalists, pretenders and rebels. The last Ming pretender Prince Gui sought refuge in Burma but was turned over to a Qing expeditionary force headed by Wu Sangui who had him brought back to Yunnan province and executed in early 1662.

Kangxi and Consolidation

The Manchus found controlling their 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 defence network that relied heavily on surrendered Ming soldiers.

In addition, three surrendered Ming generals were singled out for their contributions to the Qing imperial cause, ennobled as feudal princes (藩王), and given governorships over vast territories in Southern China. The chief of whom was Wu Sangui, who was given the provinces of Yunnan, and Guizhou. While generals Shang Kexi (尚可喜) and Geng Zhongming (耿仲明) were given Guangdong and Fujian provinces respectively.

As the years went by, the three feudal princes and their territories inevitably became increasingly autonomous from central government. Finally in 1673 Shang Kexi petitioned Kangxi emperor stating his desire to retire to his home town in Liaodong (辽东) province and nominated his son in place for succession. The young Kangxi emperor granted his retirement but denied the heredity of his fief. In reaction, the two other generals decided to petition for their own retirements to test Kangxi's resolve thinking that he wouldn't risk offending them. The move backfried as the young emperor called their bluff by accepting their requests and ordered all three fiefdoms to be reverted back to the crown.

Faced with the stripping of their powers, Wu Sangui felt he had no choice but to raise up in revolt. He was joined by Di Zhongming and Shang Kexi's son Shang Zhixin (尚之信). The ensuing rebellion lasted for eight years. At the peak of the rebels' fortunes, they managed to extend their territories to as far north as the river Changjiang (长江). But ultimately, the Qing government was able to put down the rebellion and exert control over all of southern China.

Kangxi personally led China to a series of military campaigned against Tibet, the Zunghars, and later Russia. He arranged the marriage of his daughter to the Khan Gordhun to avoid an invasion. By the end of the 17th century China was at its highest point of power since the early Yuan Dynasty.

Taiwan was also taken by Qing forces in 1683 from Zheng Chenggong's son, Zheng Jing; the former had conquered it from the Dutch.

Kangxi had also handled many Jesuit Missionaries that have come to China in hope for mass conversion. Although that attempt had failed Kangxi still peacefully kept the missionaries in Beijing.

Civil Order and the recognition by the people of the Qing was the biggest agenda on Kangxi's mind.

The Yongzheng & Qianlong emperors

After Kangxi's death in the winter of 1722, his fourth son, Yinzhen (later to be known as Emperor Yongzheng) succeeded. Yongzheng remained a controversial character because of rumours about him usurping the throne. Nonetheless 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. He was also very hard on corrupt officials, of which many where executed or jailed duing his reign.

Yongzheng died in 1735, shortly after he ordered his third son, Hongshi, to commit suicide. This was followed by the succession of Qianlong as emperor.

The 19th century

One common view of the 19th century was that it was an era in which Qing control weakened, and prosperity diminished. China suffered massive social strife, economic stagnation, explosive population growth, and Western penetration and influence. 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. In addition, the Taiping rebellion and Nian rebellions, along with a Russian-supported Muslim independence movement in Xinjiang, drained Chinese resources and almost toppled the dynasty. .

The First Opium War and colonialism

Sovereign areas already hospitable to informal empire largely avoided formal rule during the shift to New Imperialism. China, for instance, was not a backward country unable to secure the prerequisite stability and security for western-style commerce, but a highly advanced empire unwilling to admit western (often drug-pushing) commerce, which may explain the West's contentment with informal 'Spheres of Influences'. China, unlike tropical Africa, was a securable market without formal control. Following the First Opium War, British commerce, and later capital invested by other newly industrializing powers, was securable with a smaller degree of formal control than in Southeast Asia, West Africa, and the Pacific. But in many respects, China was a colony and a large-scale receptacle of Western capital investments. Western powers did intervene military there to quell domestic chaos, such as the horrific Taiping Rebellion and the anti-imperialist Boxer Rebellion. For example, General Gordon, later the imperialist 'martyr' in the Sudan, is often accredited as having saved the Manchu dynasty from the Taiping insurrection.

The fall of the Manchus

In the late 19th century another leader emerged in the Qing to finally bring the dynasty to an end. Empress Dowager Cixi, who was the mother of child emperor Tongzhi, successfully controlled the Qing government and was the de facto leader of China for close to 40 years.

10 years into the reign of Guangxu, western pressure was so big on China that she forcefully gave up all sorts of power. Guangxu had
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