Qing Dynasty, 1662-1912
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Formation of the Manchu state
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The Qing Dynasty was founded not by the Han
Chinese who form the majority of the Chinese population,
but the Manchus, today an ethnic minority in China. A nomadic
people, the Manchus first rose to prominence in what is
now northeastern China. |
The Manchu state was formed by Nurhaci in the early 17th century.
Originally a vassal under the Ming Dynasty, he declared himself
Emperor of the Later Jin in 1609. In the same year, he expanded
the state's economic and human resources as well as technology
by enlisting the Han 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 the
Eight Banner system, under which all Manchus belonged to one of
the eight "Banners", which were civil as well as military units.
The Banners are so-named because each was represented by a distinctive
banner.
Nurhaci's successor Huang Taiji continued to build on his father's
foundations, incorporating the first Han banners into his army.
Huang 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 Ligden 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 Huang Taiji. In 1636, Huang Taiji renamed
the state Qing, meaning pure, suggesting ambitions beyond Manchuria.
The name Qing was chosen because the name of the Ming Dynasty
(?) is composed of the characters for sun (?) and moon (?), which
are associated with the fire element. The character Qing (?) is
composed of the water (?) radical and the character for green
(?), which are both associated with the water element. In a series
of military campaigns, Huang Taiji won the submission of Inner
Mongolia and Korea before proceeding to take control of the Heilongjiang
region, situated around the Black Dragon River.
Claiming the Mandate of Heaven
Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng.
The Ming Dynasty officially came to an end when the Chongzhen
Emperor of China, the last Ming Emperor, committed suicide by
hanging himself on a tree on Coal Hill overlooking the Forbidden
City. After taking Beijing in April, 1644, Li Zicheng led an army
of 600,000 strong to confront Wu Sangui, the general commanding
Ming's 100,000-strong garrison guarding Shanhaiguan (???). Shanhaiguan
is the pivotal northeastern pass of the Great Wall of China located
fifty miles northeast of Beijing and for years its defenses were
what kept the Manchus outside of the capital. Wu, caught between
two enemies, decided to cast his lot with the Manchus and made
an alliance with Prince Dorgon, regent to the then six-year old
Emperor Shunzhi, son of Emperor Huang Taiji who had died the year
before.
Together, the two armies defeated Li Zicheng's rebel forces in
battle on May 27, 1644. The process took another seventeen years
of battling Ming loyalists, pretenders and rebels. The last Ming
pretender, Prince Gui, sought refuge in Burma, now modern Myanmar,
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 Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662 - 1722)
assumed the throne at age eight. During the early years
of his reign, he was largely aided by his grandmother, the
Grand Empress Dowager, Xiaozhuang.
The Manchus found controlling the "Mandate of Heaven" a
daunting task. The vastness of China's territory meant that
there were only enough banner troops to garrison key cities |
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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 establishment of the Qing dynasty,
ennobled as feudal princes , and given governorships over vast
territories in Southern China. The chief of these was Wu Sangui
, who was given the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, while generals
Shang Kexi and Geng Zhongming were given the Guangdong and Fujian
provinces, respectively.
As the years went by, the three feudal lords and their territories
inevitably became increasingly autonomous. Finally, in 1673, Shang
Kexi petitioned Kangxi Emperor, stating his desire to retire to
his hometown in Liaodong (??) province and nominating his son
as his successor. The young 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 would not risk offending them. The move
backfired as the young emperor called their bluff by accepting
their requests and ordering 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 rise up in revolt. He was joined by Geng Zhongming
and by Shang Kexi's son Shang Zhixin . The ensuing rebellion lasted
for eight years. At the peak of the rebels' fortunes, they managed
to extend their control as far north as the Yangtze River . Ultimately,
though, the Qing government was able to put down the rebellion
and exert control over all of southern China. The rebellion would
be known in Chinese history as the Revolt of the Three Feudatories.
To consolidate the empire, Kangxi Emperor personally led China
on a series of military campaigns against Tibet, the Dzungars,
and later Russia. He arranged the marriage of his daughter to
the Mongol Khan Gordhun to avoid a military conflict. Gordhun's
military campaign against the Qing failed, further strengthening
the Empire. Taiwan was also conquered by Qing Empire forces in
1683 from Zheng Jing's son, Zheng Ke-Shuang; the former (his grandfather
Koxinga) had conquered it from the Dutch colonists. By the end
of the 17th century, China was at the height of its most power
since the early Ming Dynasty.
Kangxi Emperor also handled many Jesuit Missionaries that came
to China hoping for mass conversions. Although they failed in
their attempt, Kangxi peacefully kept the missionaries in Beijing.
The Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors
Pilgrim flask, porcelain with underglaze blue and iron-red decoration.
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period in the 18th century.
The reigns of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723 - 1735) and his son
the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735 - 1796) marked the height of Qing's
power. During this period, the Qing Dynasty ruled over 13 million
square kilometres of territory.
After the Kangxi Emperor's death in the winter of 1722, his fourth
son Prince Yong succeeded him as the Yongzheng Emperor. Yongzheng
remained a controversial character because of rumours about him
usurping the throne, and in the late Kangxi years, he was involved
in great political struggles with his brothers. Yongzheng was
a hardworking administrator who ruled with an iron hand. His first
big step towards a stronger regime came when he brought the State
Examination System back to its original standards. In 1724, he
cracked down on illegal exchange rates of coins, which was being
manipulated by officials to fit their financial needs. Those who
were found in violation of new laws on finances were removed from
office, or in extreme cases, executed.
Yongzheng showed a great amount of trust in Han officials, and
appointed many of his proteges to prestigious positions. Nian
Gengyao was appointed to lead a military campaign in place of
his brother Yinti in Qinghai. Nian's arrogant actions, however,
led to his downfall in 1726. Yongzheng's reign saw consolidation
of imperial power at its height in Chinese history. More territory
was incorporated in the Northwest. A toughened stance was directed
towards corrupt officials, and Yongzheng led the creation of a
Grand Council, which grew to become the de facto Cabinet for the
rest of the dynasty.
The Yongzheng Emperor died in 1735. This was followed by the succession
of his son Prince Bao (???) as the Qianlong Emperor. Qianlong
was known as an able general. Succeeding the throne at the age
of 24, Qianlong personally led the military in campaigns near
Xinjiang and Mongolia. Revolts and uprisings in Sichuan and parts
of southern China were successfully put down.
Around forty years into Qianlong's reign, the Qing government
saw a return of rampant corruption. The official Heshen was arguably
one of the most corrupt in the entire Qing Dynasty. He was eventually
forced into committing suicide by Qianlong's son, the Jiaqing
Emperor (r. 1796 - 1820).
Rebellion, unrest and external pressure
A common view of 19th century China is that it was an era in which
Qing control weakened and prosperity diminished. Indeed, China
suffered massive social strife, economic stagnation, and explosive
population growth which placed an increasing strain on the food
supply. Historians offer various explanations for these events,
but the basic idea is that Qing power was, over the course of
the century, faced with internal problems and foreign pressure
which were simply too much for the antiquated Chinese government,
bureaucracy, and economy to deal with.
Flag of Qing Dynasty, 1890-1912
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--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.
One of the major issues affecting nineteenth-century China was
the question of how to deal with other countries. Prior to the
nineteenth-century, the Chinese empire was the hegemonic power
in Asia. Under its imperial theory, the Chinese emperor had the
rights to rule "all under heaven". Depending on the period and
dynasty, it either ruled territories directly or neighbors fell
under its hierarchical tributary system. Historians often refer
to the underlying concept of Chinese empire as "an empire with
no boundary." However, the eighteenth century saw the European
empires gradually expand across the world, as European states
developed stronger economies built on maritime trade. European
colonies had been established in nearby India and on the islands
that are now part of Indonesia, whilst the Russian Empire had
annexed the areas north of China. During the Napoleonic Wars,
Great Britain attempted to forge an alliance with China, sending
a fleet to Hong Kong with gifts for the Emperor, including examples
of the latest European technologies and art. When the British
delegation received a letter from Peking explaining that China
was unimpressed with European achievements, and that George III
was welcome to pay homage to the Chinese court, the deeply offended
British government aborted all further attempts to reconcile relations
with the Qing regime.
In 1793, the Qing regime had officially stated that China had
no use for European manufactured products. Subsequently, leading
Chinese merchants only accepted bar silver as payment for their
goods. The huge demand in Europe for Chinese goods such as silk,
tea, and ceramics could only be met if European companies funnelled
their limited supplies of silver into China. By the late 1830's,
the governments of Great Britain and France were deeply concerned
about their stockpiles of precious metals and sought alternate
trading schemes with China - the foremost of which was addicting
China with opium. When the Qing regime tried to ban the opium
trade in 1838, Great Britain declared war on China.
The First Opium War revealed the outdated state of the Chinese
military. Although China's army overwhelmingly outnumbered the
British, their technology and tactics were hopelessly inadequate
for a war against the world's leading technological power. The
Qing navy, composed entirely of wooden sailing junks, was no match
for the steam-powered ironclad battleships of the Royal Navy.
British soldiers, using modern rifles and artillery, easily outmanoeuvred
and outgunned Qing forces in ground battles. The Qing surrender
in 1842 marked a decisive, humiliating blow to China. The Treaty
of Nanking, which demanded reparation payments, allowed unrestricted
European access to Chinese ports, and ceded the island of Hong
Kong to Great Britain. It revealed many inadequacies in the Qing
government and provoked widespread rebellions against the regime.
The Western powers, largely unsatisfied with the Treaty of Nanking,
only gave grudging support to the Qing government during the Taiping
and Nian Rebellions. China's income fell sharply during the wars
as vast areas of farmland were destroyed, millions of lives lost,
and countless armies raised and equipped to fight the rebels.
In 1854, Great Britain tried to re-negotiate the Treaty of Nanking,
inserting clauses allowing British commercial access to Chinese
rivers and the creation of a permanent British embassy at Peking.
This last clause outraged the Qing regime, who refused to sign,
provoking another war with Britain. The Second Opium War ended
in another crushing Chinese defeat, whilst the Treaty of Tianjin
contained clauses deeply insulting to the Chinese, such as a demand
that all official Chinese documents be written in English and
a proviso granting British warships unlimited access to all navigable
Chinese rivers.
The rule of Empress Dowager Cixi
In the late 19th century, a new
leader emerged. The Empress Dowager Cixi, concubine to the
Emperor Xianfeng (r. 1850-1861), the mother of child emperor
Tongzhi, and Aunt of Guangxu successfully controlled the
Qing government and was the de facto leader of China for
47 years. She staged a coup d'état to oust the regency led
by Sushun appointed by the late Emperor. She was known for
"ruling behind the curtain" in Qing politics. (or telling
her son, the emperor, what to do behind a curtain)
By the 1860s, the Qing dynasty had put down the rebellions
with the help of militia organized by the gentry. The Qing
government then proceeded to deal with problem of modernization,
which it attempted with the Self-Strengthening Movement. |
Empress Dowager Cixi |
Several modernized armies were formed including the much renowned
Beiyang Army; however the fleets of "Beiyang" were annihilated
in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), which produced calls for
greater and more extensive reform. After the start of the 20th
century, the Qing Dynasty was in a dilemma. It could proceed with
reform and thereby alienate the conservative gentry or it could
stall reform and thereby alienate the revolutionaries. The Qing
Dynasty tried to follow a middle path, but proceeded to alienate
everyone.
Ten years into the reign of Guangxu (r. 1875 - 1908), western
pressure on China was so great that she forcefully gave up all
sorts of power. In 1898 Guangxu attempted the Hundred Days' Reform,
in which new laws were put in place and some old rules were abolished.
Newer, more progressive-minded thinkers like Kang Youwei were
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, concentrated
on centralizing her own power base. At the occasion of her 60th
Birthday, she spent over 30 million taels of silver for the decorations
& events, funds that were originally to improve the weaponry of
the Beiyang Navy.
In 1901, following the murder of the German Ambassador, the Eight-Nation
Alliance (????) entered China as a united military force for the
second time. Cixi reacted by declaring war on all eight nations,
only to lose 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 hit list which had
Cixi as No. 1. Li Hongzhang was sent to negotiate and the Alliance
backed down from several of the demands.
Qing government and society
Politics
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The most important administrative body
of the Qing dynasty was the Trung Council which was a
body composed of the emperor and high officials. The Qing
dynasty was characterized by a system of dual appointments
by which each position in the central government had a
Manchu and a Han assigned to it.
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Qing China in 1892 |
During the Qianlong Emperor's reign, for example, members of his
family were distinguished by garments with a large circular emblem
on the back, whereas a Han could only hope to wear clothing with
a square emblem; this meant effectively that any guard in the
court could immediately distinguish family members from the back
view alone.
With respect to Mongolia, Tibet, and Eastern Turkestan, like other
dynasties before it the Qing maintained imperial control, with
the emperor acting as Mongol khan, patron of Tibetan Buddhism
and protector of Muslims. However, Qing policy changed with the
establishment of Xinjiang province in 1884. In response to British
and Russian military action in Xinjiang and Tibet, the Qing sent
Army units which performed remarkably well against British units.
The abdication of the Qing emperor inevitably led to the controversy
about the status of territories in Tibet and Mongolia. It was
and remains the position of Mongols and Tibetan nationalists,
that because they owed allegiance to the Qing monarch, that with
the abdication of the Qing, they owed no allegiance to the new
Chinese state. This position was rejected by the Republic of China
and subsequent People's Republic of China which based their claims
on the fact that these areas were integral parts of Chinese dynasties
even before the Qing. Regardless of Hans, Manchus, Mongols, or
other ethnic groups, they all established Sino-centric based dynasties,
and claimed their legitimacy and history as part of imperial China
over the last two thousands years. The Western powers accepted
the latter theory, partly in order to prevent a scramble for China.
Bureaucracy
The Qing Dynasty inherited many important institutions from the
preceding Ming dynasty. The formal structure of the Qing government
centred around the Emperor as the absolute ruler, who presided
over six ministries (or boards), each headed by two presidents
(Ch: Shàngshu, Ma: Aliha amban) and assisted by four vice presidents
(Ch: Shìláng, Ma: Ashan i amban). In contrast to the Ming system,
however, Qing ethnic policy dictated that appointments were split
between Manchu noblemen and Han officials who had passed the highest
levels of the state examinations. The Grand Secretariat (Ch: Nèigé,
Ma: Dorgi yamun), which had been an important policy making body
during Ming, lost its importance during Qing and evolved into
an imperial chancery. The institutions which had been inherited
from the Ming dynasty formed the core of the Qing "outer court",
which handled routine matters and was located in the southern
part of the Forbidden City.
In order not to let the routine administration take over the running
of the empire, the Manchu Qing emperors made sure that all important
matters were decided in the "Inner Court," which was dominated
by the imperial family and Manchu nobility and which was located
in the northern part of the Forbidden City. A central part of
the inner court was the Grand Council, a body initially in charge
of military and intelligence matters, but which later assumed
the role of supervising all government departments. Ministers
posted to the Grand Council served as the emperor's privy council
and they were collectively known as privy councillors.[1]
The six ministries and their respective areas of responsibilities
were as follows:
Board of Civil Appointments
(Ch: Lìbù, Ma: Hafan i jurgan) - The personnel administration
of all civil officials - including evaluation, promotion, and
dismissal. It was also in charge of the 'honours list'.
Board of Finance
(Ch: Hùbù, Ma: Boigon i jurgan) - The literal translation
of the Chinese word 'hù'(?)is 'household'. For much of the Qing
Dynasty's history, the government's main source of revenue came
from taxation on landownership supplemented by official monopolies
on essential household items such as salt and tea. Thus, in the
predominantly agrarian Qing dynasty, the 'household' was the basis
of imperial finance. The department was charged with revenue collection
and the financial management of the government.
Board of Rites
(Ch: Libù, Ma: Dorolon i jurgan) - This was responsible for all
matters concerning protocol at court, which included not just
the periodic worshipping of ancestors and various gods by the
Emperor -- in his capacity as the "Son of Heaven" (Tianzi, ??),
to ensure the smooth running of the empire -- but also looking
after the welfare of visiting ambassadors from tributary nations.
The Chinese concept of courtesy (li, ?), as taught by Confucius,
was considered an integral part of education. An intellect was
said to "know of books and courtesy (rites)" ("????"). Thus, the
ministry's other function was to oversee the nationwide civil
examination system for entrance to the bureaucracy. Because democracy
was unknown to pre-Republican China, neo-Confucian philosophy
saw state sponsored exams as the way to legitimize a regime by
allowing the intelligentsia participation in an otherwise autocratic
and unelected system.
Board of War
| (Ch: Bingbù, Ma: Coohai jurgan) - Unlike its
Ming Dynasty predecessor, which had full control over all
military matters, the Qing Dynasty Board of War had very
limited powers. First, the Eight Banners were under the
direct control of the Emperor and hereditary Manchu and
Mongolian princes, leaving the ministry only with authority
over the Green Standard Armies. Furthermore, the ministry's
functions were purely administrative - campaigns and troop
movements were monitored and directed by the Emperor, first
through the Manchu ruling council, and later through the
Grand Council. |
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Board of Punishments
(Ch: Xíngbù, Ma: Beidere jurgan) - The Board of Punishments handled
all legal matters, including the supervision of various law courts
and prisons. The Qing legal framework was relatively weak compared
to modern day legal systems, as there was no separation of executive
and legislative branches of government. The legal system could
be inconsistent, and, at times, arbitrary, because the emperor
ruled by decree and had final say on all judicial outcomes. Emperors
could (and did) overturn judgements of lower courts from time
to time. Fairness of treatment was also an issue under the apartheid
system practised by the Manchu government over the Han Chinese
majority. To counter these inadequacies and keep the population
in line, the Qing maintained a very harsh penal code towards the
Han populace, but it was no more severe than previous Chinese
dynasties.
Board of Works
(Ch: Gongbù, Ma: Weilere jurgan) - The Board of Works handled
all governmental building projects, including palaces, temples
and the repairs of waterways and flood canals. It was also in
charge of minting coinage.
In addition to the six boards, there was a Court of Colonial Affairs
unique to the Qing government. This institution was established
to supervise the administration of Tibet and the Mongolian lands.
As the empire expanded, it took over administrative responsibility
of all minority ethnic groups living in and around the empire,
including early contacts with Russia--then seen as a tribute nation.
The office had the status of a full ministry and was headed by
officials of equal rank. However, appointees were at first restricted
only to candidates of Manchurian and Mongolian ethnicity.
Even though the Board of Rites and the Court of Colonial Affairs
performed some duties of a foreign office, they fell short of
developing into a professional foreign service. This stemmed from
the traditional imperial world view of seeing China as the centre
of the world and viewing all foreigners as uncivilized barbarians
unworthy of equal diplomatic status. It was not until 1861--a
year after losing the Second Opium War to the Anglo-French coalition--that
the Qing government bowed to foreign pressure and created a proper
foreign affairs office known by as the Zongli Yamen. The office
was originally intended to be temporary and was staffed by officials
seconded from the Grand Council. However, as dealings with foreigners
became increasingly complicated and frequent, the office grew
in size and importance, aided by revenue from customs duties which
came under its direct jurisdiction.
Military
Beginnings and early development
The development of Qing military system can be divided into two
broad periods separated by the Taiping rebellion (1850 - 1864).
Early Qing military was rooted in the Manchu banners first developed
by Nurhachi as a way to organize Manchurian society beyond petty
clan affiliations. There were eight banners in all, differentiated
by colours. The banners in their order of precedence were as follows:
Yellow, Bordered Yellow (ie yellow banner with red border), White,
Red, Bordered White, Bordered Red, Blue, & Bordered Blue. The
Yellow, Bordered Yellow, and White banners were collectively known
as the 'Upper Three Banners' and were under the direct command
of the Emperor. Only Manchus belonging to the Upper Three Banners,
and selected Han Chinese who had passed the highest level of military
exams were qualified to serve as the Emperor's personal bodyguards.
The remaining banners were known as 'The Lower Five Banners' and
were commanded by hereditary Manchurian princes descended from
Nurhachi's immediate family, known informally as the 'Iron Cap
Princes' . Together they formed the ruling council of the Manchu
nation as well as high command of the army. In 1730, the Yongzheng
Emperor established the Grand Council (Ch: Junjichù Ma: Cooha
nashun i ba) at first to direct day to day military operations,
but gradually Junjichu took over other military and administrative
duties and served to centralize authority to the crown. However,
the Iron Cap Princes continued to exercise considerable influence
over the political and military affairs of Qing government well
into the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
As Qing power expanded north of the Great Wall in the last years
of the Ming dynasty, the banner system was expanded by Nurhachi's
son and successor Hong Taiji to include mirrored Mongolian and
Han Banners. As they gained control of territories formerly under
Ming rule, the relatively small Banner armies were further augmented
by the Green Standard Army (???) which eventually outnumbered
banner troops three to one. The Green Standard Army so-named after
the colour of their battle standards was made up of those ethnic
Han troops previously under Ming command who had surrendered to
the Qing. They were led by a mix of Banner and Green Standard
officers. The Banners and Green Standard troops were standing
armies, paid for by central government. In addition, regional
governors from provincial down to village level maintained their
own irregular local militias for police duties and disaster relief.
These militias were usually granted small annual stipends from
regional coffers for part-time service obligations. They received
very limited military drill if at all and were not considered
combat troops.
There were three different military groups, including the tuanlian,
gentry, and the government army. During the social disorder in
the 1840-60s Canton empowered the local gentry. When the regular
defence system failed to beat away the strong foreign armies and
rebels after the Opium War, the Qing government had to approve
the gentry control of local militia (tuanlian). The establishment
of tuanlian eventually shifted the local balance of power in favour
of the gentry for the first time. The recruitment of militia during
the Taiping years placed new judicial and fiscal power in the
hands of the local gentry. Moreover, after the rebels were repressed,
it was difficult to get the local notables to give up the power
in their hands, especially since the government was too weak to
take it back at that time.
Banner Armies were divided along ethnic lines, namely Manchurian
and Mongolian. Although there existed a third branch of Han bannermen
made up of those who had joined the Manchus before the establishment
of the Qing dynasty, Han bannermen were never regarded by the
government as equal to the other two branches due to their late
addition to the Manchu cause as well as their Han Chinese ancestry.
The nature of their service - mainly as infantry, artillery and
sappers, was also seen as alien to the Manchurian nomadic traditions
of fighting as cavalry. After the conquest the military roles
played by Han Bannermen were quickly subsumed by the Green Standard
Army. The Han Banners ceased to exist altogether after Emperor
Yongzheng's Banner registration reforms aimed at cutting down
imperial expenditures. The socio-military origins of the Banner
system meant that population within each branch and their sub-divisions
were hereditary and rigid. Only under special circumstances sanctioned
by imperial edict were social movements between banners permitted.
In contrast, the Green Standard Army was originally intended to
be a professional force. However during protracted period of peace
in China from the 18th to mid 19th century, recruits from farming
communities dwindled, due partly to Neo-Confucianism's negative
stance on military careers. In order to maintain strengths, the
Green Standard Army began to internalize, and gradually became
hereditary in practice.
After defeating the remnants of the Ming forces, the Manchu Banner
Army of approximately 200,000 strong at the time was evenly divided;
half was designated the Forbidden Eight Banner Army ( Jìnlu Baqí)and
was stationed in Beijing. It served both as the capital's garrison
and Qing government's main strike force. The remainder of the
Banner troops was distributed to guard key cities in China. These
were known as the Territorial Eight Banner Army ( Zhùfáng Baqí).
The Manchu rulers, keenly aware of their own minority status,
reinforced a strict policy of racial segregation between the Manchus
and Mongols from Han for fear of their being assimilated by Han.
This policy applied directly to the Banner garrisons, most of
which occupied a separate walled zone within the cities they were
stationed at. In cities where there were limitation of space such
as in Qingzhou , a new fortified town would be purposely erected
to house the Banner garrison and their families. Beijing being
the imperial seat, the Regent Dorgon had the entire Chinese population
forcibly relocated to the southern suburbs later known as the
"Outer Citadel" (wàichéng). The northern walled city called "Inner
Citadel" (nèichéng) was portioned out to the remaining Manchu
eight Banners, each responsibled for guarding a section of the
Inner Citadel surrounding the Forbidden City palace complex (Zijìnchéng).
The policy of posting Banner troops as territorial garrison was
not to protect but to inspire awe in the subjugated populace at
the expense of their expertise as cavalry. As a result, after
a century of peace and lack of field training the Manchurian Banner
troops had deteriorated greatly in their combat worthiness. Secondly,
before the conquest the Manchu banner was a 'citizen' army, and
its members were Manchu farmers and herders obligated to provide
military service to the state at times of war. The Qing government's
decision to turn the banner troops into a professional force whose
every welfare and need was met by state coffers brought wealth,
and with it corruption, to the rank and file of the Manchu Banners
and hastened its decline as a fighting force. This was mirrored
by a similar decline in the Green Standard Army. During peace
time, soldiering became merely a source of supplementary income.
Soldiers and commanders alike neglected training in pursuit of
their own economic gains. Corruption was rampant as regional unit
commanders submitted pay and supply requisitions based on exaggerated
head counts to the quartermaster department and pocketed the difference.
When the Taiping rebellion broke out in 1850s the Qing Court found
out belatedly that the Banner and Green Standards troops could
neither put down internal rebellions nor keep foreign invaders
at bay.
Transition and modernization
| Early during the Taiping rebellion, Qing forces
suffered a series of disastrous defeats culminating in the
loss of the regional capital city of Nanjing in 1853. The
rebels massacred the entire Manchu garrison and their families
in the city and made it their capital. Shortly thereafter
a Taiping expeditionary force penetrated as far north as
the suburbs of Tianjin in what was considered Imperial heartlands. |
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In desperation the court ordered a Chinese mandarin Zeng Guofan
to organize regional and village militias (Tuányong ?? and Xiangyong
) into a standing army to contain the rebellion. Zen's strategy
was to rely on local gentries to raise a new type of military
organization from those provinces that the Taiping rebels directly
threatened. This new force became known as the Xiang Army , named
after Hunan region where it was raised. Xiang Army was a hybrid
of local militia and a standing army. It was given professional
training, but was paid for by regional coffers and funds its commanders--mostly
Chinese gentries--could muster. Xiang Army and its successor the
"Huai" Army created by Zen's colleague and 'pupil' Li Hongzhang
were collectively called Yongying .
Prior to forming and commanding the Xian Army, Zen had no military
experience. Being a classically educated Mandarin his blueprint
for the formation of the Xian Army was copied from a historical
source--the Ming Dynasty General Qi JiGuan who because of the
weakness of the regular Ming troops had decided to form his own
'private' army to repel raiding Japanese pirates in the mid 16th
century. Qi's doctrine relied heavily on Neo-Confucian ideas of
binding the troops' loyalty to their immediate superiors and also
to the regions which they were raised. This initially gave the
troops a certain esprit de corps. However, it must be pointed
out that Qi's Army was an ad hoc solution for a specific problem--combating
pirates, as was Zen's original intend for the Xiang Army--to eradicate
the Taiping rebels. However, circumstances saw that the Yongying
system became a permanent institution within the Qing military,
which in the long run created problems of its own for the beleaguered
central government.
Qing troops training in Western drill |
Firstly, Yongying system signalled
the end of Manchu dominance in Qing military establishment.
Although the Banners and Green Standard armies lingered
on as parasites depleting resources much needed by the rest
of Qing administration, hence-forth theYongying corps were |
Qing government's de facto first-line troops. Secondly the Yongying
corps were financed through provincial coffers and were led by
regional commanders. This devolution of power weakened the central
government's grip on the whole country, and was further aggravated
by foreign powers vying to carve up autonomous colonial territories
in different parts of the Empire. However despite its negative
effects the measure was deemed necessary at the time as tax revenue
from provinces occupied and threatened by rebels had ceased to
reach the by then perpetually cash-strapped central government.
Finally, the nature of Yongying command structure fostered nepotism
and cronyism amongst its commanders whom as they ascended up the
bureaucratic ranks laid the seeds to Qing's eventual demise and
the outbreak of regional "warlordism" in China during the first
half of the twentieth century.
| By late 19th century, China was fast descending
into a semi-colonial state. Even the most conservative elements
in the Qing court could no longer ignore China's military
weakness in contrast to the foreign "barbarians" literally
beating down its gates. |
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In 1860, during the Second Opium War the capital Beijing was captured
and the (Old) Summer Palace sacked by a relatively small Anglo-French
coalition force numbering 25,000. Although the Chinese pride themselves
as the inventor of gunpower, and firearms had been in continual
use in Chinese warfare since as far back as the Sung Dynasty,
the advent of modern weaponry resulting from the European Industrial
Revolution, such as the grooved rifle barrel (1855), Maxim gun
(1885), and steam driven battleships (1890s) had rendered China's
traditionally trained and equipped army and navy obsolete. The
Qing dynasty had attempted to modernize during the Self-Strengthening
Movement, but these efforts were in the view of most historians
of the early and mid twentieth century, piecemeal and yielding
little in lasting results. Various reasons for the apparent failure
of late-Qing modernization have advanced including the lack of
funds, lack of political will, and unwillingness to depart from
traditional. These reasons remain disputed with some historians
of the late 20th century and early 21st century questioning whether
in fact the Qing did fail to modernize and emphasizing accomplishments
of the late-Qing and the general difficulty that nations have
had in economic development. Wakeman, Fredric. China in Disintegration.
Losing the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 - 1895 was a watershed for
the Qing government. Japan, a country long regarded by the Chinese
as little more than an upstart nation of pirates, had convincingly
beaten its larger neighbour and in the process annihilated the
Qing government's pride and joy--it's modernized Beiyang Fleet
then deemed to be the strongest naval force in Asia. In doing
so, Japan became the first Asian country to join the previously
exclusively western ranks of colonial powers. The defeat was a
rude awakening to the Qing court especially when set in the context
that it occurred a mere three decades after the Meiji reforms
set a feudal Japan on course to emulate the Western nations in
their economic and technological achievements. Finally, in December
1894, the Qing government took some concrete steps to reform military
institutions and to re-train selected units in westernized drills,
tactics and weaponry. These units were collectively called the
New Army . The most successful of which was the Beiyang Army under
the overall supervision and control of an ex-Huai Army commander,
the Han Chinese general Yuan Shikai , who exploited his position
to eventually become Republic president, dictator and finally
abortive emperor of China.
Fall of the dynasty
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By the early 20th century, mass civil disorder
had begun and continuously grown. Cixi and the Guangxu emperor
both died in 1908, leaving a relatively powerless and unstable
central authority. Puyi, the eldest son of Zaifeng, Prince
Chun, was appointed successor at age two, leaving Zaifeng
with the regency. This was followed by the dismissal of
General Yuan Shikai from his former positions of power. |
In mid 1911 Zaifeng created the "Imperial Family Cabinet", a ruling
council of the Imperial Government almost entirely consisting
of Aisin Gioro relatives. This brought a wide range of negative
opinion from senior officials like Zhang Zhidong.
The Wuchang Uprising succeeded on October 10, 1911, and was followed
by a proclamation of a separate central government, the Republic
of China, in Nanjing with Sun Yat-sen as its provisional head.
Numerous provinces began "separating" from Qing control. Seeing
a desperate situation unfold, the Qing government brought an unwilling
Yuan Shikai back to military power, taking control of his Beiyang
Army, with the initial goal of crushing the revolutionaries. After
taking the position of Prime Minister and creating his own cabinet,
Yuan went as far as to ask for the removal of Zaifeng from the
regency. This removal later proceeded with directions from Empress
Dowager Longyu.
With Zaifeng gone, Yuan Shi-kai and his Beiyang commanders effectively
dominated Qing politics. He reasoned that going to war would be
unreasonable and costly, especially when noting that the Qing
Government had a goal for constitutional monarchy. Similarly,
Sun Yat-sen's government wanted a Republican constitutional reform,
both aiming for the benefit of China's economy and populace. With
permission from Empress Dowager Longyu, Yuan began negotiating
with Sun Yat-sen, who decided that his goal had been achieved
in forming a republic, and that therefore he could allow Yuan
to step into the position of President of the Republic. In 1912,
after rounds of negotiations, Longyu issued the Imperial Edict
bringing about the abdication of the child emperor Puyi.
The collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912 brought an end to over
2000 years of imperial 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.
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