The Great Qing Dynasty (清朝, 1644–1912)
Founded by Jurchens
Qing Dynasty [Minneapolis Institute of Arts]
The Qing Dynasty is officially known as the Great Qing (大清). It is the last of the Chinese dynasties and was founded by a Jianzhou Jurchen (建州女真) by the name of Nurhaci (努尔哈赤, 1559–1626) from the House of Aisin-Gioro (爱新觉罗). From 1616 to 1626, he ruled as the first Khan of the Later Jin (后金) Dynasty and laid the foundation for his son, Hong Taiji (皇太极, 1592–1643) for the founding the Qing Dynasty.
One of his most well-known accomplishments was organising the various Jurchen tribes into the Eight Banners (八旗), which served as administrative divisions during peacetime and military divisions during war. This would later become a defining element of the Manchu identity.
Qing means Pure Water
The Qing conquerors were Jurchens from the northeast of China. To distinguish them from the Jurchens of the Great Jin Dynasty (大金, 1115–1234), historians called them the Later Jin (后金).
In 1635, Hong Taiji (皇太极), second Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, changed the name of his people from Jurchen (女真) to the Manchu (满族). It was believed that close ties to the Jurchens who carried out the Jingkang Humiliation (靖康之耻) might invoke hostility from the ethnic Han Chinese. Furthermore, many still viewed the Southern Song Dynasty, which ran parallel to the Great Jin Dynasty, as the legitimate ruler of China at the time. Since Hong Taiji's ambition was to rule over China proper, he needed the cooperation of the Han, not only in obeying his rule but also in helping him run the bureaucratic administration; thus, he wanted to remove the negative connotation associated with being Jurchens.
The following year, Hong Taiji changed the (Later) Jin Dynasty to the Great Qing Dynasty (大清). When this change was made, the Ming was still the official ruler of China. According to the Five Elements (五行), the Chinese character of 明 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Ming) was associated with fire, and the best element to overcome fire was water. Thus, the Chinese character with the three strokes of water symbol on its left-hand side, 清 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Qing), was chosen, hoping, with the help of the elements in the cosmos, to put out the fire of the Ming. Furthermore, the word carries the meaning of Clear and Transparency, which is what the new ruler wished for in his regime.
Sinicisation versus preservation of Manchu culture
The Manchu population was small. In 1644, their population was about 250,000 compared to the Chinese people of 150 million, outnumbered by over one hundred to one. In addition to not having the military dominance that the Mongols had, the Chinese culture they were facing was also far more advanced than that of their own. Thus, the Mancus saw Sinification as the best way to stabilise a nation in chaos and legitimise their rule over the mass majority. In practice, the Mancus adapted most of the Ming's government structure and military organisations and accepted Neo-Confucianism as the orthodox philosophy of the regime.
During their early days in the Middle Kingdom, while they actively absorbed the Han culture, they also tried hard to guard off complete Sinification by strongly advocating for Manchu customs. One example is the issuance of the Queue Order (剃发令), where the Manchus violently forced the Han men to shave their foreheads; compliance to the Order was seen as a sign of submission to the new ruler. The Han was given ten days to comply or face the penalty of death. One of the most well-known slogans at the time was: Cut the hair and keep the head, or keep the hair and cut the head (留发不留头，留头不留发).
By the reign of Emperor Qian-long (乾隆皇帝, reign 1735–1796), most of the Manchus were well assimilated into the Han culture. John Wen-djang Chu (1914–1997), Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh, summarised this well, "In 1644, when a small but strong army of Manchus stormed over the Great Wall, they were sturdy horsemen and sharp-shooters. They were brave and ready to fight. But by 1844, this gallantry had gone. Manchus were so adapted to Chinese civilisation that they had lost nearly all of their own culture, including their many virtues." There was, overall, social equality between the Han and the Manchus, except perhaps at the very top of the governing body. The support of the Han literati for the Manchu regime, as well as the adaptation of the Manchus to the Han culture, could arguably be one of the reasons that slowed the demise of the Qing Dynasty and allowed for it to control China for a significantly more extended period than the much more militarily powerful Mongols.
Imperial Examinations were re-introduced
The regime of the Manchus is often compared to that of the Mongols in China. The Mongols mostly distrusted the Han Chinese. They stopped the Imperial Examinations used for centuries to hire talents into the government bureaucracy and employed foreigners such as those from Central Asia to help them govern the country.
The Manchus, however, being a small group of people who inhabited the northeast of China, had to rely on Chinese officials to control the Chinese people. The regime, thus, re-introduced the Imperial Examinations, meaning that the knowledge of Confucian philosophy and culture was again crucial to the ruling class, including those of the Manchu background. The exams were held every three years and based mainly on the pre-established parameters of the Great Ming Dynasty; a few minor changes were made, such as the addition of exams by grace on top of the regular exams.
The curriculum focused on the texts and interpretations of the Four Books and Five Classics (四书五经). The literary form of the answers had to be the eight-legged essay (八股文).
Maritime ban
Zheng Sen (郑森, 1624–1662) was born in Japan, to a Japanese mother and a Chinese merchant father Zheng Zhi-long (郑芝龙, 1604–1661). When the Manchus took over China, Prince Tang, one of the remnant forces of Ming, retreated to the city of Fuzhou (福州) which was under the control of Zheng Zhi-long. Prince of Tang was crowned as Emperor Long-wu (隆武帝, reign 1645–1646); he granted Zheng Sen the name of Zheng Cheng-gong (郑成功) and the title of Koxinga (国姓爷). When his father surrendered to the Qing by accepting their offer as governor of Fujian and Guangdong, and his mother committed suicide on getting caught by the Manchus, Koxinga vowed to restore the Ming Dynasty and began building up the land and naval forces for that purpose.
In 1656, a sea ban was issued against the Ming resistance force, aiming to cut their supply and communication lines. Barriers were erected at all possible landing locations so that nothing could land along the Chinese coast. Those who supplied the resistance forces were executed, with their goods and personal property confiscated; those who knew but failed to report were also executed; officials failing to execute these orders in the strictest manner possible were also severely punished.
In 1661, Koxinga kicked out the Dutch from Taiwan and established the Kingdom of Tung-ning (东宁王国, 1661–1683) on the island. The Qing then issued possibly the strictest sea ban in Chinese history — all residents living in coastal areas were ordered to move inland by 25 kilometres to avoid any interaction with the resistance force in Taiwan.
In 1683, Emperor Kang-xi (康熙大帝, reign 1661–1722) defeated the Kingdom of Tung-ning and regained Taiwan. The following year, in order to allow the coastal population to return to everyday life quickly, he issued an edict:
Now that the entire country is unified, both on land and on sea, everywhere there is peace. The Manchus and the Hans are one integrated unit. I command you to trade abroad and propagate we rule by encouraging wealth and prosperity amongst our people. By Imperial Decree I open the sea to trade.
The original edict in Chinese:
今海内一统，环宇宁谧，满汉人民相同一体，令出洋贸易，以漳富庶之治，得旨开海贸易。
Customs stations were set up in the provinces of Guangzhou, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
In 1715, Pope Clement XI’s issued a Papal Bull Ex illa die, which officially condemned Chinese religious rites. This religious clash with the West and the ever-increasing harassment from the pirates led Emperor Kang-xi to issue a sea ban in 1716.
During the reign of Kang-xi’s successor, Emperor Yong-zheng (雍正皇帝, reign 1722–1735), the customs office in the four provinces were open again.
In 1757, Emperor Kang-xi’s grandson — Emperor Qian-long (乾隆皇帝, reign 1735–1796) — on report of the presence of armed western merchant ships all along the southern coast, closed all customs offices except Guangzhou. In addition to the issue of national security, the emperor was also concerned that unrestricted interaction with foreigners might transform the structure and stability of the Chinese society.