Qing Dynasty: Manchu, Key Events, Emperors ...

The Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) was the last Chinese dynasty, and the longest dynasty ruled by non-Han people (i.e. the Manchus from Manchuria, ... LiveupdatesonChinatravelrestrictionsfor2022.Learnmore Home ChineseCulture ChinaHistory QingDynasty:Manchu,KeyEvents,Emperors,Achievements WrittenbyChrisQuanUpdatedNov.22,2021 TheQingDynasty(1644–1912)wasthelastChinesedynasty,andthelongestdynastyruledbynon-Hanpeople(i.e.theManchusfromManchuria,northeastoftheGreatWall),lastingfor268years. ItwasprecededbytheHan-ledMingDynasty(1368–1644)andfollowedbytheRepublicofChinaera(1912–1949). HowtheQingDynastyBegan—TheManchuRise TheManchuswereoriginallyJurchentribes,apeoplewhoarerecordedasearlyasthe10thcenturylivingnortheastofwhatwasthenChina,blockadedbytheGreatWall. In1616,Nurhaci,theleaderofaJurchentribe,unifiedtheJurchentribes,establishedakingdomandnameditJin,knowntohistoryastheLaterJinDynasty(theJurchenJinDynastyof1115–1234coexistedwiththeSongDynasty). TheLaterJinDynasty(1616-1636)wasthepredecessoroftheQingDynasty.ItcoexistedwiththeMingDynasty,Mongolia,andKorea. Nurhaci'ssuccessorin1626washissonHuangTaiji.HuangTaijidefeatedpartsofMongoliaandKorea.ThepoweroftheJurchenswasstrengthening. In1635,HuangTaijiabolishedtheoldclan’snameJurchenandnamedtheclan"Manchu".  In1636,HuangTaijiproclaimedhimselfemperorandchangedthetitleofhiskingdomfromJintoGreatQing.TheQingDynastywasestablishedinname,butnotyetoverChina. In1644,theQingarmyattackedandoccupiedBeijing.TheMingDynastycollapsed,andtheQingDynastyunifiedthecountryundernewrulers.  HuangTaiji'sson,EmperorShunzhibecamethefirstemperoroftheQingDynasty.  KeyEventsoftheQingDynasty AsthelastdynastyofChina,theQingDynastygloriedforatimeintheprosperityofitsgoldenage,butlaterithadahistoryfullofshame—defeatintheOpiumWars,forcedtrade,unequaltreaties,andgeneraldeclinedominatedthelatterQingera.HerearesomeimportanteventsinQinghistory. TheHairstyleMassacre(1645) EmperorShunzhi(ruled1644–1661)wasa6-year-oldwhenwasnamedemperor.So,Dorgontheregentruledonbehalfofthechildemperorfrom1643to1650. In1645,DorgondecreedthatMingmenmustshaveawaytheirhairapartfromManchu-stylepigtails(queues).ThequeuehairstylehasbeenmadefamousbymoviesabouttheQingEmpire. Thishairstylewashumiliating,butithelpedDorgontoidentifyresisters.AccordingtoConfucius,wearegivenourbody,skin,andhairfromourparents,whichweoughtnottodamage.TraditionallyadultHanpeopledidnotcuttheirhair. Dorgonsaid,"Keepyourhair,loseyourhead;keepyourhead,cutyourhair."Tensofthousandswhoresistedweremassacred(decapitated). Butopinionsaboutthequeuedidchangeovertime.After286yearspeoplehadacceptedit,andwhentheQingDynastycollapsedin1912,manypeoplerefusedthenewgovernment'scalltocuttheirqueue! TheKang-QianFlourishingAge EmperorQianlong TheQing“GoldenEra”wasmadeupofthereignsofthreeemperors: EmperorKangxi(reign1661–1722):TheQingGoldenAgebegan. EmperorYongzheng(reign1723–1735):TheGoldenAgecontinued. EmperorQianlong(ruled1735–1796):TheGoldenAgereacheditspeak. TheKang-QianFlourishingAgelasted135years.ItwasthelastgoldenageofChina’sfeudaldynasties. TheQingDynastyannexedMongolia,NortheastChina,Xinjiang,Tibet,andTaiwan,establishingaterritorylargerthanthatoftoday'sChina—thelargestChinahaseverbeen.  Atthattime,Chinaaccountedfor32percentoftheworld'sindustrialoutput.Percapitagrainoutputreached622kgperpersonin1700. China'spopulationsurpassed100millionforthefirsttimeinitshistoryandgrewto300million,whichlaidthefoundationforChinatobecomethemostpopulouscountry.  RestrictedForeignTrade AtthebeginningofEmperorShunzhi’sreign,theQingDynastyonlyallowedforeignshippingtoenterandtradeinMacau. EmperorKangxiandhissuccessorsrelaxedrestrictionsonforeigntrade,buttheQingcourtstillcarefullycontrolledlimitsonforeigntrade. EmperorKangxionlyallowedforeignbusinessmantotradewithChineseinfourregions:Guangdong,Fujian,Zhejiang,andJiangnan. Duetorestrictionsonforeignexchanges,theQinggovernmentmissedtheopportunitiesoftheindustrialrevolutionandgraduallybecamedivorcedfromtheworld,foreshadowingitssubsequentdecline.  OpiumWar—ChinaBegantoBeColonized TheOldSummerPalacewasdestroyedintheSecondOpiumWar. TheBritishlaunchedtheFirstOpiumWarin1840–1842duringthereignofEmperorDaoguang(1821–1851).TheBritishwantedgreaterQingEmpiretrade,buttheQingcourtwantedtokeepoutBritishopiumandinfluence. Anglo-FrenchAlliedForceslaunchedtheSecondOpiumWarin1856–1860duringthereignofEmperorXianfeng(1851–1861). Inthesetwowars,EuropeanseasilydefeatedtheQingarmyandnavyandforcedtheQingtogivethemtradingportsandBritaingainedHongKonguntil1997undertheTreatyofNankingof1842. Chinabegantobecomeasemi-colonialandsemi-feudalsociety.TheOpiumWarsalsoopenedanewchapterintheChinesepeople’slonghistoryofresistanceto(andinthiscaseagainsuccumbingto)foreignaggression. TheTaipingRebellion(1851–1864)—25,000,000Died! HappenedinthereignofEmperorXianfeng(ruled1851–1861)andEmperorTongzhi(ruled1862–1874) TheleaderoftheTaipingRebellionwasHongXiuquan.Hisquasi-Christianmovementhadsome forward-thinkingideals, whichtheQingDynastydisagreedwith(hebannedslavery,menusingconcubines,arrangedmarriages,opiumuse,footbinding,torture,andtheworshipofidols,andhewantedwomentohavemoreequalityinsociety). Hemade Nanjing hiscapital,andhisarmyseemedreadytoattackBeijing.However,BritainandFrancesenttroopstoaidtheQingarmy.In13years,about25millionpeopledied.Itisthoughttobe thesecondbloodiestwarinhistory afterWWII. TheBoxerRebellion(1900) IthappenedduringthereignofEmperorGuangxu(1871–1908),thoughEmpressDowagerCixiwasactuallywieldingpowerbythattime. In1900,arebellionstartedamongthepoor,ledbypeoplewhostudied martialarts,soitwascalledtheBoxerRebellion.Atfirsttheirgoalwastooverthrowthegovernmentandexpelorkillforeigners.ButEmpressDowagerCixisupportedthemovementsecretly,sotheleaderssupportedtheQingDynasty. Itbecameananti-Christianmovement,withtensofthousandsofconvertskilledandtortured.Then,Cixideclaredwaronforeigners,andtheBoxersmarchedagainsttheforeignersinBeijing.ForeignarmiesthendefeatedtheQingtroopsandtheBoxers. QingDynastyAchievements Theterritoryexpandedgreatly,withthepopulationgrowingfromabout150millionto450million. ADreaminRedMansionswaswritten,anovelatthehighestlevelofclassicalfiction. Pekingoperawasborn. TheKangxiDictionarywascompletedandpublished,whichrecordedthelargestnumberofChinesecharactersinimperialtimes. Blueandwhiteporcelainreacheditsartisticpeak,especiallythatproducedintheKangxiperiod,whichispreferredbymanycollectors. TheImperialUniversityofPekingandTsinghuaCollegewerefounded,whicharethepredecessorsofChina’stoptwouniversities:PekingUniversityandTsinghuaUniversity. TheFalloftheQingDynasty In1908,whenCixiandGuangxusuddenlydied,Puyibecame"thelastemperor"—2-year-oldEmperorXuantong.Theempire'sofficialrulerwasPrinceRegentZaifeng,Puyi'sfather. Inthefaceofforeigninvasionandthebackwardnessoffeudalism,manyyouthssoughtanewpathtosaveChina—revolution(overthrowthefeudalmonarchyandestablisharepublic). TheRiseoftheRepublicanRevolution(1911–1912) Intheearly1900s,SunYat-sentraveledaroundtheworldtoorganizearevolutionagainsttheQingDynasty.Hisuprisingsucceededrelativelybloodlesslyin1911,and SunYat-senbecameChina’sfirstpresident.ThecapitalofthenewgovernmentwasinNanjing. SunYat-sen wantedtoimplementarepublicanconstitution,butthisneverhappened.SunYat-sensteppeddowntoallowaQinggeneralnamed YuanShikai tobepresident.Inthisway,theQingEmpireendedin1912,andsobegantheturbulentRepublicofChinaera. QingDynastySightsandTours contactusforupdatedtravelinformationandtours > BeijingwastheQingDynastycapitalfor268years.MostoftheQingDynastyhighlightsarethere.Theseinclude: TheForbiddenCity —wheretheQingemperorsruled TheSummerPalace —Qingemperors’favoritesummerretreat TheTempleofHeaven —whereQingemperorsprayedtoheaveneachyear Ourmany Beijingtours aredesignedtosuitavarietyofinterests,timeframes,andbudgets.Ifyoucan'tseeexactlywhatyouwant,wecanreadilycustomizeoneofouradvertisedtourplansforyou.Alternatively,wewelcomeyoutouse ourtailor-madetourservice. WhyTravelwithChinaHighlights YourWellbeingisOurPriority. 1-to-1travelexpert Vaccinatedguides PrivateRides YourTripisPerfectlyPlanned. Nocrowds ExclusiveExcitingExperiences YourBookingisRisk-Free. 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