Qing dynasty
The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daicing gurun; Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: ch'ing ch'ao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China expanded into China proper and the surrounding territories of Inner Asia, establishing the Empire of the Great Qing (Chinese: 大清國, pinyin: dàqīngguó). The Qing was the last imperial dynasty of China. Declared as the Later Jin Dynasty in 1616, it changed its name in 1636 to "Qing", and conquered all of China in 1644, ruling it until 1912. In the aftermath of the 1911 revolution, a new Republic of China was established and the last emperor abdicated.
"Later Jin" is sometimes spelled "Later Jinn" to distinguish from another Later Jin Dynasty (936-946).
The Qing Dynasty was founded not by the Han Chinese people who form the overwhelming majority of the population of China proper, but by the Manchus, a semi-nomadic people not even known by that name when they first rose to prominence in what is now northeastern China. Taking advantage of the political instability and popular rebellions convulsing the Ming dynasty, the highly organized military forces of the Manchus swept into the Ming capital of Beijing in 1644, and there remained until the Qing dynasty was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, with the last emperor abdicating early in 1912.
The Manchu rulers antagonised the Han Chinese only as a result of enforcing the "queue order", which forced the Han Chinese to adopt the Manchu hairstyle (the pigtail or the infamous "queue") and Manchu-style clothing. It was designed to massacre both the Han Chinese bodies and their souls, in the physical as well as spiritual sense. During the 268 years of Manchu rule, numerous Chinese rebellions had occurred because of the strict rule of haircutting, which decreed that all Han Chinese males shave off the hair on the front half of the head and braid the remaining hair into a long pigtail. The pigtail story might be related to the early Tobas of the 4th-6th century. The Tobas were called suo lu, namely, pigtail styled robbers. (A better English wording for 'lu' would be enemies or savages.) The Chinese had no choice, either hair or head to be cut. The traditional Chinese clothing, or Hanfu was also replaced by Manchu-style clothing. Qipao (or Chinese dress) and Tangzhuang, which are usually regarded as traditional Chinese clothing nowadays, are actually Manchu-style clothing.
Manchu edited and forged the history of the former dynasty, Ming Shi (History of Ming Dynasty). One good example would be the claim that Zhang Xianzhong, who was killed in 1646, had made a stone monument entitled "seven killings". Manchu historians tried to cover up their slaughter of Sichuan Chinese as well as to legalize Manchu's rule over China. To be noted would be the dramatic population drop during the Ming-Qing dynastic transition.
In AD 1620, the first year of Ming Emperor Guangzong's Taichang Era, China boasted of a population of 51.66 million people, but in AD 1651 (8th year of Qing Emperor Shizu's Shunzhi Era), China only had 10.63 million people. However in the year 1741 the official census noted a population 142 million people. This would have meant a population growth rate of 2.9% per year for 90 years! In addition the Ming dynasty averaged approximately 100 million citizens, meaning that by 1620 the Ming dynasty had killed half of it's own people. The conclusion is that with the political upheaval in China resulted in the inability to produce a marginally accurate census during the collapse of the Ming dynasty. However there were certaintly many deaths attributed to the fighting between bandits, Ming soldiers, and Qing soldiers as well as the destruction caused to the economy.
To further suppress the Chinese intellectuals, Manchu emperors, like Qianlong emperor, resorted to "literary inquisition" (Wen Zi Yu, "imprisonment due to writings") for controlling the minds and thoughts of Chinese. Wen Zi Yu was the law forbidding people writing any words politically. Many people died from Wen Zi Yu by writing some word which is not even political at all. Manchu forbade the assembly of scholars or intellectuals into societies and moreover advocated "eight-part essay" ("stereotyped essay") as the format for imperial civil service exams.
Emperor Kangxi commanded the most complete dictionary of Chinese characters ever put together at the time, and under Emperor Qianlong, the compilation of a catalogue of the important works on Chinese culture was made. Thousands of books viewed by Manchu rulers as politically unacceptable were destroyed when compiling the catalogue.
The Manchu also adopted predatory methods of land deprivation. They set up Eight Banners system in the attempt of avoiding the possibility of being assimilated into the Chinese. Eight Banners were military institutions set up to provide a structure with which the Manchu `bannermen' were meant to identify. Banner membership was to be based on traditional Manchu skills such as archery, horsemanship, and frugality. In addition, they were encouraged to use the Manchu language, rather than Chinese. Bannermen were given economic and legal privileges in Chinese cities, meaning that they could often avoid working because they had an "iron rice bowl of privilege" under a form of "apartheid".
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 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.
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's 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 administration of all its troops and their families.
Nurhaci's successor Huang Taiji (Abahai) continued to build on his father's foundations, incorporating the first Chinese 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 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 Huang Taiji. In 1636 Huang 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 Ming's 100,000 strong garrison guarding Shanhaiguan (山海關). 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 at bay and out of China. Wu, caught between two enemies, decided to cast his lots 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 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 Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662 - 1722) assumed the throne at age seven. During the early years of his reign, he was largely aided by his grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager, Xiaozhuang.
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 these 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 lords and their territories inevitably became increasingly autonomous. Finally, in 1673, Shang Kexi petitioned Kangxi Emperor, stating his desire to retire to his home town in Liaodong (遼東) 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 wouldn't 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 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 control as far north as the river Changjiang (長江). 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.
The threats, however, weren't all internal. 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. Gordhun's military campaign against the Qing failed, further strengthening the Empire. Taiwan was also taken by Qing forces in 1683 from Zheng Chenggong's son, Zheng Jing; the former had conquered it from the Dutch. By the end of the 17th century, China was at its most powerful since the early Yuan Dynasty.
Kangxi also handled many Jesuit Missionaries that came to China hoping for mass conversions. Although they failed in their attempt, Kangxi still peacefully kept the missionaries in Beijing.
Kangxi had also strengthened the Qing Government's control over China proper.
The Yongzheng & Qianlong emperors
Yongzheng (r. 1723 - 1735) and his son Qianlong (r. 1735 - 1796) and their reigns were at the height of Qing power.
After Kangxi's death in the winter of 1722, his fourth son Yinzhen succeeded as the Yongzheng Emperor. Yongzheng remained a controversial character because of rumours about him usurping the throne, and for the late Kangxi years 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 Civil Affairs Department (軍機處), which grew to become the de facto Cabinet for the rest of the dynasty.
Yongzheng died in 1735. 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 24, 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 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 to commit suicide by Qianlong's son, the Jiaqing Emperor (r. 1796 - 1820).
Rebellion, unrest and external pressure
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, and explosive population growth. Moreover, starting with the reign of the Daoguang Emperor (r. 1820–1850), China was increasingly connected to Russia, the West, and later Japan. International and global influence was more freely allowed into the country. Britain's desire to continue its 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, occupied "concessions" and gained special commercial privileges. Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking.
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 relatively stable empire unwilling to admit global commerce. The strong nature of China's market helps explain international contentment with informal 'Spheres of Influences'. China notably possessed a securable market without formal control. While China had an inferior negotiation position relative to other large powers, it was a major destination for investment capital. International powers did intervene military there to quell domestic chaos, such as the Taiping Rebellion and the anti-global Boxer Rebellion. For example, General "Chinese" Gordon, later killed by the isolationist Mahdi Army in the Sudan, is often credited as having saved the Manchu dynasty from the Taiping insurrection. Others maintain China was able to save itself, at the cost of millions of civilian casualties.
In addition, the Taiping Rebellion (太平起義) (1851-1864), the Nian Rebellion (捻軍起義) (1853-1868) and the Muslim Panthay Rebellion, along with Russian-supported Muslim separatist movements in Gansu province and Xinjiang (also called Chinese Turkestan or East Turkestan), drained Chinese resources and almost toppled the dynasty. Han officials such as Zeng Guofan was sent out to crush the Taiping rebellion, which had gathered a lot of strength over the years. After several failed military campaigns, Zeng Guofan's brother Zeng Guoquan was aband was credited partly to Li Hongzhang's Huai Army. The end to two large revolts, however, did little to ensure stability within the Empire. There was increasing pressure from external powers.
The Rule of Empress Dowager Cixi
In the late 19th century, a new leader emerged. The Empress Dowager Cixi, concubine to the Xianfeng Emperor (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 her "behind the curtain" (垂帘聼政) participation in politics.
By the 1860s, the Qing dynasty had put down the rebellions with the help of militia organized by the Chinese gentry. The Qing government then proceeded to deal with problem of modernization, which it attempted with the Self-Strengthening Movement. 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.
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, concentrated on centralizing her own power base. At the occasion of her 60th Birthday she spend 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 (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.
Fall of the Dynasty
Mass civil disorder had also begun and continuously grown. Cixi and the Guangxu emperor both died in 1908, leaving a relatively powerless and unstable central authority. 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 10th, 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 (内阁总理大臣) 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 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.
Qing society
Manchu males had the custom of braiding hair into a pigtail known as a queue. During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus enforced this custom onto the Han population, and any male who was seen without pigtail outdoors was to be beheaded.
Qing politics
The most important administrative body of the Qing dynasty was the Grand 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 Chinese assigned to it. 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, the Qing Dynasty maintained a loose system of control, with the Qing emperor acting as Mongol Khan, patron of Tibetan Buddhism and supporter of Muslims and keeping a loose system of control.
How this system is best described remains a strong point of controversy because of its current political implications. Supporters of Chinese nationalism argue that Qing rule over these areas is best described as an extremely high degree of autonomy within a single nation-state, while supporters of Tibetan independence argue that the Qing dynasty was a personal union between many nation-states.
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 New Army units which performed remarkably well against British units.
The abdication of the Manchu Emperor, who had integrated the Empire, inevitably led to the controversy about the status of the Qing outer territories. It was and remains the position of Mongols and Tibetan nationalists, that because they owed allegiance to the Qing monarch in a personal capacity, that with the abdication of the Qing, they owed no allegiance to the Chinese state. This position was rejected by the new Republic of China and subsequent People's Republic of China which have claimed that these areas remained integral parts of China. The Western powers accepted the latter theory, largely in order to prevent a scramble for China.
Qing Bureaucracy
The administrative system of the Qing Dynasty evolved out of its predecessor the Ming. In its most evolved form, the Qing government centred around the Emperor as the absolute ruler presiding over six ministries (or boards), each headed by two Supreme Secretaries (尚书|Shángshù) and assisted by four Assistant Secretaries (侍郎|Shílāng). Unlike the Ming system however Qing's racial policy dictated that appointments were split between Chinese mandarins who have passed the highest levels of state examinations and Manchu noblemen. The six ministries and their respective areas of responsibilities were as follows:
Board of Civil Appointments (吏部|Lìbú) - The personnel administration of all civil officials - including evaluation, promotion, demotion and dismissal. It was also in charge of the ‘honours list’.
The Exchequer (户部|Húbú, or Board of Finance) - The literal translation of the Chinese word ‘hú’ （户） is ‘household’. For much of the Qing'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 'household' in a predominantly agrarian China was the basis of taxation. The exchequer was charged with revenue collection and the financial management of the government.
Board of Rites (礼部|Lǐbú) - This was responsible for all matters concerning protocol at court, which included not just the periodic worshipping of ancestors and all manners of gods 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|礼) as taught by Confucius was considered an integral part of education. An educated person was said to "know of books and courtesy (rites)" ("知书达礼"). Thus the ministry’s other function was to oversee the countrywide civil examination system for entrance to the bureaucracy. Because the concept of democracy was unknown to pre-Republican China, neo-Confucian philosophy saw exams as a way to legitimized a regime by allowing the intelligentsia opportunity to participate in an otherwise autocratic and unelected system.
Board of War (兵部|Bìngbú) - During the Ming era, the Board of War was in charge of all military matters. In the Qing, however, the Banner armies were under the control of the Emperor and hereditary 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 the General Command Centre (Junjichu|军机处).
Board of Punishment (刑部|Xīngbú) - Handled all legal matters including the supervision of various law courts and prisons. The Qing legal framework was relatively weak compared to modern legal systems since there was no seperation of executive and legistrative branches of government. Fairness of treatment was also an issue under the apartheid system practiced by the Manchu government over the Han Chinese majority. The legal system was also inconsistent and could at times be arbitrary because the emperor ruled by decree and had final say on all judicial outcomes. Emperors could, and did, overturn judgments of lower courts from time to time. To counter these inadequacies and keep the population in line, the Qing maintained a very harsh penal code towards the Han populous, but no more severe than previous Chinese dynasties.
Board of Works (工部|Gongbu) - Handled all governmental building projects including palaces, temples and also the repairs of water ways and flood canals. It was also in charge of minting coinage.
In addition to the six boards there was a Feudatory Affairs Office (理藩院|Lǐfànyuán) unique to Qing government. This institution originated to oversee the welfare of Qing’s Mongolian allies. As the empire expanded, it took over administrative responsibility of all the minority tribes living in and around the empire including early contacts with Russia - seen then as a tribute nation. The office had the status of a full ministry and was headed by equal ranking officials. However, appointees were at first restricted only to candidates of Manchurian and Mongolian ethnicity.
Even though the Board of Rites and the Feudatory Affairs Office shared some duties of a foreign office they fell short of being one. This was because the Qing government saw China as the centre of the world and all foreigners as uncivilized barbarians and thus unworthy of equal diplomatic status. It was only in 1861, a year after losing the Second Opium War to an Anglo-French coalition force, that the Qing government bowed to foreign pressure and created China’s first foreign affairs office known by the cumbersome name of "Tribunal for the Management of Affairs of All Nations" (Zǒnglǐgégūoshíwú Yāmēn|总理各国事务衙门), or “Zǒnglǐyāmēn” (总理衙门）for short. The office was originally intended to be temporary and was staffed by offcials seconded from the General Command Centre (Jūnjīchú |军机处) on part-time basis. However as dealings with foreigners became increasing complicated and frequent, the office grew in size and importance. As China was forced to open up more ports for trade, the office also took on added responsibilities of collecting custom duties. With a stable source of income, the department grew to become one of the most powerful entities within late Qing goverment rivaling even the General Command Centre.
Qing military
The development of Qing military system can be divided into two broad periods separated by the Taiping rebellion (1850 - 64). 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’(上三旗) and were under the direct command of the Emperor. Only Manchus belonging to the Upper Three Banners could be selected as the Emperor's personal bodyguards. The remaining banners were known as ‘The Lower Five Banners’ (下五旗) and were commanded by hereditary princes known informally as ‘Iron Cap Princes’ (铁帽子王). Together they formed the ruling council of the Manchu nation as well as high command of the army. In 1730 Emperor Yongzheng established the General Command Centre (Junjichu|军机处) at first to direct day to day military operations, but gradually Junjichu took over other military and day to day 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 Emperor Qianlong.
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 parallel Mongolian and Chinese Banners. After their conquest of China, the relatively small Banner armies were augmented by the Green Standard Army (綠營兵) which outnumbered banner troops by about three to one. The Green Standard Army so-named after the colour of their battle standards was made up of ethnic Han Chinese Ming troops who had surrendered to the Manchus during the conquest. They are led by a mixture 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.
Banner Armies were divided along ethnic lines, namely Manchurian and Mongolian. Although there existed a third branch of Chinese bannermen made up of those who had joined the Manchus before their conquest of China, Chinese bannermen were never regarded by the Manchurian Qing 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 Chinese Bannermen were quickly subsumed by the Green Standard Army. The Chinese Banners virtually 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 volunteer 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 the conquest, the approximately 200,000 strong Manchu Banner Army was evenly divided; half was designated the Forbidden Eight Banner Army (jinlubaqi|禁旅八旗)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 (zhufanbaqi|駐防八旗). The Manchu rulers, keenly aware of their own minority status, reinforced a strict policy of racial segregation between the Manchus and Mongols from Han Chinese for fear of their being assimilated by Han culture while living in close proximity with the newly subjugated Han people. 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 (青州), a new fortified town was 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" (waichen|外城). The northern walled city called "Inner Citadel" (neichen|内城) 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(紫禁城).
The policy of posting Banner troops as territorial garrison was not to protect but to inspire awe in the subjugated Chinese 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 only in 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 both the Banner troops and Green Standards could neither put down internal rebellions nor keep foreign invaders at bay.
Early during the Taiping Rebellion, Qing forces suffered a series of disastrous defeats culminating in the loss of the regional capital city of Nanjing (南京) in 1853. The rebels massacred the entire Manchu garrison and their families in the city and made it their capital. Shortly thereafter a rebel expeditionary force penetrated as far north as the suburbs of Tianjin (天津) in what was considered Manchu heartlands. In desperation the court ordered a Chinese mandarin Zen Guofan (曾國藩)to reorganize regional and village militias (Tuanyong|團勇,Xianyong|鄉勇) into a standing army to contain the Taiping rebellion. Zen's strategy was to rely on local gentries to raise a new type of army from the provinces that Taiping forces directly threatened. This new force became known as the Xiang Army (湘軍), named after the region it was raised. Xiang Army was a hybrid between local militia force 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 (淮军) created by Zen's colleague and 'pupil' Li Hongzhang (李鸿章）were collectively called Yongying (勇營), it was a military system based on the Neo-Confucian idea of binding the troops' absolute loyalty to their immediate superiors and also the regions which they were raised. This gave the troops, at least in the short term, a certain esprit de corps. However in the long run it created more problems for the beleagued Qing government. Firstly, Yongying military system signalled the end of Manchu dominance in Qing military structure. Although the Banners and Green Standard armies continued to co-exist within the military establishment, henceforth the Yongying armies were the only combat worthy troops. Secondly, the Yongying command structure fostered cronyism amongst its regional commanders whom as they ascended up the bureaucratic ranks laid the seeds to Qing's demise and the eventual outbreak of "warlordism".
By late 1800s 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 - The capital Beijing was captured by the (relatively) tiny Anglo-French coalition of 25,000 strong in 1860 during the Second Opium War. Although China pride itself 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 industrial revolution such as rifles, breech loading guns and steam driven dreadnoughts had rendered China's traditionally trained and equipped army and navy obsolete. Various piece meal efforts to ‘westernize’ and update the armed forces - mostly in the Haui Army yield little results.
Losing the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 - 1895 was a watershed for the Qing government. Japan a country long regarded as inferior to China had beaten its larger neighbour and joined the ranks of colonial powers three decades after it instituted the Meji reforms. Thus finally in December of 1894 the first concrete steps were taken to reform military institutions and to re-train certain units in westernized drills, tactics and weaponry. These units were collectively called the New Model Army (新式陸軍). The most successful of which was the Beiyang Army (北洋軍) under the overall supervision and control of an ex-Huai Army commander, the Han Chinese general Yuan Shikai (袁世凱), who exploited his position to eventually become Republic president, dictator and finally abortive emperor of China.