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Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)
The Jin Dynasty (金 pinyin: Jīn 1115-1234; Anchu in Jurchen), also known as the Jurchen dynasty, was founded by the Wanyan (完顏 Wányán) clan of the Jurchen, the ancestors of the Manchus who established the Qing Dynasty some 500 years later. The name is sometimes written as Jinn to differentiate it from an earlier Jin Dynasty of China whose name is spelled identically in the Roman alphabet.
Jin Dynasty
Founded in 1115 in northern Manchuria, it successfully annihilated in 1125 the Liao Dynasty which had held sway over Manchuria and the northern frontier of China for several centuries. On January 9, 1127 Jin forces ransacked Kaifeng, capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, capturing both Emperor Qinzong, and his father, Emperor Huizong, who had abdicated in panic in the face of Jin forces. Following the fall of Kaifeng, Song forces under the leadership of the succeeding Southern Song Dynasty continued to fight for over a decade with Jin forces, eventually signing a peace treaty in 1141, and ceding all of North China to the Jin in 1142 in return for peace.
After taking over North China, the Jin Dynasty became increasingly Sinicized, moving its capital from Huining Fu in northern Manchuria (south of present-day Harbin) to Zhongdu (now Beijing). Starting from the early 13th century the Jin Dynasty began to feel the pressure of Mongols from the north. In 1214 the Jin Dynasty moved its capital to Kaifeng (the old Song capital) to evade the Mongols; but under the forces of the Mongol Empire led by Ögedei Khan, third son of Genghis Khan, as well as their allies in the Southern Song Dynasty, the dynasty crumbled in 1234.
In 1616, Manchus under the leadership of Nurhaci established the Later Jin Dynasty, taking its name from this dynasty. Later Jin was renamed the Qing Dynasty in 1636, and went on to conquer China proper and become the last dynasty of Imperial China.
(1) Quite long and thus not used when referring to this sovereign.
(2) Did not exist
See also: Puxian Wannu
Category:History of China
ja:金 (王朝)
Pinyin
Pinyin (Chinese: 拼音, pīnyīn) literally means "join (together) sounds" (a less literal translation being "phoneticize", "spell" or "transcription") in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: "Han language pinyin"), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin. Pinyin was approved in 1958 and adopted in 1979 by the government in the People's Republic of China. It superseded older transcriptions like the Wade-Giles system (1859; modified 1912) or Bopomofo. Similar systems have been designed for other Chinese spoken variants and non-Han minority languages in the PRC.
Since then, pinyin has been accepted by the Government of Singapore, the Library of Congress, the American Library Association, and most international institutions as the preferred transcription system for Mandarin. In 1979 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted pinyin as the standard romanization for modern Chinese.
It is important to maintain the distinction that pinyin is a romanization and not an anglicization; that is, it is equally applicable for transcription into any language that uses a Roman alphabet, but that the precise pronunciation need not match that of any of these languages. For example, the sounds indicated in pinyin by b and p are distinguished from each other (by aspiration) in a manner different from that of both English (which has voicing and aspiration) and of French (which has voicing alone). Other letters, like j or q indicate a combination of sounds that do not correspond to any exact sound in English. Some of the transcriptions in pinyin such as the ang ending, do not correspond to English pronunciations, either. Pinyin has also become a useful tool for entering Chinese language text into computers.
Pronunciation
The primary purpose of pinyin in Chinese schools is to teach Mandarin pronunciation. Many in the West are under the mistaken belief that pinyin is used to help children associate characters with spoken words which they already know, but this is incorrect as many Chinese do not use Mandarin at home, and therefore do not know the Mandarin pronunciation of words until they learn them in elementary school through the use of pinyin.
Pinyin uses the Roman alphabet, hence the pronunciation is relatively straightforward for Westerners. A pitfall for English-speaking novices is, however, the unusual pronunciation x, q, c and z (and sometimes i) and the unvoiced pronunciation of d, b, g, j. More information on the pronunciation of all pinyin letters in terms of English approximations is given further below.
The pronunciation of Chinese is generally given in terms of initials and finals, which represent the segmental phonemic portion of the language. Initials are initial consonants, while finals are all possible combinations of medials (semivowels coming before the vowel), the nucleus vowel, and coda (final vowel or consonant).
Initials
In each cell below, the first line indicates IPA, the second indicates pinyin.
- and are interchangeable.
Finals
In each cell below, the first line indicates IPA, the second indicates pinyin for a standalone (no-initial) form, and the third indicates pinyin for a combination with an initial. Other than finals modified by an -r, which are omitted, the following is an exhaustive table of all possible finals. 1
It is of interest to point out that the only syllable-final consonants in standard Mandarin are -n and -ng, and -r which is attached as a grammatical suffix. If you see a Chinese syllable ending with any other consonant, it is either a dialect (notably Cantonese), or a non-Pinyin Romanization system (where final consonants are used to indicate tones) is being used.
1 /ər/ (而, 二, etc.) is written as er. For other finals formed by the suffix -r, pinyin does not use special orthography; one simply appends -r to the final that it is added to, without regard for any sound changes that may take place along the way. For information on sound changes related to final -r, please see Standard Mandarin.
2 "ü" is written as "u" after j, q, or x.
3 "uo" is written as "o" after b, p, m, or f.
4 It is pronounced when it follows an initial, and pinyin reflects this difference.
In addition, ê is used to represent certain interjections.
Rules given in terms of English pronunciation
All rules given here in terms of English pronunciation are approximate.
Pronunciation of initials
Pronunciation of finals
The following is an exhaustive list of all finals, with or without final -r.
To find the pronunciation of a final:
#Look for the entire combination rather than the individual letters. For example, look for ian, not i + a + n.
#For syllables starting with y- or w-, change the y- to i- and w- to u-, then take the i- and u- as part of the final. (E.g. yan -> ian, where "ian" is the final.) If this results in ii-, uu-, and iu-, change those to i-, u-, and ü- respectively. (E.g. yin -> in, wu -> u, yue -> üe)
#If the initial is j-, q-, and x-, and the final starts with -u-, then change the -u- to -ü-.
Orthographic features
Pinyin differs from other romanizations in several aspects, such as:
- w is placed before syllables starting with u.
- y is placed before syllables starting with i and ü.
- ü is written as u when there is no ambiguity (such as ju, qu, and xu), but written as ü when there are corresponding u syllables (such as lü and nü)
- When preceded by a consonant, iou, uei, and uen are simplified as iu, ui, and un (which do not represent the actual pronunciation).
- Like zhuyin, what are actually pronounced as buo, puo, muo, and fuo are given a separate representation: bo, po, mo, and fo.
- The apostrophe (') is used before ɑ, o, and e to separate syllables in a word where ambiguity could arise, e.g., pi'ao (皮襖) vs. piao (票), and Xi'an (西安) vs. xian (先).
- Eh! alone is written as ê; elsewhere as e. Schwa is always written as e.
- zh, ch, and sh can be abbreviated as ẑ, ĉ, and ŝ. However, the shorthands are rarely used due to difficulty of entering them on computers.
- ng has the uncommon shorthand of ŋ.
Tones
ŋ
The Pinyin system also incorporates suprasegmental phonemes to represent the four tones of Mandarin. Each tone is indicated by a diacritical mark above a non-medial vowel. Many books printed in China mix fonts, with vowels with tone marks rendered in a different font than the surrounding text, a practice that tends to give such Pinyin texts a typographically ungainly appearance. This style, most likely rooted in early technical limitations, has led many to believe that Pinyin's rules call for this practice and also for the use of "" (with no curl over the top) rather than the standard style of the letter "a" found in most fonts. The official rules of Hanyu Pinyin, however, specify no such practice. Note that tone marks can also appear on consonants in certain vowelless exclamations.
# The first tone is represented by a macron (ˉ) added to the pinyin vowel:
#:
# The second tone is denoted by an acute accent (ˊ):
#:
# The third tone is symbolized by a caron (ˇ, also known as a reverse circumflex). Note, it is officially not a breve (˘, lacking a downward angle), although this misuse is somewhat common on the Internet.
#:
# The fourth tone is represented by a grave accent (ˋ):
#:
# The fifth or neutral tone is represented by a normal vowel without any accent mark:
#:
:(In some cases, this is also written with a dot before the syllable; for example, ·ma.)
Since most computer fonts do not contain the macron or caron accents, a common convention is to postfix the individual syllables with a digit representing their tone (e.g., "tóng" (tong with the rising tone) is written "tong2"). The digit is numbered as the order listed above, except the "fifth tone", which, in addition to being numbered 5, is also either not numbered or numbered zero, as in ma0 (吗/嗎, an interrogative marker).
These tone marks normally are only used in Mandarin textbooks or in foreign learning texts, but they are essential for correct pronunciation of Mandarin syllables, as exemplified by the following classical example of five characters whose pronunciations differ only in their tones:
The words are "mother", "hemp", "horse", "admonish" and a question particle, respectively.
Rules for placing the tone mark
The rules for determining on which vowel the tone mark appears are as follows:
# If there is more than one vowel and the first vowel is i, u, or ü, then the tone mark appears on the second vowel.
# In all other cases, the tone mark appears on the first vowel
(y and w are not considered vowels for these rules.)
The reasoning behind these rules is in the case of diphthongs and triphthongs, i, u, and ü (and their orthographic equivalents y and w when there is no initial consonant) are considered medial glides rather than part of the syllable nucleus in Chinese phonology. The rules ensure that the tone mark always appears on the nucleus of a syllable.
Miscellanea
An umlaut is placed over the letter u when it occurs after the initials l and n in order to represent the sound [y]. This is necessary in order to distinguish the front high rounded vowel in lü (e.g. 驴/驢 donkey) from the back high rounded vowel in lu (e.g. 炉/爐 oven). Tonal markers are added on top of the umlaut, as in lǘ.
However, the ü is not used in other contexts where it represents a front high rounded vowel, namely after the letters j, q, x and y. For example, the sound of the word 鱼/魚 (fish) is transcribed in pinyin simply as yú, not as yǘ. This practice is opposed to Wade-Giles, which always uses ü, and Tongyong Pinyin, which always uses yu. Whereas Wade-Giles needs to use the umlaut to distinguish between chü (pinyin ju) and chu (pinyin zhu), this ambiguity cannot arise with pinyin, so the more convenient form ju is used instead of jü. Genuine ambiguities only happen with nu/nü and lu/lü, which are then distinguished by an umlaut diacritic.
Many fonts or output methods do not support an umlaut for ü or cannot place tone marks on top of ü. Likewise, using ü in input methods is difficult because it is not present as a simple key on many keyboard layouts. For these reasons v is sometimes used instead by convention. Occasionally, uu (double u) or U (capital u) is used in its place.
See also:
- Postal System Pinyin (unrelated)
- Combining diacritic marks Unicode #U0300
Pinyin in Taiwan
The Republic of China on Taiwan is in the process of adopting a modified version of pinyin (currently Tongyong Pinyin). For elementary education it has used zhuyin (also known as bopomofo), and for romanization there is no standard system in general use in Taiwan despite many efforts to standardize on one system. In the late-1990s, the government of Taiwan formally decided to move from zhuyin to pinyin. This has triggered a very heated discussion of which pinyin system to use: hanyu pinyin of People's Republic of China or some other system.
Much of the controversy centers on issues of national identity because of political interests. Proponents for adopting pinyin maintain that it is an international standard that is already used throughout the world. Proponents for adopting a new system maintain that Taiwan should have its own identity and culture separate from the People's Republic of China.
A new system Tongyong Pinyin was created in Taiwan in 1998. Tongyong Pinyin is mostly similar to Hanyu Pinyin with a number of changes in the letters and digraphs representing certain sounds.
In October 2002, the ROC government adopted Tongyong Pinyin through an administrative order that local governments can override. Localities with governments controlled by the Kuomintang, most notably Taipei City, have overridden the order and converted to Hanyu Pinyin (although with a slightly different capitialization convention than the Mainland). As a result, English signs have inconsistent romanization in Taiwan, with many places using Tongyong Pinyin but some using Hanyu Pinyin, and still others not yet having had the resources to replace older Wade-Giles or MPS2 signage. This has resulted in the odd situation in Taipei City in which inconsistent pinyin are shown in freeway directions, with
freeway signs, which are under the control of the national government, using one pinyin, but surface street signs, which are under the control of the city government, using the other.
As of 2003, no form of pinyin is used in elementary education on Taiwan to teach pronunciation. Although the ROC government has stated the desire to use romanization rather than zhuyin in education, the lack of agreement on which form of pinyin to use and the huge logistical challenge of teacher training has stalled these efforts.
Other languages
Pinyin-like systems have been devised for other variants of Chinese. Guangdong Romanization is a set of romanizations devised by the government of Guangdong province for Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka (Moiyen dialect), and Hainanese. All of these are designed to use letters in a similar way to Pinyin.
In addition, in accordance to the "Regulation of Phonetic Transcription in Hanyu Pinyin Letters of Place Names in Minority Nationality Languages" (《少数民族语地名汉语拼音字母音译转写法 》) promulgated in 1976, place names in non-Chinese languages like Mongol, Uyghur, and Tibetan are also officially transcribed using Pinyin. The pinyin letters (26 Roman letters, ü, and ê) are used to approximate the non-Chinese language in question as closely as possible. This results in spellings that are different from both the customary spelling of the place name, and the Pinyin spelling of the name in Chinese:
Controversy
Debate continues about the actual suitability of pinyin as a Chinese romanization method. This argument revolves around pinyin's unconventional use of Roman letters, of which the phonological values of some phonemes are quite different from that of most languages utilizing the Roman alphabet. Some sinologists praise this as pinyin's flexibility in that it allows the entire Roman alphabet to be adapted to the Chinese sound system (compared to Wade-Giles, which leaves out or underuses many letters). Others point out that pinyin letter values are so unconventional that for a person unfamiliar with Chinese, they result in a larger number of mispronunciations when compared to Wade-Giles. However, as not only the PRC but by now most institutions and publications have adopted it, the debate seems increasingly obsolete.
Pinyin, like all systems of romanization, has certain limitations that users should be aware of:
- Like the spelling systems of any other language, pinyin does not represent English pronunciation and should not be pronounced according to English conventions. Readers are advised to learn pinyin phonetic conventions, bearing in mind that many sounds have no equivalents in English.
- Chinese characters can indicate semantic cues. But since pinyin is based on the sounds of Mandarin alone, these semantic cues are no longer preserved. For speakers of other Chinese spoken variants, it becomes unsuitable for use in reading and writing because these sounds do not necessarily correspond to their speech.
- The phonotactics of spoken Mandarin dictate a relatively small set of possible syllables and there is a potential for homonyms. Because of this, pinyin can be ambiguous, especially when transcribing Standard Written Chinese, which uses formal constructions not often found in speech. However, this should not be an issue in the transcription of normal spoken Mandarin conversation since speakers would not use such ambiguous constructions in speech.
Computer systems long provided the most convincing argument in favor of pinyin; early computers were able to display nothing but 7-bit ASCII (essentially the 26 letters, the 10 digits, and a handful of punctuation marks). Most contemporary computer systems are now able to readily display characters from not only Chinese, but from many other writing systems as well. In addition, multiple input method editors exist that use standard keyboards to type them (pinyin being one such method). Now, PDAs and digitizing tablets allow users to write characters with a stylus, which can then be stored and edited like any text. Thus, this justification is no longer as strong as it used to be.
Nonetheless, pinyin has gained wide acceptance, and supporters believe it is useful for students of Chinese as a second language.
Reference
Yin Binyong 尹斌庸, Mary Felley: Chinese Romanization. Pronunciation and Orthography (Hanyu pinyin he zhengcifa 汉语拼音和正词法; Sinolingua, Beijing 1990), ISBN 7-80052-148-6 / ISBN 0-8351-1930-0.
External links
Auto-converters
- [http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/annotation.html Chinese characters to Pinyin (with tone marks and English meaning)]
- [http://www.pinyin.info/unicode/marks3.html Pinyin with tone numbers to Pinyin with tone marks] (can handle 5 for neutral tone)
- [http://www.foolsworkshop.com/ptou/index.html Pinyin with tone numbers to Pinyin with tone marks]
- [http://www.rikai.com/perl/HomePage.pl?Language=Zh Rikai.com] A web-mediator that adds mouseover pinyin readings to Chinese web-pages.
- [http://www.mandarintools.com/dimsum.html DimSum Chinese Reading Assistant] Add pinyin (or bopomofo, etc.) to text, web pages, or RTF files. Includes dictionary, flashcards.
Other
- [http://www.pinyin.info/ Pinyin.info] — very complete explanation of Unicode pinyin.
- [http://www.pinyin.info/unicode/unicode_test.html Pinyin info Unicode testpage]
- [http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/read.shtml Read/Write using Unicode]
- [http://research.chtsai.org/papers/pinyin-comparison.html Tongyong and Hanyu Pinyin]
- [http://www.sinosplice.com/lang/pronunciation.html Sinosplice - Pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese]
- [http://www.fdicts.com/dictlist1.php?k1=126 Fdicts] Simplified Chinese Dictionary
- [http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php MDBG free online Chinese-English dictionary]
- [http://www.mandarintools.com/pyconverter.html Chinese Romanization Converter] - Convert between Hanyu Pinyin, Wade-Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzyh, and other common Romanization systems.
Category:Chinese language romanization
Category:Latin-derived alphabets
Category:Mandarin terms
ko:병음
ja:ピン音
th:พินอิน
1234
Events
- Canonization of Saint Dominic
- Collapse of the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)
Births
- Abaqa Khan, Mongol emperor of Persia (died 1282)
Deaths
- June 18 - Emperor Chūkyō of Japan (born 1218)
- August 31 - Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (born 1212)
- Alan of Galloway
- Stefan Radoslav, King of Serbia (born 1192)
Monarchs/Presidents
- Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276)
- Castile - Ferdinand III, the Saint King of Castile and Leon (reigned from 1217 to 1252)
- Navarre - Sancho VII the Strong King of Navarre (reigned from 1194 to 1234)
-
ko:1234년
Jurchen languageJurchens#Culture.2C_language_and_society
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members nonetheless recognize a founding member or apical ancestor. As kinship based bonds can be merely symbolical in nature some clans share a "stipulated" common ancestor, which is a symbol of the clan's unity. When this ancestor is not human, this is referred to as animallian totem. Generally speaking, kinship differs from biological relation, as it also involves adoption, marriage, and fictive genealogical ties. Clans can be most easily described as sub-groups of tribes and usually constitute groups of 7000 to 10 000 people.
Some clans are patrilineal, meaning its members are related through the male line; for example, the clans of Armenia. Others are matrilineal; its members are related through the female line. Still other clans are bilateral, consisting of all the descendants of the apical ancestor through both the male and female lines; the clans of Scotland are one example. Whether a clan is patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral depends on the kinship rules and norms of their society.
In different cultures and situations a clan may mean the same thing as other kin-based groups such as tribes and bands. Often, the distinguishing factor is that a clan is a smaller part of a larger society such as a tribe, a chiefdom, or a state. Examples include Scottish, Chinese, and Japanese clans, which exist as kin groups within Scottish, Chinese, and Japanese society, respectively. Note, however, that tribes and bands can also be components of larger societies. Arab tribes are small groups within Arab society, and Ojibwa bands are smaller parts of the Ojibwa tribe.
However, the Norse clans, the ätter, can not be translated with tribe or band, and consequently they are often translated with house or line.
Most clans are exogamous, meaning that its members cannot marry one another. Some clans have an official leader such as a chieftain, matriarch, or patriarch.
Apart from these different traditions of kinship, further conceptual confusion arises from colloquial usages of the term. In post-Soviet countries for example it is quite common to speak of clans referring to informal networks within the economic and political sphere. This usage reflects the assumption that their members act towards each other in a particularly close and mutually supportive way approximating the solidarity among kinsmen.
Albania
- Fis, clans of the country's northern highlands.
Armenia
- Tohm, clans of Armenian nobility.
China
- Chinese clan
- Chinese family name
- Consort clan
Hong Kong
The five main Han Chinese Punti clans in Hong Kong are:
- Tang clan, arrived in Hong Kong in 1069
- Hau clan, arrived in the 12th century
- Pang clan, arrived in the 12th century
- Man clan, arrived in 1307
- Liu clan, arrived in the 15th century
Manchu
- List of Manchu clans
- Manchu family name
Ireland
- Irish clans
- Chiefs of the Name
Japan
- Japanese clans
Korea
- Korean clan
- Korean name
- Serb clans
Scandinavia
- Norse clans
Scotland
- Scottish clans
See also
- tribe
Category:Kinship and descent
ja:氏族
JurchenThe Jurchens (Chinese: 女真, pinyin: nǚzhēn) were a Tungus people who inhabited parts of Manchuria and northern Korea until the seventeenth century, when they became the Manchus. They established the Jin Dynasty (aisin gurun in Jurchen/Manchu) between 1115 and 1122; it lasted until 1234.
Jin Dynasty
The name Jurchen dates back to at least the beginning of the tenth century. It comes from the Jurchen word jusen, the original meaning of which is unclear. The Jurchen tribes of northern Manchuria were originally vassals of the Khitans (see also Liao Dynasty). They rose to power after an outstanding leader unified them in 1115, declared himself emperor, and quickly seized the Supreme Capital of Liao. The Jurchens overran most of North China and captured the Song capital of Kaifeng in 1126. Their armies pushed all the way south to the Yangtze but the boundary with the Southern Song was eventually stabilised roughly along the Huai River.
The Jurchen named their dynasty the Jin ("Golden") after a river in their homeland — For more detailed treatment of dynastic history and administration, see Jin Dynasty. At first, the Jurchen tribesmen were kept in readiness for warfare but decades of settled lifestyle eroded their pastoral identity. Eventually intermarriage with Chinese was permitted and peace with the Southern Song confirmed. The Jin rulers themselves came to follow Confucian norms. After 1189, the Jin became involved on two fronts in exhausting wars with the Mongols and the Southern song. By 1215, under Mongol pressure, they were forced to move their capital south from Beijing to Kaifeng, where the Mongols extinguished the Jin dynasty in 1234.
Culture, language and society
The Jurchens generally lived by traditions that reflected the pastoral culture of early steppe peoples. Like the Khitans and Mongols, they took pride in feats of strength, horsemanship, archery and hunting. They engaged in shamanic cults and believed in a supreme sky god (abka-i enduri, abka-i han).
The early Jurchen script was invented in 1120 by Wanyan Xiyin, acting on the orders of Wanyan Aguda. It was based on the Khitan script, that was inspired in turn by Chinese characters. However, because Chinese is an isolating language and the Jurchen and Khitan languages are agglutinative, the script proved to be cumbersome. The written Jurchen language died out soon after the fall of the Jin Dynasty, though its spoken form survived. Until the end of the sixteenth century, when Manchu became the new literary language, the Jurchens used a combination of Mongolian and Chinese.
The cultural conceptualisation of Jurchen society owes a great deal to the Mongols. Both Mongols and Jurchens used the title han for the leaders of a political entity, whether "emperor" or "chief". A particularly powerful chief was called beile ("prince, nobleman"), corresponding with the Mongolian beki and Turkish beg or bey. Also like the Mongols and the Turks, the Jurchens did not observe a law of primogeniture. According to tradition, any capable son or nephew could be chosen to become leader.
During Ming times the Jurchen people lived in social units that were sub-clans (mukun or hala mukun) of ancient clans (hala). Members of Jurchen clans shared a consciousness of a common ancestor and were led by a head man (mukunda). Not all clan members were blood related and division and integration of different clans was common. Jurchen households (boo) lived as families (booigon), consisting of five to seven blood-related family members and a number of slaves. Households formed squads (tatan) to engage in tasks related to hunting and food gathering; and formed companies (niru) for larger activities, such as war.
Jurchens during the Ming
Chinese chroniclers of the Ming Dynasty distinguished three groups of Jurchens: the Wild Jurchens of northernmost Manchuria, the Haixi Jurchens of modern Heilongjiang and the Jianzhou Jurchens of modern Jilin province. They led a pastoral-agrarian lifestyle, hunting, fishing and engaging in limited agriculture. In 1388, the Hongwu Emperor dispatched a mission to establish contact with the tribes of Odoli, Huligai and T'owen, beginning the sinicisation of the Jurchen people.
The Yongle Emperor found allies among the various Jurchen tribes against the Mongols. He bestowed titles and surnames to various Jurchen chiefs and expected them to send periodic tribute. Chinese commanderies were established over tribal military units under their own hereditary tribal leaders. In the Yongle period alone 178 commanderies were set up in Manchuria, an index of the Chinese divide-and-rule tactics. Later on, horse markets were also established in the northern border towns of Liaodong for trade. The increasing sinification of the Jurchens ultimately gave them the organisation structures to extend their power beyond the steppe. Later, a Korean army led by Yi-Il,and Yi Sun-sin would expell them from Korea.
Over a period of thirty years from 1586, Nurhaci, a chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchens, united the three Jurchen tribes, and renamed the united tribe Manchu. He created a formidable synthesis of nomadic institutions, providing the basis of the Manchu state and later the conquest of China by the Qing dynasty.
See also
- Ethnic groups in Chinese history
- Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)
- Toi invasion
- Wanyan Wuyashu
ja:女真
Category:Manchuria
Category:History of China
Category:Ancient peoples of China
category:Languages of China
Category:Tungusic peoples
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: 大清帝國, pinyin: ). 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 Xinhai 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 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
1912
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.
The Manchu rulers instituted the famous the "queue order", which forced the Han Chinese to adopt the Manchu hairstyle (the pigtail or the infamous "queue") and Manchu-style clothing to symbolize their loyalty to the dynasty. The strict rule of haircutting 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. This order violated Confucian ethics and Chinese practice, which was to leave the hair uncut. However, the Chinese had no choice, either hair or head to be cut. During the 268 years of Manchu rule, numerous Chinese rebellions had occurred because of this order.
The Manchus edited and forged the history of the former dynasty, Ming Shi(明史) (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.
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 words which were 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.
Kangxi and Consolidation
Qianlong emperor)]]
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 Jing's son, Zheng Ke-Shuang; the former (his grandfather Koxinga) 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
Beijing, during the Qianlong reign in the 18th century. It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.]]
Yongzheng (r. 1723 - 1735) and his son Qianlong (r. 1735 - 1796) and their reigns were at the height of Qing power, ruling over 13 million square kilometres of territory.
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
1820
1820
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 it is generally agreed 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.
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.
One of the major issues affecting nineteenth-century China was the question of how to deal with other countries. In previous centuries, Europe and China had been very isolated - the Chinese court viewed the outside world as barbaric and uncivilised, and so had no interest in developing foreign relations. European states, meanwhile, had no interest in trading with China as it was simply too far away. However, the eighteenth century saw the European empires gradually expand across the world, as European states developed stronger economies built on maritime trade. By the end of the eighteenth century, European colonies had been established in nearby India and 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 legation 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.
When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, world trade rapidly increased, and as China's vast population offered limitless markets for European goods, trade between Chinese and European merchants expanded during the early years of the nineteenth century. This increased trade, though, led to increasing hostility between European governments and the Qing regime.
In 1793, the Qing regime 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 opium 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 options with China. 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 outmaneuvered 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 reparations payments, allowed unrestricted European access to Chinese ports, and ceded the island of Hong Kong to Great Britain, revealed many inadequacies in the Qing government and provoked widespread rebellions against the regime.
Hong Kong, Russia, France, and Japan]]
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 outrage 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.
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 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 (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 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 hitlist which had Cixi as No. 1. Li Hongzhang was sent to negotiate and the Alliance backed down from several of the demands.
Li Hongzhang
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. 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 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.
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.
Han
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
Qianlong Emperor
The administrative system of the Qing Dynasty evolved out of its predecessor the Ming. In its most developed state, the Qing government centred around the Emperor as absolute ruler presiding over six ministries (or boards), each headed by two Supreme Secretaries (尚書|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'.
Board of Finance (户部|Húbú) - 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 Qing dynasty was the basis of imperial finance. The department was charged with revenue collection and the financial management of the government.
Board of Rites (禮部|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 nation wide 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 (兵部|Bìngbú) - Unlike its Ming Dynasty predecessor which had full control over all military matters, the Qing dynasty Board of War had its power severely curtailed. Firstly, the Banner Armies were under the control of the Emperor and hereditary Manchurian & Mogolian 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|軍機處).
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 day legal systems as there was no separation of executive and legistrative 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 outcome. Emperors could, and did, overturn judgments of lower courts from time to time. Fairness of treatment was also an issue under the apartheid system practiced 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 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 stemmed from the traditional imperial world view of seeing China as the centre of the world and all foreigners as uncivilized barbarians unworthy of equal diplomatic status. It was not till 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 the cumbersome name of "Tribunal for the Management of Affairs of All Nations" (Zǒnglǐgégūoshíwú Yāmēn|總理各國事務衙門), or "Zǒnglǐyāmēn" (總理衙門）for short. The office was originally intended to be temporary and was staffed by offcials seconded from the General Command Centre (Jūnjīchú |軍機處) on part-time basis. However as dealings with foreigners became increasing complicated and frequent, the office grew in size and importance aided by revenue from custom duties which came under its direct jurisdiction. Despite the imperial court's suspicion of all things foreign, the office became one of the most powerful departments within late Qing government.
Qing military
Ming Dynasty
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' (鐵帽子王). 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|軍機處) 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 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. As they conquered those territories under Ming dynasty, the relatively small Banner armies were augmented by the Green Standard Army (綠營兵) which eventually 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 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 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 the Banner and Green Standards troops could neither put down internal rebellions nor keep foreign invaders at bay.
Forbidden City palace complex 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 Taiping 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 those provinces that the 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 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 (淮軍) 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' loyalty to their immediate superiors and also to 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 - In 1860 during the Second Opium War the capital Beijing was captured and the (Old) Summer Palace sacked by the relatively small Anglo-French coalition numbering 25,000. 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 the grooved rifle barrels (1855), Maxim gun (1885), and steam driven battleships (1890s) 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 yielded 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 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 Corps (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.
See also
- List of Emperors of the Qing Dynasty
- Dynasties in Chinese history
- Chinese sovereign
- Table of Chinese monarchs
- Military history of China
- List of Manchu clans
- Manchu official headwear
- Manchu official Clothing
External link
- [http://www.drben.net/ChinaReport/Sources/chinghouse1.html Short History of the Qing Dynasty]
Category:History of China
Category:History of Mongolia
Category:History of Manchuria
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ko:청나라
ja:清
1115
Events
- Clairvaux Abbey is founded by St. Bernard.
- Anselm of Laon becomes archdeacon of Laon.
- Hugh of St. Victor joins the Victorines in Paris.
- Pierre Abélard becomes canon of Notre Dame de Paris.
- Stephen of England becomes count of Mortain.
- The title of Duke of Atholl is created (approximate date).
- Lothar I of Supplinburg defeats Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, in the Battle of Welfesholz.
- Arnulf of Chocques is accused of sexual relations with a Muslim woman and is briefly removed from his position as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
- The Jurchen establish the Jin Dynasty of China.
- The Crusader castle of Montreal is built by Baldwin I of Jerusalem.
Births
- Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare (died 1153)
Deaths
- July 24 - Matilda, Countess of Tuscany (b. 1046)
- Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford (born 1180)
- Thierry II, Duke of Lorraine
Category:1115
ko:1115년
1125
Events
- May 23 - Lothair of Saxony becomes Holy Roman Emperor on the death of Henry V.
- War ends between Toulouse and Provence.
- The castle of Nassau is built.
- Albert of Aix begins his Historia Hierosolymitanae expeditionis.
- Magnus the Strong becomes ruler of Sweden.
- June 11 - The Crusaders defeat the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Azaz.
Births
- Renaud de Courtenay, Anglo-Norman nobleman (died 1194)
- Lu You, Chinese poet (died 1210)
Deaths
- January 24 - King David IV of Georgia (born 1073)
- April 12 - Vladislav I of Bohemia
- May 19 - Vladimir Monomakh, Grand Duke of Kiev
- May 23 - Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1081)
- October 21 - Cosmas of Prague, Bohemian chronicler
- Eustace III of Boulogne
- Ingold II, ruler of Sweden (born 1105)
Category:1125
ko:1125년
Liao Dynasty
The Liao Dynasty (), 907-1125, also known as the Khitan Empire, was an empire in eastern Asia that ruled over Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper. It was founded by the Yelü (耶律 Yēlǜ) family of the Khitan people in the final years of the Tang Dynasty, even though its first ruler, Yelü Abaoji, did not declare an era name until 916.
Originally known as the Empire of the Khitan, Emperor Yelü Ruan officially adopted the name "Liao" (formally "Great Liao") in 947 (938?). The name "Liao" was dropped in 983, and readopted in 1066.
It was annihilated by the Jin Dynasty in 1125. However, remnants led by Yelü Dashi established Xi (Western) Liao Dynasty 1125-1220, also known as Kara-Khitan Khanate, which survived until the arrival of Genghis Khan's Mongolian cavalry.
History
In 907, Yelü Abaoji became head of the Khitan tribes. In 916, he created the Khitan state, naming himself Khan. In 918 he built the imperial capital, Huangdu (located at Bolo, in modern Bairin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia, China). In 920 he promulgated the Khitan large script, used to write the Khitan language. In 922 he made Yelü Deguang commander of the Khitan military. In 926, Yelü Abaoji fell ill on the way back from a military expedition, and Empress Shulü became regent. In 927, Yelü Deguang succeeded the throne.
In 936, Shi Jingtang, the new emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty in northern China proper, ceded 16 prefectures in the Youyun area (modern northern Hebei; Beijing) to the Khitans. In 946 the Khitans sacked Kaifeng, the capital of Later Jin. In 947, Yelü Ruan proclaimed himself emperor. He created a system of two "Palace Secretariats" (樞密院, 枢密院), one for Khitan lands in the north and one for acquired Han Chinese lands in the south. He also established the title of the country as "Liao". In 1007 the imperial capital was moved to Zhongjing, Dading Prefecture (in modern Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia. In 1125 Liao was destroyed by the emergent Jin Empire, established by the Jurchens.
After the destruction of Liao, Liao aristocrat Yelü Dashi established a refugee regime in what is now Xinjiang in 1132, called Western Liao or Kara-Khitan Khanate.
Extent
The Liao controlled Inner and Outer Manchuria, the eastern half of Mongolia, and the northernmost part of China proper.
Liao Dynasty 907-1125
Liao Dynasty 907-1125
| Temple Names ( Miao Hao 廟號 miàohào) |
Posthumous Names ( Shi Hao 諡號 shìhào) |
Born Names |
Period of Reigns |
Era Names (Nian Hao 年號 niánhào) and their according range of years |
| Convention: "Liao" + temple name except Liao Tianzuodi who is referred using "Liao" + posthumous name |
| Taizu (太祖 Tàizǔ) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Abaoji (耶律阿保機 Yēlǜ Ābǎojī) |
907-926 |
Shence (神冊 Shéncè) 916-922
Tianzan (天贊 Tiānzàn) 922-926
Tianxian (天顯 Tiānxiǎn) 926
|
| Taizong (太宗 Tàizōng) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Deguang|耶律德光 Yēlǜ Déguāng |
926-947 |
Tianxian (天顯 Tiānxiǎn) 927-938
Huitong (會同 Huìtóng) 938-947
Datong (大同 Dàtóng) 947
|
| Shizong (世宗 Shìzōng) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Ruan|耶律阮 Yēlǜ Ruǎn |
947-951 |
Tianlu (天祿 Tiānlù) 947-951
|
| Muzong (穆宗 Mùzōng) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Jing|耶律璟 Yēlǜ Jǐng |
951-969 |
Yingli (應曆 Yìnglì) 951-969
|
| Jingzong (景宗 Jǐngzōng) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Xian|耶律賢 Yēlǜ Xián |
969-982 |
Baoning (保寧 Bǎoníng) 969-979
Qianheng (乾亨 Qiánhēng) 979-982
|
| Shengzong (聖宗 Shèngzōng) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Longxu|耶律隆緒 Yēlǜ Lóngxù |
982-1031 |
Qianheng (乾亨 Qiánhēng) 982
Tonghe (統和 Tǒnghé) 983-1012
Kaitai (開泰 Kāitài) 1012-1021
Taiping (太平 Tàipíng) 1021-1031
|
| Xingzong (興宗 Xīngzōng) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Zongzhen|耶律宗真 Yēlǜ Zōngzhēn |
1031-1055 |
Jingfu (景福 Jǐngfú) 1031-1032
Chongxi (重熙 Chóngxī) 1032-1055
|
| Daozong (道宗 Dàozōng) |
Too tedious thus not used when referring to this sovereign |
Yelü Hongji|耶律洪á | | | |
