Qing Dynasty. 

Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912)

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The Qing Dynasty was the final imperial dynasty in China, lasting from 1644 to 1912. It was an era noted for its initial prosperity and tumultuous final years, and for being only the second time that China was not ruled by the Han people.

Near the end of the Ming Dynasty in 1616, Manchurian forces from northeastern Asia defeated the Ming army and occupied several cities on China’s northern border.

A full-scale invasion followed, and China was finally defeated in 1644, with Emperor Shunzhi establishing the Qing Dynasty.

It is important to understand that the Munschu are NOT Chinese. Ethnic Chinese usually refer to themselves as Han. Han is today the largest ethnic group followed by Zhuang, Uighurs, Hui and Manchu. But still small ethnic grups has been able to conquer established dynasties in China. The Manchus also had control of China during the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) before the Yuan dynasty and Djengis Kahn and Mongolian aera.

The Manchu were aware of the fate of other foreign groups who conquered China only to be absorbed and assimilated by the Chinese. To avoid this, they introduced laws and customs to segregate their people from Han Chinese. One of these was to forbid Manchu from wearing Chinese style clothing and impose Manchu clothing on anyone who served in governmental office. This is how the typical Manchu Imperial robes were introduced to the forbidden city.

Many of the new Han subjects faced discrimination during the Qing-dynasty. Han-men were required to cut their hair in Mongolian fashion with a single braid at the back of their head or face execution. Han intellectuals attempted to criticize the rulers through literature; many were rounded up and beheaded. Han people were also relocated from the power centers of Beiging.

The Ming tradition of blue underglazed Porcelain was continued in the Qing Dynasty.  Qing Chinese pottery was prized in the West due to the bright hues and complex but delicate decorations that were placed on these vases, drinking vessels, and plates. These pieces contained floral and nature-themed scenes. Ceramic art was not considered up to par with that of the Ming or Song dynasty. The artistic superintendent Lang Tingji of the 1700s attempted to remedy this with various developments in the creation of porcelain ware. Chinese export of porcelain peaked during the Qing dynasty and it is estimated that Chinese trade of silk, porcelain, rise and other goods was almost 30% of the world trade in the 18th century.

 

The Qing Dynasty fell in 1911, overthrown by a revolution brewing since 1894, when western-educated revolutionary Sun Zhongshan (or Sun Yat-sen) formed the Revive China Society in Hawaii, then Hong Kong.

In 1905, Sun united various revolutionary factions into one party with Japanese help and wrote the manifesto, the Three Principles of the People.

In 1911, the Nationalist Party of China held an uprising in Wuchang, helped by Qing soldiers, and 15 provinces declared their independence from the empire. Within weeks the Qing court agreed to the creation of a republic with its top general, Yuan Shikai, as president.

Xuantog abdicated in 1912, with Sun creating a provisional constitution for the new country, which ushered in years of political unrest centered around Yuan.

In 1917, there was a brief attempt to reinstate the Qing government, with Xuantog being restored for less than two weeks during a military coup that ultimately failed.

 

This was the end of a 2000 years continuous line of Chinese Dynasties, and paved the way for the new Chinese Republic.