[ Qing Dynasty ]

1. Map

From this map, we can see that Qing ruled over all of China.

2. Technology/ Economy
During the Qing dynasty, there are three emperors that helped out a lot on the economy. The three emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong made the population grow faster, which leads to an economic growth too. During that time, Chinese agriculture was the most advanced of the world. The crops from America helped Chinese with its agricultural economy, such as potatoes, peanuts, sorghum millet, and corn. Plantations like tea, cotton, and sugar cane also helped the economic growth in agriculture. In the mid Qing period, there were high standards of living and education, so the industries in the cities are higher developed in China than in European countries. Textile Industry for silk production, tea plantations, steel production all helped earned a lot of money. Chinese merchants were also paid with silver coins by importing tea, porcelain and other agricultural products into the foreign countries. During the time, Chinese trade uses waterways more than land routes. However, this didn’t last very long. Because the population is growing and the economic can’t really fit the needs and demands of the increasing population. Qing also didn’t make good use of paper money; they mostly relied on silver coins. But it is being exported out and the import of silver also decreased. The unstable economy made China a country without a strong economy.

Sorghum millet

3. Social Changes

Qing dynasty was founded after the defeat of the Ming by the Manchus. The Manchus enforced a ‘queue order’ forcing the Han Chinese to adopt the Manchu queue and Manchu-style clothing. The Manchus had a special hair style and headwear. In the Qing dynasty, Manchu adult men shaved all the hair off the front head, only leaving the hair on the top and at the back of the head, leaving a pigtail at the back. This is because it is for the convenience of riding on a horse and hunting animals in the forest in mountainous area. The Manchus believed that the pigtail is where the true soul inhabits, which is the essence of life. The Manchu woman had a very unique hairstyle too. Before the woman grows up, she has to wear a red cord around their single pigtail hanging behind. Their front hair is cut into a bang and often a gold or silver or jewelry bead is fastened in the tip of the pigtail. It swings with the wind, showing a sense of beauty in the girls. If the Manchu woman is married, they must make their hair into a bun with a silver ornamental stick. It ties the hair on the top of the head and let their long hair hang on the back neck, and put a fan-shaped hair coronet on it. Manchu women like fresh flowers very much and they often decorate their hair with flower hairpin made of gold, silver, or emerald. Manchu women have always valued hairstyle and headwear, and they have never done foot binding. So they were called the “golden head and heavenly feet”. The Manchu clothing also replaced the traditional Chinese clothing (Hanfu). Qipao and Tangzhuang are actually Manchu-style clothing. During the time, they were all encouraged to use the Manchu language rather than Chinese.

Qing Period Woman

4. Government

The Qing was very clever in government. The capital of the Manchu empires was moved from Shenyang to Beijing in 1644. Unlike other emperors, the male relatives of the Manchu emperor were allowed to take part in the central government. The brothers and sons were called Prince. Members of the emperor’s family were distinguished by garments with a large circular emblem on the back, whereas the Han emperor’s family could only hope to wear clothing with a square emblem. Because of this, any guar in the court could immediately distinguish family members even from the back view.
Because the Qing Dynasty was after the Ming dynasty, so it inherited many important institutions. The formal structure of the Qing government is that the emperor is the absolute ruler who presided over six ministries, each headed by two presidents and four vice presidents.
The six ministries consist of:
Board of Civil Appointments -->personal administration of all civil officials including evaluation, promotion, and dismissal
Board of Finance -->manages the finance of the government (taxation of landownership)
Board of Rites --> Responsible for code of behavior at court (Chinese concept of courtesy as taught by Confucius)
Board of War --> It has very limited powers because the Eight Banners (military soldiers) were under the direct control of the Emperor.
Board of Punishments --> Handled all legal matters including the law courts and prisons. It is weak compared to the legal systems modern times because there was no separation of executive and legislative branches of government. Emperors could still overturn the judgments, so it wasn’t very fair.
Board of Works --> Handled all governmental building projects, including palaces, temples and the repairs of waterways and flood canals.

Qing Period Soldier

5. Religion/ Philosophy

The emperors of Qing dynasty adopted Confucianism as their official religion. The emperor experiences all sacrifices for Heaven, Earth, and his ancestors. However, Taoism and Buddhism was also accepted which became the Three Religions of China. Christianity had also step into China at the end of Ming Dynasty. Christianity brought in the solar calendar with a 365 days and 7 days a week.
The Qing emperors understood themselves as artists and writers, especially the Kangxi Emperor. He had published the History of Ming Dynasty, illustrated encyclopedia, collection of Tang poetry and Tang prose, character dictionary, rhyme dictionary, and the collection of all existent writings that had ever been published.

Confucius

6. Leaders/ Contemporaries

Kangxi Emperor (May 4th, 1654~December 20th, 1722)--> Kangxi was the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty. He is known as one of the greatest Chinese emperors in history. His reign of 61 years also makes him the longest reigning emperor of China in history. He was an emperor in the age of eight, his dates of reign are from February 7th, 1661~December 20th,1722.
· Kangxi emperor put together the most complete dictionary ever. The Kangxi Dictionary.
· Brought Western technology to China.
· First Chinese Emperor to play a western instrument, which is the piano.
· Invented a very useful and effective Chinese calendar.
· Ideal Confucian monarch.
· Second emperor to rule over all of China.

Kangxi Emperor

Puyi (February 7th, 1906~October 17th, 1967)--> Puyi emperor was the last Emperor of China between 1908 and 1924. He is the twelfth emperor of the Qing dynasty that ruled over China. Puyi was at throne at the age of 2 years and 10 months in December 1908.
· He published his autobiography “My First Half Life” or “From Emperor to Citizen”.
· In 1934, he became the emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.
· He was captured by Russians in 1945 and kept as their prisoners.

Puyi Emperor

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809~April 15, 1865) --> Abraham Lincoln was an American politician elected from Illinois as the 16th President of the United States and he is the first president from the Republican Party.
· He abolished slavery
· Fought a war to hold the Union together during Civil War
· A leader with extraordinary political skills

Abraham Lincoln

Napoleon I (August 15, 1769~ May 5, 1821) --> Napoleon was a general during the French Revolution and the ruler of France from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804. He became the emperor of the French from May 18, 1804 to April 6, 1814.
· A military genius
· Consolidated many reforms of the French Revolution
· Introduced a new system of laws, the” Code Napoleon”
· Tried to isolate England through an embargo
· He had to retreat after a disastrous invasion of Russia
· Allies invaded France and he was fore to abdicate in 1814.

Napoleon I

7. Timeline

1. 1644 Formation of Qing Dynasty -->Qing dynasty is also known as the Manchu Dynasty. The dynasty was founded by the Manchu people establishing the Empire of the Great Qing. Every emperor in the Qing dynasty had a clan name which is Aisin Gioro. In 1616, Later Jin Dynasty was declared and changed its name to Qing later on in 1636. It captured Beijing from rebels in 1644 and ruled almost all of China by 1646. However, Qing dynasty was weakened during the 1800s by the international pressure, rebellions and the defeats in wars.
2. 1834~1843 First Opium War --> The opium trade is growing in China during the 1650s to the 1773. The opium is having harmful effects on health and so the emperor assigned Lin Zexu to control the trade. He demanded the British merchants to sign a bond, but it didn’t help. So Lin threw all the opium into the ocean, which is about three million pounds of opium. The British responded to this incident by sending in troops and warships and the British Indian army to China in June of 1840. The Qing forces were very easily defeated and in 1842, Qing wanted peace. In 1843, Treaty of Nanjing was accepted and the First Opium War ended. 1856~1860 Second Opium War --> The second opium war started out by the Chinese attacking the British ship Arrow because it is accused of piracy and smuggling and were arrested. But the British claimed that they were just shipping British flag and they were protected by the Treaty of Nanjing. Later on, the war broke out and British were aided by France, Russia, and the United States. And the Second Opium War ended when the Chinese signed the Treaty of Tientsin in 1860 which gives a number of privileges to Britain and some other Western countries within China.
3. 1851~1864 Rebellion of Taiping--> The Taiping Rebellion or Rebellion of Great Place was a very large scale revolt which was conducted by an army and civil administration against the forces of the Qing Government. The leader of the Taiping Rebellion is Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, they are both Christian followers and they are able to control some significant parts of southern China during that time. It is estimated that there are at least 20 million people killed in this rebellion, but some historians also estimate that there might be as many as 200 million deaths between 1850 and 1865 including the deaths caused by natural disasters. Taiping Rebellion is the second bloodiest conflict in history, which lies between World War II and World War I.
4. August 1st 1894~April 1895 Sino Japanese War -->The Sino-Japanese war was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan over the control of Korea. The war was ended when China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki on 17 April 1895. China gave Taiwan, eastern Manchuria and Liaodong to Japan.

First Sino-Japanese War, major battles and troop movements

5. November 1899~September 7, 1901 The Boxer Rebellion --> The boxer rebellion is fought in China between the Eight-Nation Alliance (Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, France, United States, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary) and the Righteous Harmony Society (Qing China). The commanders of the Eight-Nation Alliance are Edward Seymour (British) And Alfred Graf von (German) and the commander of China is Ci Xi. The strength of the Eight-Nation Alliance was about 49,000 in total and China is only over 100,000. The casualties for the Eight-Nation Alliance were about 230 foreigners and thousands of civilians and the casualty for China is unknown. The result of the boxer rebellion is that the alliance victory. Foreign armies in Beijing during Boxer Rebellion

6. The Revolution of 1911 --> The collapse of Qing dynasty in 1912 brought an end to over 2000 years of imperial China.

8. Other

Under the rule of Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong, Qing dynasty became a very artistic dynasty. Because the taxes were very light compared to other dynasties, it brought peace to allow the people learn arts. During the time, novels, short story and drama are the most famous literary works. Porcelain production is also very important and they use new colors for the porcelain. Painting was also important; it is the first time that European influences were seen in China.

Kangxi Emperor's Southern Tour (Painting)

Qing period Porcelain

9. Summarize in Eight main points

The Manchu people ruled over China from 1644 to 1911, they brought many benefits to China as well as disadvantages. The emperors in Qing dynasty improved the economy and the traditions from the Han Chinese were also replaced by the Manchu’s. Compare to other dynasties, Qing dynasty is a more developed one and the government is a little different compared with the past dynasties. The Emperors of the Qing dynasty followed Confucianism, and there are excellent emperors such as Kangxi, but also emperors that brought an end to the imperial China. The Qing dynasty lasted for more than 300 years, arts and history are all left for their younger generations.

The flag of Qing Dynasty

10. Work Cited

“Puyi emperor.” Answers.com. 2007. February 11, 2007. <http://www.answers.com/topic/xuantong-emperor>.
“Kangxi emperor.” Answers.com. 2007. February 11, 2007. <http://www.answers.com/Kangxi>
“Napoleon.” Hyperhistory.com. February 11, 2007. <http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/people_n2/persons6_n2/napoleon.html>
“Lincoln” Hyperhistory.com. February 11, 2007. <http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/people_n2/persons6_n2/lincoln.html>
Ulrich Theobald. “Chinese History – Qing Dynasty.” China Knowledge. 2000. February 11, 2007. <http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Qing/qing.html>
“Qing Dynasty: Ancient China Dynasties.” Travel China Guide. 1998. February 11, 2007. <http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/qing.htm>
“Qing Dynasty.” Wikipedia. February 9, 2007. February 11, 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_Dynasty>