Editing Qing dynasty (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of the Qing dynasty}}
{{For timeline}}

===Formation===
{{further|Manchuria under Ming rule|Jurchen unification|Timeline of the Jurchens#17th century}}
The Qing dynasty was founded not by [[Han Chinese]], who constituted a majority of the population, but by [[Manchus]], a sedentary farming people descended from the [[Jurchens]], a [[Tungusic people]] who lived in the region now comprising the Chinese provinces of [[Jilin]] and [[Heilongjiang]].{{sfnp|Ebrey|2010|p=220}}

====Nurhaci====
[[File:Minggunbattle.jpg|thumb|Manchu cavalry charging Ming infantry at the 1619 [[Battle of Sarhū]]]]
The early form of the Manchu state was founded by [[Nurhaci]], the chieftain of a minor Jurchen tribe{{snd}}the Aisin-Gioro{{snd}}in [[Jianzhou Jurchens|Jianzhou]] in the early 17th century. Nurhaci may have spent time in a Han household in his youth, and became fluent in [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] languages and read the Chinese novels ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' and ''[[Water Margin]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swope |first=Kenneth M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRaoAgAAQBAJ&q=three+kingdoms+nurhaci+romance&pg=PA16 |title=The Military Collapse of China's Ming Dynasty, 1618–44 |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1134462094 |edition=Illustrated |page=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mair |first1=Victor H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agI7CwAAQBAJ&q=three+kingdoms+nurhaci+romance&pg=PT159 |title=Chinese Lives: The People Who Made a Civilization |last2=Chen |first2=Sanping |last3=Wood |first3=Frances |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2013 |isbn=978-0500771471 |edition=Illustrated}}</ref> As a vassal of the Ming emperors, he officially considered himself a guardian of the Ming border and a local representative of the Ming dynasty.<ref name="Peterson" /> Nurhaci embarked on an intertribal feud in 1582 that escalated into a campaign to [[Jurchen unification|unify the nearby tribes]]. He also began organizing the [[Eight Banners]] military system which included Manchu, Han, and [[Mongols|Mongol]] elements. By 1616, however, he had sufficiently consolidated Jianzhou so as to be able to proclaim himself [[Khan (title)|Khan]] of the [[Later Jin (1616–1636)|Later Jin dynasty]] in reference to the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|previous Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty]].{{sfnp|Ebrey|2010|pp=220–224}}

Two years later, Nurhaci announced the "[[Seven Grievances]]" and openly renounced the sovereignty of Ming overlordship in order to complete the unification of those Jurchen tribes still allied with the Ming emperor. After a series of successful battles, he relocated his capital from [[Hetu Ala]] to successively bigger captured Ming cities in Liaodong: first [[Liaoyang]] in 1621, then [[Mukden]] (Shenyang) in 1625.{{sfnp|Ebrey|2010|pp=220–224}} Furthermore, the Khorchin proved a useful ally in the war, lending the Jurchens their expertise as cavalry archers. To guarantee this new alliance, Nurhaci initiated a policy of inter-marriages between the Jurchen and Khorchin nobilities, while those who resisted were met with military action. This is a typical example of Nurhaci's initiatives that eventually became official Qing government policy. During most of the Qing period, the Mongols gave military assistance to the Manchus.<ref>Bernard Hung-Kay Luk, Amir Harrak-Contacts between cultures, Vol. 4, p. 25</ref>

====Hong Taiji====
Nurhaci died in 1626, and was succeeded by his eighth son, [[Hong Taiji]]. Although Hong Taiji was an experienced leader and the commander of two Banners, the Jurchens suffered defeat in 1627, in part due to the Ming's newly acquired [[Hongyipao|Portuguese cannons]]. To redress the technological and numerical disparity, Hong Taiji in 1634 created his own artillery corps, who cast their own cannons in the European design with the help of defector Chinese metallurgists. One of the defining events of Hong Taiji's reign was the official adoption of the name "Manchu" for the united Jurchen people in November 1635. In 1635, the Manchus' Mongol allies were fully incorporated into a separate Banner hierarchy under direct Manchu command. In April 1636, [[Mongol nobility]] of Inner Mongolia, Manchu nobility and the Han [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarin]] recommended that Hong as the khan of Later Jin should be the emperor of the Great Qing.{{sfnp|Rawski|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gAIcwz3V_JsC&pg=PA177 177]}}<ref>Tumen jalafun jecen akū: Manchu studies in honour of Giovanni Stary By Giovanni Stary, Alessandra Pozzi, Juha Antero Janhunen, Michael Weiers</ref> When he was presented with the [[Imperial Seal of China|imperial seal]] of the [[Yuan dynasty]] after the defeat of the last [[Khagan]] of the Mongols, Hong Taiji renamed his state from "Great Jin" to "Great Qing" and elevated his position from Khan to [[Emperor of China|Emperor]], suggesting imperial ambitions beyond unifying the Manchu territories. Hong Taiji then proceeded to [[Second Manchu invasion of Korea|invade Korea]] again in 1636.

[[File:Sura han ni chiha. Currency of the farther East. No.850.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Coins of Hong Taiji in Manchu script]]
Meanwhile, Hong Taiji set up a rudimentary bureaucratic system based on the Ming model. He established six boards or executive level ministries in 1631 to oversee finance, personnel, rites, military, punishments, and public works. However, these administrative organs had very little role initially, and it was not until the eve of completing the conquest ten years later that they fulfilled their government roles.{{sfnp|Li|2002|pp=60–62}}

Hong Taiji staffed his bureaucracy with many Han Chinese, including newly surrendered Ming officials, but ensured Manchu dominance by an ethnic quota for top appointments. Hong Taiji's reign also saw a fundamental change of policy towards his Han Chinese subjects. Nurhaci had treated Han in Liaodong according to how much grain they had. Due to a Han revolt in 1623, Nurhaci turned against them and enacted discriminatory policies and killings against them. He ordered that Han who assimilated to the Jurchen (in Jilin) before 1619 be treated equally with Jurchens, not like the conquered Han in Liaodong. Hong Taiji recognised the need to attract Han Chinese, explaining to reluctant Manchus why he needed to treat the defecting Ming general [[Hong Chengchou]] leniently.{{sfnp|Li|2002|p=65}} Hong Taiji incorporated Han into the Jurchen polity as citizens obligated to provide military service. By 1648, less than one-sixth of the bannermen were of Manchu ancestry.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=China |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/China |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727034401/https://www.britannica.com/place/China |archive-date=27 July 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Claiming the Mandate of Heaven===
{{See also|Transition from Ming to Qing}}
[[File:Dorgon, the Prince Rui (17th century).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Dorgon (1612–1650)]]
Hong Taiji died suddenly in September 1643. As Jurchen leaders were chosen by a council of nobles, there was no clear successor. The leading contenders for power were Hong Taiji's oldest son [[Hooge (prince)|Hooge]] and Hong Taiji's half brother [[Dorgon]]. A compromise installed Hong Taiji's five-year-old son, Fulin, as the [[Shunzhi Emperor]], with Dorgon as regent and de facto leader of the Manchu nation.

Meanwhile, Ming government officials fought against fiscal collapse, against each other, and against a series of [[Ming dynasty#Rebellion, invasion, collapse|peasant rebellions]]. They were unable to capitalise on the Manchu succession dispute and the resulting boy emperor. In April 1644, Beijing was sacked by a contentious rebel coalition led by [[Li Zicheng]], a former minor Ming official, who established a short-lived [[Shun dynasty]]. The last Ming ruler, the [[Chongzhen Emperor]], committed suicide when the city fell to the rebels, marking the effective end of the dynasty.

Li Zicheng then led rebel forces numbering some 200,000 to confront Ming general [[Wu Sangui]], stationed at [[Shanhai Pass]] of the [[Great Wall]] to defend the capital against the approaching Manchu-led armies. Wu, to survive, had to ally with one of his adversaries against the other; one was a Han Chinese peasant army twice his size, but he chose the other. Wu may have resented Li Zicheng's attack on officials and the social order; Li had taken Wu's father hostage and it was said that Li took [[Chen Yuanyuan|Wu's concubine]] for himself. On the other hand, the Manchus had adopted a Chinese-style form of government and promised stability. Wu and Dorgon allied to defeat Li Zicheng in the [[Battle of Shanhai Pass]] on 27 May 1644.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|p=32}}

The newly allied armies captured Beijing on 6 June. The [[Shunzhi Emperor]] was invested as the "[[Son of Heaven]]" on 30 October 1644. The Manchus, who had positioned themselves as political heirs to the Ming, held a formal funeral for the Chongzhen Emperor. However, completing the conquest of [[China proper]] took another seventeen years of battling Ming loyalists, pretenders and rebels. The last Ming pretender, [[Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui|Prince Gui]], sought refuge with [[Pindale Min]], the king of [[Burma]], but was turned over to a Qing expeditionary army commanded by Wu Sangui, who had him brought back to [[Yunnan]] and executed in early 1662.

The Qing had taken shrewd advantage of Ming civilian government discrimination against the military and encouraged the Ming military to defect by spreading the message that the Manchus valued their skills.{{sfnp|Di Cosmo|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8piRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 6]}} Banners made up of Han Chinese who defected before 1644 were classed among the Eight Banners, giving them social and legal privileges. Han defectors swelled the ranks of the Eight Banners so greatly that ethnic Manchus became a minority{{snd}}only 16% in 1648, with Han bannermen dominating at 75% and Mongol bannermen making up the rest.{{sfnp|Naquin|Rawski|1987|p=141}} Gunpowder weapons like muskets and artillery were wielded by the Chinese Banners.{{sfnp|Di Cosmo|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8piRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 23]}} Normally, Han Chinese defector troops were deployed as the vanguard, while Manchu bannermen were used predominantly for quick strikes with maximum impact, so as to minimise ethnic Manchu losses.{{sfnp|Di Cosmo|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8piRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 9]}}

This multi-ethnic force conquered Ming China for the Qing.{{sfnp|Rawski|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gAIcwz3V_JsC&pg=PA175 175]}} The three Liaodong officers who played key roles in the conquest of southern China were Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming, and Kong Youde, who governed southern China autonomously as viceroys for the Qing after the conquest.{{sfnp|Di Cosmo|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8piRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 7]}} Han bannermen made up the majority of governors during the early Qing, stabilising their rule.{{sfnp|Spence|1990|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vI1RRslLNSwC&pg=PA41 41]}} To promote ethnic harmony, a 1648 decree allowed Han Chinese civilian men to marry Manchu women from the Banners with the permission of the Board of Revenue if they were registered daughters of officials or commoners, or with the permission of their banner company captain if they were unregistered commoners. Later in the dynasty the policies allowing intermarriage were done away with.{{sfnp|Wakeman|1985|p=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8nXLwSG2O8AC/page/n489 478]}} The Qing's depiction of itself as a [[Chinese empire]] was not hindered by the imperial house's Manchu ethnicity, especially after 1644, when the name "Chinese" was given a multiethnic meaning.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Remaking the Chinese Empire: Manchu-Korean Relations, 1616–1911|last = Wang|first = Yuanchong|publisher = Cornell University Press|year = 2018|isbn = 9781501730511|location = Brighton|page = 30}}</ref>
[[File:Mongolia in 1636.svg|thumb|Qing and Central Asia in 1636]]
The first seven years of the young Shunzhi Emperor's reign were dominated by Dorgon's regency. Because of his own political insecurity, Dorgon followed Hong Taiji's example by ruling in the name of the emperor at the expense of rival Manchu princes, many of whom he demoted or imprisoned. Dorgon's precedents and example cast a long shadow. First, the Manchus had entered "South of the Wall" because Dorgon had responded decisively to Wu Sangui's appeal, then, instead of sacking Beijing as the rebels had done, Dorgon insisted, over the protests of other Manchu princes, on making it the dynastic capital and reappointing most Ming officials. No major Chinese dynasty had directly taken over its immediate predecessor's capital, but keeping the Ming capital and bureaucracy intact helped quickly stabilize the regime and sped up the conquest of the rest of the country. Dorgon then drastically reduced the influence of the eunuchs and directed Manchu women not to [[Foot binding|bind their feet]] in the Han Chinese style.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|p=38}}

However, not all of Dorgon's policies were equally popular or as easy to implement. The controversial July 1645 [[Queue Order]] forced adult Han Chinese men to shave the front of their heads and comb the remaining hair into the [[Queue (hairstyle)|queue]] hairstyle which was worn by Manchu men, on pain of death.{{sfnp|Wakeman|1985|pp=646–650}} The popular description of the order was: "To keep the hair, you lose the head; To keep your head, you cut the hair."{{sfnp|Spence|2012|p=38}} To the Manchus, this policy was a test of loyalty and an aid in distinguishing friend from foe. For the Han Chinese, however, it was a humiliating reminder of Qing authority that challenged traditional Confucian values.{{sfnp|Wakeman|1985|p=648|loc=n. 183}} The order triggered strong resistance in [[Jiangnan]].{{sfnp|Wakeman|1985|pp=651–680}} In the ensuing unrest, some 100,000 Han were slaughtered.{{sfnp|Faure|2007|p=164}}{{sfnp|Ebrey|1993|p={{page needed|date=October 2010}}}}{{sfnp|Wakeman|1977|p=83}}
[[File:Qing Dynasty 1760.jpg|thumb|Qing expansion and [[Qing conquest of the Ming|conquest of the Ming]]]]
On 31 December 1650, Dorgon died suddenly, marking the start of the Shunzhi Emperor's personal rule. Because the emperor was only 12 years old at that time, most decisions were made on his behalf by his mother, [[Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang]], who turned out to be a skilled political operator. Although his support had been essential to Shunzhi's ascent, Dorgon had centralised so much power in his hands as to become a direct threat to the throne. So much so that upon his death he was bestowed the extraordinary posthumous title of Emperor Yi ({{lang|zh|義皇帝}}), the only instance in Qing history in which a Manchu "prince of the blood" ({{lang|zh|親王}}) was so honoured. Two months into Shunzhi's personal rule, however, Dorgon was not only stripped of his titles, but his corpse was disinterred and mutilated.{{refn|This event was recorded by Italian [[Jesuit]] Martin Martinius in his account ''{{lang|la|Bellum Tartaricum}}'' with original text in Latin, first published in Rome 1654. First English edition, London: John Crook, 1654.}} Dorgon's fall from grace also led to the purge of his family and associates at court. Shunzhi's promising start was cut short by his early death in 1661 at the age of 24 from [[smallpox]]. He was succeeded by his third son Xuanye, who reigned as the [[Kangxi Emperor]].

The Manchus sent Han bannermen to fight against Koxinga's Ming loyalists in Fujian.{{sfnp|Ho|2011|p=135}} They removed the population from coastal areas in order to deprive Koxinga's Ming loyalists of resources. This led to a misunderstanding that Manchus were afraid of water. Han bannermen carried out the fighting and killing, casting conquest of the Mingdoubt on the claim that fear of the water led to the coastal evacuation and ban on maritime activities.{{sfnp|Ho|2011|p=198}} Even though a poem refers to the soldiers carrying out massacres in Fujian as "barbarians", both Han [[Green Standard Army]] and Han bannermen were involved and carried out the worst slaughter.{{sfnp|Ho|2011|p=206}} 400,000 Green Standard Army soldiers were used against the Three Feudatories in addition to the 200,000 bannermen.{{sfnp|Ho|2011|p=307}}

===Kangxi Emperor's reign and consolidation===
{{see also|Revolt of the Three Feudatories|High Qing era}}
[[File:Portrait of the Kangxi Emperor in Court Dress.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The [[Kangxi Emperor]] ({{reign|1661|1722}})]]
The 61-year reign of the [[Kangxi Emperor]] was the longest of any emperor in Chinese history, and marked the beginning of the [[High Qing era]], the zenith of the dynasty's social, economic and military power. The early Manchu rulers established two foundations of legitimacy that help to explain the stability of their dynasty. The first was the bureaucratic institutions and the [[neo-Confucian]] culture that they adopted from earlier dynasties.{{sfnp|Rowe|2009|pp=32–33}} Manchu rulers and Han Chinese [[scholar-official]] elites gradually came to terms with each other. The [[Imperial exams#Qing dynasty (1636–1912)|examination system]] offered a path for ethnic Han to become officials. Imperial patronage of the ''[[Kangxi Dictionary]]'' demonstrated respect for Confucian learning, while the [[Sacred Edict]] of 1670 effectively extolled Confucian family values. His attempts to discourage Chinese women from [[foot binding]], however, were unsuccessful.

The second major source of stability was the [[Inner Asia]]n aspect of their Manchu identity, which allowed them to appeal to the Mongol, Tibetan and Muslim subjects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kuzmin |first1=Sergius L. |last2=Dmitriev |first2=Sergey |year=2015 |title=Conquest dynasties of China or foreign empires? The problem of relations between China, Yuan and Qing |url=https://www.academia.edu/25907401 |journal=International Journal of Central Asian Studies |volume=19 |pages=59–92 |access-date=14 November 2017 |via=Academia}}</ref> Qing emperors adopted different images for these subjects in their multi-ethnic empire. The Qing used the title of Emperor (''Huangdi'' or ''hūwangdi''),<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Board of Rites and the Making of Qing China|author = Macabe Keliher|publisher = University of California Press|year = 2019|isbn = 9780520971769|page = 3}}</ref> along with [[Son of Heaven]] and ''[[Ejen]]'' in [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Manchu language|Manchu]]. Like [[Kublai Khan]] of the Mongol-led [[Yuan dynasty]] and [[Yongle Emperor]] of the [[Ming dynasty]], Qing rulers like the [[Qianlong Emperor]] portrayed the image of themselves as [[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)|Buddhist sage rulers]] (wheel-turning kings), patrons of [[Tibetan Buddhism]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farquhar |first1=David |year=1978 |title=Emperor As Bodhisattva in the Governance of the Qing Empire |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=5–34 |doi=10.2307/2718931 |jstor=2718931}}</ref> to maintain legitimacy for Tibetan Buddhists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapstein |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1y8qAwAAQBAJ |title=Buddhism Between Tibet and China |publisher=Wisdom |year=2014 |isbn=9780861718061 |page=185}}</ref> Mongol subjects also commonly referred to the Qing ruler as [[Bogda Khan]],<ref>{{Cite book|title = China's Challenges and International Order Transition|author = Huiyun Feng|publisher = University of Michigan Press|year = 2020|isbn = 9780472131761|page = 151}}</ref> while Turkic Muslim subjects (now known as the [[Uyghurs]]) commonly referred to the Qing ruler as [[Khagan#Chinese khagans|Chinese khagan]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/s/saksaha/13401746.0012.004/--qing-dynasty-and-its-central-asian-neighbors?rgn=main;view=fulltext|title=The Qing Dynasty and Its Central Asian Neighbors |date=2014 |doi=10.3998/saksaha.13401746.0012.004 | access-date=September 17, 2023 |last1=Onuma |first1=Takahiro |journal=Saksaha: A Journal of Manchu Studies |volume=12 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Kangxi's reign began when the young emperor was seven. To prevent a repeat of Dorgon's monopolising of power, on his deathbed his father hastily appointed four regents who were not closely related to the imperial family and had no claim to the throne. However, through chance and machination, [[Oboi]], the most junior of the four, gradually achieved such dominance as to be a potential threat. In 1669, Kangxi disarmed and imprisoned Oboi through trickery{{snd}}a significant victory for a fifteen-year-old emperor. The young emperor faced challenges in maintaining control of his kingdom, as well. Three Ming generals singled out for their contributions to the establishment of the dynasty had been granted governorships in southern China. They became increasingly autonomous, leading to the [[Revolt of the Three Feudatories]], which lasted for eight years. Kangxi was able to unify his forces for a counterattack led by a new generation of Manchu generals. By 1681, the Qing government had established control over a ravaged southern China, which took several decades to recover.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=48–51}}

[[File:The Emperor at the Kherlen river.jpg|thumb|The Qing army in [[Khalkha]] (1688)]]
To extend and consolidate the dynasty's control in Central Asia, the Kangxi Emperor personally led a series of military campaigns against the [[Dzungars]] in [[Outer Mongolia]]. The Kangxi Emperor expelled [[Galdan]]'s invading forces from these regions, which were then incorporated into the empire. In 1683, Qing forces received the surrender of [[Formosa]] (Taiwan) from [[Zheng Keshuang]], grandson of [[Koxinga]], who had conquered Taiwan from the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] colonists as a base against the Qing. Winning Taiwan freed Kangxi's forces for a series of battles over [[Albazin]], the far eastern outpost of the [[Tsardom of Russia]]. The 1689 [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] was China's first formal treaty with a European power and kept the border peaceful for the better part of two centuries. Galdan was ultimately killed in the [[Dzungar–Qing War]];{{sfnp|Perdue|2005}} after his death, his Tibetan Buddhist followers attempted to control the choice of the next [[Dalai Lama]]. Kangxi dispatched two armies to [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]], the capital of Tibet, and installed a Dalai Lama sympathetic to the Qing.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=62–66}}

===Reigns of the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors===
[[File:Budala5.jpg|thumb|The [[Putuo Zongcheng Temple]] in [[Chengde]], built during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor on the model of the [[Potala Palace]] in [[Lhasa]]]]

The reigns of the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] ({{reign|1723|1735}}) and his son, the [[Qianlong Emperor]] ({{reign|1735|1796}}), marked the height of Qing power. However, the historian Jonathan Spence notes that the empire at the end of Qianlong's reign was "like the sun at midday". Despite "many glories", "signs of decay and even collapse were becoming apparent".{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=97, 101}}

After the death of the Kangxi Emperor in the winter of 1722, his fourth son, Prince Yong ({{lang|zh|雍親王}}), became the Yongzheng Emperor. He felt a sense of urgency about the problems that had accumulated in his father's later years.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|p=72}} In the words of one recent historian, he was "severe, suspicious, and jealous, but extremely capable and resourceful",{{sfnp|Hsü|1990|p=35}} and in the words of another, he turned out to be an "early modern state-maker of the first order".{{sfnp|Rowe|2009|p=68}} First, he promoted Confucian orthodoxy and cracked down on unorthodox sects. In 1723, he outlawed Christianity and expelled most Christian missionaries.{{sfnp|Hsü|1990|pp=35–37}} He expanded his father's system of [[Official Communications of the Chinese Empire#Memorials|Palace Memorials]], which brought frank and detailed reports on local conditions directly to the throne without being intercepted by the bureaucracy, and he created a small [[Grand Council (Qing dynasty)|Grand Council]] of personal advisors, which eventually grew into the emperor's de facto cabinet for the rest of the dynasty. He shrewdly filled key positions with Manchu and Han Chinese officials who depended on his patronage. When he began to realise the extent of the financial crisis, Yongzheng rejected his father's lenient approach to local elites and enforced collection of the land tax. The increased revenues were to be used for "money to nourish honesty" among local officials and for local irrigation, schools, roads, and charity. Although these reforms were effective in the north, in the south and lower Yangtze valley there were long-established networks of officials and landowners. Yongzheng dispatched experienced Manchu commissioners to penetrate the thickets of falsified land registers and coded account books, but they were met with tricks, passivity, and even violence. The fiscal crisis persisted.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=80–83}}
[[File:Battle of Oroi-Jalatu.jpg|thumb|Campaign against the [[Dzungar Khanate]] in the [[Dzungar–Qing Wars|Qing conquest of Xinjiang]] (1755–1758)]]

Yongzheng also inherited diplomatic and strategic problems. A team made up entirely of Manchus drew up the 1727 [[Treaty of Kyakhta]] to solidify the diplomatic understanding with Russia. In exchange for territory and trading rights, the Qing would have a free hand in dealing with the situation in Mongolia. Yongzheng then turned to that situation, where the Zunghars threatened to re-emerge, and to the southwest, where local [[Miao people|Miao]] chieftains resisted Qing expansion. These campaigns drained the treasury but established the emperor's control of the military and military finance.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=83, 86}}

[[File:LordMacartneyEmbassyToChina1793.jpg|thumb|[[George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney|Lord Macartney]] saluting the Qianlong Emperor]]
When the Yongzheng Emperor died in 1735, his son Prince Bao ({{lang|zh|寶親王}}) became the Qianlong Emperor. Qianlong personally led the [[Ten Great Campaigns]] to expand military control into present-day [[Xinjiang]] and [[Mongolia]], putting down revolts and uprisings in [[Sichuan]] and southern China while expanding control over Tibet. The Qianlong Emperor launched several ambitious cultural projects, including the compilation of the ''[[Siku Quanshu]]'', the largest collection of books in Chinese history. Nevertheless, Qianlong used the [[literary inquisition]] to silence opposition.<ref>{{Cite news |script-title=zh:康乾盛世"的文化專制與文字獄 |url=https://big5.china.com.cn/city/txt/2007-03/08/content_7927803.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105193242/http://big5.china.com.cn/city/txt/2007-03/08/content_7927803.htm |archive-date=5 January 2009 |access-date=2008-12-30 |work=china.com |language=zh}}</ref> Beneath outward prosperity and imperial confidence, the later years of Qianlong's reign were marked by rampant corruption and neglect. [[Heshen]], the emperor's handsome young favorite, took advantage of the emperor's indulgence to become one of the most corrupt officials in the history of the dynasty.<ref>Schoppa, R. Keith. ''Revolution and its Past: Identities and Change in Modern Chinese History''. Pearson Hall, 2010, pp. 42–43.</ref> Qianlong's son, the [[Jiaqing Emperor]] ({{reign|1796|1820}}), eventually forced Heshen to commit suicide.
[[File:Xu Yang - Commerce on the water.jpg|thumb|''[[Prosperous Suzhou]]'' (1759) by [[Xu Yang (Qing dynasty)|Xu Yang]]]]

Populations in the first half of the 17th century did not recover from civil wars and epidemics, but the following years of prosperity and stability led to steady growth. The Qianlong Emperor bemoaned the situation by remarking, "The population continues to grow, but the land does not." The introduction of new crops from the Americas such as the potato and peanut improved nutrition as well, so that the population during the 18th century ballooned from 100&nbsp;million to 300&nbsp;million people. Soon farmers were forced to work ever-smaller holdings more intensely.

In 1796, the [[White Lotus Society]] raised open rebellion, saying "the officials have forced the people to rebel". Others blamed officials in various parts of the country for corruption, failing to keep the famine relief granaries full, poor maintenance of roads and waterworks, and bureaucratic factionalism. There soon followed uprisings of "new sect" Muslims against local Muslim officials, and Miao tribesmen in southwest China. The [[White Lotus Rebellion]] continued until 1804, when badly run, corrupt, and brutal campaigns finally ended it.{{sfnp|Spence|1990|pp=112, 114, 116}}

===Rebellion, unrest, and external pressure===
 [[File:Destroying Chinese war junks, by E. Duncan (1843).jpg|thumb|British Steamship destroying Chinese war [[junks]] (E. Duncan; 1843)]]

During the early Qing, China continued to be the hegemonic imperial power in East Asia. Although there was no formal ministry of foreign relations, the [[Lifan Yuan]] was responsible for relations with the Mongols and Tibetans in Inner Asia, while the [[Tributary system of China|tributary system]], a loose set of institutions and customs taken over from the Ming, in theory governed relations with East and Southeast Asian countries. The 1689 [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] stabilised relations with the [[Tsardom of Russia]]. However, during the 18th century, European empires gradually expanded across the world and developed economies predicated on maritime trade, colonial extraction, and technological advances. The dynasty was confronted with [[Westphalian sovereignty|newly developing concepts of the international system]] and state-to-state relations. European trading posts expanded into territorial control in what is now India and Indonesia. The Qing response was to establish the [[Canton System]] in 1756, which restricted maritime trade to [[Guangzhou]] and gave monopoly trading rights to [[Hong (business)|private Chinese merchants]]. This was successful for a time, and the [[British East India Company]] and the [[Dutch East India Company]] had long before been granted similar monopoly rights by their governments.

In 1793, the British East India Company, with the support of the British government, sent a [[Macartney Mission|diplomatic mission]] to China led by [[George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney|Lord Macartney]] in order to open trade and put relations on a basis of equality. The imperial court viewed trade as of secondary interest, whereas the British saw maritime trade as the key to their economy. The Qianlong Emperor told Macartney "the kings of the myriad nations come by land and sea with all sorts of precious things", and "consequently there is nothing we lack..."{{sfnp|Têng|Fairbank|1954|p=19}}
[[File:Foreign factory site.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|View of the Canton River, showing the [[Thirteen Factories]] in the background (1850–1855)]]

Since China had little demand for European goods, Europe paid in silver for Chinese goods, an imbalance that worried the [[mercantilist]] governments of Britain and France. The [[History of opium in China|growing Chinese demand for opium]] provided the remedy. The British East India Company greatly expanded its production in Bengal. The [[Daoguang Emperor]], concerned both over the outflow of silver and the damage that opium smoking was causing to his subjects, ordered [[Lin Zexu]] to end the opium trade. Lin confiscated the stocks of opium without compensation in 1839, leading Britain to send a military expedition the following year. The [[First Opium War]] revealed the outdated state of the Chinese military. The Qing navy, composed entirely of wooden sailing [[junks]], was severely outclassed by the modern tactics and firepower of the [[British Royal Navy]]. British soldiers, using advanced muskets and artillery, easily outmaneuvered and outgunned Qing forces in ground battles. The Qing surrender in 1842 marked a decisive, humiliating blow. The [[Treaty of Nanjing]], the first of the "[[unequal treaties]]", demanded war reparations, forced China to open up the [[Treaty Ports]] of [[Shamian Island|Canton]], [[Amoy]], [[Fuzhou]], [[Ningbo]] and [[Shanghai]] to Western trade and missionaries, and to cede [[Hong Kong Island]] to Britain. It revealed weaknesses in the Qing government and provoked rebellions against the regime.

The [[Taiping Rebellion]] (1849–1864) was the first major [[anti-Manchu sentiment|anti-Manchu movement]]. Amid widespread social unrest and worsening famine, the rebellion not only posed the most serious threat to Qing rule, but during its 14-year course, between 20 and 30&nbsp;million people died.{{sfnp|Platt|2012|p=xxii}} The rebellion began under the leadership of [[Hong Xiuquan]] (1814–1864), a disappointed civil service examination candidate who, influenced by reading the [[Old Testament]] in translation, had a series of visions and announced himself to be the son of God, the younger brother of Jesus Christ, sent to reform China.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Taiping Rebellion |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Taiping-Rebellion |access-date=2021-11-07}}</ref> In 1851, Hong launched an uprising in [[Guizhou]] and established the [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]] with himself as its king. Within this kingdom, slavery, concubinage, arranged marriage, opium smoking, footbinding, judicial torture, and the worship of idols were all banned. However, success led to internal feuds, defections and corruption. In addition, British and French troops, equipped with modern weapons, had come to the assistance of the Qing army. Nonetheless, it was not until 1864 that Qing forces under [[Zeng Guofan]] succeeded in crushing the revolt. After the outbreak of this rebellion, there were also revolts by the [[Hui people|Muslims]] and [[Miao people]] of China against the Qing, most notably in the [[Miao Rebellion (1854–1873)|Miao Rebellion]] (1854–1873) in [[Guizhou]], the [[Panthay Rebellion]] (1856–1873) in [[Yunnan]], and the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)|Dungan Revolt]] (1862–1877) in the northwest.
[[File:Regaining the Provincial Capital of Ruizhou.jpg|thumb|Qing forces defeating Taiping armies]]

The Western powers, largely unsatisfied with the Treaty of Nanjing, 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 were lost, and countless armies were raised and equipped to fight the rebels. In 1854, Britain tried to re-negotiate the Treaty of Nanjing, inserting clauses allowing British commercial access to Chinese rivers and the creation of a permanent British embassy at Beijing.

[[File:Prince Gong.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Prince Gong|Yixin, Prince Gong]]]]
In 1856, Qing authorities, in searching for a pirate, boarded a ship, the ''Arrow'', which the British claimed had been flying the British flag, an incident which led to the [[Second Opium War]]. In 1858, facing no other options, the [[Xianfeng Emperor]] agreed to the [[Treaty of Tientsin]], which 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.

Ratification of the treaty in the following year led to a resumption of hostilities. In 1860, with Anglo-French forces marching on Beijing, the emperor and his court fled the capital for the [[Chengde Mountain Resort|imperial hunting lodge at Rehe]]. Once in Beijing, the Anglo-French forces looted and burned the [[Old Summer Palace]] and, in an act of revenge for the arrest, torture, and execution of the English diplomatic mission.{{sfnp|Hevia|2003}} [[Prince Gong]], a younger half-brother of the emperor, who had been left as his brother's proxy in the capital, was forced to sign the [[Convention of Beijing]]. The humiliated emperor died the following year at Rehe.

===Self-strengthening and frustration of reforms===
Following the death of the Xianfeng Emperor in 1861, and the accession of the 5-year-old [[Tongzhi Emperor]], the Qing rallied. In the [[Tongzhi Restoration]], Han Chinese officials such as [[Zuo Zongtang]] stood behind the Manchus and organised provincial troops. [[Zeng Guofan]], in alliance with Prince Gong, sponsored the rise of younger officials such as [[Li Hongzhang]], who put the dynasty back on its feet financially and instituted the [[Self-Strengthening Movement]], which adopted Western military technology in order to preserve Confucian values.Their institutional reforms included China's first unified ministry of foreign affairs in the [[Zongli Yamen]], allowing foreign diplomats to reside in the capital, the establishment of the [[Imperial Maritime Customs Service]], the institution of modern navy and army forces including the [[Beiyang Army]], and the purchase of armament factories from the Europeans.{{sfnp|Wright|1957|pp=196–221}}

The dynasty gradually lost control of its peripheral territories. In return for promises of support against the British and the French, the [[Russian Empire]] took large chunks of territory in the Northeast in 1860. The period of cooperation between the reformers and the European powers ended with the 1870 [[Tianjin Massacre]], which was incited by the murder of French nuns set off by the belligerence of local French diplomats. Starting with the [[Cochinchina Campaign]] in 1858, France expanded control of Indochina. By 1883, France was in full control of the region and had reached the Chinese border. The [[Sino-French War]] began with a surprise attack by the French on the Chinese southern fleet at Fuzhou. After that the Chinese declared war on the French. A [[Keelung Campaign|French invasion of Taiwan was halted]] and the French were defeated on land in Tonkin at the [[Battle of Bang Bo]]. However Japan threatened to enter the war against China due to the Gapsin Coup and China chose to end the war with negotiations. The war ended in 1885 with the [[Treaty of Tientsin (1885)|Treaty of Tientsin]] and the Chinese recognition of the French protectorate in Vietnam.{{sfnp|Hsü|1990|pp=328–330}} Some Russian and Chinese [[Gold mining|gold miners]] also established a short-lived [[proto-state]] known as the [[Zheltuga Republic]] (1883–1886) in the [[Amur River]] basin, which was however soon crushed by the Qing forces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California on the Amur, or the 'Zheltuga Republic' in Manchuria (1883–86) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291758359 |access-date=September 9, 2023}}</ref>

In 1884, Qing China obtained concessions in [[Korea]], such as the [[Chinese concession of Incheon]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fuchs |first=Eckhardt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZlBDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA97 |title=A New Modern History of East Asia |publisher=V&R |year=2017 |isbn=9783737007085 |page=97}}</ref> but the pro-Japanese Koreans in [[Seoul]] led the [[Gapsin Coup]]. Tensions between China and Japan rose after China intervened to suppress the uprising. The Japanese prime minister [[Itō Hirobumi]] and Li Hongzhang signed the [[Convention of Tientsin]], an agreement to withdraw troops simultaneously, but the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] of 1895 was a military humiliation. The [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] recognised Korean independence and ceded Taiwan and the [[Pescadores]] to Japan. The terms might have been harsher, but when a Japanese citizen attacked and wounded Li Hongzhang, an international outcry shamed the Japanese into revising them. The original agreement stipulated the cession of [[Liaodong Peninsula]] to Japan, but Russia, with its own designs on the territory, along with Germany and France, in the [[Triple Intervention]], successfully put pressure on the Japanese to abandon the peninsula.
[[File:Empress-Dowager-Cixi1.jpg|thumb|upright|Oil painting of Empress Dowager Cixi by [[Hubert Vos]] ({{circa|1905|lk=no}})]]

These years saw the participation of [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] in state affairs. Cixi initially entered the imperial palace in the 1850s as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor, and became the mother of the future Tongzhi Emperor. Following his accession at the age of five, Cixi, Xianfeng's widow [[Empress Dowager Ci'an]], and Prince Gong (a son of the Daoguang Emperor), staged [[Xinyou Coup|a coup]] that ousted several of the Tongzhi Emperor's regents. Between 1861 and 1873, Cixi and Ci'an served as regents together; following the emperor's death in 1875, Cixi's nephew, the [[Guangxu Emperor]], took the throne in violation of the custom that the new emperor be of the next generation, and another regency began. Ci'an suddenly died in the spring of 1881, leaving Cixi as sole regent.{{sfnp|Crossley|2010|p=117}}

From 1889, when Guangxu began to rule in his own right, until 1898, the Empress Dowager lived in semi-retirement, spending the majority of the year at the [[Summer Palace]]. In 1897, two German Roman Catholic missionaries were murdered in southern [[Shandong province]] (the [[Juye Incident]]). Germany used the murders as a pretext for a naval occupation of [[Jiaozhou Bay]]. The occupation prompted a [[Scramble for China]] in 1898, which included the [[Kiautschou Bay concession|German lease of Jiaozhou Bay]], the [[Kwantung Leased Territory|Russian lease of Liaodong]], the [[Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory|British lease of the New Territories of Hong Kong]], and the [[Leased Territory of Guangzhouwan|French lease of Guangzhouwan]].
[[File:China imperialism cartoon.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], [[German Empire|Germany]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[French Third Republic|France]], and Japan dividing China]]

In the wake of these external defeats, the Guangxu Emperor initiated the [[Hundred Days' Reform]] in 1898. Newer, more radical advisers such as [[Kang Youwei]] were given positions of influence. The emperor issued a series of edicts and plans were made to reorganise the bureaucracy, restructure the school system, and appoint new officials. Opposition from the bureaucracy was immediate and intense. Although she had been involved in the initial reforms, the Empress Dowager [[Wuxu Coup|stepped in to call them off]], arrested and executed several reformers, and took over day-to-day control of policy. Yet many of the plans stayed in place, and the goals of reform were implanted.{{sfnp|Reynolds|1993|pp=35–36}}
[[File:Within historic grounds of the Forbidden City in Pekin, China, on November 28 celebrated the victory of the Allies., ca. - NARA - 532582.jpg|thumb|The foreign armies of the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] celebrating their victory in the [[Battle of Peking (1900)|Battle of Peking]], within the walls of the [[Forbidden City]] on 28 November 1900]]

Drought in North China, combined with the imperialist designs of European powers and the instability of the Qing government, created background conditions for the [[Boxer Rebellion|Boxers]]. In 1900, local groups of Boxers proclaiming support for the Qing dynasty murdered foreign missionaries and large numbers of Chinese Christians, then converged on Beijing to besiege the Foreign Legation Quarter. A coalition of European, Japanese, and Russian armies (the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]]) then entered China without diplomatic notice, much less permission. Cixi declared war on all of these nations, only to lose control of Beijing after a short, but hard-fought campaign. She fled to [[Xi'an]]. The victorious allies then enforced their demands on the Qing government, including compensation for their expenses in invading China and execution of complicit officials, via the [[Boxer Protocol]].{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=223–225}}

===Reform, revolution, collapse===
[[File:YuanShikaiPresidente1915.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Yuan Shikai]]]]
[[File:China 1911 en.svg|thumb|Qing territory in 1911]]
The defeat by Japan in 1895 created a sense of crisis which the failure of the 1898 reforms and the disasters of 1900 only exacerbated. Cixi in 1901 moved to mollify the foreign community, called for reform proposals, and initiated the [[Late Qing reforms]]. Over the next few years the reforms included the restructuring of the national education, judicial, and fiscal systems, the most dramatic of which was the abolition of the imperial examination system in 1905.{{sfnp|Reynolds|1993|pp=5–11}} The court directed [[Preparative Constitutionalism|a constitution to be drafted]], and [[1909 Chinese provincial elections|provincial elections]] were held, the first in China's history.{{sfnp|Hsü|1990|pp=412–416}} Sun Yat-sen and revolutionaries debated reform officials and constitutional monarchists such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao over how to transform the Manchu-ruled empire into a modernised Han Chinese state.{{sfnp|Rhoads|2000|p=121 ff}}

[[File:2ndPrinceChun1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Zaifeng, Prince Chun]]]]
The Guangxu Emperor died on 14 November 1908, and Cixi died the following day. [[Puyi]], the oldest son of [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun]], and nephew to the childless Guangxu Emperor, was appointed successor at the age of two, leaving Zaifeng with the regency. Zaifeng forced Yuan Shikai to resign. The Qing dynasty became a [[constitutional monarchy]] on 8 May 1911, when Zaifeng created a "responsible cabinet" led by [[Yikuang]], Prince Qing. However, it became known as the "[[Cabinet of Prince Qing|royal cabinet]]", as five of its thirteen members, were part of or related to the royal family.<ref>Chien-nung Li, Jiannong Li, Ssŭ-yü Têng, "The political history of China, 1840–1928", p. 234</ref>

The [[Wuchang Uprising]] on 10 October 1911 set off a series of uprisings. By November, 14 of the 22 provinces had rejected Qing rule. This led to the creation of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], in [[Nanjing]] on 1 January 1912, with [[Sun Yat-sen]] as its provisional head. Seeing a desperate situation, the Qing court brought Yuan Shikai back to power. His [[Beiyang Army]] crushed the revolutionaries in Wuhan at the [[Battle of Yangxia]]. After taking the position of [[Chancellor (China)|Prime Minister]] he created [[Cabinet of Yuan Shikai|his own cabinet]], with the support of [[Empress Dowager Longyu]]. However, Yuan Shikai decided to cooperate with Sun Yat-sen's revolutionaries to overthrow the Qing dynasty.
[[File:Pitched battle between the imperial and revolutionary army Wellcome L0040013.jpg|thumb|A pitched battle between the imperial and revolutionary armies in 1911]]

On 12 February 1912, Longyu issued the [[Puyi#Abdication|abdication]] of the child emperor Puyi leading to the fall of the Qing dynasty under the pressure of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang army despite objections from [[Royalist Party|conservatives]] and royalist reformers.{{sfnp|Billingsley|1988|pp=56–59}} This brought an end to over 2,000 years imperial governance in China, and began a period of instability. In July 1917, there was an [[Manchu Restoration|abortive attempt]] to restore the Qing led by [[Zhang Xun]]. Puyi was allowed to live in the Forbidden City after his abdication until 1924, when he moved to the [[Foreign concessions in Tianjin#Japanese concession (1898–1945)|Japanese concession in Tianjin]]. The Empire of Japan [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invaded Northeast China]] and founded [[Manchukuo]] there in 1932, with Puyi as its [[Emperor of Manchukuo|emperor]]. After the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invasion of Northeast China]] to fight Japan by the [[Soviet Union]], Manchukuo fell in 1945.