Editing History of China (section)

====Qing dynasty (1644–1912)====
{{main|Qing dynasty}}
{{further|History of the Qing dynasty}}
{{see also|Later Jin (1616–1636)|High Qing era|Century of humiliation|Self-Strengthening Movement}}

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| title = Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1912)
| image1 = Carte generale de l'Empire Chinois et du Japon (1836).jpg
| caption1 = 1836 map of China published by C. Picque.
| image2 = Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Dahlem Berlin Mai 2006 041.jpg
| caption2 = Pilgrim flask, [[porcelain]] with underglaze blue and iron-red decoration.
| image3 = MilitaryCostumeEmperorKienLong1736-1796.jpg
| caption3 = A military attire of the Qianlong Emperor
| image4 = Chinese Geomantic Compass c. 1760, National Maritime Museum.JPG
| caption4 = A Qing period geomantic compass ({{c.}} 1760)
}}

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| header =
| image1 = 颐和园万寿山佛香阁.jpg
| alt1 = Dongyang Luzhai
| caption1 = [[Summer Palace]], an imperial garden in Qing dynasty.
| image2 = Putuo Zongcheng Temple.jpg
| alt2 = XiAn CityWall DiLou
| caption2 = [[Putuo Zongcheng Temple]], a Buddhist temple complex built between 1767 and 1771. The temple was modeled after the [[Potala Palace]] of [[Tibet]].
| image3 = 晋城皇城相府 - panoramio (14).jpg
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| caption3 = The [[House of the Huangcheng Chancellor]], a 10-hectare walled estate on Phoenix Hill in southeastern [[Shanxi]], China.
| image4 = 花戏楼 山门 副本.jpg
| caption4 = Flower Theatre, a Qing period guildhall.
| image5 = 会芳.jpg
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| caption5 = A residential building of [[Qiao Family Compound]], built in the Qing period.
}}

The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) was the last imperial dynasty in China. Founded by the [[Manchu people|Manchus]], it was the second [[conquest dynasty]] to rule the entirety of [[China proper]], and roughly doubled the territory controlled by the Ming. The Manchus were formerly known as [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]], residing in the northeastern part of the Ming territory outside the Great Wall. They emerged as the major threat to the late Ming dynasty after [[Nurhaci]] united all Jurchen tribes and his son, [[Hong Taiji]], declared the founding of the Qing dynasty in 1636. The Qing dynasty set up the [[Eight Banners]] system that provided the basic framework for the Qing military conquest. [[Li Zicheng]]'s peasant rebellion captured Beijing in 1644 and the [[Chongzhen Emperor]], the last Ming emperor, committed suicide. The Manchus allied with the Ming general [[Wu Sangui]] to seize Beijing, which was made the capital of the Qing dynasty, and then proceeded to subdue the [[Southern Ming dynasty|Ming remnants in the south]]. During the [[Transition from Ming to Qing|Ming-Qing transition]], when the Ming dynasty and later the Southern Ming, the emerging Qing dynasty, and several other factions like the [[Shun dynasty]] and [[Xi dynasty]] founded by peasant revolt leaders fought against each another, which, along with innumerable [[natural disaster]]s at that time such as those caused by the [[Little Ice Age]]<ref>{{cite journal | journal=Climate | date=March 2023 |volume= 11|issue=3|at= 71 |doi= 10.3390/cli11030071 | last=Fan |first=Ka-wai | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369343464 | title = The Little Ice Age and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty: A Review | bibcode=2023Clim...11...71F | access-date = September 3, 2023 | doi-access=free }} {{open access}}</ref> and [[epidemic]]s like the [[Great Plague in the late Ming dynasty|Great Plague during the last decade of the Ming dynasty]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=邱 |first=仲麟 |author-mask=Ch'iu Chung-lin (邱仲麟) |date=June 2004 |script-title=zh:明代北京的瘟疫與帝國醫療體系的應變 |trans-title=The Epidemics in Ming Beijing and the Responses from the Empire's Public Health System |url=https://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/3028acXZKHg.pdf |journal= |language=zh |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=331–388 |script-work=zh:中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 |trans-work=Journal of the Institute of History and Philology, Academica Sinica}}</ref> caused enormous loss of lives and [[Economic history of China before 1912#Qing dynasty (1644–1912)|significant harm to the economy]]. In total, these decades saw the loss of as many as {{nowrap|25 million}} lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurate another flowering of the arts.<ref>{{ cite book
| first = John Morris | last = Roberts 
| year = 1997 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC 
| title=A Short History of the World
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125053756/https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC |archive-date=25 November 2022 | publisher= Oxford University Press | page =  272
| isbn =0-19-511504-X}}</ref> The early Manchu emperors combined traditions of [[Inner Asia]]n rule with Confucian norms of traditional Chinese government and were considered a Chinese dynasty.

The Manchus enforced a 'queue order', forcing Han Chinese men to adopt the Manchu [[Queue (hairstyle)|queue hairstyle]]. Officials were required to wear Manchu-style clothing ''[[Changshan]]'' ([[Eight Banners|bannermen]] dress and ''[[Tangzhuang]]''), but ordinary Han civilians were allowed to wear [[Ancient Chinese clothing|traditional Han clothing]]. Bannermen could not undertake trade or manual labor; they had to petition to be removed from banner status. They were considered aristocracy and were given annual pensions, land, and allotments of cloth. The [[Kangxi Emperor]] ordered the creation of the ''[[Kangxi Dictionary]]'', the most complete dictionary of Chinese characters that had been compiled.

Over the next half-century, all areas previously under the Ming dynasty were consolidated under the Qing. [[Ten Great Campaigns|Conquests in Central Asia]] in the eighteenth century extended territorial control. Between 1673 and 1681, the Kangxi Emperor suppressed the [[Revolt of the Three Feudatories]], an uprising of three generals in Southern China who had been denied hereditary rule of large fiefdoms granted by the [[Shunzhi Emperor|previous emperor]]. In 1683, the Qing staged an amphibious assault on southern Taiwan, bringing down the rebel [[Kingdom of Tungning]], which was founded by the Ming loyalist [[Koxinga]] (Zheng Chenggong) in 1662 after the fall of the Southern Ming, and had served as a base for continued Ming resistance in Southern China. The Qing [[Sino-Russian border conflicts|defeated the Russians at Albazin]], resulting in the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]].

By the end of [[Qianlong Emperor]]'s long reign in 1796, the Qing Empire was at [[High Qing era|its zenith]]. The Qing ruled more than [[List of largest empires#Empires at their greatest extent|one-third of the world's population]], and had the largest economy in the world. By area it was [[List of largest empires#Empires at their greatest extent|one of the largest empires ever]].
[[File:Qing Empire circa 1820 EN.svg|thumb|250px|A map of the [[Qing dynasty]], {{c.}} 1820]]
[[File:大清帝国全图.png|thumb|250px|Official map of the Qing Empire published in 1905]]
In the 19th century the empire was internally restive and externally threatened by western powers. The defeat by the [[British Empire]] in the [[First Opium War]] (1840) led to the [[Treaty of Nanking]] (1842), under which [[History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)|Hong Kong]] was ceded to Britain and importation of [[opium]] (produced by British Empire territories) was allowed. Opium usage continued to grow in China, adversely affecting societal stability. Subsequent military defeats and [[unequal treaties]] with other western powers continued even after the fall of the Qing dynasty.

Internally the [[Taiping Rebellion]] (1851–1864), a Christian religious movement led by the "Heavenly King" [[Hong Xiuquan]] swept from the south to establish the [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]] and controlled roughly a third of China proper for over a decade. The court in desperation empowered Han Chinese officials such as [[Zeng Guofan]] to raise local armies. After initial defeats, Zeng crushed the rebels in the [[Third Battle of Nanking]] in 1864.<ref name="Kuhn">{{ cite book
| isbn = 9780674749511
| first = Phillip | last = Kuhn
| title= Rebellion and its Enemies in Late Imperial China: Militarization and Social Structure, 1796–1864
| year = 1970
| publisher= Harvard University Press
| at = Chapter 6
| series=Harvard East Asian series
| volume = 49 
}}</ref> This was one of the largest wars in the 19th century in troop involvement; there was massive loss of life, with a death toll of about 20 million.<ref>{{cite web | first=Matthew | last=White |url = http://necrometrics.com/wars19c.htm | title = Statistics of Wars, Oppressions and Atrocities of the Nineteenth Century |access-date=11 April 2007}}</ref> A string of civil disturbances followed, including the [[Punti–Hakka Clan Wars]], [[Nian Rebellion]], [[Dungan revolt (1862–1877)|Dungan Revolt]], and [[Panthay Rebellion]].<ref>{{cite book | first1=Damsan |last1=Harper | first2=Steve |last2=Fallon |first3=Katja |last3=Gaskell |first4=Julie |last4=Grundvig |first5= Carolyn |last5=Heller | first6=Thomas |last6=Huhti |first7=Bradley |last7=Maynew |first8=Christopher | last8=Pitts | title=Lonely Planet China | url=https://archive.org/details/lonelyplanetchin00dami_1 | url-access=registration | edition=9 | year=2005 |publisher=Lonely Planet | isbn=1-74059-687-0}}</ref> All rebellions were ultimately put down, but at enormous cost and with millions dead, seriously weakening the central imperial authority. China never rebuilt a strong central army, and many local officials used their military power to effectively rule independently in their provinces.<ref name="Kuhn"/>
[[File:Regaining the Provincial Capital of Ruizhou.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|A scene of the [[Taiping Rebellion]]]]
Yet the dynasty appeared to recover in the [[Tongzhi Restoration]] (1860–1872), led by Manchu royal family reformers and Han Chinese officials such as Zeng Guofan and his proteges [[Li Hongzhang]] and [[Zuo Zongtang]]. Their [[Self-Strengthening Movement]] made effective institutional reforms, imported Western factories and communications technology, with prime emphasis on strengthening the military. However, the reform was undermined by official rivalries, cynicism, and quarrels within the imperial family. The defeat of [[Yuan Shikai]]'s modernized "[[Beiyang Fleet]]" in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–1895) led to the formation of the [[New Army]]. The [[Guangxu Emperor]], advised by [[Kang Youwei]], then launched a comprehensive reform effort, the [[Hundred Days' Reform]] (1898). [[Empress Dowager Cixi]], however, feared that precipitous change would lead to bureaucratic opposition and foreign intervention and quickly suppressed it.

In the summer of 1900, the [[Boxer Rebellion|Boxer Uprising]] opposed foreign influence and murdered Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries. When Boxers entered Beijing, the Qing government ordered all foreigners to leave, but they and many Chinese Christians were [[Siege of the International Legations|besieged in the foreign legations quarter]]. An [[Eight-Nation Alliance]] sent the [[Seymour Expedition]] of Japanese, Russian, British, Italian, German, French, American, and Austrian troops to relieve the siege, but they were routed and forced to retreat by Boxer and Qing troops at the [[Battle of Langfang]]. After [[Battle of Dagu Forts (1900)|the Alliance's attack on the Dagu Forts]], the court declared war on the Alliance and authorised the Boxers to join with imperial armies. After [[Battle of Tientsin|fierce fighting at Tianjin]], the Alliance formed the second, much larger [[Gaselee Expedition]] and [[Battle of Peking (1900)|finally reached Beijing]]; the Empress Dowager evacuated to [[Xi'an]]. The [[Boxer Protocol]] ended the war, exacting a tremendous [[Boxer Indemnity|indemnity]].

The Qing court then instituted administrative and legal reforms known as the [[late Qing reforms]], including abolition of the [[imperial examinations|examination system]]. But young officials, military officers, and students debated reform, perhaps a [[constitutional monarchy]], or the overthrow of the dynasty and the creation of a republic. They were inspired by an emerging public opinion formed by intellectuals such as [[Liang Qichao]] and the revolutionary ideas of [[Sun Yat-sen]]. A localised military uprising, the [[Wuchang uprising]], began on 10 October 1911, in [[Wuchang]] (today part of [[Wuhan]]), and soon spread. The Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 January 1912, ending 2,000 years of dynastic rule.

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