The Manchus in China
The Manchus came to
China in 1644 AD. The Manchus were quite distinguished from the Han
Chinese and always resisted any change or adoption. But before
ruling China Proper, they had already adopted a great amount of
Chinese culture in the south. They knew from very before that they
would have to adopt certain things in Chinese way in order to
dominate the entire kingdom efficiently. Therefore, the Manchus
never made any changes to the existing institutions of Ming and any
teachings derived out of these institutions. They continued with the
practices of popular Confucianism and temple customs, which were
earlier presided over by ancient emperors.
The Manchus was also
in the favour of the civil service system of the Confucians
developed in the past. Earlier Chinese were banned to be working in
high-grade offices, but were later found predominating Manchu
officials outside the capital, but not in military places. The
philosophy of the Neo-Confucian bureaucratic system was to obey the
subject of the ruler and this was enforced as the statement of
belief. The emperors of the Manchus also promoted Chinese literature
and historical projects with big scope, which greatly influences the
sustenance of ancient literature of China.
The Qing rulers had
always been suspicious of Han Chinese, and therefore, took effective
measures to ensure that the Manchus does not get absorbed into the
Han Chinese population. Even Han Chinese was forbidden from making
entry into the Manchu home territory. Manchus were also prohibited
from engaging into any sort of trade or manual labour with Han
Chinese. Even the intermarriages between the two groups were never
permitted. Many governmental positions used the system of dual
appointments: the Chinese appointee and the Manchus. The former was
used to do substantive work and the latter to ascertain Han loyalty
towards Qing.
The regime of Qing
was established to act as a safeguard from internal rebellion and
foreign invasion. After China Proper got ebbed, the Manchus took
over Outer Mongolia during the late seventeenth century. The Manchus
also gained control over Central Asia stretching towards the Pamir
Mountains in the eighteenth century and set up its own province in
Xizang (Tibet). Thus, the Qing Dynasty was the first dynasty to
remove all sorts of danger from China Proper by its land borders.
Taiwan, which was the last station of anti-Manchu resistance, was
also integrated into China. A number of Border States sent tribute
to Qing emperors.
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