Qing Dynasty - Qing government and society - Encyclopedia II

Manchu males had the custom of braiding hair into a pigtail known as a queue. During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus enforced this custom onto the Han population, and any male who was seen without pigtail outdoors was to be beheaded.

Emperor Kangxi commanded the most complete dictionary of Chinese characters ever put together at the time, and under Emperor Qianlong, the compilation of a catalogue of the important works on Chinese culture was made. Thousands of books viewed by Manchu rulers as politically unacceptable were destroyed when compiling the catalogue.

The most important administrative body of the Qing dynasty was the Grand Council which was a body composed of the emperor and high officials. The Qing dynasty was characterized by a system of dual appointments by which each position in the central government had a Manchu and a Han Chinese assigned to it. During the Qianlong Emperor's reign, for example, members of his family were distinguished by garments with a large circular emblem on the back, whereas a Han could only hope to wear clothing with a square emblem; this meant effectively that any guard in the court could immediately distinguish family members from the back view alone.

With respect to Mongolia, Tibet and Eastern Turkestan, the Qing Dynasty maintained a loose system of control, with the Qing emperor acting as Mongol Khan, patron of Tibetan Buddhism and supporter of Muslims and keeping a loose system of control.

How this system is best described remains a strong point of controversy because of its current political implications. Supporters of Chinese nationalism argue that Qing rule over these areas is best described as an extremely high degree of autonomy within a single nation-state, while supporters of Tibetan independence argue that the Qing dynasty was a personal union between many nation-states.

However, Qing policy changed with the establishment of Xinjiang province in 1884. In response to British and Russian military action in Xinjiang and Tibet, the Qing sent New Army units which performed remarkably well against British units.

The abdication of the Manchu Emperor, who had integrated the Empire, inevitably led to the controversy about the status of the Qing outer territories. It was and remains the position of Mongols and Tibetan nationalists, that because they owed allegiance to the Qing monarch in a personal capacity, that with the abdication of the Qing, they owed no allegiance to the Chinese state. This position was rejected by the new Republic of China and subsequent People's Republic of China which have claimed that these areas remained integral parts of China. The Western powers accepted the latter theory, largely in order to prevent a scramble for China.

The administrative system of the Qing Dynasty evolved out of its predecessor the Ming. In its most developed state, the Qing government centred around the Emperor as absolute ruler presiding over six ministries (or boards), each headed by two Supreme Secretaries (尚書|Shángshù) and assisted by four Assistant Secretaries (侍郎|Shílāng). Unlike the Ming system however Qing's racial policy dictated that appointments were split between Chinese mandarins who have passed the highest levels of state examinations and Manchu noblemen. The six ministries and their respective areas of responsibilities were as follows:

Board of Civil Appointments (吏部|Lìbú) - The personnel administration of all civil officials - including evaluation, promotion, and dismissal. It was also in charge of the 'honours list'.

Board of Finance (户部|Húbú) - The literal translation of the Chinese word 'hú' （户） is 'household'. For much of the Qing's history the government's main source of revenue came from taxation on landownership supplemented by official monopolies on essential household items such as salt and tea. Thus 'household' in a predominantly agrarian Qing dynasty was the basis of imperial finance. The department was charged with revenue collection and the financial management of the government.

Board of Rites (禮部|Lǐbú) - This was responsible for all matters concerning protocol at court, which included not just the periodic worshipping of ancestors and all manners of gods by the Emperor in his capacity as the "Son of Heaven" (Tianzi|天子) to ensure the smooth running of the empire, but also looking after the welfare of visiting ambassadors from tributary nations. The Chinese concept of courtesy (li|礼) as taught by Confucius was considered an integral part of education. An educated person was said to "know of books and courtesy (rites)" ("知书达礼"). Thus the ministry's other function was to oversee the nation wide civil examination system for entrance to the bureaucracy. Because democracy was unknown to pre-Republican China, neo-Confucian philosophy saw state sponsored exams as the way to legitimize a regime by allowing the intelligentsia participation in an otherwise autocratic and unelected system.

Board of War (兵部|Bìngbú) - Unlike its Ming Dynasty predecessor which had full control over all military matters, the Qing dynasty Board of War in contrast has very limited powers. Firstly, the Banner Armies were under the direct control of the Emperor and hereditary Manchurian & Mogolian princes, leaving the ministry only with authority over the Green Standard Armies. Furthermore, the ministry's functions were purely administrative - Campaigns and troop movements were monitored and directed by the Emperor first through the Manchu ruling council and later the General Command Centre (Junjichu|軍機處).

Board of Punishment (刑部|Xīngbú) - Handled all legal matters including the supervision of various law courts and prisons. The Qing legal framework was relatively weak compared to modern day legal systems as there was no separation of executive and legistrative branches of government. The legal system could be inconsistent and at times arbitrary because the emperor ruled by decree and had final say on all judicial outcome. Emperors could, and did, overturn judgments of lower courts from time to time. Fairness of treatment was also an issue under the apartheid system practiced by the Manchu government over the Han Chinese majority. To counter these inadequacies and keep the population in line, the Qing maintained a very harsh penal code towards the Han populous, but no more severe than previous Chinese dynasties.

Board of Works (工部|Gongbu) - Handled all governmental building projects including palaces, temples and also the repairs of water ways and flood canals. It was also in charge of minting coinage.

In addition to the six boards there was a Feudatory Affairs Office (理藩院|Lǐfànyuán) unique to Qing government. This institution originated to oversee the welfare of Qing's Mongolian allies. As the empire expanded, it took over administrative responsibility of all minority ethnic groups living in and around the empire including early contacts with Russia - seen then as a tribute nation. The office had the status of a full ministry and was headed by equal ranking officials. However, appointees were at first restricted only to candidates of Manchurian and Mongolian ethnicity.

Even though the Board of Rites and the Feudatory Affairs Office shared some duties of a foreign office they fell short of being one. This stemmed from the traditional imperial world view of seeing China as the centre of the world and all foreigners as uncivilized barbarians unworthy of equal diplomatic status. It was not till 1861, a year after losing the "Second Opium War" to the Anglo-French coalition, that the Qing government bowed to foreign pressure and created a proper foreign affairs office known by the cumbersome name of "Tribunal for the Management of Affairs of All Nations" (Zǒnglǐgégūoshíwú Yāmēn|總理各國事務衙門), or "Zǒnglǐyāmēn" (總理衙門）for short. The office was originally intended to be temporary and was staffed by offcials seconded from the General Command Centre (Jūnjīchú |軍機處) on part-time basis. However as dealings with foreigners became increasing complicated and frequent, the office grew in size and importance aided by revenue from custom duties which came under its direct jurisdiction. Despite the imperial court's suspicion of all things foreign, the office became one of the most powerful departments within late Qing government.

The development of Qing military system can be divided into two broad periods separated by the Taiping rebellion (1850 - 64). Early Qing military was rooted in the Manchu banners first developed by Nurhachi as a way to organize Manchurian society beyond petty clan affiliations. There were eight banners in all, differentiated by colours. The banners in their order of precedence were as follows: Yellow, Bordered Yellow (ie yellow banner with red border), White, Red, Bordered White, Bordered Red, Blue, & Bordered Blue. The Yellow, Bordered Yellow, and White banners were collectively known as the 'Upper Three Banners'(上三旗) and were under the direct command of the Emperor. Only Manchus belonging to the Upper Three Banners could be selected as the Emperor's personal bodyguards. The remaining banners were known as 'The Lower Five Banners' (下五旗) and were commanded by hereditary Manchurian princes - decendents of Nurhachi's immediate family - known informally as 'Iron Cap Princes' (鐵帽子王). Together they formed the ruling council of the Manchu nation as well as high command of the army. In 1730 Emperor Yongzheng established the General Command Centre (Junjichu|軍機處) at first to direct day to day military operations, but gradually Junjichu took over other military and administrative duties and served to centralize authority to the crown. However, the Iron Cap Princes continued to exercise considerable influence over the political and military affairs of Qing government well into the reign of Emperor Qianlong.

As Qing power expanded north of the Great Wall in the last years of the Ming dynasty, the banner system was expanded by Nurhachi's son and successor Hong Taiji to include mirrored Mongolian and Chinese Banners. As they conquered territories formerly under Ming rule, the relatively small Banner armies were further augmented by the Green Standard Army (綠營兵) which eventually outnumbered banner troops three to one. The Green Standard Army so-named after the colour of their battle standards was made up of those ethnic Han Chinese Ming troops who had surrendered to the Manchus during the conquest. They were led by a mix of Banner and Green Standard officers. The Banners and Green Standard troops were standing armies, paid for by central government. In addition, regional governors from provincial down to village level maintained their own irregular local militias for police duties and disaster relief. These militias were usually granted small annual stipends from regional coffers for part-time service obligations. They received very limited military drill if at all and were not considered combat troops.

Banner Armies were divided along ethnic lines, namely Manchurian and Mongolian. Although there existed a third branch of Chinese bannermen made up of those who had joined the Manchus before their conquest of China, Chinese bannermen were never regarded by the Manchurian Qing government as equal to the other two branches due to their late addition to the Manchu cause as well as their Han Chinese ancestry. The nature of their service - mainly as infantry, artillery and sappers, was also seen as alien to the Manchurian nomadic traditions of fighting as cavalry. After the conquest the military roles played by Chinese Bannermen were quickly subsumed by the Green Standard Army. The Chinese Banners ceased to exist altogether after Emperor Yongzheng's Banner registration reforms aimed at cutting down imperial expenditures. The socio-military origins of the Banner system meant that population within each branch and their sub-divisions were hereditary and rigid. Only under special circumstances sanctioned by imperial edict were social movements between banners permitted. In contrast, the Green Standard Army was originally intended to be a professional volunteer force. However during protracted period of peace in China from the 18th to mid 19th century, recruits from farming communities dwindled, due partly to Neo-Confucianism's negative stance on military careers. In order to maintain strengths, the Green Standard Army began to internalize, and gradually became hereditary in practice.

After the conquest, the approximately 200,000 strong Manchu Banner Army was evenly divided; half was designated the Forbidden Eight Banner Army (禁旅八旗 Jìnlǚ Bāqí)and was stationed in Beijing. It served both as the capital's garrison and Qing government's main strike force. The remainder of the Banner troops was distributed to guard key cities in China. These were known as the Territorial Eight Banner Army (駐防八旗 Zhùfáng Bāqí). The Manchu rulers, keenly aware of their own minority status, reinforced a strict policy of racial segregation between the Manchus and Mongols from Han Chinese for fear of their being assimilated by Han culture while living in close proximity with their newly subjugated and numerically superior Han subjects. This policy applied directly to the Banner garrisons, most of which occupied a separate walled zone within the cities they were stationed at. In cities where there were limitation of space such as in Qingzhou (青州), a new fortified town was purposely erected to house the Banner garrison and their families. Beijing being the imperial seat, the Regent Dorgon had the entire Chinese population forcibly relocated to the southern suburbs later known as the "Outer Citadel" (外城 wàichéng). The northern walled city called "Inner Citadel" (内城 nèichéng) was portioned out to the remaining Manchu eight Banners, each responsibled for guarding a section of the Inner Citadel surrounding the Forbidden City palace complex (紫禁城 Zǐjìnchéng).

The policy of posting Banner troops as territorial garrison was not to protect but to inspire awe in the subjugated Chinese populace at the expense of their expertise as cavalry. As a result, after a century of peace and lack of field training the Manchurian Banner troops had deteriorated greatly in their combat worthiness. Secondly, before the conquest the Manchu banner was a 'citizen' army, and its members were Manchu farmers and herders obligated to provide military service to the state in times of war. The Qing government's decision to turn the banner troops into a professional force whose every welfare and need was met by state coffers brought wealth, and with it corruption, to the rank and file of the Manchu Banners and hastened its decline as a fighting force. This was mirrored by a similar decline in the Green Standard Army. In peacetime, soldiering became merely a source of supplementary income. Soldiers and commanders alike neglected training in pursuit of their own economic gains. Corruption was rampant as regional unit commanders submitted pay and supply requisitions based on exaggerated head counts to the quartermaster department and pocketed the difference. When the Taiping Rebellion broke out in 1850s the Qing Court found out belatedly that the Banner and Green Standards troops could neither put down internal rebellions nor keep foreign invaders at bay.

Early during the Taiping Rebellion, Qing forces suffered a series of disastrous defeats culminating in the loss of the regional capital city of Nanjing (南京) in 1853. The rebels massacred the entire Manchu garrison and their families in the city and made it their capital. Shortly thereafter a Taiping expeditionary force penetrated as far north as the suburbs of Tianjin (天津) in what was considered Imperial heartlands. In desperation the court ordered a Chinese mandarin Zeng Guofan (曾國藩)to reorganize regional and village militias (Tuányǒng 團勇 and Xiāngyǒng 鄉勇) into a standing army to contain the Taiping rebellion. Zen's strategy was to rely on local gentries to raise a new type of military organization from those provinces that the Taipings directly threatened. This new force became known as the Xiang Army (湘軍), named after the region it was raised. Xiang Army was a hybrid of local militia and a standing army. It was given professional training, but was paid for by regional coffers and funds its commanders - mostly Chinese gentries - could muster. Xiang Army and its successor the "Huai" Army (淮軍) created by Zen's colleague and 'pupil' Li Hongzhang (李鸿章）were collectively called Yongying (勇營).

Because Zen started his career as a mandarin and did not have any military experience, he based the blueprint for the formation of the Xian Army on a Ming Dynasty General Qi JiGuan (戚继光) who because of the weakness of the regular Ming troops had decided to form his own 'private' army to repel raiding Japanese pirates. Qi's doctrine relied heavily on Neo-Confucian ideas of binding the troops' loyalty to their immediate superiors and also to the regions which they were raised. This initially gave the troops a certain esprit de corps. However it must be noted that Qi's was only a short term solution for a specific problem - combating pirates, as was Zen's original intend for creating the Xiang Army - battling the Taiping rebels. However circumstances saw that the Yongying system became a permanent institution within the Qing military which in the long run created more problems for the beleagued Qing government.

Firstly, Yongying system signalled the end of Manchu dominance in Qing military establishment. Although the Banners and Green Standard armies lingered on to deplete resources much needed by the rest of Qing administration, henceforth the Yongying corps were Qing government's de facto first-line troops. Secondly the Yongying corps were financed through provincial coffers and were led by regional commanders, this devolution of power to regional officials weakened the central government's grip on the whole country. However despite its negative effects this devolution was deemed necessary at the time as tax revenue from rebel occupied provinces had ceased to reach the central government. Finally, the nature of Yongying command structure fostered cronyism amongst its commanders whom as they ascended up the bureaucratic ranks laid the seeds to Qing's demise and the eventual outbreak of regional "warlordism".

By late 1800s China was fast descending into a semi colonial state. Even the most conservative elements in the Qing court could no longer ignore China's military weakness in contrast to the foreign "barbarians" literally beating down its gates - In 1860 during the Second Opium War the capital Beijing was captured and the (Old) Summer Palace sacked by the relatively small Anglo-French coalition numbering 25,000. Although the Chinese pride themselves as the inventor of gunpower, and firearms had been in continual use in Chinese warfare since as far back as the Sung Dynasty, the advent of modern weaponry resulting from the Industrial Revolution in Europe such as the grooved rifle barrel (1855), Maxim gun (1885), and steam driven battleships (1890s) had rendered China's traditionally trained and equipped army and navy obsolete. Various piece meal efforts to 'westernize' and update the weaponry of existing troops - mostly in the Haui Army yielded little lasting results. This was partly due to a lack of funds but mostly a lack of political will within the Qing government to see through measures of reform.

Losing the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 - 1895 was a watershed for the Qing government. Japan, a country long regarded by the Chinese as little more than an upstart nation of pirates, had convincingly beaten its larger neighbor and in the process annihilated the Qing government's pride - it's modernized North Sea fleet. In doing so, Japan became the first asian country to join the previously western ranks of colonial powers. The defeat was all the more shocking when seen in the context that it occured a mere three decades after the Meiji reforms set Japan on course to emulate the Western nations in their economic and technological advancements. Finally in December 1894 the Qing government took some concrete steps to reform military institutions and to re-train selected units in westernized drills, tactics and weaponry. These units were collectively called the New Model Army (新式陸軍). The most successful of which was the Beiyang Corps (北洋軍) under the overall supervision and control of an ex-Huai Army commander, the Han Chinese general Yuan Shikai (袁世凱), who exploited his position to eventually become Republic president, dictator and finally abortive emperor of China.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Qing government and society", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page