Late Qing

  General Description   The Qing Dynasty (or Empire of the Great Qing, Great Qing, Manchu Dynasty, Manchus, Jin, Jurchens, Ch’ing Dynasty) was China’s last imperial dynasty. The founders of the Qing were descendants of Jurchen Jin rulers. The dynasty was founded by Nurhaci and then led by his son Huang Taiji, but did not become an imperial Chinese dynasty until after Huang Taiji’s death. ^[1] In 1644 CE, Qing forces captured the Ming capital at Beijing from rebels and held a funeral for the last Ming emperor to symbolize Qing inheritance of the Mandate of Heaven. ^[2]
The Qing faced conflict with rebels and loyalist Ming forces for the next two decades. ^[1] Ming generals who surrendered were given power over large territories in southern China in exchange for loyalty to the Qing. In 1673 CE, leaders from three major southern feudatories led by Wu Sangui rebelled against Emperor Kangxi when he tried to reduce their power. ^[3] The Revolt of the Three Feudatories, as this episode is known, lasted eight years.
We divide the Qing Dynasty into two, an Early period (1644-1796 CE) and a Late period (1796-1912 CE). The division is marked by a period of internal turmoil as well as foreign incursions into its territory and economic sphere. In the Early Qing period, China had been prosperous under Kangxi and Qing rule, but by the time of the Opium Wars in the Late Qing, Western technology and industry had surpassed that of China. ^[4] The fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 gave rise to the Republic of China.
From 1850 to 1864 CE, China was racked by the fourteen-year Taiping Rebellion. The rebellion directly caused 30 million deaths and destroyed many regions in the middle and lower Yangtze. ^[5] In 1853, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace established a capital in Nanjing, but the rebellion was defeated by armies led by local governors in 1864. ^[6] A number of serious uprisings followed the Taiping Rebellion, including the Nian Rebellion (1853-1868 CE). ^[6]
At the same time, the Qing emperors were facing economic problems due to the actions of foreign powers. In the 1830s, British merchants began illegally importing opium to China, where high demand for the drug led to a large trade imbalance. China’s economy was drained of silver ^[7] and the value of copper coins depreciated. ^[6] The First Opium War broke out in 1839 CE when a Chinese commissioner attempted to block opium trade in Guangzhou harbour. ^[6] The Second Opium War of 1858 CE was a series of military actions by the British and French against the Qing. ^[6] The resulting treaties allowed foreign powers to establish concessions in China, abolished taxes for French and British merchants, and forced the Qing to pay large amounts of silver in damages. ^[6]
The 19th century saw increasingly frequent intrusions by foreign powers. Foreign merchants exploited their tax-free status, to the detriment of local Chinese producers. China was forced to cede much of its territory in Vietnam, Burma and elsewhere. ^[6] By the end of the 19th century, a range of foreign powers including Great Britain, Japan, Germany, and France claimed colonial territories in China. ^[6] A peasant uprising known as the Boxer Rebellion targeted foreigners in 1900 CE.
In 1860, the Qing rulers were exiled outside the Great Wall when foreign invaders burned down the Summer Palace. ^[8] The court was restored by the regent Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong in what is known as the Tongzhi restoration. ^[8] However, the dynasty was finally overthrown in the Revolution of 1911 and the Republic of China was founded.
Population and political organization
The Late Qing maintained a traditional imperial-style Chinese government headed by an emperor and central bureaucracy. Provincial government consisted of governors who controlled a hierarchical system of officials, prefects, county chiefs, county magistrates, and clerks. ^[9] The Qing were deeply opposed to modernization: the scholars Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao had to flee after attempting to reform government practices in 1898 CE. ^[6] Rebellions in the 19th century led to the rise of local governors and military commanders, who acted as warlords to control their local regions. ^[6]
The period between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries was one of extremely rapid population growth in Late Qing China, and by 1851 the population had reached 431.9 million people. ^[10] However, a number of censuses after that date could not be completed due to the rebellions.

[1]: (San 2014, 337-38) Tan Koon San. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press Sdn. Bhd.

[2]: (San 2014, 338) Tan Koon San. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press Sdn. Bhd.

[3]: (San 2014, 385) Tan Koon San. 2014. Dynastic China: An Elementary History. Malaysia: The Other Press Sdn. Bhd.

[4]: (Mao 2005, 8) Haijin Mao. 2005. The Qing Empire and the Opium War: The Collapse of the Heavenly Dynasty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[5]: (Rowe 2009, 198) William T. Rowe. 2009. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[6]: (Theobald 2000) Theobald Ulrich. 2000. ’Qing Period Event History’. Chinaknowledge.de. http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Qing/qing-event.html. Accessed 21 March 2017.

[7]: (Rowe 2009, 157) William T. Rowe. 2009. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[8]: (Rowe 2009, 201) William T. Rowe. 2009. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[9]: (Zhang 2011, 63) Wei-Bin Zhang. 2011. The Rise and Fall of China’s Last Dynasty: The Deepening of the Chinese Servility. Hauppage, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

[10]: (Banister 1987, 3-4) Judith Banister. 1987. China’s Changing Population. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.