186
I
n 1644, the Manchu—a semi-
nomadic people who had built
a large state to the northeast of
China’s Great Wall—seized Beijing
from the crumbling Ming regime
and established their own dynasty,
the Qing, as the rulers of northern
China. Seventeen years later, after
fierce fighting on an epic scale, the
Qing had overcome the determined
resistance of Ming loyalists, andextended their power across
mainland China. However, their
dynasty was still not secure—in
1673, Kangxi, the second emperor,
was forced to confront a major
uprising, which became known as
the Revolt of the Three Feudatories.
The Three Feudatories were
vast areas of south China that had
been granted as semi-independent
fiefdoms to three turncoat Ming
generals who had assisted the
Qing in their conquest of China.
Over time, the fiefdoms became
increasingly autonomous, but when
Kangxi declared that they would
not be hereditary, the generals
rebelled. The ensuing struggle was
hugely costly in terms of loss of life
and economic disruption, and for a
while, it seemed that one general,
Wu Sangui, would topple the Qing.
However, he was finally defeated
by Kangxi’s supporters, and in
1683, the Qing eliminated the last
stronghold of Ming support on
Taiwan, which they then occupied.
With the Qing now undisputed
rulers of China, Kangxi embarked
on military campaigns that added
parts of Siberia and Mongolia to
the Chinese empire, and extended
its control over Tibet. Under his
exceptional leadership, and thatQianlong employed the Italian Jesuit
Giuseppe Castiglione as court painter,
and his imperial portraits fused
elements of Chinese scroll painting
with Western realism and perspective.IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
China’s Three EmperorsBEFORE
1636 The Manchu establish
the Qing dynasty in their
homeland of Manchuria.1644 The Qing dynasty
conquers northern China.AFTER
1683 The Qing destroy all
Ming resistance and establish
their rule across China.1689 Emperor Kangxi’s peace
settlement with Russia, the
Treaty of Nerchinsk, checks
Russia’s eastward expansion.1750 The Summer Palace—
a masterpiece of Chinese
landscape design—is built.1751 Tibet becomes a
Chinese protectorate.1755 – 60 Emperor Qianlong
removes Turk and Mongol
threats to northeastern China.1792 Invasion of Nepal by
the Qing.USE BARBARIANS
TO CONTROL
BARBARIANS
THE REVOLT OF THE THREE FEUDATORIES
(1673–1681)
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187
See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■
The Second Opium War 254–55 ■ The Long March 304–05THE EARLY MODERN ERA
of his two immediate successors,
China enjoyed a golden age of
peace, economic prosperity, and
political stability that lasted until
the late 18th century.A global superpower
During his 61-year reign, Kangxi
won the cooperation and loyalty of
his native Han Chinese subjects—
who had once viewed the Manchu
as barbarians—by preserving and
honoring China’s cultural heritage.
He also continued the preceeding
dynasty’s form of government, and
allowed Ming officials to retain
their provincial posts alongside
Manchu appointees, although the
latter supervised most of the work.
Qing China became immensely
powerful during the reigns of the
next two emperors—Yongzheng
(1722–35), who also kept a tight
control on government and the
bureaucracy and increased state
revenues by reforming the tax
system, and Qianlong (1735–96),under whom the empire’s borders
reached their greatest extent and
the population boomed. Qianlong
was an avid patron of the arts who
wrote poetry and sponsored literary
projects that enhanced his people’s
reputation—although at the same
time, he banned or destroyed books
that were judged to be anti-Qing.Qing society
The era of the Three Emperors
was conservative in many ways:
Han Chinese men were required
to wear the Manchu hairstyle,
in which the front and sides of
the head were shaved, and the
remaining hair plaited into a braid;
society was rigidly hierarchical,
and there were strict conventions
regarding the conduct of women,
laws against homosexuality, and
censorship. Yet the country’s
economy grew substantially in
the early part of the Qing period,
thanks to a strong demand in the
West for luxury products such as
silk, porcelain, and tea.
However, by the beginning
of the 19th century, the regime’s
repressive treatment of the Han
Chinese people, together with
famine and widespread addiction
to opium—which had been brought
into China by European traders—
had sent the country into decline.
These factors sowed the seeds of
rebellions, trading disputes, and
wars with European trading
partners in the mid-19th century. ■The Revolt of
the Three
Feudatories
fails, marking
the end of
resistance to
Manchu power.The first three
Qing emperors
legitimize
their foreign
rule by
adopting
Chinese ways.In the stability
that follows,
China triples
in size and
the economy
expands
rapidly.In the 18th century, China becomes the biggest
manufacturing power in the world.The Jesuits in China
In 1540, Ignatius of Loyola, a
Catholic theologian from Spain,
founded the Society of Jesus—
the Jesuits—with the aim of
spreading the faith through the
teachings of Jesus. The Catholic
Church sent Jesuit missionaries
to China during the Ming and
early Qing periods, and initially
they were welcomed. Kangxi
was curious about the Jesuits’
knowledge of science (especially
mathematics and astronomy)
and technology (particularly the
manufacture of weapons andpumps). He appointed Jesuits to
the imperial board of astronomy,
and it was a Jesuit who made
the first accurate map of Beijing.
Kangxi gave Catholics
freedom of worship in China,
and the Jesuits allowed Chinese
converts to continue their rites
of ancestor worship (they saw
these as commemorations of
the dead rather than true acts
of veneration). However, when
a visiting Vatican envoy ruled
against the ancestral rites, and
the pope followed suit, Kangxi
expelled Jesuit missionaries
who opposed the practice.By the end of the 19th century, the Qing are a power in name only,
as the pressures of European imperial expansion and
growing internal dissent fatally weaken the regime.US_186-187_Three_Emperors.indd 187 15/02/2016 16:42