QING (MANGHU) EMPIRE

• Why did Manchu rulers in China impose their own kind of dress code?

  • They differentiated people along ethnic, class, and gender lines
• How did the Qing rule over a huge, diverse country and keep it unified?

  • they enforced hair and clothing standards to create a sense of unity and be a part of chinese culture 
  • they had a really strong centralized government ruled by a monarch
  • the emperor had a well-organized political structure backing him up too
  • they intergreated ethnicity into important military and beauracratic role
• How did the Qing use their imperial power to influence the economy through agriculture?

  • they promoted agriculture by encourage people to settle new land and by providing seeds, livestocks, and tax breaks
• What was China's relationship with global trade in this period?

  • The Qing had a very restrictive trade policy with the West, but they had looser agreements with their Russian, Central Asian, and Southeast Asian neighbors
• How the merchant class grew larger and became powerful both socially and politically in Qing China

  1. Flourishing domestic and foreign trade

  2. Surplus farming and commercial activities expanded

  3. Merchants became essential facilitators of trade

  4. Merchants accumulated wealth and influence
• Despite traditional Confucian disdain for commerce, economic prosperity elevated the status of merchants in society
• Qing rulers were wary of the growing power of the merchant class

  Qing rulers attempted to limit the power of merchants by imposing restrictions on trade and industry
• Economic developments in the Manchu Empire

  1. Growth of commercial activities and trade

  2. Creation of opportunities for social mobility

  3. Merchants amassing wealth and influence

  4. Reshaping of traditional social hierarchies

  5. Emergence of a wealthy merchant class alongside the traditional elite
• Economic prosperity in the Qing Empire

  Reshaped traditional social hierarchies
• Social structures in the Qing Empire

  • Integration of different ethnic groups into the government and military
  • Gradual decline of the banner system
  • Blurring of ethnic distinctions
  • Fostering of a more diverse society
• Impact of Qing Dynasty on trading networks in the 1700s

  1. Commercial expansion of Qing China

  2. Favorable trade balance

  3. Growth of robust trading networks in East Asia and Southeast Asia
• Qing China's impact on trading networks

  More pronounced in its immediate geographic sphere
• Qing China's impact on trading networks

  Differing effects on the global scale
• European powers were increasingly active in global trade, particularly through colonization and the establishment of mercantilist policies
• • Western trade was regulated under the Canton system that developed in the eighteenth century
• • Westerners could trade only in Canton harbor (today's Guangzhou) and only with approved Chinese guilds
  • This system helped regulate foreign trade, and it also enriched the members of these select guilds—some becoming the richest men in the world
• • Other coastal cities were depopulated, making this Canton harbor important in foreign trade
• • Qing Political Structure:
  • Centralized government under an absolute monarch, the emperor
  • Maintained Ming-era political system to preserve Chinese unity
  • Emperor ruled over the Grand Secretariat and coordinated ministries through an imperial advisory council
  • Continued Ming civil service system, utilizing the imperial examination for vetting officials
• • Ethnic Integration in Government and Military:
  • Qing appointed officials from various ethnic backgrounds, including Han and Mongols
  • Han elites integrated into civil bureaucracy and military leadership
  • Military became multi-ethnic with the incorporation of Han Chinese and Mongol banners
• • Banner System:
  • Organized military administrative units, initially comprised of Manchu warriors
  • Membership was inherited and provided land and income
  • Helped consolidate Qing power but became less effective and costly over time
  • Han bannermen were gradually removed to restore Manchu majority
• • Commercialization and Trade:
  • Qing China was highly commercialized, with surplus farming and domestic trade thriving
  • Merchant class grew in size and power, though Qing rulers attempted to limit their influence
  • Foreign trade was largely one-sided, with China exporting more than importing
  • Silver was a crucial import to China, flooding the market due to favorable trade balance
  • Chinese workforce grew, with laborers and merchants seeking economic opportunities both within and outside China
• • Qing Influence in Southeast Asia:
  • Southeast Asia had various political structures, including solar polities and semi-independent tributaries
  • Qing China had influence through trade and migrant labor, particularly in modern-day Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia