Breaking the Chains
Page 34
As regent for the first Ch'ing emperor, Dorgon was the de facto ruler of China. He continued the administrative system that operated under the Ming, and recruited new Chinese civil servants via selection through examination. Adam Schall von Bell served Dorgon as mathematician, astronomer, and adviser on artillery manufacture. In 1648 Dorgon received the title Imperial Father Regent. After his death in 1650 he was proclaimed emperor. His unexpected death (on 31 December 1650) plunged the empire into disorder: Dorgon had left no male heir. Dorgon's white bannermen were involved in the disturbances that followed Dorgon's death. The Shun-chih emperor was twelve when Dorgon died - he was to be thirteen in March 1651. An imperial decree of that March declared Dorgon to be a usurper. His enemies had achieved political power. Dorgon was stripped of his princely rank and his relationship to the imperial family was denied. In 1773, however, the Ch'ien-lung emperor honoured Dorgon for his part in establishing the Ch'ing dynasty and restored his long neglected grave.
Prince Dorgon's white bannermen were a company in the Manchu military organization. Nurhachi founded the Banner system in 1601. Initially there were four banners: yellow, red, blue, and white. Each banner numbered 300 warriors. As Manchu conquests grew the number of warriors to each banner increased - eventually each banner numbered 7 500 men plus their families and slaves. The Banner system also facilitated the Manchu administration: taxation, registration of population, and conscription were implemented through the Banner system. The number of Manchu banners increased to eight in 1615. Eight Mongol banners were added in 1634 and in 1642 the number of banners increased again when eight Chinese banners were created. It was with these troops that Dorgon and the Manchu emperors conquered China.
Dorgon was thirty-eight when he died (in 1650). Dorgon's nephew Fu-Lin, the Shun-chih emperor, died of smallpox in February 1661; he was twenty-three years old. Fu-Lin's son, Hsuan-yeh, became the K'ang-hsi emperor; he was nearly seven years old. K'ang-hsi reigned from 1661 to December 1722.
The Revolt of the Three Feudatories came to an end when Ch'ing forces entered Kunming (in Yunnan) in 1681. In 1683 K'ang-hsi was presented with an opportunity to take Taiwan (the last Ming stronghold). At that time Taiwan was in the hands of General Cheng Ch'eng-kung. He had taken it from the Dutch in 1662. General Cheng and his family were from Fukien. He had refused to submit to the Ch'ing and continued to oppose them from Taiwan. Cheng was able to monopolize trade upon the China seas. K'ang-hsi could not fight Cheng on water because he had insufficient navel power. However, a Cheng family dispute presented the emperor with a chance to send his forces across the Taiwan Straits. The Cheng surrendered. Taiwan became part of Fukien.
After the fall of Taiwan the bannermen were deployed against threats in other parts of Asia. In dealing with those threats bannermen helped create the largest Chinese empire so far seen. In 1689 the Treaty of Nerchinsk, which dealt with the borderline between Russia and China, came into being. K'ang-hsi added Outer Mongolia to the Ch'ing empire in 1696. It was on this occasion that he personally led the middle corps across the Gobi to fight against the Dzungars. Tibet became part of the Ch'ing empire in 1720 after K'ang-hsi sent troops against the Dzungars who had invaded Tibet in 1717.
K'ang-hsi was able and industrious. Under his direction the empire grew substantially. He opened several ports to foreign trade and laid the foundation for a time of political stability and economic growth in China. K'ang-hsi also encouraged the introduction of European science, education, and art. He died in 1722 after a reign of sixty-one years.
Yin-chen, the emperor's fourth son, became the next emperor. K'ang-hsi had 35 sons in total. Manchu tradition gave each son equal rights of succession. K'ang-hsi attempted to go against tradition in 1675 by naming as crown prince his second son. However, after trouble amongst the other sons the second son (Yin-jeng) was deposed in 1712. The K'ang-hsi emperor was buried in the Ching ling mausoleum at Ma lan yu, which is to the northeast of Peking.
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