Information:
Time: 1636-1840
Location of Capital: Beijing City
Emperors: Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi(Cixi), Guangxu, Puyi
Replaced by: Modern China
Introduction:
Qing Dynasty, with its captial Beijing, was the last ruling of China from 1644 to 1912. Although the Manchus were not Han Chinese and were strongly resisted, especially in the south, they had assimilated a great deal of Chinese culture before conquering China Proper. Realizing that to dominate the empire they would have to do things the Chinese way, the Manchus retained many institutions of Ming and earlier Chinese derivation.
They continued the Confucian court practices and temple rituals, over which the emperors had traditionally presided. The Manchus continued the Confucian civil service system. Although Chinese were barred from the highest offices, Chinese officials predominated over Manchu officeholders outside the capital, except in military positions.
Imperial examination:
The imperial examination system has lasted from Sui and Tang dynasty to Qing dynasty for selection of official members and the reserves of governing people. There are many art sections in Tang’s examination and held every years. There are only Jingshi in art section to exam of the Ba Gu Wen. While the military section checking the horseracing and weight lifting.
The imperial examination in Ming dynasty can be divided into County examination, provincial examination and Palace examination. Tongsheng first took part in the examination held by county. The qualified students were called Xiu Cai or Sheng Yuan. And then they come to Fuzhou ( bigger administrative districs) to learn more things. The excellent students can be decided as the KeJu and then have the qualification to take part in the provincial examination. The provincial exam was held three years a time and the qualified was called Juren, who will have the qualification to take part in the exam held by the central government.
Yongzheng Emperor:
Yongzheng, titled Qing Shizong, was the 4th son of emperor Kangxi. Because Kangxi had many sons, the rivalry between each was very fierce. Yongzheng had to fight hard, and after the crown prince's failure to do his duties, Yongzheng had a chance to become the crown prince. But because of strong rivalry, this decision was never made.
When emperor Kangxi was at his death bed, he called Yongzheng over. It was rumored that he poisoned the old emperor, and added a stroke to the proclamation of emperor, that made the statement "…pass the throne to 14th son" to "pass the throne to 4th son". This rumor of course could never be proved. After ascending the throne, he carried out a series of new policies that much benefited the development of the Qing dynasty. Just to name a few: he established the "Junji Chu" (Cabinet of Military) and weakened the power of the princes to strengthen the central power; he improved the tax law by demanding taxes according to the number of acres of land; by dispatching ministers to the minority areas, he strengthened the control overthem.
Emperor Guangxu:
Even after he began formal rule, Cixi continued to influence his decisions and actions, despite residing for a period of time at the Imperial Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) which she had ordered Guangxu's father, the Prince Chun, to construct, with the official intention not to intervene in politics. After taking power, Guangxu was obviously more reform-minded than the conservative-leaning Cixi.
He believed that by learning from constitutional monarchies like Japan, China would become more politically and economically powerful. In June 1898, Guangxu began the Hundred Days' Reform, aimed at a series of sweeping political, legal, and social changes. For a brief time, after the supposed retirement of Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu issued edicts for a massive number of far-reaching modernizing reforms with the help of more progressive Qing mandarins like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.
Contribution of Li Shizhen:
Lishizhen in Qing dynastyLi Shizhen’s father, Li Yanwen was a famous local doctor. Li Shizhen learned from his father and learned a lot from the common people. He put great efforts to search the herbage and gain lots of experience in Chinese herbage treatment. When he was 38 years old, he has been appointed to control the hospital and treatment department by Chu Wang( The king of Chu)
Three years later, he has been introduced to come into the capital and to act as the major doctor. Tai Yi was an organization for the royal court and was destroyed by the unqualified doctor. Li Shizhen only stayed there for one year and then returned home. Book of Li Shizhen in history of china Li Shizhen has been checked more than 800 medical and academic books. With his rich experience and knowledge, he spend 27 years to compose his famous book, Ben Cao Gang Mu, which enjoy good fame around the world. It was also a conclusion book before the Ming dynasties.
Emperor Kangxi:
Kangxi succeeded imperial throne at the age of 8 on February 17, 1661, twelve days after his father's death. He ruled during the years from 1661 to 1722 -- the longest reign on the throne in China's history, 61 years.
When he was still a child, Kangxi was quite hard-working and showed great talent in literature. Because he was too young, his father appointed four ministers to help him to administrate the country, one of whom, named Ao Bai, secretly fostered his own henchmen against the young emperor. When Kangxi was old enough to rule the nation, he cleverly smashed Ao Bai's plot. In the course of his five tours to South China (in the years 1684, 1689, 1699, 1703, and 1707) he made painstaking efforts to inspect conservancy projects and so spurred the officials in charge to be more efficient and conscientious. He frequently singled out those who were reported as incorrupt for promotion .
Qianlong Emperor:
Emperor Qianlong is Emperor Yongzheng's fourth son. He was born in the 50th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1711), and died in the 4th year of Emperor Jiaqing's reign at the age of 89. He was the sixth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and also the emperor who lived for the longest time in Chinese history.
Qianlong showed his talent when in his childhood. Because of this, his grandfather Emperor Kangxi liked him a lot. After setting up the rule of choosing successor secretly, Emperor Yongzheng chose Qianlong to succeed the throne without hesitation. Qianlong was 25 years old when he succeeded the throne. He learnt his grandfather's and his father's ways of running the state affairs. And he skillfully dealt with the relationship between Manchu, Han and other ethnic minorities to consolidated imperial power. His reign was the most prosperous period of Qing Dynasty.
Empress Cixi:
Empress Dowager Cixi1(29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908. Selected by the Xianfeng Emperor as a concubine in her adolescence, she climbed the ranks of Xianfeng's harem and gave birth to a son who became the Tongzhi Emperor upon Xianfeng's death.
Cixi ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed regency over her young son with the Empress Dowager Ci'an. Cixi then consolidated control and established near-absolute rule over the dynasty. She installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor in 1875. A conservative ruler who refused to adopt Western models of government, Cixi rejected reformist views and placed Guangxu under house arrest in later years for supporting reformers. However, after a humiliating clash with the Eight-Nation Alliance, external and internal pressures led Cixi to attempt institutional changes and appoint reform-minded officials. Ultimately, the Qing Dynasty collapsed a few years after her death. Historians from both Kuomintang and Communist backgrounds have generally portrayed her as a despot and villain responsible for the fall of the Qing Dynasty, but in recent years professional historians have suggested that she was a scapegoat for problems beyond her control, a leader no more ruthless than others, and in fact an effective if reluctant reformer in the last years of her life.
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