Qing dynasty takeover and consolidation of power

Qing Dynasty of China

The takeover of China by the Qing Dynasty was accomplished through several ways, the most important being that in the 18th century, the Qing Empire doubled its territorial size in order to "protect itself not only from internal rebellion but also from foreign invasion." Following the subduction of China Proper, the Qing Empire, ruled with an iron fist from 1736 to 1795 by Emperor Qianlong, took control of Outer Mongolia in the 17th century, and in the 18th century "gained control of Central Asia as far as the Pamir Mountains and established a protectorate over... Xizang (Tibet). Thus, the Qing Empire "became the first dynasty to successfully eliminate all danger to China Proper from across its land borders" ("The Imperial Era," Internet).

When Qianlong became emperor of the Qing Empire, he continued the autocratic traits of the government established by his father, and during his early years as emperor, the Grand Council took on new dimensions by disallowing the imperial princes proper seats on the council and replacing them with members of the Manchu, exclusively composed of foreigners from Manchuria. In some respects, "this bold move allowed for greater consolidation, yet as the Grand Council gradually became a very effective governmental body, the emperor's influence within this body became severely depleted" (Wakeman, 167).

Emperor Qianlong's contributions to the expansion and consolidation of the Qing Empire were substantial, for he not only expanded his empire into Tibet and Xinjiang but also undermined the power of the Dzungar in Lhasa, a place where Chinese influence had been established by Qianlong's grandfather some fifty or so years earlier. One major step taken by Emperor Qianlong regarding Tibet was to install the Dalai Lama as the temporary ruler and declare a Chinese protectorate over the entire country. In 1793, as an indication of China's powerful role in the region, Emperor Qianlong decided that all future Dalai Lamas would be chosen by a lottery system which still exists today. The problems with the Dzungar in Lhasa, however, continued unabated until between 1755 and 1757, the emperor's forces virtually destroyed them which forced the remaining few to accept the title of Eleuth. The Manchu general which led these forces against the Dzungar then defeated a Muslim uprising which expanded Chinese control into the Pamir Mountains.

Another bold enterprise created by Emperor Qianlong to consolidate the power of the Qing Empire was to expand China's involvement in foreign trade. In 1684, many of the past restrictions on foreign trade were done away with yet trade itself continued to be closely watched by the government. At first, most of the foreign trade was limited to southern ports within China, especially to Guangzhou. By 1760, the most important and powerful entity linked to trade in China was Great Britain. For the most part, all British trade with China was monopolized by the East India Company which dealt almost exclusively with tea, China's biggest export product.

Thus, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the economy of China prospered and grew proportionately. The base of the economy was agriculture with crops like rice and wheat serving as the most important foodstuffs. Also, trading in silk and cotton played a major role in the development of China's economy during the time of the Manchus. As a result, the Qing empire furthered its consolidation of power by making China in the 18th century one of the leading exporters in the world which would be expanded even more within the coming decades when trade with Great Britain increased dramatically.

Another aspect of consolidation during the reign of Emperor Qianlong was his patronage of the arts, due in part to his own position as a poet. One of his greatest contributions was the commission of The Complete Library of Four Branches of Literature, a vast collection of over 3,000 works by some of China's leading scholars. The creation of this compilation provided work for hundreds of Chinese scholars, yet it also served another purpose, being to establish the Manchus as the dominant force in China while making certain that any literary works which contained negative opinions on the Manchus be summarily destroyed.

An additional force which helped to consolidate the Manchus under Emperor Qianlong was based on its military organization, which at the time was considered as the quintessential military power in Asia. As a system, the Qing military organized its troops under separate banners with separate units and the fighting men "were personally attached to the emperor, in fact, he owned them." These men were also "incredibly loyal to the emperor" and often "functioned as a talent pool from which civil bureaucrats could be chosen." Another benefit related to the Qing military machine is that it "retained (its) military strength over the Chinese by separating the duties of the Chinese troops and... The Manchu troops," meaning that the "Chinese were not trained as a striking force" which allowed the Manchu elements to retain the ability to respond against any threats made by the Chinese ("Qing Dynasty," Internet).

Despite all of these efforts at consolidation, the Qing Empire faced a number of problems related to political and religious uprisings. The first of these revolts occurred in 1774 in Shantung and one year later, another came about under the guidance of the Society of the White Lotus, a rebellion that lasted for more than eight years between 1796 and 1804. However, the uprisings that occurred during the reign of Qianlong were squelched which only added to the power of the Qing Empire and to its consolidation of China under the Manchus.

In 1792, three years before the culmination of Emperor Qianlong's reign, Great Britain began to be quite concerned with its tea trading with China and wanted desperately to expand its trading activity throughout Asia. What transpired after Lord Macartney met with the emperor to discuss this situation confirms the consolidation of the Manchus and the Qing Empire, for when Macartney requested that Britain be allowed to have a British national live in Beijing to tend to Britain's trade concerns, the emperor allegedly replied that this request was "contrary to all usage of my dynasty and cannot possibly be entertained" (Wakeman, 256).