Qing Dynasty (1 gen 1636 anni – 1 gen 1912 anni)

Descrizione:

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing ([tɕʰíŋ]), was the last imperial dynasty of China. It was established in 1636, and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multiethnic Qing empire lasted for almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for modern China. It was the fourth largest empire in world history in terms of territorial size.

The dynasty was founded by the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria. In the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing "Banners" which were military-social units that included Manchu, Han, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci united Manchu clans and officially proclaimed the Later Jin dynasty in 1616. His son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of the Liaodong Peninsula and declared a new dynasty, the Qing, in 1636. As Ming control disintegrated, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the capital Beijing in 1644. Ming general Wu Sangui refused to serve them, but opened the Shanhai Pass to the Banner Armies led by the regent Prince Dorgon, who defeated the rebels and seized the capital. Dorgon served as Prince Regent under the Shunzhi Emperor. Resistance from the Ming loyalists in the south and the Revolt of the Three Feudatories led by Wu Sangui delayed the complete conquest until 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor (1661–1722). The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Inner Asia. During the peak of the Qing dynasty, the empire ruled over the entirety of today's Mainland China, Hainan, Taiwan, Mongolia, Outer Manchuria and Outer Northwest China. The early Qing rulers maintained their Manchu customs, they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism, and while their title was Emperor, used "Bogd khaan" when dealing with the Mongols. They governed using a Confucian style and bureaucratic institutions, retaining the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with the Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the Chinese tributary system in asserting superiority over peripheral countries such as Korea and Vietnam, while annexing neighboring territories such as Tibet and Mongolia.

The dynasty reached its high point in the late 18th century, then gradually declined in the face of challenges from abroad, internal revolts, population growth, disruption of the economy, corruption, and the reluctance of ruling elites to change their mindsets. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, leading to fiscal crisis. Following the Opium Wars, European powers led by Great Britain imposed "unequal treaties", free trade, extraterritoriality and treaty ports under foreign control. The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) and the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) in Central Asia led to the death of some 20 million people, due to famine, disease, and war. In spite of these disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order and the Manchu rulers. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were lost in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea and the possession of Taiwan. New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days' Reform of 1898 was turned back in a coup by the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908), who was the dominant voice in the national government (with one interruption) after 1861. When the Juye Incident by foreign powers triggered the violently anti-foreign "Boxers" in 1900, with many foreigners and Christians killed, the foreign powers invaded China. Cixi sided with the Boxers and was decisively defeated by the eight invading powers, leading to the flight of the Imperial Court to Xi'an.

After agreeing to sign the Boxer Protocol, the government initiated unprecedented fiscal and administrative reforms, including elections, a new legal code, and abolition of the examination system. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with constitutional monarchists such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao to transform the Qing Empire into a modern nation. After the deaths of the Guangxu Emperor and Cixi in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike by obstructing social reform. The Wuchang Uprising on 11 October 1911 led to the Xinhai Revolution. General Yuan Shikai negotiated the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor, on 12 February 1912, bringing the dynasty to an end.

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