History Accounts: Recent Episodes
Daniel
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.
Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons. All of this is the subject of my new series.
I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence. From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons. All this finally led to the United States Government’s acknowledgement and apology. Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions.
The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?
Support the show
After the war, earnest efforts were made to form a coalition government with the Guomindang and the communists. When that failed the civil war between the two rekindled.
The roughly three-year extension of the civil war saw the collapse of the Nanjing government and the Nationalists’ control of China. Eventually leading to in 1949, the inauguration of the Peoples Republic of China, by the communists, and the Nationalists’ flight to Taiwan.
The war with Japan devastated the Nanjing Government, her military, and China. The Nationalists had survived the war and still remained in power. Their failures, however, particularly late in the war, and at the nation’s greatest time of need, were fateful.
The open, unhealed wound of the issues with the Communist was one of the fateful consequences of the Nationalists’ failures. Efforts failed to find a peaceful solution between the two, including a coalition-led government. The war had settled one problem but created a myriad of others. China was unsettled.
The Sino-Japanese War ends. Japan’s surrender, a momentous event, also ended World War II. A victory certainly for China and the Allied Powers. It left, however, many geo-political questions and issues. The war with Japan also exposed to the world the deteriorated condition of the Nationalist military forces, the Nanjing Government, and China.
The victory also did not resolve the open, unhealed sore between the Chinese Nationalist and the Chinese Communist. By 1945, the Americans began a series of efforts to mediate the two sides toward a coalition government. Despite some early optimism, the formation of a coalition government evaporated. Meanwhile the Soviet Union quickly turned to Manchuria and rushed in after the Japanese forces left.
China’s war against Japan eventually merged into the greater world war. Particularly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan became a central concern to the Allies, especially the United States.
Soon after the Japanese began their war against China, it had planned to pacify and consolidate the territory she had gained in China. However, largely unsuccessful, by 1942, she had bigger issues with the Allies’ efforts against her in the Pacific.
That did not deter her from successfully launching and completing her largest military campaign in China. In the spring of 1944, Japan began Operation Ichigo. A massive and impressive military offensive to link northern Asia and southern Asia and to rid China of the American airfields.
Did the second united front between the Nationalists and the Communists solidly meld the two sides together, or was that merely an illusion? We find out in this episode.
By 1939, the United States was loaning money to the Nationalist government. There was no appetite by the western nations to pursue appeasement with Japan as they had toward Germany. In 1940, Japan became part of the Axis Powers. China joined in with the western Allied Powers. The Sino-Japanese War merged with the greater conflict of World War II.
The second Sino-Japanese War began in July 1937. Which side started it can be debated. We do know it was an eight-year horror show. It would overlap and influence the coming second world war. The opening actions of the Japanese war saw terrible human casualties. These portended what was coming.
In this episode I focus on the opening phases of the war. I end the episode with a question or thought. What group benefited the most from the disastrous events of the Sino-Japanese War?
The relatively short time span from 1927, after the Nationalists’ creation of the Nanjing Government, to 1937, at the start of the Sino-Japanese war, makes it difficult to evaluate that government. Today, there are mixed views.
During a portion of that same time span, Japan tried to solidify their physical and international control of Manchuria. Protective and restive about their position, Japan sought to expand its empire further into China. That inevitably forced a confrontation with the Nationalist led Nanjing Government.
Beginning in 1927, Mao Zedong and Zhu De grew the Communist Red Army from a small force of maybe 5,000 troops to over 250,000 troops by 1933. Despite the progressive antagonism and military attacks by the Nationalist forces, the communist learned to recruit for their party primarily from the peasants and the farmers. They even formed a State within a State called the Chinese Soviet Republic. It existed mostly in the southeast regions of China. There the Chinese communist party and the Red Army grew.
The Chinese Civil War started with the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927 and pitted the communist against the Nationalist. The war would last intermittently until almost 1950. After numerous attempts to destroy the communists by Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist forces, the Red Army and the communists escaped the southeast region of China. The Long March, as it is called, ended in 1935. It relocated the army and the communists several thousand miles to Shaanxi Province located in northwest China.
After the Xian Incident in late 1936, the Guomindang (Nationalists) and the communist agreed to a temporary truce to form the second united front. Its purpose was to the fight the ever increasingly aggressive Japanese encroachment into China.
If the 1920 decade was not enough drama, stay tuned for the even more dramatic 1930s. The decade tested the new Nationalist government in Nanjing, its leader, Chiang Kai-shek, and China. Internationalism was tossed. Ever so visible with Japan’s aggression toward China. Beginning in 1931 with the Mukden Incident Japan began its campaign to seize complete control of Manchuria. Eventually renaming the region Manchukuo and intending to push farther into China.
The new National government in Nanjing begins. For most of its existence it was led by Chiang Kai-Shek and his Guomindang cadre. Many parts of China were united for the first time since 1916. It was an uneasy unity facing many challenges both immediately and in the future.
Chiang Kai-Shek would eventually emerge as an autocratic, powerful, and dynamic leader. He would face great challenges. Some of those were economic and political as well as from Japan, warlords, and the Chinese Communist Party.
There were many reasons for the Peking (Beiyang) government’s failure. Its fecklessness led to the organization and planning of the massive nationalist campaign in China in the 1920s. Its goal was to unify China and expel or neutralize foreign intrusion and interference. Russia ironically played a large role.
Through the merger of the Guomindang Nationalists and the Communists, the government in Peking was cast out. Chiang Kai-Shek emerges during this period as a key leader. He led the Nationalists in the Northern Expedition to establish a new government in Nanjing in 1928. Later he expelled the Communists from the new government and the Guomindang.
The May 4, 1919, demonstrations (or revolution, as it is referred to sometimes) opened a public discourse in China over the nation’s past and future direction. It was partially precipitated by the betrayal China received from the Paris Peace Conference. The Chinese nationalist and communist movements, so prevalent in the next decade, can probably trace their roots to the iconic May 4th event.
The multi-national Washington (D.C.) Naval Conference in late 1921 and early 1922, tried to address the Chinese frustrations as well as the Pacific-Asia hegemony issues and balance. Several key treaties and understandings came out of the conference. Among those were the return of Shandong Province to China. Also, the geo-political concept of internationalism became a central focus. Naval armament quotas and limits in the region were another focus.
After Yuan Shikai’s death in 1916, the next twelve years pitted regional warlords against each other for control of the national government. This period of time is known as the Beiyang Warlord Era.
China only had limited involvement in World War I. Japan used the war’s distraction to strengthen and gain her foothold in China. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919, ended the fighting in Europe. During the negotiations China had discovered it had been betrayed by the western nations, Japan, and her own leaders.
Spring of 1912, and Yuan Shikai is the first president of the Republic of China. He was given considerable powers, and quickly moved to consolidate it. The newly elected legislative assemblies, both national and provincial, were new political concepts to China. Whether or not any of this new concept would work depended on many factors and time. The Nationalists, or Guomindang, were the dominant political party. They soon, however, found themselves in dispute against the president, Yuan Shikai. By 1914, he had dissolved the national and local legislatures. In 1916, he sought to appoint himself an emperor. That was quickly abandoned after strong and determined opposition.
By 1915, world war was consuming the world’s attention. China declared her neutrality. She had her own issues dealing with Japanese aggression in China.
The roughly forty-year period, between the fall of the imperial Qing Dynasty to the inauguration of the People’s Republic of China, is a complex, confusing, and ambiguous era in the history of China. The era is defined by powerful and violent foreign influence in China and intense and violent Chinese nationalism.
I begin this episode near the end of the Qing Dynasty and the ushering in of its replacement the Republic of China in 1912. The early key protagonists in this story are Yuan Shikai and Dr. Sun Yat Sen. It was a portentous and unclear beginning for the new Republic.
This series will cover the roughly 40-to-50-year period of Chinese history. It will cover the waning years of the imperial Qing Dynasty to the inauguration of Communist China and the Chinese Nationalist resettlement on Taiwan. A fascinating and complex period of time.
By 1797, the second Directory already had a bad reputation and was mistrusted. It was viewed as corrupt and needed the military to support its continued existence. The public had turned against the Directory. In desperation, a coup d’état was planned. Its main author a fellow by the name of Abbe Sieyes. In collaboration with Napoleon Bonaparte, the military, and others, the Coup of Brumaire in 1799, ousted the existing French government and installed a provisional government run by a Napoleon Bonaparte led consulate. Thus ended the French Revolution that had begun ten years earlier.
By 1975, Zhou Enlai was politically ruined and finished. He was also dying from a terminal disease. In Zhou Enlai’s absence, Madam Mao and her Gang of Four tried to take advantage of the situation and gain power. They were thwarted, however, by Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping. Mao eventually installed Hua Guofeng to replace Zhou Enlai. Both Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong died in 1976. Thus ended the Chinese Culture Revolution that had begun ten years earlier. The Gang of Four were blamed for much of the revolution’s disasters. They all would be convicted and sent to prison.
The Jacobins unsuccessfully stage a coup d’état in a final attempt to restore their political power in France. By the late 1790’s, France was ready to move away from their radical message. A new government was elected. A new Directory took its seat. The European wars ground on. Napoleon Bonaparte, now an accomplished and famous figure, proposed to invade Egypt to economically damage their English adversaries in retaliation for England’s blockade of France.
China’s educational system was a wreck after nearly ten years of the culture revolution. Black markets throughout China thrived in such things as western books, transistor radios, and foreign radio broadcasts. Wang Hongwen was chosen as the new vice chair or premier replacing the deceased Lin Biao. Mao Zedong traduced his longtime ally, Zhou Enlai, fearing his perceived lack of commitment to the communist cause.
By the fall of 1794, the Reign of Terror was ending. France had turned anti-Jacobin. The terror and tyranny offered by them was no longer seen as productive. In 1795, the new French Constitution was adopted and the new government seated. The new legislature was bi-cameral. The executive functions of the nation to be run by a Directory. The land war in Europe had once again turned in favor of France. The English naval blockade, however, was working effectively. Shortages began to appear.
By 1973, the economic conditions in China had turned bad. Poverty and famine were beginning to assert themselves. The State planned economy, as well as the communist idea in China, was failing. By 1974, shortages and deficiencies in medical care were obvious. Disease spread. Facilities that had existed to combat some of these diseases had long ago disappeared. To help alleviate the medical care shortages, China encouraged the training and use of “barefoot doctors”. Their lack of education, training, and experience, and in many cases incompetence, made conditions worse.
By 1793, The War of (or in) the Vendee region (in France) exploded into a major counter revolution/insurrection against the French Revolution. With the European war also going bad, the Committee of Public Safety took drastic measures to stop the insurrections. In the fall of 1793, the former Queen Marie Antoinette met the same fate as her husband had nine months earlier. Public opinion of the Jacobins began to turn against them and by the summer of 1794, one of its chief architects and voices, Maximilien Robespierre, was executed by the guillotine. These same few years are also noted for the infamous Reign of Terror.
President Richard Nixon visited China in February 1972. The first American President to visit the Peoples Republic of China. His meetings with Mao Zedong led to the Shanghai Communique. That document, among many things, created the One China Policy concept. Nixon also tried unsuccessfully to gain concessions or agreements with Chairman Mao on the Vietnam War. By 1973, the culture revolution had permeated every level of the nation. Apathy and indifference set in causing, at least partially, shortages and rationing of critical items.
By early 1793, parts of France were beginning to heat up with counter-revolutions opposing the conditions many faced. In rural France the opposition continued to grow and would later escalate into the War of the Vendee. Partially in response, the National Assembly, now firmly under the control of the radical Jacobin Party, created the Committee of Public Safety. The Committee would soon be ushering in the Reign of Terror. Meanwhile, France continued to prosecute the war in Europe. The thrust and parry of France’s military progress typical for this war. England, Spain, and Russia got involved in the war. Within six months following the King’s execution in early 1793, the whole of Europe was aligned against France.
In early 1970, the latest effort, the one strike and three antis’ campaign, was launched to root out and remove the perceived counter revolutionaries within China. To counter and isolate the Soviet Union and to change the world’s perception of China, Chairman Mao, using the Chinese table tennis team, invited the United States to China for diplomatic relations. In 1971, President Nixon’s administration sent Henry Kissinger to China to begin the preparatory work for diplomatic relations and an eventual visit from the American President. By then Mao Zedong had grown weary and distrustful of his Vice Chair, Lin Biao. Lin Biao, fearing for his life, attempted to flee China by airplane in the dark of night. The plane crashed in Mongolia in September 1971, allegedly taking the life of Lin Biao and some of his family members.
The warnings given to the French in 1791 and 1792 by the other European powers were seen as a declaration of war. The radical National Assembly declared war on Austria. Prussia soon joined with Austria. In 1792, the allied forces invaded France. Despite the French military force’s early setbacks in the invasion, they did manage a large victory in the fall of 1792, and stopped the invaders at the Battle of Varmy, France. By then the Jacobins had joined with other radical factions, such as the sans-culottes, and controlled the nation. In December of 1792, King Louis XVI was indicted by the radical government for treason and other related crimes. He was convicted of all the charges in January 1793, and sentenced to death. He was executed in Paris on January 21, 1793, by the guillotine.
In the Spring of 1969, the Chinese and Soviet Union military forces clashed over a disputed island (Zhenbao Island) located in the Ussuri River that separated China and the Soviet Union. The incident caused both nations to prepare for war. In retaliation in August 1969, the Soviets attacked into Xinjiang Province, China and seized some of the area. Both nations narrowly averted a larger war and settled their differences. Martial law was declared in China and more political purges occurred. After his arrest, former Vice Chair, Liu Shaoqi, died in solitary confinement in November 1969. His successor, Lin Biao, had been appointed only a few months before.
The French King and his family attempt to flee France but are quickly discovered and returned to Paris. Concern for their safety led to the Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791. It urged European powers to intervene in France on behalf of the beleaguered King and Royal Family. The French took it as a declaration of war. The summer of 1791, saw the Massacre of Champ de Mars in Paris. In the fall of 1791, the National Assembly finally adopted and push out the first French Constitution. During this period of time political factions appear in the National Assembly. Most notably, the Jacobins, a radical left group, begin their rise to power.
By the end of 1968, China was at war with itself and the foreigners that inhabited China, and anyone associated with foreigners. Revolutionary Committees had replaced the Red Guards and the Culture Revolution Group. More fear, mayhem, and death. Chairman Mao changes tact and orders that students and Red Guards be sent to the countryside for indoctrination and to gain control over the chaos. The countryside movement did not get off to an auspicious start. Before the countryside movement was over, tens of millions of students and their families would be permanently affected.
France confiscates church property in an effort to help pay for the nation's expenses and debt. The National Assembly forces the clergy to sign loyalty oaths, and imposes additional church reforms. These cause a schism in the church and with the the nation. The National Assembly continues to assiduously work toward a National Constitution. Meanwhile, the nation's fiscal affairs continue to deteriorate. The period of 1790 thru 1791, sees the rise of political clubs and factions within the National Assembly on the future direction of the revolution and the nation.
The presence of armed red guards throughout China creates a tidal wave of fear, death, and destruction. The revolution takes a xenophobic turn, and there is open hostility to all foreigners. The revolution spins out of control forcing Chairman Mao, with the help of the military, to disarm the rebels. By 1969, China resembles a military dictatorship. Despite these events the Cult of Mao rises.
From the earliest moments of the revolution, France radically changed, and there was no going back. The summer of 1789, brought the Great Fear and marked a particularly violent, dramatic, and notable period. These events led to the August decrees promulgated by the National Assembly. In a whirlwind session, the Assembly adopted a series of documents that would define the revolution. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the abolition of feudalism, and ending aristocratic and religious privilege were some of the more famous work products from the decrees. The Women’s March on Versailles in October 1789, would permanently relocate the King, the Royal Family, and the National Assembly to Paris.
The early Culture Revolution period ripped through China. The nation would never be the same. The cult of Mao begins. His little red book becomes popular. Student Red Guards, with near absolute immunity, wrecked nearly everything. No part of China was spared. By 1967, the Chinese army, or the Peoples Liberation Army, also got involved in the mayhem. Chairman Mao again changed the course. Red Guards were now the enemy and a new rebel guard came into existence. This time they would be armed. Bloody civil wars in Wuhan and Shanghai proved the revolution was spinning out of control.
By June 1789, what was initially convened as the Estates General had recast itself as the National Assembly. The King tried to prevent the Assembly Deputies from meeting. They defied the attempt and met in the King's Tennis Court. There they all took the Tennis Court Oath vowing to continue and never disperse. In July 1789, a Paris mob stormed and took the Bastille.
The Chinse Communist Party published the "16 Articles" in August 1966. The Articles publicly explained the Culture Revolution's purpose and its implementation. The first iteration of the Student Red Guards, emboldened and supported by Chairman Mao, came into existence. The Red Guards became violent and destructive.
It is difficult to pin down the moment or event the French Revolution began. It may had been the King’s edict to convene the Estates General in May 1789. Once the Estates General convened, it may had been the failure of that body to come to a consensus of how it would count votes on measures before it. Nonetheless, the august Estates General finally convened to consider the crown’s tax and fiscal proposal. The assembly of the Estates General would ultimately turn out unpredictable and go horribly wrong.
The beginning of the Chinese Culture Revolution is not as difficult to identify. It began with the Chinese Communist Party’s publication of the infamous May 16 Notification in 1966. From there the students would begin the chaos, terror, and murder. The Party used the chaos to purge itself of unwanted rightists, capitalists, and spies.
Assisting the Americans in the War of Independence proved a costly decision for France. The nation’s failure to adequately address the desperate and worsening financial situation led it to near bankruptcy. The King reluctantly agreed to convene the Estates General to approve a sweeping tax proposal to raise revenues.
Following in the heels of the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the Four Clean Ups Campaign is pushed out in another failed attempt to achieve a communist utopia. Desperately Mao Zedong searches for yet another movement that will propel China toward his goals of communism and ideological purity.
I begin telling the stories of the two revolutions. All revolutions need a spark to begin. For France, the spark was the crushing poverty and starvation. Mismanagement plunged France toward bankruptcy. For China, the spark was the disaster of the Great Leap Forward. China’s leader was troubled by the nation’s political and social direction.
This new series is a parallel study of both the Chinese Culture Revolution and the French Revolution. Both revolutions are presented side by side without comparison. The revolutions’ chronological timelines are synchronized with the other. This is something different and unique. An entertaining way to learn about each of these two enormous historical events.
What began as a largely sectarian movement in northern China in the 1330s, became the massive, diverse, eventually violent and destructive Red Turban Rebellions. Zhu Yuanzhang emerged as the central leader and chased the Mongols out of China in 1368, and ending the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang became the first emperor (Hongwu) of the Ming Dynasty. The Yuan Emperor fled China. He died in 1370, in Mongolia.
The history chronology continues. The thirteen year old Toghon Temur is enthroned (in 1333) as Emperor Huizong of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty. His reign the last and the longest of any of the Yuan emperors. The Mongols faced many pressures in China. His reign is noted for the local fiefdoms asserting themselves throughout China. While the emperor had capable advisors, the fiscal and political pressures in China were overwhelming. The Red Turban movements grew and would become a deciding factor in the continuation of the dynasty.
The Yuan government and society was a unique experience for China. The Mongols always promoted trade and continued to do so as the rulers of China. China population estimates during the Yuan Dynasty are not firm. The available numbers, however, if true, point to serious population declines during the dynasty. The reasons for those declines raise speculation. Finally, the Mongol legacy in China is complicated and difficult to quantify.
The War of Restoration concludes. Before it was over, one emperor disappeared, never heard from again, and another was assassinated. The Mid Yuan period of the Yuan Dynasty also concludes with the ascension of the last emperor, Toghon Temur. All told, nine emperors came and went during the thirty-nine year Mid Yuan period. Six of the nine emperors came to power only after violent or disputed events.
As the history moves into the middle of the 14th century, the Dynasty enters into a volatile and dramatic period. Before this episode is finished four Great Khans/Chinese Emperors come to power in a little over eight years. This era is filled with regicide, coups d’état, betrayals, violent family clashes, and retribution.
Temur Khan died without an heir and did not designate one. A violent succession conflict resulted among the royal princes. Eventually one of his nephews emerged from the conflict to take the throne of the Mongolian Empire and the Chinese Yuan Dynasty. He became Emperor Wuzong (or Kulug Khan). He made a pact with his younger brother, Ayurbarwada Buyantu, to succeed him. He became Emperor Renzong. Together the two brothers ruled China for thirteen years. The two of them could not have been more different in the directions they took China. One of the brothers was a military commander from the Asian Steppes before ascending to the throne. The other brother grew up under Chinese tutelage and tried to further Sinicize the Yuan Government.
Kubilai Khan's death without an heir to the Khanate and the Chinese Dynasty once again caused uncertainty over the regime, and fighting among his grandson's over the succession. Kubilai Khan's grandson, Temur, eventually ascended to the throne. The next thirty-nine years brought a rapid succession of nine emperors.
Temur was a capable ruler. He made peace with the other warring Mongolian Khanates within the empire. He also left the administrative state's systems and structures in good condition. He did little, however, over the ceaseless fiscal problems that haunted the empire and the dynasty.
The Chinese Yuan Dynasty begins. Kubilai Khan and the Mongols reunite China for the first time in nearly four centuries. China became the biggest prize for the Mongolian Empire. Kubilai Khan brilliantly wove together Mongolian traditions and institutions with those of the Chinese. Despite the severe fiscal problems he caused, and his failures trying to subjugate Japan, he was a decent Emperor. Unfortunately, he died without leaving an heir or a designated successor.
Kubilai Khan is perhaps the most known Mongol leader after his grandfather, Genghis Khan. He is known for the direction and building of a magnificent estate in Inner Mongolia intended to be a summer capital or palace. The estate is also known as Xanadu in western parlance.
Kubilai is also notable for his final conquest over the Southern Sung Dynasty in China. The eleven-year slog through China finally ended in the collapse of the Dynasty in 1279. The campaign featured the longest known siege in Chinese history. The five-year siege of Xiangyang, China finally broke in favor of the Mongols with the use of the trebuchet. These weapons had originated in China many centuries before that time. It had made its way to the west and Europe, and Kubilai Khan brought it back to China, and improved and used it in the conquest of the Sung Dynasty. Kubilai Khan united China once again after the defeat of the Sung Chinese.
The Tangut and Jin Dynasties permanently fall to the Mongols. By then, Genghis Khan's son, Ogodei, led the Mongol Empire. The Mongol warriors and their military commanders struck fear and terror everywhere they went. Subutai Ba' Dur stands out as one of the most ablest and successful Mongol military commanders.
Ogodie Kahn's death caused a major division over his successor among the various Mongolian princes. The schism would eventually contribute to the demise of the Mongol Empire. After Ogodei Khan came Guyuk Khan and then Mongke Khan. The latter will become more familiar later in this podcast series. The Mongol Empire reached its zenith under Mongke Khan.
Seemingly out of nowhere the small landlocked nation on the Eastern Asian Steppes, inhabited mostly by animal shepherds and nomads, challenged established Asian kingdoms and empires. Due primarily to the vision of one person, Genghis Khan. He would unite his people and create an empire over much of Asia. The Mongols sudden epic rise is only matched by their sudden epic decline. Beginning with this episode, the story is told of these nomads' rise to power and conquest over China.
This season tells the story of the Mongolian conquest of China. We are all familiar with Genghis Khan and his grandson, Kubilai Khan. How many people, however, are aware the Mongols were rulers of China (Yuan Dynasty)?
I will bring to you this fascinating story.
The death of the Meiji Emperor, Mutsuhito, in 1912, officially ended the Meiji Era. His long reign oversaw Japan overthrow the Shogunate form of government, cast off the feudal system, and fend off foreign aggressors. Then began Japan's incredible, impressive, and quick rise to a world power with major implications in the first half of the 20th century.
Japan's relationship with Korea perfectly exemplifies the Meiji's geo-political history and goals. It is important to grasp that if the Meiji Restoration is to be fully understood.
A comparison is made between Japan's and China's response to foreign nation aggression toward them in the 19th century. The comparison provides a compelling story of these two great nations.
Japan licked her wounds after the humiliation of the Triple Intervention. She channeled her energies into a massive industrial and military expansion.
She turned that against Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904/05. Japan declared war against Russia over the Korea and Manchuria, China issues. Japan had an ally this time: England. This alliance kept the remaining European powers at bay.
Japan quickly defeated Russia both on land and sea. With the help of United States President Theodore Roosevelt, the two nations settled their differences. The Treaty of Portsmouth (New Hampshire) (1905) ended the conflict.
Japan’s relationship with China had been deteriorating for some years. One particular reason was both nations’ claims to Korea. Russia had an interest in Manchuria that neighbored the Korean peninsula. A religious revolt in Korea touched off a chain of events that eventually led to the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894.
Japan overwhelmed China and the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) settled their differences. Among many things, China was forced to cede to Japan the Liaoning peninsula in Manchuria China. Soon after the treaty, Europe got involved (known as the Triple Intervention) and forced Japan to give back to China the Liaoning peninsula.
Russia reasserted its interest in Manchuria. A humiliated Japan did not look back and launched an unprecedented industrial revolution and military buildup. Japan had no intention to permanently abandon its interests in the Korean peninsula.
The statistical evidence from Japan for the 1870 to 1890 period bears out the extent of her modernization. By any measure, railroad trackage, coal production or use, or miles of telegraph or telephone wires installed, Japan had vastly grown.
In February 1889, the Meiji Emperor presented to the Japanese people its written constitution. It enshrined the Emperor's sovereignty and political and cultural role. It created a bi-cameral legislative body called a Diet. The document also importantly declared the citizens' basic civil rights such as religion, speech, and due process among many others.
The elections to the new Diet in both 1890 and 1892, installed lower house representatives antagonistic to the executive branch and the elites. Eventually the sides found common ground and made the new constitution work.
Korea continued to be a major focus for Japan. The Treaty of Kanghwa between Japan and Korea in 1876, ruffled China’s feathers. In 1885, Japan and China agreed to their own treaty (Treaty of Tientsin) each promising to remove their armies from the Korean Peninsula and to stay out of the region. At best it would buy only a few years of peace between these two nations.
By the 1880s, Japan had successfully put their feudal past behind them and were far along in their modernization efforts. Already clearly ahead of the Chinese Qing Dynasty in these efforts.
A second generation of Meiji leaders took the stage in Japan and they differed in their political views, goals, and backgrounds from the first generation. The second generation began the process of drafting a written constitution for the nation as well as continuing with Japan’s modernization efforts.
By the late 1870s, the new government faced enormous financial pressures. It dealt with yen depreciation and price inflation. The former Samurais suffered greatly because of the conditions. For that, and other reasons, some of them revolted in early 1877. This caused the Seinan or Samurai War. The Meiji Emperor was able to defeat the former Samurais after eight months.
The Ryukyu Island nation status had long been ambiguous. Both Japan and China had claims to some or all of the islands. This was finally decided in Japan's favor in 1879. In a limited capacity, the decision involved an attempted mediation by former United States President US Grant.
The Korea issue was finally decided in the Treaty of Kanghwa (or Ganghwa) (1876) with Japan. Not without, however, further damage to the relations between Japan and China.
The new Meiji Government replaced the Shogunate. Gone were the Shogun and Samurai. Now replaced with young, forward thinking leaders desperately wanting to overcome the treaty humiliations caused by the previous government.
To do this they planned and executed an aggressive, comprehensive plan to modernize and westernize Japan. They wanted the new nation to be taken seriously and be respected. The Charter Oath, issued before the Meiji took control, set forth their goals and ideals.
Soon after the Meiji took control of Japan, they began an ambitious diplomatic mission, the Iwakura Mission, to visit many nations. Its primary purpose was to renegotiate the treaties that had been left to the Japanese by the previous government, and to gain insight into foreign institutions. Japan also reached out to its neighboring Asian nations.
The last fifteen years of the Edo Era is known as the Bakumatsu. All the pressures on Japan came together ending the Era and the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Japan was warned the foreign nations were coming. To her credit she began to modernize and westernize long before the Shogunate was toppled in the 1860s.
The Boshin War (Japanese Civil War) ended the Shogunate and allowed the young 'Meiji' leaders to take over the rule of Japan. Meiji is the name of the year the new government began in Japan. Along with continuing the modernization of the nation, the young leaders did away with the Shogun and the Samurais, and elevated the status of the Emperor. They also tossed the ancient feudal system and the class structure hierarchy.
Japan would build a new government and nation and learned to confront the foreign nations on equal terms.
Continuation of the discussion of the Edo Era. I will focus on the period of time beginning in the 19th century.
The class hierarchy system continues to erode and invert. The arrival of American Commodore Perry will end Japan's isolationism, and set into motion her modernization and westernization efforts.
From the American expeditions to Japan, two treaties were signed. The Treaty of Kanagawa, the first ever between Japan and the United States; and the Harris Treaty. The Harris treaty built upon the measures agreed to in the first treaty. Other nations would seek and receive similar treaties with Japan. The Japanese viewed all of these treaties as humiliations.
I also will make comparisons between Japan and China and their reactions from the foreign nation aggressions.
Any discussion of the Meiji Restoration in Japan would be incomplete without a discussion of the Era that preceded it.
The Edo Era (or Tokugawa Shogunate) began after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The first half of the Shogunate was a prosperous and peaceful time in Japan. It was ruled by a Shogun (the Emperor was only a nominal political leader) and locally by Samurais. It followed a complex feudal system and strict social class hierarchy. As Japan prospered cracks began to appear in the class hierarchy and the feudal system.
Japan was largely isolated from the rest of the world until the early to mid-19th century. From this Era we are all familiar with iconic Japanese institutions such as Geisha, Kabuki, Haiku, and to some extent Sumo.
Welcome to the second season of my podcast. This season I want to delve into and answer the question that I have long wondered. Why did Japan respond and fare better than China to relentless, aggressive assaults in the 19th century from foreign (particularly Western) nations?
To get there I talk about the Japanese Meiji Restoration including the Era that preceded it and greatly influenced the Meiji Era. I will also compare and contrast Japan's experience with modernization and foreign nation aggression to that of China's. I designed the podcast series to also be a stand alone history of the Meiji Restoration.
The first few episodes I discuss the Edo Era (or Tokugawa Shogunate) that immediately preceded the Meiji Restoration.
The new, young (and the last) Emperor took the Qing Dynasty throne. He is most famously known by his Western name, Henry Puyi. He would be Emperor for less than three and a half years.
What started out as a benign issue over the ownership and control of some railways in Central China metastasized into the Xinhai Revolution. The Manchus badly managed both the railway issue and the reactions and revolution resulting from it. The young Emperor abdicated in early 1912, ending the Qing Dynasty and Imperial China.
Henry Puyi goes down in history as one of the most tragic and saddest figures in history. After World War II, he was returned to China as a prisoner of war. He eventually became a citizen of Communist China.
The year of the rat is a significant feature of this episode. It also plays a role in Chinese culture. It not only relates to the events that happened in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty. I produced and published this podcast series in 2020, and during the global pandemic. Also the year of the rat. It may portend the future.
Talk grew of removing the Manchus from power. The revolutionary leader, Sun Yat Sen, emerged as a leader of a new revolutionary alliance. Their goal was to replace the Qing Dynasty with a republican form of government.
The Manchus managed some reforms in the early 20th century. They were too little and too late.
Russia and Japan went to war with each over their interests in Manchuria, China. Japan handily defeated Russia. As a result, Japan reclaimed and occupied the sea port city in Southern Liaoning Province, Port Arthur (modern day Dalian).
In 1908, both the Emperor Guangxu and the Empress Dowager died. The two-year old nephew of the Empress Dowager was chosen to be the next (and last) Emperor.
Beginning in the mid-70s Japan expanded its influence in Korea. China tried to support Korea but this led to political and military conflict with Japan.
In the mid-80s a treaty was completed between the Manchu Dynasty and Japan. Both nations agreed to stay out of Korea.
A religious rebellion in Korea forced the Korean King to request assistance from the Qing Emperor. Japan objected to the intervention. This resulted in the Sino/Japanese war of 1895. This was an overwhelming victory for Japan. China ceded to Japan, Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands, and the Southern portion of the Liaoning Peninsula in China. Russia, France and Germany, however, soon thereafter intervened (a/k/a Triple Intervention) and forced Japan to return Liaoning Peninsula to China.
In 1900, the Boxer Sect rebelled in China. This was an anti-foreigner, xenophobic uprising. An eight-nation coalition was needed to suppress the uprising. These last two events further proved that the Manchus were unable to cope with the challenges of the time.
Emperor Guangxu succeeded the deceased Emperor Tongzhi. Tongzhi died without issue. Guangxu was the three-year old cousin to the deceased Emperor. The Empress Dowager was the new, young Emperor's principal Regent. Late in his reign, he tried to implement sweeping, radical political and cultural reforms to China. The Empress Dowager prevented that. Instead she had him arrested and effectively imprisoned him for the remainder of his life.
China and Japan tussled again. This time it was over Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands. Japan took aggressive measures, and China lost the Ryukyu Islands to Japan. Had it not been for diplomatic intervention by the English and the Americans, China would have lost Taiwan then too.
In 2008, an autopsy revealed that the Emperor Gaungxu died from arsenic poisoning. This had long been rumored.
After relative peace had finally arrived in China, the Manchus began a set of modernizing reforms. The reforms are commonly known as the self-strengthening phase or also known as the Tongzhi Restoration (named for the current Emperor).
Successful implementation of the right reforms might steer China into a better direction and help ensure its prosperity. The reforms were both internal and external. She relied to some extent on Western ideas and concepts, as Japan had done.
In the 1870s Japan began to reach out to China. The two nations agreed to a treaty with each other in 1871. It was a basic non-aggression and trade pact.
In 1875, the Emperor Tongzhi died at the young age of nineteen. He is remembered for little during his short life and reign. He died without leaving an heir.
By the 1860s the Qing Dynasty had started to threaten the Taiping rebels’ stronghold at Nanjing. The Western powers inside China, grew weary and distrustful of the Taipings. They intervened militarily against the Taiping and helped to defeat them and end the rebellion. The Nian rebellion ended as well.
The Emperor Xian Feng died in 1861. Before he died he named his five-year old son to succeed him. He would become the Emperor Tongzhi. One of the late Emperor’s concubines, Cixi (a/k/a The Empress Dowager and the mother of the five-year old), orchestrated a coup d’tete against the boy’s advisors. She became the de-facto Emperor of the Dynasty for the next fifty years. She would rule China from behind the curtain.
The incident beginning the Second Opium War is shrouded in contested facts and mystery. It was alleged that in 1856, Chinese officials boarded a ship called the Arrow. The officials arrested and removed several Chinese that were alleged to be involved in the opium trade. The French claimed at that same time that they were offended by the murder of a French missionary in 1856.
As a result, the English and the French began joint military operations. In 1858, the allied forces reached Peking and forced the Chinese into negotiations. The parties met at Tianjin and worked out the treaty bearing the city's name. Eleven more seaports would be opened. Permanent foreign embassies were allowed in Peking. China agreed to pay a large indemnity. Opium and the coolie trade were legalized.
The next summer the Allies returned to ratify the treaty. The Emperor, however, prevented them from going to Peking. So in 1860, a much larger allied force pressed their way into Peking. Again the Manchus were at the negotiating table. The Convention of Peking Agreement resulted and it was agreed the 1858 treaty would be obeyed.
The terms of the Treaty of Nanjing were: Hong Kong ceded to the English, and pay the English an indemnity. They also agreed to four additional seaports for trade. A year later, a supplemental treaty was agreed by the same parties, Treaty of the Bogue. This gave English citizens the rights to extra-territoriality.
The Americans signed their own treaty with the Qing Dynasty. It is known as the Treaty of Wangxia (1844). It gave the Americans the same treatment as the English.
The Emperor Daoguang died in 1850. His successor was the Emperor Xian Feng. He is probably most associated with the seminal event in the Dynasty’s history, the Taiping Rebellion.
The rebellion would take the Dynasty fourteen years to stop. The new feature of this rebellion was its leader - Hong Xiuquan. He preached that he was the son of God. He wanted to establish a Kingdom of God.
By 1853, the rebels established their Kingdom at Nanjing. Despite their early success and momentum, they stalled at Nanjing. Initially the English and the French were neutral toward the rebels. They only requested that the treaty ports be unaffected.
The new Emperor's name was Daoguang. His reign began the onslaught into China of Western imperialism and colonialism. This period begins the era of unequal treaties.
From 1810 to 1838, opium imports into China went from 4,500 chests each year to 40,000 chests. The Emperor appointed an opium commissioner. He was to eradicate opium from China, and prosecute anyone involved in its trade. This marks the beginning of the opium wars. There would be two of them.
In 1839, 1,700 opium dealers were arrested. 20,000 chests of opium that were stored at Canton were also confiscated and destroyed. Later that same year, in an unrelated event, several drunken Western soldiers killed a Chinese villager. Despite repeated requests from the Chinese, the English refused to turn over the assailants to the Chinese.
In 1840, in response, the English sent military forces to China. The English quickly captured Canton and many other cities, secured the Pearl River and the Hong Kong area. The Chinese were no match for the military superiority of the English. The Chinese sued for peace. Both sides agreed to the Treaty of Nanking (1842).
It is high noon for the Qing Dynasty. China was in pitiful condition on many fronts.
Emperor Jiaqing had to deal with a rebellion spread out over three provinces. It was known as the White Lotus Rebellion. It lasted ten years from 1794 to 1804. Another unrelated rebellion was with the Miao people in the rugged mountain areas of Hunan and Guizhou provinces. It took the Manchu government ten years to suppress.
The population explosion of the 18th century now became a burden. It was clear China could not continue to absorb the population. Pressures began on the food distribution system. The Yellow River flooded and silted and blocked the Grand Canal.
The Emperor was attacked and nearly killed by street mob in 1803. A family member tried to kill him about ten years after that.
Opium imports into China exploded. The West finally found something the Chinese would buy in quantities.
In 1816, England sent another diplomatic trade emissary mission to China. Lord William Amherst was the ambassador. The purpose of the mission was to reopen diplomatic negotiations with China. It again failed. The Emperor died in 1820.
I want to discuss a little about the Manchu influence, women, gender issues, families, culture and fashion, trade, and population.
The Ming or Han Chinese encouraged foot binding in females. For Manchu females it was never practiced and was forbidden. A smartly appearing Ming (Han) Chinese male would wear his hair in a top knot. But for a Qing (Manchu) male he would shave his forehead except for the back of his head from which he would grow long hair or a braided queue.
The accepted conservative opinion is that the population exploded during the first half of the 17th century. The population doubled by the 19th century to over 300M.
Prior to the Qing Dynasty, the only trade connections China had with foreigners were tribute missions rather than full-scale trade for commercial purposes. European tea consumption, demand, and import soared during the early 18th century, and was paid for with silver. A huge trade imbalance grew between China and its trading partners. It was into this imbalance or vacuum that opium appears. By 1735, English traders stated opium was everywhere. This had enormous consequences in the 19th century.
Qianlong referred to himself as “old man of the ten completed great campaigns”. He was referring to his military exploits. Some of the great campaigns he was referring were disasters for China and him. He was everywhere, North, South, East, and West. Some of these military expeditions exceeded geographical distances accomplished by Napoleon's famous march on Russia.
Heshen was a Manchu guardsman that befriended and impressed Qianlong. He eventually became a Dynasty manager for the Emperor.
Late in Qianlong’s reign, in 1792, King George III of England sent Earl George McCartney to China seeking a treaty. The English wanted a trade agreement with China and a permanent embassy in Peking. The English ambassador, however, refused to kowtow in front of the Emperor Qianlong. All the English demands were denied.
Qianlong retired on Chinese New Year in 1796. He did this because he did not want to overshadow the reign of his grandfather Kangxi. He appointed one of his sons to succeed him. The Emperor died in 1799.
Qianlong was and remains an enigmatic man and Emperor. To many he is one of China's greatest Emperors. To others, he is a scapegoat for many of the woes the Qing Dynasty would incur in the next century. Qianlong’s reign occurred during some of the momentous events in modern world history: The Seven-Years’ War (or the French and Indian War), the American Revolution, and the French Revolution. Qianlong died the same year as George Washington.
The Qing Dynasty reached its zenith, culturally, geographically, and economically, during his rule. He pushed China out in all directions like a balloon. During his reign, there were parts of China that rivaled the same standard of living as the richest parts of Europe.
In the early 1770s he commissioned the writing and publishing of essentially a Chinese encyclopedia. When it was published in 1782, it contained seven sets of over 36,000 bound volumes each over 2,000,000 pages. But Qianlong also ordered the destruction and editing of any book or text he found to be anti-Manchu, or undesirable, or unacceptable.
This forgotten Emperor is sandwiched between his father and his son. Both of which had very long reigns of sixty years or more. The three of them together account for nearly fifty percent of the Qing Dynasty. His official emperor name was Emperor Yong Zheng. He is easily forgotten because he reigned only a short time, and was bookended by the long reigns held by his father and his son.
He was a decent emperor. This is so despite the questions regarding the legitimacy of his reign from the succession crisis caused by his father's death. He was a workaholic like his father. He was efficient, vigorous, and well educated. He fought corruption. He settled the Southwest region of China. He replenished a badly depleted national treasury. In 1727, he negotiated the Kyakhta Treaty between China and Russia. This treaty established trade relations between China and Russia.
The emperor died unexpectedly in 1735. He named his son, Hong Li, to succeed him. He became the great Qianlong emperor. I will spend the next two episodes talking about the reign of Qianlong.
There were issues along the border with Russia. After a couple of impressive Manchu military campaigns to the fort at Albazin, both sides in 1689, met at Nerchinsk, a Siberian outpost. The Treaty of Nerchinsk settled the border between China and Russia. It was the first treaty between a Far East Asian State and a European State.
While the Emperor was tolerant, there were limits. Those limits were exposed in the Rites Controversy. Pope Clement XI in 1704, banned some of the rituals practiced by Chinese Catholics. Kangxi was enraged and issued his own edict banning Christianity in China and Christian missions.
Issues with his many sons all seeking to be designated as the crown prince plagued his reign. In 1721, Kangxi fell ill during a deer hunting trip. On his death bed about a year later he assembled seven of his non-disgraced sons and told them which son was to succeed him. Emperor Kangxi epitomized the Mandate of Heaven. A true Renaissance Emperor and man.
Emperor Kangxi has been compared to the Renaissance King, the Sun King, Louis XIV of France. Kangxi had the longest reign of all the Qing Dynasty Emperors. He ascended the throne in 1661.
He took over his Dynasty from the regents appointed by his father. Nearly immediately, the War of the Three Feudatories began. One of the feudatories rebelled in September 1673. The other two joined. For the first few years there was little resistance from the Manchus. Kangxi fought back. By 1681, the war was over.
Kangxi also rebuilt Peking. He opened seaports to foreign trade. He welcomed Western culture, arts, and European refinements. He also worked on the infrastructure in China. The Grand Canal is the longest, oldest, artificial river in the world and was built long before the Qing Dynasty. Kangxi repaired it. Trade flourished under him.
He published the first Chinese atlas. He promoted the use of smallpox vaccination. He had a close relationship with many Jesuit priests. He allowed Catholic churches in China and legalized the practice of Christianity.
The young Emperor Fulin disliked the Manchu influence. He wanted to move away from that and wanted more outside input into his reign.
In 1651, he issued an anti-corruption edict. He tried to root out corrupt practices and officials. He ordered more Han Chinese into the royal household. He brought back eunuchs. Eunuchs had been disfavored in the Qing Dynasty.
He had deep religious beliefs. He befriended a German Jesuit priest by the name of Adam Schall von Bell. Later in his life he shifted from Catholicism to Buddhism.
He died in 1661. There were claims he died of smallpox. Some claim he was murdered. In his last will and testament he named his third son as his successor. His last will and testament also named four Manchu nobles that would be co-regents for the new young Emperor.
Fulin's reign was far too short to make an honest assessment of it. It was largely overshadowed by his powerful and larger than life uncle, Dorgon. Fulin's greatest legacy was he fathered the next Emperor. Maybe the greatest of all the Qing Emperors, and the subject of my next episode.
Emperor Huang Taiji had died. At that time, decisions on succession were made by a deliberative council. One brother stood out, Dorgon. Two candidates were being considered. One was Dorgon. The other was Haoge. He was one of Huang Taiji’s sons. The council chose Dorgon. Haoge, however, had the best qualification because he was Huang Taiji’s oldest male heir. But there is one problem with Hoage. Dorgon did not like him.
But Dorgon refused to become the Emperor out of respect for his father, and because he believed the Emperor designation should go to one of Huang Taiji’s son, as long as it was not Haoge. A compromise was reached. Hoage's younger brother, Fulin, was chosen. Dorgon and a cousin were co-regents. Dorgon was the defacto Emperor until Fulin was old enough to rule himself.
Dorgon’s reign is known for his masterful campaigns through Southern China in the late 1640s. He nearly conquered all of China. Dorgon was an effective, competent, if not brutal military leader. He was the chief engineer behind the Qing conquest.
Next episode I will talk about the new Emperor Fulin.
Part of Nurhaci's legacy are the sons that he left behind. Collectively and individually they were powerful, competent, strong, and experienced military leaders. The surviving sons chose a successor and it would be Nurhaci’s 8th son by the name of Huang Taiji.
Huang Taiji invaded Ming Dynasty China. It did not go well for the Manchus. Huang Taiji attacked again. This time via Inner Mongolia. His army made it to the outskirts of Peking in 1629. But Peking was well defended by the Ming army, and eventually the Manchu army withdrew from this area completely.
In 1636, Huang Taiji himself led a second assault into Korea. Again, as before, the Korean King was forced to swear an allegiance to the Manchus, renounce their allegiance to the Ming Dynasty, and give aid and support to the Manchus in their conquest of China.
The way now was open to China. But he never made it. Huang Taiji died unexpectedly in 1643. It would be only seven months later from this point that the Ming Dynasty would end.
The new dynasty begins in the next episode.
Who were the Qing? The traditional mandarin written character for Qing means clear, pure, distinct.
China has 56 ethnic groups, or 56 minorities. The Han Chinese are the majority. The Qing were Manchus, one of the other 55 minorities or ethnic groups in China.
Their founding father is Nurhaci. The region he was born was, at that time, outside of China bordering its Northeast border. That area is now within China and it comprises parts of its furthest Northeast provinces.
The Manchus' relationship with the Ming Dynasty was rocky for many decades. While the Manchus paid their annual tribute as they were expected. They also harassed the Dynasty along the border with China.
Nurhaci created the eight-banner system. The banner system was the backbone of the early Qing Dynasty.
In the early 17th century Nurhaci declared that Manchuria was independent from China. The Ming Emperor was not too happy about that declaration. He sent the army to Manchuria to teach the Manchus a lesson. Nurhaci and his bannerman army defeated the Ming army.
The next episode I will talk about his son.
The Ming Dynasty would rule China for nearly 300 years.
Firmly ensconced in the Chinese pathos is the concept of the Mandate of Heaven. This is similar to the European concept of the Divine Right of Kings. Both the Divine Right of Kings and the Mandate of Heaven are given by heaven. Beyond that they are different.
For many decades the Ming had been fighting along their long border with Manchuria. There was also a major rebellion late in the 16th century in Sichuan Province. It was called the Bo Zhou Rebellion. The Ming also got involved in a war with Japan. That war was called the Imjin War.
A fellow by the name of Li ZhiChang led an uprising in North Central China. He was called the Dashing King. There was also another guy by the name of Zhong Xian Zhong that led an uprising. He had the colorful name of the Yellow Tiger. The Dashing King eventually made it all the way to Peking in 1644. On June 6, 1644, the combined Ming and Manchu armies defeated the Dashing King and conquered Peking and declared a new dynasty.
Next time I will talk about the Qing Dynasty's founding father.
When I started my research for this podcast, I did not know that prior to present day China that there was such a thing as a national anthem during the Qing dynasty or any other dynasty prior to that. It was never officially adopted until October 4th 1911, when the Qing Government made it official. Although they never made it public or never gave it an official debut.
I have several reasons for this podcast. This is personal to me. I have been to the area of China associated with the Qing, that is the northeast part of China, seven times. I have seen firsthand with my own eyes a lot of the geographic areas I am going to talk about. Secondly, I am passionate about history and passionate about all things history not just Chinese history. I also believe that this period of Chinese history as well as what was going on the world is not well known by Westerners.
The next episode I will talk about the end of the Ming Dynasty which is the dynasty that immediately preceded the Qing.