As the last unified dynasty in China’s feudal history, the Qing Dynasty has its unique characteristics like other dynasties in Chinese history. As a minority regime established by the Manchu, the Qing Dynasty ranges from clothing and hairstyles to social life to some special Rules and regulations, it has its own unique performance. To say what is the most different and unique place between the Qing Dynasty and other feudal dynasties is the Eight Banners system established by the Qing Dynasty.
1. Eight Banners refers to which Eight Banners
The Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty are mainly divided into upper and lower parts, namely the Upper Three Banners and the Lower Five Banners:
The Emperor mainly controls the Yellow Banner, Inlaid yellow flag and Zhengbai flag are three flags, so these three flags are also called Shangsanqi;
is controlled by the princes and Baylor, including the white flag, the blue flag, the blue flag, the red flag and the five red flags. Because its status is slightly lower than the upper three flags, it is called the lower five flags.
In order to better command the Eight Banners, prevent internal chaos in the fight for power and gain, and enhance the cohesion of the army, each banner of the Eight Banners has set up a banner owner. As mentioned above, the Eight Banners are divided into the Upper Three Banners and the Lower Five Banners. The upper three banners are directly controlled by the emperor and provide various services for the emperor. Therefore, the banner owners of the upper three banners are actually the emperor, and the banner owners of the lower five banners are generated separately and are their subordinate lords.
In fact, in the earliest days, as soldiers in the army, the Eight Banners had no hierarchy. Before the Qing army entered the Pass to establish a unified dynasty, only the Zhenghuangqi and the Xianghuangqi of the Eight Banners were directly controlled by the emperor, and the remaining six banners were respectively led by the emperor's sons and nephews. The inlaid yellow flag is even more special. It belongs only to the emperor. There is only the emperor inside the inlaid yellow flag, and there are no other clan members except the emperor.
Later, when the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass to establish political power, the Eight Banners system became the Council of Manchuria ministers and aristocrats that restricted imperial power. The Qing Dynasty was the peak period of centralization and imperial power. The original Eight Banners system could no longer satisfy the emperor's strengthening of centralization. And imperial power.
In order to further strengthen the imperial power, in 1650 AD, the first thing that emperor Shunzhi did after he took office was to change the Eight Banners system to strengthen imperial power. In order to better control the Eight Banners, Shunzhi ordered the emperor to personally control the Zhengbai Banner, which was originally under the jurisdiction of the clan. Later, the emperor directly controlled the Zhenghuang Banner. In this way, the Zhenghuang, Inlaid Yellow, and Zhengbai flags controlled by the emperor were called Shang Three flags, these three flags are all under the control of the emperor.
The clan princes can only be divided into five flags, namely, the inlaid white flag, the red flag, the red flag, the blue flag, and the blue flag. Even the prince has to be allocated to these five flags after he is separated. There are no more people in the Yellow Banner and White Banner controlled by the emperor.
is because of this, there is the internal hierarchy of the Eight Banners system, and the distinction between the upper three banners and the lower five banners. The upper three banners are more respected and trusted by the emperor, so the emperor’s personal soldiers are mostly served by the upper three banners, while the lower five banners can only be stationed in the capital or be dispatched to various places.
2. The emergence of the Eight Banners system
The Eight Banners was actually a hunting organization of the Manchus or Jurchens. Since the emergence of the Eight Banners system, it has been in the social life of the Qing Dynasty. It played a vital role and was a form of military organization for the basic social life of the Manchu banner people in the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, the Eight Banners system, as the basic system of the Qing Dynasty, also laid the foundation for the Qing Dynasty to establish a stable unified dynasty in the Central Plains. basis.
In 1601 AD, with the internal economic and cultural development of Manchu society and the improvement of productivity, the Ming Dynasty at this time was in decline and gradually declined.
Manchu ruler Nurhachi saw the opportunity and took the opportunity to rectify the organization of Manchu society, divided it into three parts, and chose the leader to better manage them, setting the four colors of yellow, white, red, and blue as the flag , Organized into the Four Banners, this is the predecessor of the Eight Banners system.
The establishment of the Four Banners system already played a very important role at that time, enhancing the military strength of the Manchu tribes, but with the development of society, the influence of the Four Banners is far from satisfying Nurhachi's ambitions. Fourteen years later, in 1615 AD, Nurhaci added four flags, namely the yellow flag, the white flag, the red flag, and the blue flag, and the eight flag system was finally established.
Since then, the Eight Banners system has been implemented in the Manchurian Jurchen society. When there is no war, adult men participate in agricultural work as civilians as other people. Once a war breaks out, adult men participate in combat as soldiers. In this way, the usual agricultural expropriation was guaranteed, food supply was ensured, and social order was stabilized. At the same time, it also provided troops for the tribe, so that the army had extremely high combat effectiveness and guaranteed victory.
After the military strength of Manchu Nvzhen increased, they began to aggressively attack the territory of the Ming Dynasty, with the intention of entering the Central Plains and establishing a unified dynasty. And as the war broke out between the Jurchen regime and the Ming government.
The declining Ming government met with powerful Manchus. Naturally, it was retreating. The Manchu Jurchen regime captured many areas along the way. The people in these areas were Mongols and Hans. The original Eight Banners The system is not suitable for classifying people of these ethnic groups, and it is not convenient to govern them.
Therefore, the ruler appropriately adjusted and developed the Eight Banners system under the pressure of realistic conditions. Nurhachi was the first to establish the Mongolian flag during the Mandate of Heaven, and included the Mongols in the Eight Banners system, and placed the Mongols under the rule of the Jurchens. In 1635 AD, Huangtaiji became the Eight Banners of Mongolia.
The Han nationality is the main body of the people in the Central Plains. If the Manchus want to take control of the Central Plains, they must manage the Han people. In 1631, Huang Taiji first compiled the Han Banner, and it was not until 1642 that the establishment of the Eight Banners of the Han Army was finally completed. . The Manchu Eight Banners, the Mongolia Eight Banners and the Han Eight Banners are collectively called the Eight Banners. The emperor, as the ruler, governs the Eight Banners Manchu nobles, the Eight Banners Mongols, and the Eight Banners Han, and the Eight Banners system has been improved here.
3. The Decline and Fall of the Eight Banners System
The Eight Banners System has always been closely related to the Qing government. The relationship between the two is a symbiotic relationship. It played a key role in the establishment of the Manchu Jurchen regime. The Qing dynasty was established on the basis of the Eight Banners system, which played an important role, and made important contributions to the Qing dynasty's entry into the Central Plains and the establishment of the unification.
Later the Qing Dynasty fell, and the corruption within the ruling group was also caused by the mediocrity and inactivity of the Baqi brothers under his Baqi title. After the Qing government entered the Pass, in order to win over the hearts of the people, the emperor gave many preferential policies to the noble children in order to gain more support from the noble children and strengthen centralization and imperial power. Although these preferential policies achieved the emperor’s goals, they also caused The decadence and ignorance of the children of the Eight Banners nobles laid the groundwork for the demise of the Qing government.
By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners Army was no longer the brave and vigorous army of the Manchu Jurchen regime. They gradually evolved into a useless army that was solely dependent on the state's military expenses, and even the most basic fighting ability was lost.
As mentioned earlier, the Manchu Jurchens established the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Eight Banners after entering the customs. However, due to the narrow ruling group, Han and other ethnic groups could never serve as high-ranking officials in the court, nor in the army. Han people were appointed as generals, and a large number of Han soldiers were not recruited. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the Qing government weakened, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang formed a Han army. Therefore, the inherent narrowness of the Eight Banners system has exacerbated ethnic and class contradictions, which is not conducive to social stability.
Summary:
In short, the Eight Banners system played a very important role at the beginning of its birth, but later because the Eight Banners system became a tool to strengthen centralization and imperial power, plus rule Those who did not think about change, the Eight Banners system intensified national and class contradictions in the later period, so the Eight Banners system became one of the factors of the decline and decline of the Qing Dynasty.
