The entry of the Qing army into the Pass in 11644 marked the second ethnic minority regime in Chinese history to take control of the Central Plains. Although the Han people carried out fierce and long-term resistance, they finally had to surrender to the cavalry of the Manchu people. The Manchus, who held political power, faced the Han people, who constituted the majority of the population and had advantages over themselves in terms of political system, economy, and culture. How to deal with Manchu-Han relations, the Qing government must learn from the experience and lessons of the Yuan Dynasty Mongolian policies towards the Han people, and formulate a relatively complete set of policies towards the Han people.
1. The advancement of the Han nationality
Political aspect: The Manchus control the political power and have a power advantage, but the Han nationality is a large population and has thousands of years of ruling experience and a mature political system, which is centralized power .
Economic aspect: The feudal system of the Han people has been running for nearly 2000 years. The natural economy is very mature and industry and commerce are developed. However, before the Manchus entered the customs, they transitioned from backward slavery to feudal serfdom . serfdom is definitely a backward production method compared with the developed feudal production method of the Han people.
Cultural aspect: The development of Han culture is self-evident. The establishment of the Qing Dynasty was superficially a change of political power. However, how to deal with the advanced Han culture after establishing rule, whether to suppress it like the Mongols or to learn advanced Han culture, is a major event related to the stability of the Manchu regime and the longevity of their rule. The Manchu rulers had a compatible attitude toward Han culture. On the one hand, they moved closer to Han culture and learned advanced culture, effectively shortening the cultural gap and psychological distance between the Manchu and Han people, so as to unite people's hearts and maintain their rule. On the other hand, in order not to lose their own national characteristics, the Manchus tried their best to maintain the inherent cultural traditions of the Manchus such as clothing, language, riding and shooting, and maintain their national characteristics and cultural customs.
2. The main contents of the Qing Dynasty's policy towards the Han people
From the above analysis, it can be seen that formulating correct policies towards the Han people is a national policy that the Qing government must attach great importance to. The main contents of the Qing Dynasty's policy towards the Han people include the following aspects.
1. Implement the "Han Law"
The "Han Law" here is actually the political system of the Han people. Taking the Ming Dynasty, the predecessor of the Qing Dynasty, as an example, the core of the "Han Law" is to abolish the prime minister's establishment of a cabinet; the three provinces and six ministries system, etc. Before the Manchus entered the customs, a conference system of kings and ministers was established to discuss government affairs, but the emperor's power was restricted. After entering the customs, the Qing Dynasty took the initiative to move closer to the Ming Dynasty system. On the basis of the original meeting of kings and ministers, they continued to carry out reforms and established six ministries of officials, households, rituals, military, punishment, and industry. They set up a cabinet imitating the Ming Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, a South Study Room was added. During Emperor Yongzheng, a military aircraft office was established.
2. Respect Confucianism. The core of Han culture is Confucianism . Confucianism is the link between the ruling class and the ordinary people. It is the theoretical basis of the 2,000-year feudal rule of the Han people. The Manchu people are very clear about this. Therefore, after the establishment of the post-Jin regime, the Manchus began to learn Han culture. After gaining national political power, the advanced Han culture became a magnet for the Manchus. The Qing government not only allowed the children of the Eight Banners to receive Chinese cultural education, but also organized manpower to organize and compile classics of traditional Han culture. The famous ones include "Sikuquanshu", "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books", "Essentials of Zishi", etc.
3. Win over Han intellectuals and nobles. In essence, whether they are Manchu aristocrats or Han aristocrats, they all belong to the ruling class. Only when both parties unite can they jointly exploit and rule the people. In today's fashionable terms, it is to establish a community of interests. Therefore, long before the Qing army entered the customs, the Manchu nobles took active measures to win the support of Han bureaucrats and landlords. Wu Sangui's surrender to the Qing was the best example. After
entered the customs, the Qing government vigorously promoted the "integration of Manchu and Han" and took various measures to win over Han aristocrats and intellectuals, such as appointing Ming Dynasty officials and continuing to implement imperial examinations.The imperial examination still assessed the Four Books and Five Classics. In this way, Han intellectuals and landowners entered the Qing ruling group by participating in the imperial examination and formed a community of interests with the Qing government. The Manchus not only won the support of Han forces, but also expanded the Qing Dynasty's ruling base.
4. The banner people are divided and governed. The Manchus are the holders of political power, and their superiority should be greater than that of the Han people. The Qing government wanted to ensure the interests of the Manchu people and avoid conflicts between the Manchus and Han people, so it implemented the policy of "divided rule among the banner people". Before the Qing army entered the customs, the Manchus had the "Eight Banners of Manchuria". After the unification of the country, although the "Eight Banners of Han" and the "Eight Banners of Mongolia" were added, the bannermen had more advantages than the Han and Mongolians. For example, the bannermen's military pay was higher than that of the Han and Mongolians. The policy of separation of bannermen was implemented, with the inner city being garrisoned by the eight banners and the Han people moving to the outer city. In terms of litigation, the bannermen were not under the jurisdiction of general judicial organs. A dedicated judicial body is responsible for the punishment; banner people are punished differently. For example, banner people can be sentenced to shackles instead of being punished, but banner people cannot be sent to ordinary prisons for crimes.
5. Implement the policy of "ruling the Han with the Han". This policy is somewhat similar to the well-known policy of "ruling foreigners with foreigners". The core of the policy of "ruling Han by Han" is to use Han people to rule Han people. Han people who can serve as officials naturally trust the imperial court. The Qing government also regarded Han officials as the bridge and link between the imperial court and the Han people. Starting from the early years of the Qing Dynasty, 80% of the governors of Han-inhabited areas were Han.
6. Manchu officials control key government departments. In terms of level, the administrative level of Manchu officials was not only higher than that of Han officials, but Manchus were appointed to serve in all key government departments. The Qing Dynasty implemented the official filling system, which stipulated that official vacancies of the same ethnic group could only be filled or filled by people of the same ethnic group. Han people were strictly prohibited from filling Manchu official vacancies, but Manchus could fill Han vacancies. The highest local officials, the governor-general, were basically filled by Manchus, while the lower-level local officials such as prefects, prefectures, and county magistrates were mostly Han people. Military officials and frontier officials were all Manchus.
7. Promote the Manchu-Chinese marriage policy. In order to alleviate the conflicts between the Manchu and Han ethnic groups and mediate the relationship between the Manchu and Han ethnic groups, intermarriage between the Manchu and Han ethnic groups was a suitable strategy. Long before entering the customs, the Qing government had implemented a marriage policy with the Han people, such as providing surrendered Han officials with Manchu wives to win over people's hearts.
8, shave hair and take easily. In order to facilitate hunting and fighting, the Manchu people have long had the tradition of shaving off most of the hair on men's heads, leaving only a small braid, which is called "money rat tail". After entering the customs, in order to show whether the Han people were surrendering or not, they were forced to shave their heads and change their clothes. Although this incident aroused dissatisfaction and resistance among the Han people, in the end the Han people had to shave their heads to show submission.
3. Han officials entered the Qing ruling center. The Qing government allowed Han officials to enter its key departments and gain real power after the Taiping Rebellion. In early 1851, Hong Xiuquan launched the Jintian Uprising, and the Taiping Rebellion broke out. The Taiping Army had strict discipline and a strong will to fight, and they occupied most of China. The Qing government hurriedly sent the Eight Banners Army to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. Unexpectedly, the Eight Banners Army at this time was already declining and extremely decayed, and was unable to bear the heavy task of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Qing government had no choice but to allow the Han people to form their own army to help the government suppress the rebels. As a result, the Hunan Army and the Huai Army were born; Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Zuo Zongtang and other Han officials appeared. The poor Taiping Army failed under the joint stranglehold of the Qing Army, Hunan Army, Huai Army, and foreign troops. Facing the Han officials who had a large number of soldiers, the Qing government had to appoint them to important positions. After the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China, the Qing government announced the implementation of the "New Deal." One of the contents was to train a new army, that is, to use Western equipment and Western training methods to train a new type of army. As a result, the Han people such as Yuan Shikai stood out and eventually became the gravediggers of the Qing Dynasty; the new army also became the main force of the Wuchang Uprising.
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