Qing Dynasty, (China)
(1644 to 1911)
What happened?
The Qing Dynasty is also called Manchu Dynasty, but officially the Great Qing. It was the last imperial dynasty of China, established in 1636. It succeeded the Ming Dynasty in 1644 and was itself replaced in 1912 by the Republic of China. It was the fourth largest empire in world history in terms of territorial size.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu began to unite against their rulers. The Manchus themselves were the combined tribes Aisin Gioro, the Jurchen, and other tribes in the northeast of the Chinese Empire. They formed confederation and mobilized a large army. The Manchus crossed the Great Wall as a multi-ethnic coalition and invaded China in 1644. After conquering the Chinese capital, Beijing, they declared the beginning of a new dynasty, the Qing. At the beginning, the Qing maintained their Manchu customs, they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism. The government using a Confucian style and bureaucratic institutions, retaining the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with the Manchu rulers. They also adapted the ideals of the Chinese tributary system in asserting superiority over bordering countries such as Korea and Vietnam, while adding neighboring territories such as Tibet and Mongolia.
The first Qing emperor was a five-year-old boy who became the Shunzhi Emperor. By 1683, the Qing Empire included all of China. For around 150 years, China experienced growth and peace. The Qing was the largest Chinese Empire ever. The empire more than doubled after the Ming Dynasty. Particularly from the 18th century onwards, groups such as Tibetans, Uyghurs, some Mongols, Burmese, and groups in Taiwan were in the empire.
China remained isolated from the rest of the world. They traded tea and silver, for example, but had little else to do with foreign countries. Foreign ambassadors were not allowed to approach the Chinese capital for many years. Christianity was outlawed in the 1800s to keep the European influence out.
The three main philosophies during the Qing Dynasty included Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The leaders of the dynasty were strong followers of Buddhism. Art flourished with painting, sculpture, poetry, opera, and porcelain. The Manchu were considered at the top of society. The Han Chinese people were generally discriminated.
In the 1800s, the British began selling opium in China. Many Chinese became addicted to opium. The government made the drug illegal. The British continued to smuggle opium. When their opium was dumped into the ocean after boarding their ship, a war broke out. However, the Dynasty was already weakened and barely survived the Taiping Rebellion of 1850 to 1864. At the time, China had a small and outdated navy. That is why British ships defeated the Chinese in both Opium Wars. By the end, the British gained control of Hong Kong. Christianity was legalized, and all of China was open to British merchants.
In the early 1900s, the Qing Dynasty began to fall. Multiple natural disasters, internal rebellions, challenges from abroad, population growth, disruption of the economy, corruption and war with Japan led to famine and a poor economy. The government initiated unprecedented fiscal and administrative reforms, including elections, a new legal code, and abolition of the examination system. A group of revolutionaries competed with constitutional monarchists 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 by obstructing social reform. General Yuan Shikai overthrew the Sing government in 1911. The last emperor, a 6-year-old boy, officially gave up his throne in 1912, bringing the dynasty to an end.
Qianlong Tongbao
± 1743
Qianlong Tongbao (= Emperor Qianlong Money) is the inscription used on cash coins produced under the reign of Qianlong, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. During the early years of the Qianlong reign, China faced a shortage of cash due to a scarcity of copper.
In the beginning, the Qianlong Tongbao coins were equal in weight and quality to its predecessors. Expensive military campaigns began to take their financial toll on the government. The quality gradually began to decline. The weight changed several times and tin was added to the alloy to prevent people from melting down coins to make utensils.
Provincial production houses were forced to close because the current coin value was much higher than their nominal value (= value that was originally issued). The production houses made annual losses. These coins were produced until the end of the dynasty.
In 1740 2% tin was added and in 1741 coins had to be made from an alloy of 50% copper, 41.5% zinc, 6.5% lead and 2% tin. People were thus less likely to be able to melt down the coins to make utensils. The reuse of the material made the material brittle and objects would break more easily. The government encouraged to sell those objects to state mints and to melt them into coins.
In Frame. Found: London, UK (JN0152)
Tibetan Inscribed Sutra
± 1880 to ± 1900
The circumstances under which that faith came to Tibet from India, are important for the further development of the religion. Because of this late introduction, the tantric writings (= manual of rituals and meditation techniques) immediately played a major role in practice. The teachings are based on the sastras (= commentaries and discourses on sutras). Sutras are texts that are said to have been spoken by the historical Buddha.
The Rimé movement was founded in the 19th century. They tried to reuse the best features and form unity among the different spiritual movements within Tibetan Buddhism. They published many writings from different traditions.
Siddharta Gautama Buddha was a spiritual leader who is the basis of this philosophy of life. He would have lived from ± 450 BC - ± 370 BC in Nepal. Modern science suggests 480 BC- 400 BC. According to religious traditions, Buddha attained complete and full enlightenment. He came to understand that self-harm does not lead to relief. He found a middle ground between achieving sensual pleasure and self-punishment. He decided to meditate until he reached full enlightenment or died. After 7 weeks, despite doubt, fun, pride, lust, pleasure, and thirst, he achieved enlightenment.
A sutra is a short statement, often with a funny message, that conveys knowledge of rituals, philosophy, grammar, or another knowledge. These mnemonics are used in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Outsiders do not always understand them. That is why shastras are written to provide some explanation. In Buddhist literature, a sutra designates a speech by Buddha. In the past, these sutras were handed down orally. They consist of speeches and stories about Buddha and his followers. The oldest versions put in writing are from ± 30 BC.
The Tibetan script has 30 consonants. A, I, u, e, and o are the vowels. Each consonant contains an a, and the other vowels are indicated by markers. Tibetan, like Sanskrit, is a language with 8 cases to indicate the grammatical function. Words are made up of independent syllables. The simplest syllable consists of 1 letter. More complicated syllables can consist of 6 letters. In addition, they can have a sign that indicates a vowel, prefix, suffix, etc.