| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
For the most part of its history, China had been ruled by ethnic Han, the majority ethnic group of China. The two exceptions to this assertion are the Yuan dynasty run by the Mongols and the Qing dynasty ruled by the Manchus; both of which are ethnic minorities under contemporary China. The Qing dynasty was the last Imperial dynasty of China. With respect to Mongolia, Tibet, and Eastern Turkestan, like other dynasties before it, the Qing maintained imperial control, with the emperor acting as Mongol khan, patron of Tibetan Buddhism and protector of Muslims. Thus, the notion of ethnic differences adopted by narrators of history, Emperor Yongzheng wrote his famous work Great Righteousness Resolving Confusion ( “Dayi Juemi Lu” ) in order to disconfirm those prejudice criticizes came from some Han intellectuals whom firmly believed in Han chauvinism. Qing policy toward ethnic groups aimed to reduce inequality among Hans, Manchus, Mongols, and other ethnic groups. During its regime, the Qing Dynasty consolidated its grip on China, integrated with Chinese culture.
The conflict between Manchu and the Han Chinese had been nearly forgotten in the middle of the Qing dynasty due to the Manchu integration to Chinese culture. By the 1860s, the Qing dynasty had put down the rebellions with the help of militia organized by the Han gentry. However, with the decline of the Qing regime, the Manchu-Han problem began to surface again after the Taiping Rebellion. After 1890, writings concerning repulsion with the Manchus began to resurface. Books left over from the last years of Ming dynasty guided the influential intellectuals of the period. Many revolutionaries even promoted their cause by taking advantage of such ideas. The main revolutionary forces in the early part of the 20th century were full of ideas of ＂Manchu repulsion＂. But, arguments from revolutionary were criticized by reformers such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao whom adapted the idea of Emperor Yongzheng and influenced by national integration theory from Western thinker. Reformers argue, underlying the Chinese Confucian concept, anyone can be a member of the Chinese community as long as he or she accepts the Chinese culture, and if ＂Manchu repulsion＂ take place, China would lost some large portion of its territory. Eventually, the reformers won. After the overthrow of the Qing regime, the slogan of revolution was changed from ＂exiling the Manchus＂ to ＂harmony among five races＂ in an attempt to unify the country in fragments. Non-Han ethnic groups were then regarded as equally part of the Chinese nation in the Republic of China, under the pluralistic ideal of “Zhonghua Minzu”. | en_US |