(The founding of a new Empire and the lost of an old civilization)
The last Empire of China before it turned into a Republic was the Qing Dynasty 清朝 which lasted 268 years (from 1644 to 1911). It was one of the most powerful and the largest of all the former empires. However, its rulers, the Manchurians 滿州人 (Manzhou ren) having founded the largest empire in China, ironically lost their civilization in the process and by the end of their rule, their race entirely merged with the Han people漢人 (Hanren) and became extinct.
In tracing the underlying reasons for the extinction of the Manchurians 滿州人, it is necessary to know their brief history as a race prior to their becoming a ruling power over China. That would take us to 1616 AD, the time of the founding of the Late Jin Kingdom 後金汗國 by Nu Er Ha Chi努爾哈赤who was once an Acting Governor of Jian Zhou 建州, appointed by the Ming Dynasty 明朝 but later declared independence. The Manchurians were in fact the remnant people of a former kingdom called the Jin Empire 金帝國. They once occupied half of China and kidnapped two emperors of the Song Dynasty 宋朝. They were eventually defeated by the joint efforts of the Chinese Song Dynasty 宋朝 and the Mongols蒙古人 (Mengu ren) in 1234 AD. The entire race of the Jin people金人were wiped out inside China. But they miraculously survived in their remote homeland, and 400 years later, eventually came back to haunt the Mongols and the Chinese in vengeance.
In the early 1600’s, the Late Jin Kingdom後金汗國 was a quasi-nomadic race occupying a small part of Manchuria mainly engaged in hunting, raising cattle rather than farming (the weather forbidding) and the population was less than 3 million. How this small race was able, within the short span of 30 years, to develop into a powerful tribe and to conquer the whole of China with a population of over 80 million is a strange occurrence in history.
It seemed that in their strength lied their weakness. They were superb horsemen and fighters and could wage warfare with lightning speed and endure the unendurable in hostile environments. But they were backward in civilization and their written language was only introduced at the time of the founding of this Late Jin Kingdom and not widely used. (This may be one of the reasons why there was only very little evidence that these people were actual descendents of Jinen 金人 four centuries ago.) The spoken language was colloquial and unsophisticated. Because they bordered on China, the Chinese language was commonly used by them.
When they became rulers of China, it was apparent to them that could never rule China with their own language. The ruling of such a large country with its complexity in administration and communication clearly needed a more sophisticated language than their own. The ruling elites, princes and officials therefore all learned Chinese. All the Emperors of the Qing Dynasty when they were young, had Chinese tutors and some of them were even refined scholars in Chinese poetry, paintings and calligraphy. The Manchu language had nothing of these to offer. Even at the beginning of the Empire which they set up, their own civilization was lost to the supremacy of the culture of the Han people漢人.
The Manchurians had a unique system regarding the control and registration of their population. It was not attached to any place of birth or ancestry but to certain “Flags” 旗. It was first devised as a military system where all men were warriors. The whole population of the Manchurians was divided under eight “Flags”. They were: Yellow, White, Red, Blue and the same four colours with borders, making a total of 8 “Flags”. (The Yellow, White and Blue flags were bordered with red and the Red bordered with white.) This was why the Manchurians were also known as “Flag people” 旗人 (Qiren). They could not live outside the influence of their “flag” or marry any person not of the same “flag”. Deserting a “flag” and joining another is unknown since it was considered “treason” punishable by death. The system seemed to work in their old hunting environment where people must stick to a group in order to survive. However, once inside China, living standards much improved and the “flag system” had no meaning whatever on such a large territory where food, wealth and luxuries were abundant for the ruling class. Its application was only maintained in the military organizations and fell into disuse on the civil side as a race. After 270 years living in China, the Manchurians had lost their original identity and the attachment to a “flag” had no meaning at all.
When the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Po-yi 溥儀, was put on the throne in 1908, he was only an infant 3 years old. His reign lasted only three years when the old Empire was toppled over in 1911 by a new wave of military revolution led by the Han people and the figurehead was Dr. Sun Yat-sin 孫逸仙 (Sun yi Xian also known as Sun Zhong Shan). With the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the Manchurians did not only lose an empire but they entirely lost their civilization and identity as a race and it was history’s irony that they were lost within the multitude of the Han people, a race that they defeated 270 years ago.
- 金人 Jinen
- 清 朝 建 Qing Chao jian
- 滿州人 Manzhou ren
- 蒙古人 Mengu ren
- 漢人 Hanren
- 宋朝 Song Chao
- 後金汗國 Hou Jin Han Guo
- 努爾哈赤 Nu Er Ha Chi
- 旗人 Qiren
- 溥儀 Puyi
- 孫逸仙 Sun yi Xian / Sun Zhong Shan
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