Search

In the Qing Dynasty, the selection of xiunü ... had nothing to do with the Han Chinese, but rumors that the selection would involve Han Chinese arose nineteen times during the Qing Dynasty, including nine times during Emperor Shunzhi ... rule, eight times during Emperor Kangxi ... rule, and one time each during Emperor Yongzhen ... rule and Emperor Qianlong ... rule. The rumors began in 1656 and circulated in at least nine provinces. They arose most frequently in Jiangsu ... Province, especially in Suzhou ... and Songjiang .... Perhaps the largest number of rumors circulated during Emperor Shunzhi's rule because of unclear xiunü selection guidelines and mistrust between the Han Chinese and the Manchus. After 1661, cities garrisoned by soldiers of the Eight Banners ... held xiunü selections once every three years. This easily led to unfounded worries among Han Chinese, and rumors started to spread. Another possible cause of worry among the Han Chinese was that local officials in Jiangsu Province had often selected Han women for their tributes to the palace. In addition, Han Chinese (especially those who lived in the lower Yangtze River area) attached great importance to dowries, and the increasing amount spent on dowries had become an explosive issue, further propelling rumors and societal panic. Once a rumor started to circulate, poor families would quickly marry off their daughters to avoid costly dowries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jinshi Academy 進士館 was founded specially to re-educate the emperor's elite students 天子門生—holders of the highest imperial degree granted through palace examination—in law and politics. Searching for a quick way to implement the New Reform, the late Qing government required the new jinshi to enroll in the Jinshi Academy. This paper reveals that the government had generously invested in the establishment of this academy; that the school had elaborately-formulated regulations; and that its teachers were well-qualified. Moreover, not only were the newly-admitted jinshi not required to pay any fees, they were also entitled to receive considerable stipends. The jinshi, however, were not willing to attend the academy. They were interested in their own political careers and not government efficiency or politics in general, while the Manchu rulers were concerned with political stability, the implementation of the New Reform, and the continuation of governance. This shows how divergent the jinshi idea of “developing the wisdom of government officials” 開官智 was from the late Qing government's. These differences between the government and its officials had an extraordinarily negative effect on the operation of the Jinshi Academy. The late Qing government spared no effort to set up the academy, yet the Manchus never obtained satisfactory results. It should be pointed out that the Jinshi Academy symbolizes an essential transformation of the education of the emperor's elite students, namely, from the Shuchang Academy 庶常館 system focusing on Confucian classics and historiography, to the Jinshi Academy system in which modern legal and political knowledge was highly emphasized. In addition, the Jinshi Academy initiated systematic legal education in modern China. The re-education experiences in the Jinshi Academy provided these traditional cultural elites with a rare opportunity during the social transformation to modern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There was a strict procedure to follow for minister plenipotentiary selection in the late Qing Dynasty. First, high-ranking officials recommended persons with diplomatic talent, some of whom the Grand Council and the Zongli Yamen 總理衙門 would put into a list of minister candidates. When a minister left office, the Zongli Yamen would present the list of candidates to the emperor. With further recommendation and advice from the Grand Council and the Zongli Yamen, the emperor would select the most appropriate one for the new minister post. However, only with the acknowledgement of the Grand Council and the Zongli Yamen could the recommendation of the high rank officials be effective. Sometimes, the emperor also showed his initiative. Persons on the list were evaluated according to their membership in political factions and their ability to deal with foreign affairs. The final appointment was influenced by a variety of complicated factors, involving power struggle, interpersonal relations, and economic interests. By examining documents concerning minister selection, this article explores and reveals the details of this procedure in the late Qing Dynasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No later than 1620, the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty started to cast muzzle loading smooth bore bronze cannons following European models. After two decades of effort, the Ming army was able to manufacture in 1642 high quality “Dingliao grand general” cannons, which combined the advantages of advanced cast-iron technology developed in southern China and iron-bronze composite barrels invented in northern China more than a century before. Later on, Han craftsmen in the Qing army also began to mass-produce cannons with a similar structure, the “Shenwei grand general” cannons, in 1644. The quality of these composite cannons was considered unsurpassed in the 17th century because they were not only lighter and cheaper than bronze cannons, but their barrels could also endure stronger explosive pressure. Yet, this advanced cannon-casting technology was forgotten in the long peaceful period after Qing’s unification of China. The Qing army was forced to cast cannons in large quantities when the First Opium War erupted in 1840. Composite-metal technology became valued again, and cannons that weighed as heavy as six tons, such as the “Yaowei grand general,” were made. However, because the inner barrels were not homogeneous and the metal quality was unsatisfactory, these new cannons were no match against Western artillery, and the Qing army could not resist the Western invasion. Although muzzle loading smooth bore cannons reached their peak in the mid-19th century, they finally faded from history because of the rise of rifled artillery. This article will introduce forty-four extant Ming-Qing composite-metal cannons which have been neglected by historians, as well as attempt to compare them with similar cannons in the Netherlands and India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]