Qingdai de diwang miao ji yu guojia zhengzhi wenhua rentong.

The Qing rulers inherited a Ming tradition of sacrificing the former "sage rulers" after they entered into Beijing in 1644. The temple of former emperors of the successive dynasties had been constructed, and the list of "sage rulers" and their "famous ministers" to be offered sacrifices was regulated to serve the political need of the Qing dynasty. By many rounds of increasing and reconfiguring the former rulers and ministers, Qing rulers eventually built up a genealogy of sagely rulership that included many rulers of former dynasties established by minority ethnic groups in China's history. This final structure of temple sacrifices to former emperors had its multi-faceted meanings. The selection of "famous ministers" had set up moral models for the bureaucrats, and the "sage rulers," examples and critical sources for the later emperors. By enhancing its legitimacy through this tradition, Qing rulers fundamentally supported the political culture with a clear identity of Confucius orthodoxy and Chinese civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]