CHING (QING) DYNASTY 1644-1911 A.D.

During the Ching (Qing) Dynasty the Manchu of the North ruled China, once again China was ruled by foreign Invaders. This was the second time in Chinese history that foreigners ruled China. The last foreign rule of China  was during the Yuan Dynasty when China was controlled by the Mongols. The Ching (Qing) Dynasty ruled by a centralized elite Manchurians government whose structure was adopted from the Ming. Administrative and Judiciary positions were performed by one Manchu and one Chinese with the Manchu excreting more power.

The Ching (Qing) maintained their rein over the Chinese by preserving their own identity, taking their lessons from the Mongolians who were absorbed by the Chinese. The Manchurians banned intermarriage among the Chinese and continued to speak and write their own language. They retained military dominance over the Chinese by an elite Manchu army that ruled the military with an iron fist.

The Manchurian rulers required the Chinese men to shave their heads and wear queues (pony tails), they also required Chinese men to wear Manchu clothes rather than the clothing style of the Ming Dynasty. The binding of women’s feet was forbidden, however a large percentage of women still practiced this odd tradition and in 1668 A.D. the ruling was withdrawn. The Chinese were secondary citizens in their own homeland and many harbored deep hatred and contempt for their new masters from the North country.

The first ruler of the Ching (Qing) Dynasty favored isolationism and focused on agriculture versus trade and commerce. These measures and a great reduction of taxes appeased the peasantry   and initially the Manchurians of the North were welcomed rulers. These policies and the lack of trade expansion crippled China’s economy and allowed for mass discontent to later foster amongst the Chinese.

During the reign of  Emperor Qianglong the Manchurian rulers exercised bold military expansions and extended the borders of China to it largest land mass in history. These military expansions raised taxes and but brought economic ruin on the peasantry. Popular uprisings occurred during Emperor Qianglong rule, but the elite Manchurian strike force destroyed all uprisings and pursed with vengeance all rebel leaders. The first uprising was in 1774 A.D. in Shantung, then in 1775 A.D. another uprising occurred, this time it was led by the secret society known as the Society of the White Lotus. In 1813 A.D., during the reign of Qianglong's successor, another uprising occurred which was led by the secret society known as the Society of Heaven's Law.

During the later part of the Ching (Qing) Dynasty the European colonialist grew increasingly interested in exploiting the wealth of China. Great Britain was especially interested in exploiting China’s wealth. The British colonialist saw a tremendous opportunity in expanding trade and subverting China by importing and distributing opium. The British colonialist intentionally planed the mass addiction of China’s intellectual, and administrative classes in an effort to cripple China for conquest. Millions of people became addicted to opium which led to China’s social and moral demise. 

In 1839 Ching (Qing) mandated that the opium trade was to be abolished. The British colonialist seizing the opportunity declared war on China. This war with the British became known as the Opium Wars, and in 1842 A.D., China was forced to sign a treaty in which Great Britain received Hong Kong. In 1857 A.D., a Chinese general burnt  3 opium cargo ships igniting a new war with the British colonialist. The British again won the war and the Chinese were forced to grant more privileges to the British, that virtually turned China into a British colony leading the way for European colonialist to invade and control China.

Internal rebellions and external European colonialist powers further weakened China. As these conflicts intensified it further weakened China’s centralized government giving Japan and Russia opportunity to annex lands from China. External aggression and domestic oppression sparked off a series of anti-feudal and anti-imperialist movements such as the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Army Uprising. Under these circumstances, the Qing government was forced to introduce reforms, such as the Self-strengthening Movement and the Hundred-Day Reform, in effort to save and revitalize China. All measures that were doomed to fail. In the end the Revolution of 1911, led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, enabled the Chinese people to overthrow the Qing imperialists who had ruled China for 268 years.

The Qing Dynasty lasted from 1644 had lasted 268, with a total of ten emperors. With its demise feudalism, which had lasted for more than two thousand years, was brought to a close. The nation had entered a new era - Republic of China (1911 - 1949)..

Ancient Jades created during the Ching (Qing) Dynasty have a significant place in the long history of Chinese jade  lapidary works.  During the Ching (Qing) Dynasty a new type of jade imported from Burma become popular with the masses. This type of jade is called "jadeite" and is harder and more lustrous than the traditional nephrite jades. So popular was the demand for wearing "Jadeite" that many of the jade workshops stopped producing nephrite jade jewelry and other works of art. At the same time the demand for ancient jades continued from the Ming Dynasty making the creation of  "new antique" jades a popular employment for jade workshops. Today, many of these inspired "new antiques" have become antiques in their own right. Experts that specialize in ancient Chinese jades can of course detect such inspired copies, but they are in their own right works of art.