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The Qing brought much of the central and southern parts of China under its control, including [[Hubei province|Hubei]], [[Shaanxi province|Shaanxi]], [[Sichuan province|Sichuan]] and all the coastal provinces, within two years of taking Beijing, and finally secured control over [[Yunnan province]], on the border with Burma and Vietnam, in [[1659]].<ref name=tignor502>Tignor, et al., 502.</ref>
The Qing brought much of the central and southern parts of China under its control, including [[Hubei province|Hubei]], [[Shaanxi province|Shaanxi]], [[Sichuan province|Sichuan]] and all the coastal provinces, within two years of taking Beijing, and finally secured control over [[Yunnan province]], on the border with Burma and Vietnam, in [[1659]].<ref name=tignor502>Tignor, et al., 502.</ref>
The Qing state, and society, was divided to a certain extent along ethnic lines. Qing leaders, considering the strengths and failures of previous nomadic dynasties, such as the [[Tangut]] [[Xi Xia]], the [[Khitan]] [[Liao Dynasty]], the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, realized the need for a careful balance between Sinicization and maintenance of steppe traditions. The adoption of certain aspects of Chinese culture, especially in terms of the structure of government, was necessary for a strong, stable, well-managed state, and for preventing rebellion amongst the Han Chinese, who greatly outnumbered the Manchus. At the same time, however, a maintenance of nomadic horseriding and martial traditions was necessary to retain the loyalty of Manchu, Jurchen, and Mongol followers, and to ensure that the Qing would be able to defend themselves from attack by other nomadic groups (as the Khitans and Jurchens failed to, in the past).
Thus, Manchus, Mongols, and so-called "martial" Chinese (descendants of Han Chinese & Korean allies of the Manchus, chiefly from Manchuria and northern China, from prior to the fall of the Ming) were each organized into eight "banners," and were governed and administered not by Han Chinese officials, but by their fellow bannermen. Bannermen lived in garrisons separated from the other areas of the city, served in a separate administrative hierarchy, and took a separate set of [[Chinese imperial examinations|civil examinations]] to earn those administrative posts. These exams were offered not only in classical Chinese, but alternatively in the Mongol and Manchu languages, incorporated elements of military skill or prowess, and involved somewhat lower requirements for knowledge of Confucian classics, talent at Chinese poetry, and the like, as compared to the exams taken by Han Chinese candidates. In a system not entirely unlike the dyarchy (double rule) system of civil and military governors under the [[Kamakura shogunate|Kamakura]] and [[Muromachi shogunate]]s in Japan, which might be said to have governed the [[samurai]] while leaving civil administration to the Imperial Court, the Qing Court similarly appointed two officials - one from the banners, and one Chinese scholar-bureaucrat - to a great many posts.
The Manchus began to impose new cultural mandates upon the Chinese in [[1645]], the year after they took Beijing. All men were now required to wear their hair in long ponytails, known as queues. Though initially strongly resisted as a barbarian custom, and as wholly different from Chinese tradition, within a few generations, Han Chinese came to cherish this as part of their own customs and identity. Most if not all Chinese who emigrated to the United States (and elsewhere) in the 19th century wore such queues, as well as adhering to other Manchu-imposed cultural norms, and many found difficulty in abandoning these practices. [[Footbinding]], meanwhile, was not practiced by the Manchus (at least not initially), and in fact one Qing Emperor attempted to ban the practice, but was unsuccessful, as the custom was widely practiced and well-ingrained among the Han Chinese since the [[Song Dynasty]].<ref name=craig101/>
The Manchus began to impose new cultural mandates upon the Chinese in [[1645]], the year after they took Beijing. All men were now required to wear their hair in long ponytails, known as queues. Though initially strongly resisted as a barbarian custom, and as wholly different from Chinese tradition, within a few generations, Han Chinese came to cherish this as part of their own customs and identity. Most if not all Chinese who emigrated to the United States (and elsewhere) in the 19th century wore such queues, as well as adhering to other Manchu-imposed cultural norms, and many found difficulty in abandoning these practices. [[Footbinding]], meanwhile, was not practiced by the Manchus (at least not initially), and in fact one Qing Emperor attempted to ban the practice, but was unsuccessful, as the custom was widely practiced and well-ingrained among the Han Chinese since the [[Song Dynasty]].<ref name=craig101/>
Mongols were governed within a hierarchy of ''aimaks'' (principalities), ''chigolgans'' (leagues), and ''hoshigo'' (banners), which were overseen (along with much else) by a Bureau of Colonial Affairs, or ''Lǐfànyuàn'' (理藩院). Originally, Han Chinese were prohibited from settling in Mongol areas, but as early as the late 17th century, the Court reversed its position, and began encouraging Chinese settlement. By the later portions of the Qing period, Inner Mongolia and Manchuria had become significantly Sinicized, and Chinese settlements within Mongol & Manchu homelands came under separate administrative structures, like Han Chinese districts elsewhere in the realm.<ref name=significance/>
Mongols were governed within a hierarchy of ''aimaks'' (principalities), ''chigolgans'' (leagues), and ''hoshigo'' (banners), which were overseen (along with much else) by a Bureau of Colonial Affairs, or ''Lǐfànyuàn'' (理藩院). Originally, Han Chinese were prohibited from settling in Mongol areas, but as early as the late 17th century, the Court reversed its position, and began encouraging Chinese settlement. By the later portions of the Qing period, Inner Mongolia and Manchuria had become significantly Sinicized, and Chinese settlements within Mongol & Manchu homelands came under separate administrative structures, like Han Chinese districts elsewhere in the realm.<ref name=significance/>