| Many Ming loyalists fled to Taiwan, however, and continued the fight, holding out on that island for nearly forty years. Led by [[Zheng Zhilong]] and his son [[Zheng Chenggong]] (aka Coxinga), they harassed Chinese shipping and coastal communities to such an extent that in [[1657]] the Qing ordered a halt to maritime and coastal activities, and that coastal residents move further inland, in a policy known as ''[[qianjie|qiānjiè]]''. Meanwhile, many in Korea, Japan, and Ryûkyû saw the Chinese center as having fallen to barbarian rule, and saw their own lands or peoples as therefore representing the only surviving outposts of Ming - or true high Chinese - culture. | | Many Ming loyalists fled to Taiwan, however, and continued the fight, holding out on that island for nearly forty years. Led by [[Zheng Zhilong]] and his son [[Zheng Chenggong]] (aka Coxinga), they harassed Chinese shipping and coastal communities to such an extent that in [[1657]] the Qing ordered a halt to maritime and coastal activities, and that coastal residents move further inland, in a policy known as ''[[qianjie|qiānjiè]]''. Meanwhile, many in Korea, Japan, and Ryûkyû saw the Chinese center as having fallen to barbarian rule, and saw their own lands or peoples as therefore representing the only surviving outposts of Ming - or true high Chinese - culture. |
− | 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> Robert Tignor, Benjamin Elman, et al, Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, vol B, Fourth Edition, W.W. Norton & Co (2014), 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). | | 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). |