Changes

Official hierarchy among the "martial" Chinese was determined in large part by when one's family was first incorporated into the Qing state; those who surrendered early in the conquest of China, or prior to it, held the most elite positions.<ref>Spence, 41.</ref>

Official hierarchy among the "martial" Chinese was determined in large part by when one's family was first incorporated into the Qing state; those who surrendered early in the conquest of China, or prior to it, held the most elite positions.<ref>Spence, 41.</ref>

[[File:Ryukyu-qing-seal.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The royal seal of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] during the Qing Dynasty, showing Chinese (琉球國王之印) in [[seal script]] on the right, and an inscription in the [[Manchu language]] on the left.]]

[[File:Ryukyu-qing-seal.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The royal seal of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] during the Qing Dynasty, showing Chinese (琉球國王之印) in [[seal script]] on the right, and an inscription in the [[Manchu language]] on the left. As reproduced in ''Ryûkyû kokuô sappô no zu'', handscroll, date unknown, University of Hawaii Collection.]]

While the Manchu elite absolutely adopted Chinese practices, Confucian political philosophy, and government structures, to a great extent, inserting itself into Chinese systems of governance rather than overthrowing them, they at the same time made great efforts to maintain their martial, equestrian, steppe culture. The Court employed the Manchu language alongside Chinese in most if not all official documents, and powerfully promoted the language otherwise, and maintained complexes of yurts, in the manner of the khans of the steppes, alongside the Chinese-style wooden buildings of the [[Forbidden City|Imperial Palace]]. In addition, the [[Qianlong Emperor]] (r. [[1735]]-[[1796]]) developed strong ties with the [[Dalai Lama]], and built up [[Chengde]] as a religious center of [[Tibetan Buddhism]], a form of Buddhism which had been embraced by the Mongols and Manchus, and which is quite different from Chinese Buddhism in fundamental ways.

While the Manchu elite absolutely adopted Chinese practices, Confucian political philosophy, and government structures, to a great extent, inserting itself into Chinese systems of governance rather than overthrowing them, they at the same time made great efforts to maintain their martial, equestrian, steppe culture. The Court employed the Manchu language alongside Chinese in most if not all official documents, and powerfully promoted the language otherwise, and maintained complexes of yurts, in the manner of the khans of the steppes, alongside the Chinese-style wooden buildings of the [[Forbidden City|Imperial Palace]]. In addition, the [[Qianlong Emperor]] (r. [[1735]]-[[1796]]) developed strong ties with the [[Dalai Lama]], and built up [[Chengde]] as a religious center of [[Tibetan Buddhism]], a form of Buddhism which had been embraced by the Mongols and Manchus, and which is quite different from Chinese Buddhism in fundamental ways.