EARLY MANCHU LEADERS

Nurhaci (1559-1626): founder of the Manchu nation and great leader whose Jurchen title was Geren Gurun Be Ujire Genggiyen ("Brilliant Emperor Who Benefits All Nations").

Qing: “pure” and Manchu: “people of great fortune”

Dorgon (1612-50); the Shunzhi emperor, who directed the final conquest of China in 1644.

LATE MING FIGURES

Wu Sangui (1612-78): Chinese general who invited the Manchus into China and helped them establish the Qing dynasty.

Li Zicheng (ca. 1605-45): Chinese rebel leader who deposed the last emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Three Feudatories (1673-1681): three semi-autonomous dominions in SW China given by the Manchu to Chinese military defectors, eventually crushed by the Qing in 1681.

MANCHU CONTROL

Banner system: developed during the pre-Qing Manchu consolidation with troops associated with particular colored banners.

Kangxi (r. 1662-1722), who subsequently made the greatest efforts to obtain the loyalty of the Confucian official class.

Grand Council: the top, highly secretive ministerial office that replaced the Grand Secretariat under the famously paranoid Yongzheng emperor (r. 1662-1722).