SURVEY OF CHINESE POLITICAL THOUGHT

Imperial China was guided by a combination of Confucianism and Legalism.

Confucius (551 BC- 479 BC): devised a system of social harmony based on self-cultivation and right relationships.

Han Feizi (d. 233 BC): Late Warring States thinker who produced the basic principles of Legalism.

Qin dynasty (221-209 BC): China's first, but short-lived, dynastic order. Rulers of the subsequent Han Dynasty (202 BC - AD 220) sought to learn from the Qin example.

LATE MING (1368-1644)-EARLY QING (1644-1911)

MANCHU CONQUEST

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”

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).

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 effort 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).

Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-96): Fourth Qing Emperor, who led the longest reign in Chinese history.