© Morgan AP Teaching

Notebook Page 23:

The Qing Dynasty
Period 2: 1450 CE – 1750 CE
 © Morgan AP Teaching

Fall of Ming Dynasty

• While the Ming initially maintained the sea-trade and naval emphasis
(such as the voyages of Adm. Zheng He) of the Song Dynasty before
the Mongols, they soon changed their focus and spending

• Instead of focusing on world influence, the Ming focused inter-

nally, largely ignoring the outside world and focusing on defense

• With a disastrous silver-only tax policy, and loss of economic

output, the also focused primarily on northern defense

• By 1644, the slipping Ming Dynasty lost out to northern invaders from Manchuria

• Known as the Manchu people, the invaders quickly took over and adopted much of the
already-established Chinese culture and political systems, starting the Qing Dynasty
 © Morgan AP Teaching

Qing Dynasty
• One aspect the Manchu adopted from the Han Chinese
Ming Dynasty was the Confucian Examination System

• Essentially, to participate in the government, one had to pass

a rigorous test based on Chinese history and Confucianism

• This left gov. slots only open to elites who could afford to send
their male sons to study for years and complete the tests

• While leaving many gov. officials untrained for actual gov./econ rule, it
provided China with a unified culture and helped maintain social harmony

• Wanting to maintain this harmony and tradition, the Qing Dynasty kept the Confucian
Examination System as a means to appease, stabilize, and control the Han Chinese
Max Extent of Qing Dynasty – 18th Century
 © Morgan AP Teaching

Qing Expansion and Power

• Once in poweras, the Qing Dynasty continued to expand China’s land
borders, as Europeans continued to control maritime trade and coasts

• Taking territories from the weakening khanates and areas of Southeast

Asia, Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) created the largest Chinese empire

• Like Louis XIV, Peter the Great, the Ottoman sultans, and Mughal
emperors, the Qing Dynasty too demonstrated power through culture

• Qing Emperors often commissioned the painting of life-size portraits of

their emperors to demonstrate power and influence

Emperor Kangxi
 © Morgan AP Teaching

Domestic Policies
• While examination systems were used by the Qing to maintain
Han social harmony, many other policies were outright oppressive

• One particular oppressive policy was the banning of intermarriage; this

was done to maintain Manchu identity and dominance over the Han

• Lastly, the Manchu hairstyle the queue was made official

for males, and punishable, eventually, by death

• Again, the Manchu imposed this cultural aspect on the Han to demonstrate
their dominance over the Han Chinese, and, somewhat, to their culture