S02: Eurasian Empire

China: A subject in flux

• Shifting geographical borders
• Changing political entities
• Contested identities

Presence of the past

• History as source of regime legitimacy: The Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation
• Failed prophecies: Who lost China? Why didn’t history end with the end of the Cold War? Why didn’t China democratize?

• Not the same as “Tibet Autonomous Region” in the People’s Republic of China today
• Tibetan areas, referred to “Kham” and “Amdo” in Tibetan, ranging across Sichuan, Yun’nan, Qinghai and Gansu
• The delineation of Tibetan borderlands in question at Simla Convention of 1913-14

• Who were the Manchus?
• How did the Qing build and govern such a large and multi-ethnic empire?
• What are the legacies of Qing expansion?

Slides

Now available on https://cnm2601.yilu.org/slides.html

Readings

To be completed BEFORE class meeting

• Qinghai-Tibetan plateau
• High plateaus
• Flood plains

China proper

• Sedentary population and agriculture
• Rise of cities and market towns
• Complex bureaucracies
• Defined territorial boundaries

Inner Asia

• Mobility across large geographical scale
• Extra-local interactions
• Non-fixed property regime
• Dispersed aristocratic hierarchies
• Multi-resource economies

Political events are only the surface phenomena of history. The forces that create them lie deeper, and these forces derive from the interaction of society and environment.

• The middle imperial period in China (6th to 15th century) was marked by a complex web of alliances, conflicts, and cultural exchanges between Chinese and steppe societies.
• Chinese imperial dynasties, including the Sui Dynasty (581–618), Tang Dynasty (618–907), Song Dynasty (960–1279), faced challenges from northern steppe groups such as the Xiongnu, Turks, and Mongols.

• Hereditary occupation in civil / military service
• Manchu language and identity, with distinct privileges

• The Jurchen could no longer read the Kitan script from the Jin dynasty, leading many in the region to adopt the Mongolian script.
• Approximately one-third of Jurchen vocabulary consisted of borrowed Mongolian words.
• In 1599, Nurhaci mandated that his subjects write Jurchen using the Mongolian script.

• In 1626, Nurhaci suffered a defeat that led to his death months later. His son Hong Taiji became the dominant leader.
• In 1635, Hong Taiji banned the term “Jurchen” and introduced “Manchu” for certain banners.
• In 1636, he renamed the dynasty Qing, meaning “pure,” and declared himself emperor to conquer Ming territory.

• He created the Board for the Administration of Outlying Regions for Mongol and Tibetan affairs and was recognized by the Dalai Lama as Manjushri-Great Emperor.
• He conducted civil service exams in 1633, 1638, and 1641 in Chinese, Mongolian, and Manchu, differing from the Chinese system.

• Today: More Mongols in Inner Mongolia (4 million) than in independent Mongolia (3.4 million, as of 2024)
• Historically made of various tribal confederation: the Khalkh, Oirats, Buryats and Kalmyks, Barga, and the Chahar (together with other southern Mongols).
• Khalkh (or Khalkha) Mongols as the majority in Mongolia and their language

• Northern nomadic and martial peoples with a religious background of Lama Buddhism and shamanism
• Manchu military system was organized in banners and extended to Mongolia
• These banners retained social structure of the Mongol tribes

• Top-ranked lama in Mongolia
• Title given to the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia
• First title awarded to Zanabazar (1635–1723) by the Fifth Dalai Lama
• Reincarnations chosen among the population of Tibet
• 1st: Zanabazar (1635–1723)

• Spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism
• Reincarnation as principle of succession
• Affiliation with the Mongols

• To strengthen ties with Mongolians, Qing emperors showed deference to Dalai Lama’s authority in Mongolia
• In return, Dalai Lama venerated Qing emperors as the incarnation of Bodhisattva and patrons of Tibetan Buddhism

• More than Dalai Lama vs. Qing emperor relationship
• Tibetan indigenous leaders in the borderlands – Qinghai, southern Gansu, western Sichuan and northern Yun’nan – also key players
• Qing granted local elites Tusi (native chieftains) status and hereditary powers

Qing’s 29 regulations for reorganizing Tibet:

• Who is an amban? What are his responsibilities? What is his relationship to the Dalai Lama?
• How was the Dalai Lama selected?
• How did Emperor Qianlong assert his authority in the region? Was he successful?

• The Dzungar Campaign (1755-1758) was initiated by the Qing Dynasty to eliminate the Dzungar Khanate in present-day Xinjiang.
• Qing forces involved large-scale battles, strategic sieges, and significant military resources.
• A large portion of the Dzungar population, with estimates ranging from 300,000 to 600,000, died, with lasting effects on the demographics and cultural landscape of Central Asia.

• Since the late 1970s, the Dalai Lama and Tibetan leaders have tried to use Western criticisms of China’s human rights in Tibet to gain more autonomy for Tibetans.
• China has mostly ignored these criticisms and has enforced policies that resemble forced assimilation in Tibet.
• Tibetan leaders have now changed their strategy, focusing on challenging China’s claim to Tibet instead of just criticizing human rights.