History of China The Qing Dynasty

Before the Qing dynasty ruled China, the Manchus were Jurchens living on a dangerous northeastern frontier contested by Ming China, Joseon Korea, and the Mongol world.The Qing Dynasty: A History of China - Part One follows that transformation from the fragmented Jurchen communities of the Ming frontier to the rise of Nurhaci and Hong Taiji, the founding of the Later Jin and Great Qing, the fall of the Ming, and the reigns of the Shunzhi and Kangxi emperors.Along the way, the story moves through the Battle of Ningyuan, Hong Chengchou and the Songjin campaign, Dorgon's regency, the conquest of Beijing, the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, Zheng rule in Taiwan, the struggle around Yaksa and the Treaty of Nerchinsk, and the Qing confrontation with Galdan and the Dzungar Khanate.But this is not simply a sequence of battles and emperors. It is also a history of the Eight Banners, Manchu-Han relations, Mongol alliances, frontier diplomacy, court rivalry, cultural adaptation, and the difficult business of turning conquest into government.Written as accessible narrative history for general readers, the book explains complicated politics in ordinary language while keeping the people-their ambitions, mistakes, calculations, loyalties, and reversals-at the center of the story.