Wu Mu Yang Bohao: The Qing Dynasty is China without question

Author: Wu Mu Yang Bohao

Source: Historical Review, No. 5, 2021

The "China" of the Qing Dynasty is basically the same as the concept of dynasties, which is China, and China is shared by all ethnic groups.

This concept developed before and after the Unification of the Qing Dynasty, that is, from the time I was a Chinese (Ming Dynasty) person, to when I was not a Chinese (Ming Dynasty) person, and then I was still a Chinese (Qing Dynasty) person. Nurhaci set the name of the state as Houjin, called himself "Northern Dynasty", denounced the Ming Dynasty as "Southern Dynasty" or China, and began to sit on an equal footing with the Ming Dynasty, and even regarded the Ming Dynasty as an "enemy body"; Emperor Taiji believed that the "Lord of China" was not a permanent monopoly of the Ming Emperor, and hoped that he would one day become the co-lord of the "Northern Dynasty" and the "Southern Dynasty".

The Shunzhi and Kangxi Emperors positioned themselves as driving away the "thieves" and replacing the Ming Dynasty as the ruler of China, that is, China remained unchanged, but changed its new owners. The concept of the Qing Dynasty, that is, China, was basically established.

The Yongzheng Emperor believed that Manchuria and other frontier peoples were not foreign relative to China, let alone foreign enemies, and the Manchurian rulers "entered China" to carry the fortunes of The Heavenly Path and Fengtian, and took a big step forward in changing the concept of "entering China" to the concept of "my own China".

The Qianlong Emperor strictly adhered to the Yongzheng Emperor's concept of multi-ethnic China, and further institutionalized this multi-ethnic view of China, clearly emphasizing that only the Great Qing dynasty can be called China, the Qing Dynasty is China, and the Han people are part of the Chinese.

This performance in the imperial temple sacrifice is that the five dynasties and ten kingdoms of the Wei and Jin dynasties and the non-Han dynasties such as the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties are all included in the scope of sacrifice, which is actually a compliance with the "great unification view" of the surrounding ethnic groups that also pursued the unification of China and became the emperor of China after they were strong in history. This is also in line with the concept of the Republic of China's "Republic of Five Nationalities" and the subsequent theory of "all ethnic groups jointly building China".

In the "Great Qing Unification Chronicle", "Kun Yu Quantu", etc., the entire ruling area of the Qing Dynasty is clearly and unmistakably named China, and Tibet, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and the northeast region together with the eighteen provinces of The Beijing Division form the territory of the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Shilu also explicitly describes the Qing Dynasty as "China", which indicates that in the official context, "China", that is, the Qing Dynasty, has been recognized by the vast majority of people and has become a conscious norm. Moreover, the more frequently the word China in this sense is used, the more deeply rooted the identity of various ethnic groups for the Qing Dynasty as China.

(The original title is "Comparative Study on the Chinese View of the Ming and Qing Dynasties", excerpted from "Research on the History of China's Frontier Areas", No. 1, 2021)

Author Affilications:Northwest Ethnic Minority Research Center, Lanzhou University