Everyone knows that the Eight Banners system of the Qing Dynasty was created by Nurhachi, but they do not know that the Eight Banners Banner Masters have played such an important role in the historical stage of the Qing Dynasty. In "Yongzheng Dynasty", the eighth prince Yinzheng united with eight banner owners outside the border to enter Beijing and almost forced Yongzheng to step down; In "Iron Tooth and Bronze Tooth Ji Xiaolan", Quan Chen and Shen saw the golden cigarette pouch of the Zhenghong Banner Banner, and they had to kneel and kowtow obediently. Who is such a powerful banner master? Why should even the high-ranking court officials be so respectful when they see it? What's even more puzzling is why those banner officials who have just been promoted are most afraid of seeing their flag owners? Is there something hidden in this? Let's unveil the mystery of the Eight Banners and explore that little-known history.
In 1583, Nurhachi raised his army with only thirteen pairs of armor and began his journey to unify the Jurchen tribes. In the process, he gradually realized the need for a more effective form of military organization to gather strength. So, in 1601, Nurhachi created the original four-flag system: yellow, white, red, and blue.
The establishment of these four flags was not arbitrary. Legend has it that Nurhachi once dreamed of four rainbows in the sky and used them as inspiration to create the Four Flags. Each flag represents an army and is also an administrative unit. At first, Nurhachi appointed his four sons as the bannermen of the Four Banners, and these four people became known as the "Four Great Beylers": Daishan, Amin, Mang Gurtai and Huang Taiji.
With the continuous expansion of power, the scale of the Four Banners has also become larger. In order to better manage and command, Nurhachi formalized the Eight Banners system in 1615. On the basis of the original four flags, he added four more bordered flags: yellow, white, red, and blue. These Eight Banners are not only military units, but also the basic organizational forms of politics, economy, and society.
The establishment of the Eight Banners system can be described as painstaking. Nurhachi kept a detailed register of the population of each tribe according to age, sex, physique, etc., and then assigned it to different flags. Each is divided into a number of cattle records, and each cattle record is set up with armor. This tight organizational structure allowed the Eight Banners to mobilize troops quickly and manage the population effectively.
It is worth mentioning that the Eight Banners are not completely equal. Among them, the positive yellow flag and the inlaid yellow flag have the highest status, known as the "three flags", which are directly under the control of the emperor. This arrangement reflected Nurhachi's foresight and laid the groundwork for the consolidation of imperial power in the future.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Eight Banners system, the power of the flag owner can be described as monstrous. They not only hold military command, but also have the right to take the life and death of the population of their own banner. For example, the famous Fan Wencheng once encountered a shocking incident. Fan Wencheng was the founder of the Qing Dynasty, served four generations of emperors, and was regarded as the first of the civil ministers. However, it was such a high-ranking minister, but his wife was favored by Prince Yu Duoduo and forcibly snatched away and brought back to the palace. As a clothed minion, Fan Wencheng was helpless in the face of his flag master.
This incident fully demonstrated the great power of the flag owner. Even if he is an important minister of the court, he is like a house slave seeing his parents in front of the banner owner. Gong Zizhen once described the relationship between Baoyi and the flag owner: "The person who is clothed sees the king, like a house slave sees the gift of his parents; The daughter of Baoyi, Prince Xu and others were selected as concubines. "
However, the establishment of the Eight Banners system was not all smooth sailing. In the process of establishment, Nurhachi also encountered a number of challenges. The biggest resistance comes from some traditional tribal leaders. They feared that the Eight Banners system would weaken their power, so they were dissatisfied. In order to appease these chiefs, Nurhachi adopted a flexible strategy, appointing some of the influential chieftains as banner lords or Niulu Ezhen, both retaining their status and incorporating them into the new system of rule.
The establishment of the Eight Banners system marked the gradual transition of the Jurchen tribes from a loose tribal alliance to a unified regime. This system not only laid the foundation for the rise of the Later Jin State, but also provided a strong organizational guarantee for the establishment of the Qing Dynasty and its rule over China. However, as time passed, the Eight Banners system gradually revealed some drawbacks, which laid a hidden danger for the future rule of the Qing Dynasty.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the power of the Eight Banners could be said to be covering the sky with one hand. They not only hold military command, but also have the right to take the life and death of the population of their own banner. This kind of power is so great that it can even override the laws of the imperial court. During the Kangxi period, there was an incident that shocked the government and the opposition.
At that time, Honghui, the owner of the Blue Flag, was dissatisfied with his wife, so he executed him without authorization. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, killing a spouse should be punished by beheading. However, Honghui, as the banner owner, not only did not receive any punishment, but was pardoned by Emperor Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi only verbally reprimanded Honghui and did not punish him substantively. This incident fully demonstrated the power of the banner owner, and even the emperor had to open up to him.
However, with the consolidation of Qing rule, the conflict between the imperial power and the power of the banner lord became increasingly prominent. The emperors gradually realized that too strong the power of the banner lord could threaten the stability of the imperial power. Therefore, starting with Kangxi, successive emperors have been trying to weaken the power of the banner lords.
The first step taken by Emperor Kangxi was to reform the imperial examination system. He stipulated that banner people could also take the imperial examination and obtain official positions through the examination. This move seems to give more opportunities to the flag people, but in fact it is breaking the monopoly of the flag owners on the career of the flag people. Previously, the official promotion of the banner people was completely in the hands of the banner owner, but now it can be obtained through the fair and just way of the imperial examination.
After Emperor Yongzheng came to power, he drastically reduced the power of the banner owner. He first abolished the hereditary system of banner owners, stipulating that banner owners must be appointed by the emperor himself. This move directly cut off the hereditary channels of the banner owner's power, making the position of the banner owner more dependent on the emperor's favor.
In addition, Yongzheng also set up a system of "raising incorruptible silver", stipulating that the income of the banner owner was directly distributed by the imperial court, and it was no longer allowed to be scavenged from the population of the banner. This not only limited the economic resources of the flag owners, but also weakened their control over the population of their flag.
During the Qianlong period, the power of the banner lord was further weakened. Emperor Qianlong stipulated that the banner owner was not allowed to interfere in the marriage of the population of the banner, nor was he allowed to transfer the soldiers of the banner at will. As a result of these measures, the power of the banner lord was gradually reduced to a symbolic honorary title, and the actual right to rule was lost.
However, even so, the owner of the flag is still nominally the master of the flag man. This leads to some strange phenomena. For example, during the Daoguang period, there was such an incident:
Song Yun, a veteran of the Three Dynasties and Minister of Military Aircraft, was called to help because of the funeral at the home of the owner of the Blue Banner. Songyun, who was nearly 70 years old, had to wear filial piety clothes and hold a drum to greet guests at the door of the flag owner's house. The dignified court officials were dragged by the banner owner to be called by the doorman, and this incident caused a shock to the government and the public. Although Emperor Daoguang was furious, he couldn't punish the owner of the Blue Banner, because this was the rule of the banner people. In the end, Emperor Daoguang had no choice but to raise Songyun's identity and carry him into the "Shangsan Banner", so that Songyun could get rid of the domination of the Zhenglan Banner Owner.
In the late Qing Dynasty, some banner owner families fell into disgrace due to poor management. Some banner owners have even been reduced to the point where they can only do menial work to make a living. However, even so, even if the flag slave of this banner is already a high-ranking official, when he meets his own flag owner, he still has to dismount and say goodbye, respectfully.
What's more, if the flag owner is a scoundrel, he will even order the flag slave who has become a high-ranking official to work for himself. Although these high-ranking officials and banner slaves were unwilling, they did not dare to disobey, so they could only keep asking for peace and sending money and goods, so as not to be embarrassed in public.
This strange phenomenon continued until the fall of the Qing Dynasty. It reflects both the stubbornness of the Eight Banners system and the complexity of the Qing Dynasty's social hierarchy. The change of the power of the banner lord is not only the evolution of a political system, but also a microcosm of the Qing Dynasty's transformation from prosperity to decline.
The Eight Banners system is not only a form of military organization, but also a strict social hierarchy. Under this system, the flag people are divided into different ranks, the most notable of which is the relationship between the flag owner and the flag slave.
As the supreme commander of the Eight Banners, the banner owner enjoys supreme power. They not only hold military command, but also have the right to take the life and death of the population of their own banner. Under the banner master, there are many banner slaves, although they belong to the same eight banners, but their status is much lower than that of the banner master.
The rigor of this hierarchy was particularly evident in the early years of the Qing Dynasty. Here's a famous example to illustrate this:
During the Shunzhi period, there was a minister named Aguli, who was a native of the Yellow Banner of Manchuria and an official minister. However, it was such an important minister of the court, who had to grovel when facing his own banner master. On one occasion, the banner lord of Aguli summoned him and asked him to help repair the stables in his home. The minister had to put down the government and go to repair the stables himself. This incident caused a lot of discussion at the time, but no one dared to question it publicly, because this was the rule under the Eight Banners system.
In the banner hierarchy, there is also a special group, that is, "coating". Coating is a special status between a slave and a freeman, who belongs to the private property of a banner owner or noble family. The origins of the coating system can be traced back to the Nurhachi period. At that time, in order to reward the heroes, Nurhachi gave them some captives as personal slaves, and these slaves were the original coats.
Although the status of the coat is low, it has the opportunity to get close to the center of power. Some smart and capable coats can even rise to the top, and they are extremely popular. For example, Zhang Tingyu, a famous university scholar, was a Manchu from a clothed background. He climbed from an ordinary clothed servant to the top of the court step by step, becoming a veteran of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties. However, even if Zhang Tingyu is in a high position, when facing his master, the owner of the yellow flag, he still has to bow respectfully.
The intergenerational transmission of flags is another important feature of the Eight Banners hierarchy. A person is assigned to a flag at birth, and this identity will stay with him for the rest of his life and be passed on to his children and grandchildren. This system ensured the stability of the Eight Banners, but it also created a lack of social mobility.
However, flag status is not always immutable. In exceptional circumstances, a person may be removed from the flag. This usually happens to flag men who have committed major wrongs. For example, during the Qianlong period, there was a sensational delisting incident:
At that time, there was a Manchurian White Banner man named Hu Tuli, who was found to be corrupt and bribery. Emperor Qianlong was furious, not only dismissed him from his post and investigated, but also ordered him to be removed from the flag. This meant that Hutuli not only lost his official position, but also lost all his privileges as a bannerman. As a result, his descendants were disqualified from being included in the flag and became civilians. The severity of this punishment caused a huge shock at the time, and also made the other flag men vigilant.
Removal is not only a punishment, but sometimes a form of desperation. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population of the children of the Eight Banners had surged, but the number of banners and silver that could support them did not increase accordingly. In order to alleviate the burden, the imperial court had to take a number of measures, including encouraging some banner bearers who had not made any actual contributions to voluntarily quit the Eight Banners.
This complex hierarchical system makes it possible to have both strict hierarchies and certain mobility within the Eight Banners. It was both the cornerstone of Qing rule and a microcosm of the social contradictions of the Qing Dynasty. Over time, the drawbacks of this system gradually became apparent, and eventually became a shackle that the Qing Dynasty could not shake off.
As the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners system provided strong military and political support for the Qing Dynasty's rule in its heyday. However, over time, the system gradually revealed its inherent shortcomings, which eventually led to the decline of the entire system.
An important reason for the decline of the Eight Banners system was the gradual corruption of the Banner People. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners were a strong force capable of fighting well, they were brave and good at fighting, and they were highly disciplined. However, as the Qing Dynasty rule was entrenched, the fighting gradually decreased, and the Eight Banners began to gradually lose their combat effectiveness.
An incident happened during the Kangxi period, which fully illustrates this point. At that time, the Mongolian Dzungar Department rebelled, and Kangxi sent the Eight Banners to suppress it. However, this once invincible army has shown itself extremely poor on the battlefield. When a general named Feiyangu reported to Kangxi after the war, he had to admit that the Eight Banners were "not as good as before". He described that many of the Eight Banners could not even shoot arrows on horseback, which was a shame for the Manchurians, who were known for their horse archery.
In order to change this situation, Kangxi ordered the establishment of a "riding and archery school" in the capital to teach the children of the Eight Banners the skills of riding and archery. However, this remedy has had little effect. Many Eight Banners disciples would rather have fun at home than go to the academy to practice hard.
In addition to the decline of military capabilities, the economic foundation of the Eight Banners system is gradually disintegrating. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, in order to ensure the livelihood of the Eight Banner soldiers, the imperial court allocated a large amount of flag land for the Eight Banner soldiers to cultivate. However, over time, many banner people were reluctant to cultivate the land themselves, instead renting their land to Han Chinese tenants. This has led to the loss of a large number of flag land, and the economic situation of the flag people has deteriorated day by day.
During the Yongzheng period, the imperial court tried to solve this problem through the policy of "breeding people". This policy allowed the banner people to rent part of their flag land to the Han Chinese for cultivation in order to increase their income. However, this policy has accelerated the loss of flag land. In order to get more rent, many banner people even rented out all their banner land, and they themselves became rentiers.
During the Qianlong period, the economic situation of the banner people deteriorated further. A minister named Yinglian described the plight of the banner people at that time: many of them had to sell their children into slavery to rich families because of their difficult lives. This was not an isolated phenomenon at the time, but a common phenomenon.
In order to alleviate this situation, Qianlong took a series of measures. The most famous of these is the "Banner People's Livelihood" policy. This policy allowed the bannermen to do business and even encouraged them to engage in various handicrafts. However, most of the long-term pampered banner people lack business skills, and the effect of this policy is very limited.
Another important reason for the decline of the Eight Banners system was the rapid expansion of the population. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, in order to encourage population growth, the imperial court implemented a preferential policy for the children of the Eight Banners. However, the consequence of this policy was a rapid increase in the population of Eight Banners, far exceeding the limits of what the state could support.
During the Daoguang period, a minister named Qi Shan described this problem in detail in the song. He pointed out that in the capital alone, there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed bannermen who need to be supported by the imperial court. These people are not engaged in production, and they do not want to join the army, which becomes a heavy burden on the state.
In order to solve this problem, the late Qing Dynasty adopted a series of measures, such as encouraging banner people to participate in the imperial examination and allowing them to engage in various occupations. However, none of these measures fundamentally changed the trend of the decline of the Eight Banners system.
By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners system had existed in name only. Many of the banner people lived in poverty and even became beggars. The Eight Banners Iron Cavalry, which once commanded the world, has now become a team with no name. In major military conflicts such as the First Sino-Japanese War and the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the soldiers of the Eight Banners failed to play their due role, which fully illustrates the complete decline of the Eight Banners system.
As the fundamental system of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners system had a far-reaching impact, not only shaping the political, military, and social structure of the Qing Dynasty, but also exerting a profound impact on the entire history of China. This influence has both positive and negative aspects, and is reflected in many fields such as politics, military, and culture.
In terms of politics, the Eight Banners system provided a solid foundation for the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Through this system, the Qing Dynasty established a loyal and reliable ruling group, which ensured the stability of the regime. However, this system also comes with some negative effects. For example, there was an incident during the Kangxi period, which fully illustrated the influence of the Eight Banners system on the government.
At that time, the Kangxi Emperor appointed a Manchurian nobleman named Suo Etu as a scholar. Although Suo Etu was of noble birth, his talents were mediocre, and he could not even speak Chinese. The appointment caused dissatisfaction among many Han officials. A Han minister named Zhang Ying even wrote directly, pointing out that Suo Etu "does not understand the meaning of the text and is difficult to compete." However, Emperor Kangxi did not take Zhang Ying's suggestion and reprimanded him harshly. This incident reflects that in the political system of the Qing Dynasty, the nobles of the Eight Banners were often able to obtain important positions by virtue of blood ties, rather than relying on actual talent.
In terms of military affairs, the Eight Banners system provided the Qing Dynasty with a strong military force in the early days, and was an important tool for the Qing Dynasty to conquer the Central Plains and consolidate its rule. However, over time, the Eight Banners Army gradually lost its combat effectiveness. This change has begun to appear in the Yongzheng period.
In the fourth year of Yongzheng (1726), the Qing Dynasty clashed with the Dzungar Ministry. The Qing army sent a large number of Eight Banners soldiers to participate in the battle, but the battle situation was not ideal. A general named Nian Qianyao described in the post-war recital: "Although the soldiers of the Eight Banners were brave, they were not accustomed to water and soil, and many died of illness. This reflects the fact that the long-term comfortable life has made the Eight Banners lose their ability to adapt to the difficult environment. In order to make up for this shortcoming, Emperor Yongzheng had to promote the Han army in large numbers, which was actually a disguised weakening of the Eight Banners system.
In terms of culture, the Eight Banners system has had a profound impact on traditional Chinese culture. On the one hand, in order to consolidate their rule, the Manchu rulers vigorously pursued the policy of sinicization, so that the Manchu culture was gradually assimilated by the Han culture. On the other hand, some of the cultural practices of the Manchus also influenced Han Chinese society. For example, the cheongsam, which was later seen as a representative of traditional Chinese clothing, actually evolved from the Manchu costume.
However, the Eight Banners system also hindered cultural exchange and development to some extent. An incident occurred during the Qianlong period, which reflects this. At that time, there was a Han scholar named Dai Zhen, who was recommended to Emperor Qianlong because of his profound knowledge. Qianlong was very appreciative of Dai Zhen's talent, but because Dai Zhen was Han and could not enter the Manchurian banner, he could only be awarded a non-mainstream review position in the Hanlin Academy. This kind of institutional discrimination has, to a certain extent, inhibited the full use of talents and the exchange and integration of culture.
The Eight Banners system also had a profound impact on the structure of Chinese society. It created a privileged class, the Eight Banners. These people enjoy many privileges, such as exemption from forced labor and preferential entry. However, this system of privilege also brings social contradictions. In the late Qing Dynasty, with the rapid increase in the population of the Eight Banners and the deterioration of the economic situation, a large number of impoverished Eight Banners became a factor of social instability.
During the Daoguang period, a remarkable event occurred in Beijing. A group of children of the Eight Banners who were living in difficulty gathered in front of the palace and asked the imperial court to increase the maintenance of incorruptible silver. This was a rare occurrence in the past, as the children of the Eight Banners had always been regarded as close associates of the emperor. This incident reflects that the Eight Banners system can no longer maintain its original social function, but has become a focus of social contradictions.
In addition, the Eight Banners system has had a profound impact on ethnic relations in China. Although the Qing rulers tried to unify the Manchu, Mongolian, and Han ethnic groups through this system, in practice it created a gap between the ethnic groups. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty, with the awakening of national consciousness, this estrangement became more obvious and became a major hidden danger of Qing rule.
In general, as the fundamental system of the Qing Dynasty, the influence of the Eight Banners system penetrated into all aspects of Chinese society. It has both facilitated development in some areas and hindered it in others. This complex influence continued after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and even in some ways to the present day.