We all know that the basis for the rise and occupation of the qing dynasty was the Eight Flags system. In the last year of the Ming Dynasty, Nurhaci led the Jurchens who were still in the era of slave tribes to rise in the northeast of Guanwai, and the eight flags system established on the basis of the Jurchen tribes quickly swept through the northeast region and established a powerful Later Jin regime.
Eight flags
After Nurhaci's death, his successor, Emperor Taiji, carried forward the Eight Flags system and added the Eight Banners Of Mongolia and the Eight Banners han army. It further expanded the power of the Eight Banners and laid a solid foundation for the Qing Dynasty to finally enter the customs and occupy the world.
So, what exactly is the Eight Flags system? The eight flags that Nurhaci first founded did not have 8 flags, but 4 flags, namely the positive red flag, the positive white flag, the positive yellow flag and the positive blue flag.
As he continued to conquer other Jurchen tribes, Nurhaci, whose strength was expanding, compiled the new Jurchens into 4 new flags, namely red flags, white flags, blue flags and yellow flags, for a total of 8 flags. At this point, the eight flags system was formally formed.
Nurhaci
However, many people may not know that there is still a hierarchy within the Eight Flags. The distinction between the eight flags is divided into the upper three flags and the lower five flags.
So where does this distinction come from?
Nurhaci period, is the initial stage of the eight flags, according to Nurhaci's vision, in fact, the eight flags are equivalent to 8 large Jurchen tribes, these eight flags of the flag owners have great power over the flags under the command, the flag ding to the eight flag owners, more personal dependence.
As the chief flag bearer and the largest slave owner, Nurhaci commanded the most powerful yellow flag and yellow flag. Obviously, although it is very hostile to the Han people, under the influence of Han culture, the Jurchen Eight Banners still regard yellow as a noble color. As the Khan King, Nurhaci therefore commanded the yellow flag and the yellow flag.
Eight flags
In the last years of his life, Nurhaci divided the two yellow flags he commanded among his three most favored young sons, the three brothers Dorgon, Dodo, and Azig. After Emperor Taiji succeeded to the throne, he immediately replaced the two yellow flags under the command of the three brothers of Dorgon.
However, this replacement did not form much of a wave, because as the Emperor Taiji of the Khan King, it was customary to command the two yellow flags themselves, plus when the two flags were replaced, only the flags were changed and no people were replaced. Therefore, after Emperor Taiji succeeded to the throne, the color of the white flag and the white flag he originally commanded was changed to the yellow flag and the yellow flag, and nothing else changed.
However, the situation at this time was extremely unfavorable to Huang Taiji, and the Houjin regime left by Nurhaci was almost in internal and external difficulties, especially the four great baylors sitting south, and the status of the other three baylors and the emperor taiji was almost no different, which naturally made the heroic and ambitious Emperor Taiji extremely dissatisfied. In this case, Huang Taiji began to weaken the strength and power of the other three baylors.
Emperor Tai Chi
He first abolished the rotation system of the four baylors, which seriously weakened the rights of the three baylors, and secondly, under the pretext of Amin's sixteen major sins, he stripped him of his position as the flag master and the great belle, and imprisoned him within the high wall, and the blue flag master who was originally commanded by Amin was his brother Zilharang.
Subsequently, for the Three Belle Mang Gurtai, the Emperor Taiji stripped him of the name of the Great Beyler on the pretext that he was trying to commit the crime of disrespecting the Great Khan by drawing his sword. Mang Guertai, who suffered a major blow, was "violently killed" in December 196 by Tiancong.
Shortly after Mang Gurtai's death, someone reported that Mang Gurtai had committed misconduct during his lifetime, and Emperor Taiji took this opportunity to strip Mang Gurtai and his successor, Dege Class, and others from the title for treason, and confiscated the Zhenglan Banner to the public.
Eight Flags Ding
And the so-called Gong, of course, refers to the Emperor Taiji who served as the Great Khan. Since then, the Positive Yellow Flag, the Yellow Flag and the Positive Blue Flag have been directly commanded by Emperor Taiji. These three banners were no different from the emperor's soldiers. The other Five Banners were still commanded by the corresponding banner owners, and for this reason, they were called the Lower Five Banners, and it was obvious that the upper flag rank directly commanded by the emperor was not only better treated and of higher status, but also more trusted by the emperor.
However, after the death of Emperor Taiji, the Shangsan Banner changed again. After the death of Emperor Taiji, his eldest son Hauge did not succeed to the throne as emperor, but was instead profited by the 6-year-old Fu Linyu Weng. However, the real power is indeed Dolgun.
After taking power, in order to suppress Hauge, Dorgon lowered the positive blue flag under Hauge to the lower five banners, and the positive white flag directly commanded by himself was raised to the upper three banners. Therefore, the three banners nominally commanded by the emperor are: the yellow flag, the yellow flag and the white flag.
Eight Flags Positive Red Flag Armor
After Dorgon's death, the Shunzhi Emperor, who finally held great power, did not adjust the Shangsan Banners, and from then on, the Shangsan Banners directly commanded by the Qing Emperor stabilized. The yellow flag, the yellow flag, and the white flag were used as the upper three flags, and the two red flags, two blue flags, and the white flag were used as the lower five flags, which lasted until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.