The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in history, and its demise was only more than a hundred years ago, but many people still have many misunderstandings about the Qing Dynasty. For example, because the Qing Dynasty was founded by the Manchus, many people mistakenly believe that the Manchus had a high status in the Qing Dynasty. In fact, this is not the case, ordinary Manchus and Han Chinese are actually similar, they need to support themselves, but they enjoy a reduction in tax payment.
The real privileges in the Qing Dynasty were those Manchus who were in the flag book, which is commonly known as the flag people. Because their ancestors made great contributions to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing soldiers rewarded the children of these bannermen after entering the customs, and this part of the people also became the later Eight Banners disciples. Most of them did not need to work, and the imperial court would give them feng lu on time, and they could also get very moist by relying on these feng lu. If there is a major festival, the imperial court will also issue additional subsidies, and it is said that a child of the Eight Banners will spend at least three thousand taels of silver from birth to death.
What is the concept of three thousand taels of silver? You know, during the Qing Dynasty, the income of an ordinary family for one year, after shaving off the family's eating and drinking expenses, it was already remarkable to be able to balance three or two pieces of silver. The Eight Banner Soldiers of that year were all brave and good at war, but their descendants, after enjoying hundreds of years of moist life, had long forgotten the bravery of their ancestors, and they walked their dogs and birds all day, eating in the streets and waiting for death. Therefore, in the eyes of modern people, the Eight Banners are often equated with the disciples of the Eight Banners and the second ancestor.
Although the status of the Eight Banners nobility is high, compared to the Qing Dynasty royal family Ai Xinjue Luoshi, it is a small witch.
In the 1580s, Aishin Kyaw Roche was a small family, consisting of six uncles and uncles from Nurhaci and their 22 sons. With the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the surname quickly spread, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population of the children of the imperial family had exceeded 140,000. Today, a hundred years later, according to statistics, the population of this surname is as high as 400,000. However, most people with this surname today are very low-key, such as the famous calligrapher Qi Gong, who avoids talking about his royal status.
According to the distance of the bloodline relationship, the Qing Dynasty divided the Ai Xin Jue Luo clan into two parts for management, namely the Clan Room and the Jue Luo. The sons of the clan are well understood, referring to those who have imperial blood, while Kyora does not necessarily have imperial blood, and may also be the status of the emperor's reward. For example, many meritorious ministers in the history of the Qing Dynasty were given the surname Jueluo by the emperor, such as the military department Shangshu Namutai in the early Qing Dynasty, who was later given the surname Jueluo Namutai, and Huer Khan, who became Jueluo Huer Khan after he was given the surname.
Whether it is the children of the Eight Banners, or the royal children of the Qing Dynasty, or the Jueluo who are given surnames by these imperial courts, they have been treated preferentially by the imperial court since they were born, and their lives can be said to be worry-free. However, with the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the iron rice bowl that had been served for hundreds of years was suddenly gone, and these royal children who had been pampered in the past had to make a living for themselves like ordinary people. Naturally, there are some good mixes among them, but most of them are still forced by life to be discouraged, and even some Qing Dynasty princes have lost their ancestral property and have to go to the streets to pull rickshaws to make a living.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, according to the provisions of the preferential conditions for the abdication of the Qing Emperor, the Xuantong Emperor could still live in the Forbidden City, and the unfinished tomb of the Guangxu Emperor was also funded by the Republic of China to continue to be built. In addition, the Republic of China also allocated 4 million taels of silver (4 million singapore dollars) every year for the emperor's daily expenses. At that time, Empress Longyu was able to win this condition, which was already very possible, and she did not have the energy to deal with the preferential treatment of ordinary royal families.
The preferential conditions also mention the Qing dynasty royal family, but there are no specific preferential measures, nothing more than the protection of private property, free naturalization and so on. As for the mention of "there are people in the princes who have struggled to make a living, trying to raise their livelihoods on their behalf", this statement is also equivalent to not saying, otherwise Wang Yansen of Keqin County would not have gone to the street to pull a foreign car in order to fill his stomach. In general, even if the ordinary royal family made a living for themselves and no longer enjoyed the preferential conditions of the past, the Qing Dynasty was destroyed, and naturally it was no longer possible to support them.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, where did the 140,000 royal families go? How do they feed themselves? Most of these people are engaged in these two professions, that is, police, administration and other professions, which are still very popular today. Because after all, they are the former imperial family, although they have fallen, but most of the previous connections are still there, and they still have a great advantage over ordinary people if they want to join these industries. And they were all well educated, and in an era when the vast majority of people were illiterate, their opportunities far exceeded those of ordinary people.
Although they are engaged in good occupations, for them, life is not good. Because after the Qing Dynasty, they not only lost their noble status, but also faced the hatred of ordinary people. This situation is inevitable, as the royal nobles of the previous dynasty, they did not oppress the people at the beginning, but now they have fallen, and naturally they have to face people's hatred. Therefore, many children of the imperial family have changed their surnames in order to avoid trouble, changing to Jin, Zhao, Zhao and other Han surnames, such as the aforementioned QiGong, whose original surname was Ai Xin Jueluo, the ninth grandson of the Yongzheng Emperor, and the Qing imperial family of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er.