When I studied history in middle school, the most indignant thing was to study modern Chinese history. Because the decadent Manchu Qing government, a bunch of mediocre people surrounded an old woman, only for their own pleasure, but they ignored the honor and humiliation of the people and the country, not only allowing the great powers to trample on and invade our land, but also signing one treaty after another with these aggressors, so that our entire country was in a backward and beaten situation for a long time.
Judging from these historical events, the Qing Dynasty seems to be the worst dynasty in Chinese history.
But is this really the case?
When it comes to the worst dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing Dynasty is not yet counted, and the reason why it is said is well-founded.
The details are as follows:
First, the Manchu Qing dynasty was the largest dynasty in China and had the largest population. According to statistics, the population of the Qin Dynasty was only 20 million, the Han Dynasty was up to 60 million, the Jin Dynasty was more than 16 million, the Tang Dynasty was 40 million to 50 million, the Northern Song Dynasty was 46 million, the late Yuan Dynasty was 50 million, the late Ming Dynasty was more than 60 million, and the population of the Qing Dynasty was at least hundreds of millions. The Western Regions, Tibet, Inner and Outer Mongolia, and Taiwan were also included in the territory of the Qing Dynasty, far exceeding the Qin Dynasty.
Second, the military strength of the Qing Dynasty, although second only to the Yuan Dynasty, was still very strong. In the war with the Western powers, the Qing Empire was often at a disadvantage, which inevitably gave people the illusion that the military ability of the Qing Dynasty was not good, and the strength of the army was vulnerable. But in fact, if you look at it from the perspective of traditional war, the achievements of the Qing Government are still relatively brilliant.
As a military force of a ruling dynasty, its main role is nothing more than two parts:
The first is internal stability maintenance;
The second is to resist the enemy externally.
From these two points, the Qing government's army is not inferior. Although there were many wars with the Western powers and repeated defeats, it did not perish. Even if the Qing government suffered heavy losses and the national strength was weakening, it was still possible to pacify Xinjiang, recover Ili, and suppress the rebellion of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Moreover, before that, there were military operations such as leveling san Francisco, taking over Taiwan, and dealing with the Sect Sect Party, which were even more invincible.
Therefore, the military strength of the Qing Dynasty was not weak, and the armament of the Great Qing Dynasty was not a "paper tiger".
Third, the Politics of the Qing Dynasty was relatively clear. Under the same centralized feudal rule, the government of the Qing Dynasty, although not the cleanest and most holy, was definitely not the worst. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty government did not have eunuchs to rebel, there was no disaster of foreign relations, there was no absurd and dim-witted tyrant, and there was no incident in which the emperor was deposed or killed, which was relatively "stable and united" in China's dynasties and dynasties.
In addition, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, there was a "Kang Yongqian prosperous era" that lasted for 134 years. You know, the "rule of Wenjing" of the Han Dynasty lasted only fifty years, the "rule of the emperor" of the Sui Dynasty was only 24 years, the "rule of Zhenguan" of the Tang Dynasty was only 23 years, the "rule of Taizu Taizong" of the Song Dynasty was 30 years, and the "rule of Renxuan" of the Ming Dynasty was 11 years.
What's more, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, both the emperor and the regent were basically seriously responsible for their own work, and there were many diligent leaders. At the same time, they are also very serious and responsible for the management of state affairs, in addition to the "three festivals and two birthdays", that is, the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor, the empress dowager's birthday and other celebrations can rest and entertain, the rest of the time in the office every day, can be regarded as a year-round.
Moreover, the timeliness of transaction processing is also very strict, and strive to complete the day of the day, and dozens of cases or even hundreds of folds must be approved every day. Not only that, the office system of the Qing Empire was also very perfect, requiring high efficiency and confidentiality. The internal organizational structure of the imperial court is very strict, the departmental setting system is sound and clear, and the channels for uploading and issuing are also very smooth.
Because of this, although there were various disasters during the reign period, the fundamentals of the country have never wavered. Even if some divisions were caused, they were eventually resolved effectively through peaceful means. Therefore, the rule of the Qing Dynasty was not as unbearable as everyone imagined.
Fourth, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, the living standards of the common people were still good, and the small life was still reasonable. At that time, the Qing government, in fact, attached great importance to the issue of people's livelihood, the relevant policies were relatively relaxed, and various preferential policies and methods of benefiting the people were emerging in an endless stream. For example, during the Kangxi Period, the Qing Dynasty began to implement the system of "spreading the land into acres", and then announced that "never add money".
This initiative contributed to the more than 210 years from the Kangxi to the Daoguang years, when the people of the Qing Dynasty lived a rich and stable life, and many people were able to maintain their lives at a well-off level. Although, in the late Qing Dynasty, it encountered the turmoil of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had a great destructive effect on social life, but the development of its national economy was still stable and performed well.
Of course, as a feudal rule, the main wealth is still concentrated in the hands of the ruler, and the life of ordinary people is certainly difficult and difficult from now on, but this is a common disease in China's feudal history, not a problem of the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, even in the late Qing Dynasty, although the people's lives were not as good as before, there were no natural disasters and man-made disasters like those at the end of the Qin, The end of the Han, the end of the Sui, the end of the Tang, and the end of the Ming, let alone the occurrence of catastrophes and civil unrest.
In addition, there was no situation of hunger everywhere in the country, hungry people nowhere, and no people exposing the uprising, which was good in the dynasties.
Fifth, in the handling of the ethnic issue, the Qing Government took appropriate measures and performed commendably. In the rule of successive dynasties, the national question has been a very difficult issue. For example, in the Han and Tang dynasties, the conquest campaigns launched because of the ethnic issue were continuous, but the result was often both defeated and injured, and eventually more peace and relatives were involved. In the Song and Ming dynasties, the state was even more laissez-faire on the issue of nationality, and eventually, it evolved into no room for counter-attack on ethnic disputes, resulting in the subjugation of the country.
In contrast, during the Qing Dynasty, the ethnic issue was handled relatively well. The Qing government adopted a number of measures, combining rigidity and softness, combining soft and hard, turning enemies into friends, and winning more with less, and in the end, it successfully created a situation of "five nationalities republic" in which Han Manchu and Mongolia returned to Tibet. Although, in fact, it is also superficially harmonious, at least there has been no large-scale ethnic conflict, which has ensured stability and unity in the development process of various nationalities.
Therefore, from the several aspects summarized above, we can see that the rule of the Qing government is still relatively stable.
It did not have the problem of eunuchs abusing power like the Ming Dynasty, nor did it have foreign relatives chaotic government like the Han Dynasty, nor did it have the mountains and rivers like the Jin Dynasty, nor did it have the division of feudal towns like the Tang Dynasty, nor did it have the problem of Wang Gang breaking the button like the Sui Dynasty, nor did it have the people's livelihood like the Qin Dynasty, nor did it have a situation where the Song Dynasty lost a large area of land.
Although there were also disasters during the Qing Dynasty, most of them were borderline challenges, and the fundamentals of the country were never shaken. The integration between ethnic groups and the development of people's livelihood are also OK, at least there is no racial discrimination and national vendetta like the Yuan Dynasty, let alone years of famine like the Han Dynasty, and even the tragedy of cannibalism.
Therefore, in summary, the Qing Dynasty is not the worst dynasty in Chinese history, and if we have to say which dynasty is the worst, the author believes that it should be the Jin Dynasty.
Of course, the rule of the Qing Dynasty was not perfect, it also had drawbacks, problems, and many policies that were unpopular, but it really was not as bad, bad, and even sinful as we thought.
Although the demise of the Qing Dynasty had internal and external difficulties, the most fundamental reason was still institutional reasons, not political reasons. Because, since Qin Shi Huang established a unified centralized imperial system, by the time of the Qing Dynasty, it has gone through more than two thousand years of development, and the imperial system has come to an end.
It can be said that this is an inevitable trend in the development of history, from theocratic power to the monarchy, and then from the monarchy to the civil power, which is an irresistible trend.