Late Imperial China

Late Imperial China was a highly tumultuous period, hallmarked by severe autocracy along with widespread upheaval. Late Imperial China is composed of the final two imperial dynasties; the Ming Dynasty, followed by the Qing Dynasty. What did these vast Dynasties accomplish for China? How did their actions lead to the abdication of the throne on February 12, 1912? And how is their culture displayed through their prints and writings?

Late Imperial China Time Period

The Ming Dynasty began in 1368 with the rule of Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu. It ended in 1644 with the suicide of the last Ming Emperor, Chongzhen. The Qing Dynasty began with the rule of Emperor Shunzhi, a Manchurian ruler, and ended in 1912 with the abdication of the boy emperor, Xuantog.

• Late imperial China is formally known as 1368-1912.
• Family life in late imperial China was complex, an example of this is that children were often brought up under the care of extended family, and various women of the home, and each child had an extensive community.
• Females were required to learn embroidery, cooking, and sewing whereas males would engage in play and training at a young age before moving on to family work such as shopkeeping or fieldwork.
• Children of the elite would learn to read, to write calligraphy and elite boys would go into education where they would be required to learn literacy such as the classics.
• In around 1500 AD, the most used and accepted form of religion and philosophy was Taoism, many others being Buddhists.
• The primary form of art in Late imperial China was Chinese Calligraphy.
• The Ming Dynasty was an Absolute monarchy government, whereas the Qing Dynasty was run by an Integrated Bureaucracy.

Late Imperial China Timeline

Late Imperial China began with the Ming Dynasty and ended with the Qing Dynasty. Let's have a closer look at its timeline and important dates.

Late Imperial China Definition

Imperial China spans more than 2,000 years, from 221 BC until AD 1912. During this period, China was ruled by its emperors during a time of political unrest and multiple invasions. Late Imperial China refers to the Qing and Ming Dynasties, as they were the last dynasties to exist, meaning that their economy, culture, and ongoings were largely impacted by the Dynasties that came before them.

Fig. 1 Imperial Insignia Qing Dynasty

Late Imperial China Dynasties

Many dynasties came before the Ming and Qing, a few are as follows...

• Sui Dynasty (581–618)
• Tang Dynasty (618–906)
• Five Dynasties (907–960)
• Song Dynasty (960–1279)
• Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)

Ming Dynasty: 1368-1644

The Ming dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang. He was of humble origins and his parents had both died in his childhood during natural disasters. He spent several years begging at a Buddhist monastery, but his time there ended when a militia destroyed the monastery. After this event, Taizu joined a rebel group that was partnered with the White Lotus Society and quickly became a leader.

Fig. 2 The White Lotus society

Taizu successfully led a military campaign to invade the city of Nanjing and he used Nanjing as a base of operations. His overall goal was to overthrow the Mongolian rulers of the Yuan empire and he accomplished this by capturing Beijing in 1368. The Yuan empire rulers fled the palace and Taizu established the Ming Dynasty.

Taizu was a paranoid emperor who saw enemies everywhere. This led to multiple efforts to root out betrayals and conspirators. Taizu’s efforts began in 1380 with a 14-year internal investigation performed by his own secret police. He had morphed those who served as palace guards into his own personal secret police and their efforts led to almost 30,000 executions. Taizu had two more of these efforts due to his severe paranoia and executed 70,000 government workers. He did not differentiate between high-level or low-level government workers who were under suspicion; they were executed together.

Fig. 3 Portrait of Ming Emperor Taizu

The Ming dynasty ended with the suicide of the emperor Chongzhen in 1644. Before his suicide rebel groups had advanced across the nation overpowering the imperial forces...

• These rebels were also responsible for the destruction of the Yellow River dikes in 1642 which added to the chaos and killed hundreds of thousands of people.
• The flooding added to the already present property and agricultural losses caused by other natural disasters.
• The Ming dynasty ended with a chaotic combination of events and left behind a political crisis.

Qing Dynasty: 1644-1912

The Qing Dynasty, also referred to as the Manchu dynasty or Pinyin Manzu, was the last imperial dynasty of China: 1644-1912.

Fig. 4 Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing dynasty.

The Qing dynasty began after the death of emperor Chongzhen in 1644. Later in the year, the Manchu people overcame the resulting chaos to rule over China as the Qing dynasty with Emperor Shunzhi as the head. This Manchurian rule was the second time that China was not led by the Han people. Emperor Kangxi ruled for 61 years, 1662-1722. This 61-year rule was the longest of all Chinese emperors!

The Qing society was conservative at the beginning and only became more so throughout their reign.

• Homosexuality was assigned severe criminal penalties.
• The purity of women became a significant issue.
• The perceived impurity of widows led to the creation of homes for widows where male interaction was limited.
• Although they were unmarried due to the death of their husband they were seen as unclean to future suitors.

The Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion started in 1899 as the efforts of the Harmonious Fist secret society. The group targeted Christian missionaries and seized their property and eventually grew into a wave of violence against foreigners. The leadership of the nation had been left to the widow of Emperor Xianfeng, Empress Dowager Cixi. Empress Dowager Cixi had operated as the regent for multiple minor age relatives and eventually overthrew Emperor Guangxu who was her nephew.

Fig. 5 The Boxer Rebellion

Empress Dowager Cixi sided with the boxers, and their exploits attracted attention from Europe. Cixi declared war on the West and western forces were deployed to China. The western forces defeated the Imperial Army and the Boxers in 1901. The dynasty was further weakened by the execution of pro-boxer government officials and imposed sanctions. After the death of Empress Dowager Cixi in 1908 the last emperor took the throne, child ruler Xuantog.

Printing and book culture in late imperial China

How did the printing and book cultures differ throughout the Ming and Qing Dynasties? In short, the Ming Dynasty allowed for the expansion of this culture, whereas during the Qing Dynasty, many books and plays were under strict scrutiny and often banned.

Ming Dynasty Printing and Book Culture

During the Ming Dynasty, there was a boom in publishing full-length novels. These affordably produced books allowed commoners to purchase and read, which was previously a higher income bracket activity. There was a demand for fiction, especially that which was written in colloquial language. During the Ming dynasty, writers returned to classical prose and poetry of previous dynasties.

Accompanying this return to classical prose was the restoration of the literary examination for public office. This change demonstrates the value put upon literacy during the Ming Dynasty. Feng Menglong authored a series of comedic short stories which were popular with merchants and educated women. These short stories featured palace figures as well as ghosts and were well-received. Modern historian Caitlin Gallagher suggests that his vernacular short stories reveal the fused culture that the Ming Dynasty was home to. In particular, she analyzes Menglong's “Censor Chen Ingeniously Solves the Case of the Gold Hairpins and Brooches,” and “Old Man Zhang Grows Melons and Marries Wennu,”.²

Fig. 6 The seal of the Ming Dynasty

Most of the well-known examples of literature from the Ming dynasty were written under pseudonyms. One example is an erotic work entitled Jin Ping Mei translated as The Plum in the Golden Vase or The Golden Lotus which was authored under the pseudonym Lanling Xiaoxaio. This pseudonym translates into English as The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling.

Qing Dynasty Printing and Book Culture.

The conservative shift in society was reflected in writings of the time. During the Qing dynasty, books and plays were banned if they were deemed subversive. Poetry and classic novels did find success in the Qing dynasty, such as the poetry of Yaun Mei.

Writing women in late imperial china

Without legal property rights, Imperial China restricted women to the work within the home. The subordinate women of late Imperial China were not treated as equals, and during the Qing Dynasty, they were seen as citizens of the second-class. It wasn't until 1954 that the equality of women and men in China was stipulated in the Constitution.

Ming Dynasty Female Writers

Empress Xu, born in 1362, was an educated woman who wrote bibliographies of virtuous women. Xu was a strict Buddhist and regularly meditated. This was connected to court politics, and Xu is credited as the first person to transcribe a Buddhist sutra from a dream revelation. She wrote it one night after burning incense and meditating. The Buddhist female deity of compassion, Guanyin, appeared to Xu as though in a dream and the sutra was shown to her as a warning. The sutra is composed of conventional Mahayana philosophies, and the mantras were standard Tibetan Buddhist writings.

Fig. 7 Empress Xu illustration

Qing Dynasty Female Writers

Wu Zongau was an unknown female poet until 1843 when a local official inquired about the circumstances of her death. She had committed suicide on the way to marry a rebel general she did not wish to wed. The local official Wu Tiangkang saw Wu Zongau as a model for virtue and printed a collection of her poetry. He also encouraged his colleagues to compose plays and write biographies of Wu Zongau. She became a celebrated female poet and had many biographies written about her life.

Yun Zhu was born in 1771 and was a prolific collector of women's poetry. After her death, her son Linqing found that she had collected over 3,000 poems by women during her life. Her most prominent work was a book of poetry titled Women's Poetry: Anthology for a Correct Beginning. She was well-traveled and continued her work in collecting women's poetry until she died in 1833.