Front Page News Article

WAR IN CHINA

THREE FEUDATORIES REVOLT, SPARKS CIVIL WAR

中國戰爭

三FEUDATORIES起義，火花內戰

PROVINCES SOUTH OF THE YANGTZE RIVER- There is chaos in southern China, and the emperor is getting himself grounded into a laborious situation.  The Three Feudatories have revolted and there is a civil war arising in China between the Three Feudatories and the Qing Empire.

            As you all may know, Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong, and Shang Kexi have been the lone leaders of each of the three provinces (which cover about half of China), so they are essentially the emperors of each province.  As of three days ago, Beijing, the capital of China, has just been informed about this crucial calamity.

            The Rebellion of the Three Feudatories has been going on since August of 1673, but the information about the rebellion has just reached China’s capital, Beijing.  Emperor Kangxi spoke to the people of Beijing, stating, “The southern feudatories have been gaining more and more power over the past years, and I cannot accept that.  The provinces have become a threat to my reign, so I have set out a rebellion.”

Emperor Kangxi

The Three Feudatories have been gaining more and more power ever since a king, Wu Sangui, began having control over Yunnan.  Shunzhi, our late emperor, used to be fine with the Three Feudatories, but ever since Kangxi became emperor, they have been a complication for the Qing Empire.  As long as Kangxi has been emperor, he has yearned to terminate the Three Feudatories (in which he is trying to do now) and the southern provinces became aware of that.

            Kangxi has very good reasoning for terminating the southern provinces.  The Three Feudatories have earned half of the expenditures of China for almost the whole time since they were founded, and that money was supposed to go towards the Qing Empire’s luxurious lifestyle, so Kangxi has commenced to do something about it.  “Why should the feudatories get half the money of China if the people within them are not loyal to the Qing Empire?  Not just me, but almost all of the people outside of the Three Feudatories should be living a better lifestyle than those barbarians,” said emperor Kangxi to a small group of people in Tianjin.

            There is belief throughout the nation that this rebellion could last for years, as both sides are relatively even and this should be a tough battle for emperor Kangxi and the rest of the Qing Empire.

Opinion/Editorial

       The Revolt of the Three Feudatories was a revolt that provinces in southern China set out against the Qing empire. Kangxi was the emperor of China at the time, and he noticed that the Three Feudatories were becoming a threat to his power, so he started to do something about it. Emperor Kangxi started to slowly take away the southern provinces' power, my limiting their freedom to do certain things, and the provinces would not accept that. The Three Feudatories revolted against Kangxi and the rest of the Qing empire. This revolt is so pointless, it is just going to be a waste of time and lives.

       Like any other civil war in history, many of lives are going to be lost because of this revolt. If the Three Feudatories did not even revolt in the first place, no lives would be lost and although there would still be some chaos in China, it would not be nearly as bad as it is now. The southern provinces better realize that their decision to revolt against the rest of China is wrong and the right thing to do would be either to surrender or just try to prevent a war in any way. This revolt is also, just like any other war in history, going to come with costs. When has there not  been a war that ended up costing money? That is right...none. If the Three Feudatories do not pull back from their revolt, China is going to have to pay for the costs, which could have gone towards lower class people, or even college pay for students. The Three Feudatories can't have much intelligence, because if they did, they would know not to start a war with the Qing empire. The people should do as the emperor says, not go against it. The Qing's army is larger and stronger than the Three Feudatories' army so, unless a miracle occurs, the Qing are going to remain on top. The provinces are going to get destroyed by the Qing empire It is a shame to see what humanity has come to.

        This civil war can also have its ups and downs though. Once the war is over, China shall be united as one nation, and not [basically] separated as two different nations. Most likely, that is what is going to happen to China, and either the Qing dynasty is going to end or there is not going to be such thing as the Three Feudatories anymore. Also, work is going to increase for those who work on building military equipment, such as guns. People who work on creating military equipment will not lose their job and they will get paid for doing their job. Although this war can lead to good things in the future, it is not worth killing thousands and thousands of people in order to do it. This war can have its ups and downs, but most likely the result is going to be on the "down" side.

       The revolt of the Three Feudatories is, like I said before, a very stupid idea and it is not worth it.  Next time, everybody needs to take people's lives, the expenses, the economy, etc., into consideration when beginning a civil war.  There is absolutely no point of this rebellion, but it is what it is.

MAP

             This is a map of China under the rule of the Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644-1911.  The borders of China back then are similar to China today, except for the fact that under the Qing dynasty, China had control of Mongolia and Tibet.  Also, as you can see, the map of China under the Qing dynasty stretches a tiny bit into Russia on both the northeastern and northwestern borders.  Today, the "Yangtse" River is now called the "Yangtze" River and the "Wei" River is now the "Huang He" River.  You may know that the Qing dynasty was the last dynasty to rule China, ending in 1911, which is mainly the reason why the borders of China under Manchu rule are extremely similar to those of modern day China.   This map shows just how much land the Manchurians took over during its reign and that land expansion was a major factor for the emperors under Qing rule.

Interview With Emperor Shunzhi (Fulin)

Kyle: Hello emperor Shunzhi, first off I would like to thank you for participating in this interview.


Emperor Shunzhi:  No, thank you, it is an honor to be here.


Kyle: Let me get to the first question, Shunzhi, how did you manage to take control over all of China?


Emperor Shunzhi: Well, there were different things happening in China that opened the doors for my fellow Manchurians and I.  I also got some help from Dorgon, since he is one of my regents.  First of all, Nuraci set the foundation for this dynasty to begin, so there was not much work to be done.  The government was becoming corrupt under the Ming Dynasty, which made it easier to take control of China.  When I saw the opportunity to take over the government and control China, I took it, which leads to where I am today.


Kyle: Emperor Shunzhi, why did you leave some of the Mings in their government positions and only replace the really important jobs with Manchurians, although you had complete control of China?

Emperor Shunzhi

Emperor Shunzhi:  I think that there was only reason for that, and that reason was for making the transition easier.  It would be too much of a hassle for all of China and myself if I were to replace all of the people in office.  I thought it was best for China if I only replaced the most important positions with fellow Manchus, so there would not be a dramatic change on the government of China


Kyle:  Next question , Emperor Shunzhi, what have you done for China and what does it mean for your legacy?


Emperor Shunzhi:  I think that I have very much helped China.  I brought civil service examinations back in order for people to earn their jobs as civil servants, and not just get them because they are from an upper class.  I had a goal and that goal was to follow in the Han Dynasty's footsteps and reinstate the Confucian curriculum.  With the way the China is going right now, I can see this dynasty lasting for over 300 years.  I want people to remember me as an emperor who learns from history and since the Han Dynasty was successful, I figured that using their ideas would be good for China.  I reestablished a successful philosophy and I was one of the many good rulers and added to the foundation of this dynasty.  That...now that is what it means to my legacy.


Kyle:  Emperor Shunzhi, how did you become ruler of China? Is there any background information that you would like to share about yourself that leads up to where you are today?


Emperor Shunzhi:  I became ruler of China after my father, Hong Taiji, and I shared power with Dorgon until he died in 1650.  My father was just the second emperor of the Qing Dynasty and I was lucky to take power after him, although I was his ninth son.  Usually, the ninth son does not fulfill such an important position, but as I said before I got lucky.  My father did not name a successor, and when he died, there was a critical decision to be made.  Manchu princes said that Dorgon should become emperor because he was a proven military leader.  However, Dorgon said one of my siblings should become emperor.  The members of the Grand Council chose me to fulfill my father's postion, and that is why I am where I am today.


Kyle: Last question...tell me about the haircutting command, what is it and why did you do it?


Emperor Shunzhi:  The haircutting command was a special tradition for Manchurian men, but I did not think of the idea.  Nurhaci was the first one to enforce this tradition around China, and I had to do the same.  This special hairstyle had to be worn by the men in the areas that the Manchus had conquered.  This hairstyle was actually called a Queue.  Every ten days, the hair above the temples had to be shaven off and the rest would all be braided to form a very long ponytail.  I had the Chinese do this because I did not want to against my own tradition, that would be wrong.  The two emperors before me had also done this, so I was stuck between a rock and a hard place on this decision.  I was basically forced into following this tradition, although many do not like it.

Invention- The Continuous Shotgun

The Continuous Shotgun

             During the 17^th century, in around 1674, Dai Zi, a Chinese firearm expert, made a continuous shotgun that was considered to be the first type of machine gun in the world, which should have been very helpful to the army of the Qing Dynasty.  The continuous shotgun could have helped the Qing army greatly, since it made filling the gun up with bullets so much easier and improved the speed at which someone can fire bullets greatly.  If the army of the Qing Empire had used this gun, considered to be the first “machine gun”, it would have helped them a lot, because it simplified the whole process of reloading and shooting.  However, Dai Zi was framed by a disloyal court official and the emperor banned him from Shengjing.  The Qing army was not equipped by this continuous shotgun, which left China major regret.  The continuous shotgun was one of the greatest inventions during that time, but the Qing’s army did not use it to their advantage.  It could have made battles so much easier for them, but the army went against the idea.

Confucianism

Confucius

            As soon as the Qing Dynasty had taken over the Ming and had control over China, Confucianism became the official belief system of China.  Confucianism was a philosophy created by Confucius, a man that lived from 551-479 BCE, which was based upon the morality of humans and good deeds.  During Confucius’ time, China’s individual states were at war, which made him sad.  Since he did not like how China was at the time, Confucius wrote down his ideas on how a ruler should rule.  Under the Qing Dynasty, people who were trying to get a job as a civil servant had to take a series of exams, that lasted days, or even weeks.  These exams were called civil service exams, and they were based on the teachings of Confucius.  Under Confucianism, people studied and studied Confucius’ teachings day after day.  Although there were some flaws with Confucianism, such as valuing tradition more than progress, the philosophy helped China greatly during the Qing Dynasty and earlier.  In Confucianism, there are five key relationships in which the superior acts as a model and the inferior respects the superior person.  These relationships are: Ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, elder sibling and younger sibling, and friend and friend (friend and friend go against the rule of respect).  Day-to-day life changed based on all five of these relationships.   People had to treat one another differently, and the inferior did what they were told.  Under the philosophy of Confucianism during multiple dynasties leading up to the Qing Dynasty, China strengthened and united as one nation, unlike China when Confucius lived.  If it was not for Confucius’ book of Analects, China during those dynasties could have been a disaster.

Major Events

           During the time of the Qing Empire, a lot of major events occurred in China.  One of those major events was the ban of Christianity in China, which happened in 1723.  A law was passed that deported all Christian missionaries from China, except for 20 of them (but were not allowed to preach) and churches became town halls, schools, and warehouses.  This ban showed that there was still extreme conflict between old Chinese customs and the anti-Christian movement.  Two other major events that happened during the Qing Dynasty were the Opium Wars.  These wars happened in 1839 and then in 1856, and they led to trade ports for the British.  China was addicted to a substance known as opium, and the British were the ones that supplied China with it.  After the emperor of China made it illegal for the British to supply the Chinese with opium, a war broke loose.  Since China was addicted to opium, their army was destroyed and the British won fairly easily.  This resulted in the British opening five trade ports along the borders of China in order to make trade easier.  In 1900, another event, known as the Boxer Rebellion, began in China.  The Boxers did not like the idea of foreign influence, so they rebelled against Chinese Christians and attempted to invade foreign embassies in Beijing.  The Boxers killed thousands of Chinese Christians.  This rebellion led to eight different countries invading China, including England, the U.S, Germany, France, and Russia, and forcing China into signing a peace treaty with all of the countries.  This rebellion ended up leading to China’s government weakening and the partitioning of China, which consisted of the Russian occupying Manchuria and the Germans occupying Tsingtao.  These major events during the time of the Qing Dynasty caused great controversy to the Qing Empire.  People were wondering the Manchus could keep China under control, in which they were capable of doing.