The Tongzhi Restoration and the Contradictions of Imperial Revival
In the tenth lunar month of the tenth year of the Xianfeng era—November 1860 CE—the Great Qing Empire appeared to be gasping its final…
27 min read
Tag
Qing
The White Lotus Rebellion and the Shattering of Qing Infallibility
In the first lunar month of the first year of the Jiaqing era—February 1796 CE—an imperial abdication ceremony of breathtaking pageantry was staged within…
28 min read
Heshen and the Plunder of the High Qing
3B. The Siku Quanshu and the Terror of the Literary Inquisition Beyond his financial machinations, Heshen exercised immense cultural and intellectual power as the…
28 min read
The Thirteen Factories of Canton and the Cohong
For eighty-five years—between 1757 and 1842 CE—the entire commercial, financial, and diplomatic relationship between the Chinese Empire and the maritime powers of the Western…
28 min read
The Dzungar Annihilation and the Creation of Qing Xinjiang
In the ninth lunar month of the twentieth year of the Qianlong era—October 1755 CE—an extraordinary triumphal stone monument was hoisted atop the precipitous…
28 min read
The Treaty of Nerchinsk and the First Sovereign Border of the Qing
On August 27, 1689 CE (the twenty-fourth day of the seventh lunar month in the twenty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign), on a wind-scoured…
28 min read
The Revolt of the Three Feudatories and the Young Kangxi
In the eleventh lunar month of the twelfth year of the Kangxi era—December 1673 CE—a momentous ceremony of rebellion was enacted inside the marble…
28 min read