The Reform Of Equality Between Manchus And Hans And The Construction Of Nation-State In The Late Qing Dynasty

The traditional autocracy of China and the geography political system of eastern-Asia has been impacted hugely by the nation-state from the west since the “opium war” in 1840. China was drawn into the latter nation-state system that was mainly established by the west. As an reaction to such crisis, the then Qing dynasty initiated various reforms, including the famous “westernization movement” In the last ten years of Qing Dynasty, the country started a full-scale imitation of the west, from politics to laws and institutions. The key point of this is the belief that the only way to respond to the change of the world is to transform various political and legal systems under the Qing Empire to a uniformed nation-state system.However, as a traditional empire that is established on the basis of multi-nationality, and as an empire that is established by Manchu, a barbarian originated from Eastern-northern Asia, it is tasked to integrate various nations inside the empire to a single modernized nation. This means that the original segregation between the Manchu and the Hans and the discrimination against the Hans must be eliminated and the government must treat all citizens equally. The rules of “Qi Ming Fen Zhi” is a symbol of the traditional governing principle. To address such issue, the difference between the rights and positions of Manchus and Hans must be eliminated. Therefore, the relationship between these two nations can be seen as the most significant issue during the progress of construction of the Chinese nation-state in late Qing Dynasty.The Qing Dynasty’s effort to transit from a traditional oriental empire to a modern nation-state through a planned progressive reform was proven to be a failure, eventually. Although many boundaries between Manchus and Hans were gotten rid of, the issues of multi-nations remain unsolved and complicated, and it remains so even in the days of the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China. It is perhaps true to state that these issues remain significant and unsolved these days. The issues of multi-nations can only be solved when they are put in a modernized framework of politics and laws. The cultural chauvinism of a traditional empire is no longer an option. A nation-state by its nature will require that all nations are transformed to ethnic groups and citizens that enjoy equality of legal rights. Recognizing this, it will be important to examine the transition of the relationship between Manchus and Hans, and mine resources and experience from the early reforms and thought which will help the final solution of the multi-nation issues.The first section of this thesis gave definitions of the multi-national political and legal nature of the Qing Empire. The thesis then point out that such characteristic inalienably includes hierarchy and discrimination among the nations. A modern nation-state naturally requires that all citizens shall enjoy the same rights and have the same identification. The legal and political system of a modern country has to be uniformed and consolidated. Therefore, the pluralistic nature of an empire is not consistent with a modern nation-state. Such inconsistency forced the Qing Empire to try to eliminate the discrimination and segregation between Manchus and Hans, and to change the structure of its judiciary system.The second section of this thesis discussed the difference in the rights enjoyed by Manchus and Hans under Qing’s laws and regulations, especially the discrimination against Hans. This section reviewed the historical change of the different laws with respect to Manchus and Hans in the context of the mixing and merging between the two people and the implementation of the principle of “unification of Manchu and Han”. This section is intended to clarify the historical background of the efforts of political and legal reform to eliminate “Man Han Zhen Yu” in late Qing Dynasty.The third section examined the details of the reform by discussing the contents of the petitions submitted by officials of both Manchus and Hans to the emperor. The reform of eliminating “Man Han Zhen Yu” is also seen as a part of the systematic effort to build up modern legal and political system and to “prepare for adopting constitutionalism”. This section tried to explore the origins and sources of the approaches taken in the reform, by analyzing the content of petitions submitted by Zhang Zhi Dong, Duan Fang and Zai Ze. These petitions reflect the different reasoning and opinions of the then officials of the government. This section also seeks to reveal how these officials in the late Qing Dynasty were influenced by the terms and discourse of the modern/western politics and jurisprudence.The fourth section reviewed the different opinions about nationalism, citizenship, civil liberties and equality between Manchus and Hans in the late Qing Dynasty. The review was focused on the words of important reformists of late Qing Dynasty, including Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Yang Du, particularly on their opinions about the relationship between Manchus and Hans. This section analyzed how their opinions were influenced by both western civilizations and local traditions. This section found out how the requirements of citizenship and liberties of modern nation-state have significantly influenced the reform on equality between Manchus and Hans and nation-state building in late Qing Dynasty. The opinions of “revolutionists” about nation and state were also discussed.The fifth section examined how the pluralistic legal system of the Qing Danasty had evolved to a mono-element legal system by focusing on the changes of rules with respect to transactions between Banner Men(Qi Ren) and commoners. The rules of allowing transactions between Banner Men and commoners not only reflected the conflicts and conciliation between governmental rules and customary laws, but also showed the elimination of the privileges of Banner Men. This section discussed the changes with respect to transactions between Banner Men and commoners in a long historical time and pointed out that there had been back and forth on the priority of protecting Banner Men’s privileges and regulating daily transactions between subjects. The amendment to these rules in the late Qing Dynasty constitutes an important part of the reform aiming to eliminate segregation between Manchus and Hans. The amended rules reflected that Manchus and Hans were finally treated equally in legal and economical activities.The sixth section compared the difference between the Ottoman Empire and the Qing Empire in their process of changing from oriental empire toward nation-state and analyzed the reason why the Republic of China was able to inherit most of the land of the Qing Empire while the Ottoman Empire fell apart. This section introduced the political arrangement made for the various nations within the empire when the Qing Empire was overthrown and the Republic of China was established, i.e. the principle of “republic of five nations”. The section explained how the legitimacy of the Chinese nation was constructed on the basis of national identification developed through the reform on equality between Manchus and Hans and how the Republic inherited the legacy of the Qing Dynasty. At the end this thesis attempts to draw inspiration from the above analysis and shed lights on the issues of relationship between ethnic groups in nowadays China.