From about 1600 to 1800, the Qing empire of China expanded to unprecedented size. Through astute diplomacy, economic investment, and a series of ambitious military campaigns into the heart of Central Eurasia, the Manchu rulers defeated the Zunghar Mongols, and brought all of modern Xinjiang and Mongolia under their control, while gaining dominant influence in Tibet. The China we know is a product of these vast conquests.
Peter C. Perdue chronicles this little-known story of China’s expansion into the northwestern frontier. Unlike previous Chinese dynasties, the Qing achieved lasting domination over the eastern half of the Eurasian continent. Rulers used forcible repression when faced with resistance, but also aimed to win over subject peoples by peaceful means. They invested heavily in the economic and administrative development of the frontier, promoted trade networks, and adapted ceremonies to the distinct regional cultures.
Perdue thus illuminates how China came to rule Central Eurasia and how it justifies that control, what holds the Chinese nation together, and how its relations with the Islamic world and Mongolia developed. He offers valuable comparisons to other colonial empires and discusses the legacy left by China’s frontier expansion. The Beijing government today faces unrest on its frontiers from peoples who reject its autocratic rule. At the same time, China has launched an ambitious development program in its interior that in many ways echoes the old Qing policies.
China Marches West is a tour de force that will fundamentally alter the way we understand Central Eurasia.
List of Maps*
Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Names, Dates, Weights and Measures, and Chinese Characters
Introduction
History, Time, and Memory
The Qing Conquests as a World Historical Event
I. The Formation of the Central Eurasian States
1. Environments, State Building, and National Identity
The Unboundedness of Central Eurasia
Trade, Transport, and Travel
The Frontier Zone
Isolation and Integration
2. The Ming, Muscovy, and Siberia, 1400–1600
The Ming and the Mongols
State Formation in Muscovy and Russian Expansion
Siberian and Chinese Frontiers
3. Central Eurasian Interactions and the Rise of the Manchus, 1600–1670
Building the Zunghar State
The Rise of the Manchus
Mongolian Influence on the Manchu State
Early Modern State Building Compared
II. Contending for Power
4. Manchus, Mongols, and Russians in Conflict, 1670–1690
Kangxi the Ruler
Galdan’s Intervention
Kangxi’s First Personal Expedition
The Treaty of Nerchinsk and the Excluded Middle
5. Eating Snow: The End of Galdan, 1690–1697
The Dolon Nor Assembly
The Battle of Jao Modo
The Emperor Rewrites History
The Final Campaigns and the Fate of Galdan
6. Imperial Overreach and Zunghar Survival, 1700–1731
The Rise of Tsewang Rabdan
Three Central Eurasian Travelers
The Penetration of Turkestan and Tibet
The New Emperor Changes Tack
7. The Final Blows, 1734–1771
Transforming the Barbarians through Trade
The Death Knell of the Zunghar State
The Conquest of Turkestan
The Return of the Torghuts
III. The Economic Basis of Empire
8. Cannons on Camelback: Ecological Structures and Economic Conjunctures
Galdan the State Builder
Nian Gengyao and the Incorporation of Qinghai
Administering the Frontier
9. Land Settlement and Military Colonies
Deportation from Turfan
Settlement of Xinjiang
Colonization and Land Clearance
Economic Development
10. Harvests and Relief
Harvests and Yields
Granary Reserves
The Contribution Scandal
The Relief Campaign of 1756
11. Currency and Commerce
Money on the Frontier, from Song through Ming
Integration and Stabilization
Commerce as a Weapon of War
Tribute and Frontier Trade
IV. Fixing Frontiers
12. Moving through the Land
Travel and Authority
Marking Space in Stone
Maps and Power
Expanding the Imperial Gaze
13. Marking Time: Writing Imperial History
Kangxi’s Campaign History
Yongzheng and the Dayi Juemilu
Qianlong’s Account of the Zunghar Mongols
A View from the Frontier
Nomadic Chronicles
V. Legacies and Implications
14. Writing the National History of Conquest
Statecraft Writers and Empire
Geopolitics and Emperor Worship
Chinese Historians and the Multicultural State
Soviet and Mongolian Attacks on Qing Aggression
Empires, Nations, and Peoples
15. State Building in Europe and Asia
The Political Ecology of Frontier Conquest
European, Chinese, and Inner Asian Models
Theories of Nomadic Empires
Rethinking the Qing in the World
16. Frontier Expansion in the Rise and Fall of the Qing
The End of the Qing State
Northwest and Southern Frontiers
The Negotiated State
Commercialization and Regionalization
Appendixes
A. Rulers and Reigns
B. The Yongzheng Emperor Reels from the News of the Disaster, 1731
C. Haggling at the Border
D. Gansu Harvests and Yields
E. Climate and Harvests in the Northwest
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Index
* Maps
1. The Qing empire, ca. 1800
2. The Zunghar empire
3. Ecological zones of Eurasia
4. Tribal peoples and Russian settlements in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
5. The Sino–Russian frontier
6. The Kangxi emperor’s Zunghar campaigns, 1690–1697
7. The Qianlong emperor’s western campaigns, 1755–1760
8a. Grain price integration in Gansu, 1739–1864
8b. Grain price integration in Gansu with famine years omitted, 1739–1864
9. Grain price integration in Xinjiang, 1777–1860
《世界汉学(第13卷)》内容简介:《世界汉学(第13卷)》旨在给关切中华文明的历史经验事实和未来发展前景的各国汉学家,提供一个
《乔伊斯评论集:名家论乔伊斯》内容简介:作为”乔伊斯文集”外一卷,正如副书名,本书是一册名家评论乔伊斯的集子。评论人包括庞
落日下的龙旗/1894-1895中日战争纪实 内容简介 简介《落日下的龙旗》以翔实的史料、生动的文笔和厚重的历史责任感、全景式、全方位地再现了百年前中华民族被日...
中国抗日战争全景录:天津卷 本书特色 张树军主编的《中国抗日战争全景录(天津卷)》讴歌天津人民在中国共产党的领导下反抗外族侵略的英雄业绩,揭露日本帝国主义者在天...
梦断三国-袁绍篡位阴谋破产记 内容简介 他曾在疑云密布的东汉末世纵横捭阖,令曹操、刘备、孙权顶礼膜拜;他曾一手结束了东汉帝国,却没能登上九五之尊;他曾公然以皇帝...
传习录 本书特色 ★精心译注,文白对照,精装珍藏,古为今用 无障碍阅读 精辟透彻。 ★阳明心学经典 儒家之作,全译全注、文白对照、精僻透彻讲解详评,通俗易懂,无...
《边城》内容简介:在川湘交界的茶峒附近,有一条小溪和一座白塔,旁边住着一户人家。这人家只有爷爷老船夫和外孙女翠翠两个人,还
麦考莱英国史Ⅰ:从历史的黎明到詹姆斯二世权力的顶峰(1865-1702年) 本书特色 ★麦考莱的辉格史学塑造了英国和十九世纪自由主义者的历史观,范围其实远远超出...
顾颉刚和他的弟子们-增订本 内容简介 《顾颉刚和他的弟子们》(增订本)是一部以闻名中外的“古史辨派”为研究重心的现代学术史著作。并不是一般意义上的学术史著作,而...
这是一本作者历时十多年,采访和拍摄了40多位老人的纪实文学作品,还原了70多年前那段惨绝人寰的历史记忆,再现了她们当年被迫成
延安精神 内容简介 延安精神是中国共产党人在延安时期的全部优良传统和作风的概括,是一个博大精深的体系,它继承了井冈山精神、长征精神的优良传统,有着非常丰富的内容...
蒙古史纲要-修订本 内容简介 《蒙古史纲要(修订版)》系统地介绍了蒙古族的历史与文化,时限从蒙古族起源到1947年内蒙古自治区建立为止。记述时间以公元纪年为主,...
三国志 内容简介 《三国志》是一部记载我国魏、蜀、吴三国鼎立时期史实的正史,共六十五卷,包括魏书三十卷、吴书二十卷、蜀书十五卷。西晋陈寿撰,南朝宋裴松之注。晋武...
《创伤与记忆:身体体验疗法如何重塑创伤记忆》内容简介:本书是彼得·莱文集毕生研究大成的巅峰之作,他在本书中整合了看似迥异的
《挺进非洲》内容简介:本书全面反映和真实再现了中国第一支赴利比里亚维和警察防暴队在利比里亚维和9个月期间的生活、战斗历程。作
睁眼看历史-那些被掩盖的历史真相 内容简介 孔融曾经让过梨,司马光曾经砸过缸,我们的历史教育,便从这些名人的趣闻逸事开始。小半数或许是真的,大多数或许是假的,历...
历史名人与滑县 本书特色滑县历史上曾孕育出众多名臣良相、廉吏义士、起义英雄及文学家、科学家。《历史名人与滑县》共75篇,写了75人,如翟让、程咬金、徐茂公等起义...
明代山东海防研究 本书特色 海防史是明史研究的重要课题,也是目前配合国家海洋强国战略实施的重点研究领域。 以往的明代海防研究存在“重南轻北”、“重后轻前”现象。...
19世纪俄国人笔下的广州 内容简介 本译著收录了19世纪各个时期访问广州的俄国人留下的航海记、见闻录和旅行记,包括世纪初俄国首次环球航行船只希望号和涅瓦号与广州...
《唐诗杂论》内容简介:本书是现代著名学者闻一多先生唐诗研究的经典之作,内容涉及唐代诗歌的多个方面,对唐代著名诗人,如“初唐