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Emperor Xuantong officially abdicated on 12 February 1912. Why is the Qing dynasty often dated as beginning in 1644 and ending in 1911? |
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See answer below. |
The preferential treatment granted to the abdicated Qing emperor was as follows:
(1) The Qing emperor would retain his imperial title. The Republic of China would treat him with the same degree of ceremony shown monarchs of foreign countries.
(2) The Republic of China would bestow upon the Qing emperor an annual stipend of four million taels (of silver).
(3) The Qing emperor could reside temporarily in the Forbidden City before moving to the Summer Palace (Yiheyuan, 頤和園). He would be allowed to retain and use his attendants and bodyguards.
(4) The Republic of China would provide military protection for the perpetual observances at the imperial temples and tombs.
(5) The Republic of China would complete the tomb of Emperor Guangxu (光緒) in accordance with imperial standards and conduct his funeral ceremony with all the traditional rites. All expenses incurred would be borne by the Republic of China.
(6) The Qing emperor would retain and use as customary all categories of service personnel, except that no more eunuchs could be recruited.
(7) The Republic of China would offer special protection to all of the Qing emperor’s private property.
(8) The Palace Guard would be placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Army of the Republic of China but that their statutory strength and stipends would remain as before.
Under the preferential treatment, Puyi and his imperial family were able to reside in the Forbidden City even after the establishment of the Republic of China. It was not until 1924 that they were evicted due to the drastic changes in Beijing’s political situation. For the other nobles of the Aisin Gioro clan, their lives were also safeguarded as a condition of Puyi’s abdication. Most of the Aisin Gioro nobles took a great interest in their children’s education. Many of their descendants thus excelled in various fields, particularly in academic and artistic aspects.
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Emperor Xuantong officially abdicated on 12 February 1912. Why is the Qing dynasty often dated as beginning in 1644 and ending in 1911? |
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The marks of the beginning and the end of a Chinese dynasty based on the customary practices of historians. For example, 202 BC, when Liu Bang (劉邦, also known as Emperor Gaozu﹝高祖﹞of the Western Han dynasty﹝西漢﹞) ascended to the throne after defeating Xiang Yu (項羽), is usually considered the founding year of the Western Han dynasty, even though the annals of Western Han typically consider 206 BC - the year Liu was made the King of Han - as the founding year of the dynasty, and 8 AD as it ended. However, when exactly the new dynasties assumed control of the Central Plains (中原) or began to reign over the entire nation is often considered the more important criteria for dating purposes. For example, although the Yuan dynasty (元代) was founded in 1271, most historians consider its founding year as 1279 (the year the Southern Song dynasty﹝南宋﹞fell) and its end year as 1368 (when it retreated from the Central Plains back to the northern steppes). As for the Qing dynasty, it started out as the Later Jin dynasty (後金) when it was first founded outside Chinese borders in 1616; in 1636, it was renamed the Qing dynasty. Its reign is commonly dated from 1644 (the year it established itself inside China) to 1911 (the year of the Xinhai Revolution). Similarly, although the Republic of China continued to be called as such after its retreat to Taiwan in 1949, its reign is often dated from 1912 to 1949, the year it retreated from the Chinese mainland. |