China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central EurasiaFrom 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. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - languagehat - LibraryThingThis is a superb history that should be read by anyone with even a slight interest in the region. Perdue integrates sources from all the relevant languages and archives, takes account of all important ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Shrike58 - LibraryThingThis an exhaustive study of how Manchurian dynasty of the Qing brought the last independent Mongol polity to heel and how this fit into the early modern context of rapidly expanding world commercial ... Read full review
Contents
1 | |
13 | |
Part Two Contending for Power | 131 |
Part Three The Economic Basis of Empire | 301 |
Part Four Fixing Frontiers | 407 |
Part Five Legacies and Implications | 495 |
Appendixes | 567 |
Abbreviations | 591 |
Notes | 593 |
Bibliography | 671 |
Illustration Credits | 707 |
Index | 711 |
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agrarian Amursana Asia Asian attack banner barbarians Barköl Beijing border Cambridge campaigns capital Central Eurasian Ch’ing China Chinese colonies conquest cultural Dalai Lama dynasty early east economic eighteenth century empire envoys Eurasia European expansion Fanglue forces frontier Galdan Tseren Gansu garrisons grain granaries Hami harvest historians History horses Ibid imperial interior Kangxi emperor Kazakhs Khalkhas Khan Khan’s Khoshot Kokonor land Lobzang Manchu maps markets merchants military Ming modern Mongolian Mongols nomadic northwest Nurhaci Oirats Ottoman PDZGFL qian peace political princes print version Qianlong Qing dynasty Qing officials Qing rulers Qing troops Qingdai QPSF QSLQL region River Russian seventeenth Shaanxi Siberia silver steppe supplies Suzhou taels territory thousand Tibet Tibetan tion Torghuts trade tribes tribute Tsar Tsewang Rabdan Tulisen Tuntian Turfan Turkestan Tüsiyetü University Press Ürümchi view this image Wang Wei Yuan western Xinjiang Yongzheng Yongzheng emperor Yuan ZPZZ Zungharia Zunghars