Word: manchus
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Soviet citizen in two decades to visit Chiang Kai-shek's Taiwan, secretly, in late 1968. His book, however, is virtually devoid of contemporary sinological research, not to mention eyewitness reporting. Louis draws on czarist-era studies to proclaim that nationalism is flourishing even in Manchuria, though the Manchus have virtually vanished as an identifiable ethnic group, largely because of overwhelming Han Chinese immigration for a century. At one point Louis admits this; at another point he claims, preposterously, that the issue of Manchu nationhood is being debated "heatedly" by scholars. He even concocts a bizarre drama in which...
...power, after a reign of 40 years, the Manchu ruler is engaged in an enormous program of cultural improvements. Some 15,000 calligraphers have been engaged to make handwritten copies of 10,000 books for the nation's half-dozen main libraries. (No books critical of the Manchus are permitted, however.) The Emperor is also subsidizing hundreds of poets and painters to exalt Chinese achievements...
...this military and cultural display, the Emperor appears to be ignoring a future problem. Partly because of the Manchus' imposition of political stability, and partly because such newly introduced American foods as maize and peanuts can be grown on marginal lands, China's population is virtually exploding. The increase in the 132 years since the founding of the dynasty: from 100 million to nearly 300 million. Just to the south of Ch'ien-lung's empire, a new civil war is raging among the Vietnamese. Chief victors so far: the three Tay Son brothers, Nhac...
...Manchus who had ruled China for more than two centuries allied themselves with older members of the elite to suppress the younger scholars. Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and other activists who advocated rapid and thorough overhaul of China's government were in exile...
Last Stronghold. There is also an older precedent, dating back to the 17th century civil war between the decadent Ming dynasty and the energetic Manchus. After Peking and Nanking fell to the Manchus, one loyal Ming general, known as Koxinga, took his army across the strait to the redoubt of Taiwan, where his troops dominated the indigenous islanders. Koxinga died in 1662, and though his regime lasted another 20 years, his people gradually lost interest in the Ming cause. Meanwhile, the Manchus gradually won acceptance on the mainland. Though they often met opposition with barbaric cruelty, they also punished incompetence...