| Abstract |
It is inevitable to include the affects of Han culture in the discussion of the Ch’ing history. Yet researchers have very different opinions upon the level of how deeply the Ch’ing government was influenced by the Han culture. The patterns of the dominance of the non-Han authorities could be clarified as the perspectives of “sinicization,” the theory of “dynasties of conquest,” and the lately discussion of the Ch’ing historical features, “Manchu-centered opinion.” Among the discussions about the Ch’ing history, the issue that all the researchers focus on consists in the features of how the Ch’ing authority governed China and the reasons of her success. If we could trace back to the records in the Ch’ing documents and the historical conditions of the Ch’ing governance, it is true that Manchu took the principle of “Shen Han Jhuo Jin” (taking the Han/foreign cultures and systems as the reference to formulate the Manchu strategies), which was formed in the very beginning of the establishment of the Ch’ing dynasty and had a great impact upon the transition of the governmental modes, the settlings of strategies, the adjustments of racial relationships and the tendency of cultural developments, as the prerequisite in accepting and introducing foreign cultures. Thus, the concept included in the principle of “Shen Han Jhuo Jin”could be explained as the perspective in the choices of foreign cultures and the adjustments based on the Manchu-centered principle. Such a principle was continuously proceeding unceasingly examined, in which the Manchu rulers always took the leading position. With the manipulation of “Shen Han Jhuo Jin,” the Manchu government, as a weak power, conquered China and developed into a multi-racial empire. This is the expression of the cultural consciousness and the acceptance of foreign culture, which could be deemed as the crucial issues to reconsider the features of the Ch’ing governance and her success. |
