AHC: Save the Qing Dynasty

Those statements are complete nonsense.

That's a very biased opinion against Han Chinese in general. The same as those praising the Mongols while bashing the Han Chinese.

Early Qing emperors did pretty well, those in the middle era are mediocre ones and those in the late era are simply incompetent.

Ok. Let's get it started. I would only include the dynasty that can rule a united or half united China, or not too short (like Qin or Sui)

Han: Basically not too bad.. few of them very good.. but those in East Han after first 2 are atrocious.. all of them died very young and have their power controlled by relatives/ eunuchs, the last controlled by different warlords.

Jin: Basically horrible except the first, maybe, got one famous idiot.

Tang: Got a few very good one... though one of them damn the empire.. and a lot of them are just agents of the eunuchs.

Song: From the tradtional Chinese point of view they are not too good, as the Chinese always get bullied by neighbors. Economically they may do quite good..got a famous calligrapher that cost the empire. Those in South Song are content with having only half of the land.

Yuan: Those after kublai khan are basically crap.

Ming: Got a a few good one, but also a lot of unsuitable candidates. One should be a fighter instead... one should be an alchemist.. one should be a carpenter.. one should be a sleeper as he is too lazy and the last killed his best general that can defend the empire.

The reason that I said Qing has the highest average as they have quite a few good candidates... and the rest may be mediocre.. but they do not have some very unsuitable one like those in Ming that should not be an emperor in the first place. And they do not change their emperor too often. The worst is probably the last..a kid.
 
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Don't you know? Manchus can't be better emperors than Han Chinese, because otherwise it's just... I don't know, it's just complete nonsense. :rolleyes:
 
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Never get why they put Puyi there: "ZOMG! The emperor and the puppet master dowager empress died! Foreigners enroaching our land! Nationalist uprising everywhere! Powerful mandarins wrestling power! Clearly we must put a two-year-old infant on the throne! And appoint the infant's 25 years old father as the regent! Instead of just making him the emperor!"

... Seriously?
 
With a PoD any time after May 29, 1790, keep the Qing Dynasty from collapsing in the 20th century.

It really isn't that difficult. The Qing were pretty good at being all things to all the different peoples in its empire. These were the people who had imams recite prayers to Allah in their name, while simultaneously also patronizing Buddhist lamas and making sacrifices in the Temple of Heaven.

The real problems they had were:

1) After the 1800s, a spate of young emperors who often died young. Power therefore consolidated 'behind the scenes' into the hands of Empress Dowagers, court factions etc.

2) The delicate balance they had to strike between Han and non-Han interests. I don't think the Qing were viewed as illegitimate by the Han elite, not until the very end. If push came to shove, the Qing would sacrifice their 'Manchu-ness' in order to preserve their empire, as shown in the dismantling of the Willow Palisade in the face of Russian encroachment. The problem was that if they conceded too much to Han they risked alienating the other bits of their empire, which would create instability, which would encourage Han rebellion, etc.

After 1790, there were a myriad of ways the Qing could have saved their empire:

1) 1830s: Concede to British demands for trade and not kick off the whole 'foreign humiliation' thing.

2) 1850s: Bite the bullet of national humiliation and enter into a 'dependency relationship' of sorts with Russia, like the Ottomans under Hunkar Iskelesi. This would result in Manchuria and Xinjiang being lost, but Russian protection will give the Qing a bit of a breathing room to sort out their affairs without too much domestic/foreign interruptions.

3) 1860s: Either Xianfeng or Tongzhi lives longer and manages to wrest control of the government from Cixi, allowing them to personally oversee the Self-Strengthening Movement. With the appropriate momentum from on high reforms could well have had a chance to continue - and, more importantly, gain the confidence of the Western Powers.

4) 1870s: Cixi manages to wrest control of local affairs back from the Confucian gentry, particularly high-level officials such as Zeng Guofan or (later) Li Hongzhang. With the provinces back under the control of the Central Government, the possibilities of generating a proto-warlord who is beyond the scope of the central government (i.e. Yuan Shikai) are much lowered.

5) 1900s: Guangxu manages to outlast/outlive Cixi to instigate his reforms, which takes some wind out of the revolutionary movement as well as bolstering some degree of Western support.
 
The Tongzhi emperor IIRC had a propensity for unsafe sexual relations, and died young due to STDs. Maybe have Cixi raise him better and decide that power is safe with him?
 
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