if the Qing was overthrown in the 19th century (by the Nien Rebellion, or otherwise), and the victors set up their own dynasty... would they have restored the Ming Dynasty? Because for a long time the goal of many Chinese was to overthrow the foreign Manchu overlords and restore the Qing.
Was this goal dead by the 1800s? So if the Nien wanted legitimacy by restoring the Ming, would they have? or would they have just formed some entirely new dynasty?
Was this goal dead by the 1800s? So if the Nien wanted legitimacy by restoring the Ming, would they have? or would they have just formed some entirely new dynasty?