Page "History of China" Paragraph 93

The Qing Dynasty ( 1644 – 1911 ) was the last imperial dynasty in China.

Founded by the Manchus, it was the second non-Han Chinese dynasty.

The Manchus were formerly known as Jurchen, residing in the northeastern part of the Ming territory outside the Great Wall.

They emerged as the major threat to the late Ming Dynasty after Nurhaci united all Jurchen tribes and established an independent state.

However, the Ming Dynasty would be overthrown by Li Zicheng's peasants rebellion, with Beijing captured in 1644 and the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen committing suicide.

The Manchu allied with the Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui to seize Beijing, which was made the capital of the Qing dynasty, and then proceeded to subdue the remaining Ming's resistance in the south.

The decades of Manchu conquest caused enormous loss of lives and the economic scale of China shrank drastically.

Nevertheless, the Manchus adopted the Confucian norms of traditional Chinese government in their rule and were considered a Chinese dynasty.