CH'ING DYNASTY

In the late 1500's the Manchurians began a move to conquer the Ming Dynasty. The first in the line was Nurhachu (also know as T'ai Tsu) who established the Manchu Dynasty in 1559, but controlled only a small part of China as a rebel fighting the Ming. His power base expanded and in 1625 he established a capital at Mukden. With the death of Nurhachu in 1626, power passed to Abahay (also known as T'ai Tsung), who changed the name of the dynasty to Ch'ing, and continued to expand the Manchu influence until his death in 1643.

Power then passed to the nine year old Shih Tsu (know as Shun Chih) and it is from his accession in 1644 that the Ch'ing Dynasty is normally, but incorrectly, recorded. Even at this point the Ch'ing control of China was not complete, as the "Ming Rebels" still held large parts of the country and were not fully defeated until about 1681.

Kao Tsung: Reign title: CH'IEN-LUNG Ch'ien-lung is thought of as one of the most brilliant rulers in Chinese history. He was a patron of the arts, which reached a very high level during his reign. His is also one of the few Chinese emperors to abdicate the throne, which he did to honour K'ang Hsi (his father) by ending his reign just before it would have exceeded the length of K'ang Hsi's reign.