The issue of starting a lecture in 1931 or 1937 is it erases many important aspects that led to the events. What is called China today with its present borders was created largely by the Manchu conquerors and colonisers of the Ming dynasty, which was China proper, i.e. the Han provinces, as well as Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet. (The only reason Formosa came under Han control was the remnants of the Ming dynasty fled there to escape the Manchu.) The Manchus picked up Mongol allies (chiefly in Inner Mongolia) as well as Han military men who had enough of what they perceived to be Ming antagonism towards them, growing the number of Bannermen and aiding the Manchu effort on the Han side of the Great Wall. It was a Ming general who opened the gate to allow the Manchu in. Thereafter, the Qing dynasty was run something akin to an apartheid state with the Han at the bottom of the pecking order. Manchu Bannermen were reserved gov't privileges and guaranteed employment, a two-tier legal system was established, separate housing was built and occupied, non-Banner Han could not wed Manchu women, etc. Han were also banned from settling in either the Manchu or Mongol homelands, i.e. Manchuria and Mongolia (inner Mongolia would become important later as it was seen to to be North China by the Han nationalists, especially Chiang who wanted its cotton to build Chinese industry). Even some Han who joined the Bannermen late in the conquest period were later purged and sent to the Green Standard Army. It was upon the Russian expansion east that Qing began that worry that these sparely populated homelands were ripe for plucking by the tsar, and eventually some territory was handed over, for example where Vladivostok is. The ban on Han migration was relaxed. Nationalist Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmenghui) leader Sun Yat-Sen and others loathed the Manchu. The nationalist slogans of the era were about driving the Manchu out of China - 'Expel the Tatar (Manchu) barbarians!' Sun stated that his idea of the Chinese Republic would be one without Manchuria. In 1911, Sun appealed to the Japanese for military and political assistance to organise the pivotal uprising in Hankou (Hankow then) on October 10, leading to the fall of the Qing dynasty (Xinhai Revolution). Tokyo refused to do something for nothing, so Sun signed private agreements during his exile in Tokyo with the Japanese. These promised Tokyo that Japan’s aid would be duly reciprocated with Japan's 'interests' in Manchuria 'protected'. The new Chinese regime would acquiesce to an independent pro-Japanese regime in Manchuria or even to its occupation. As China splintered into conflict and warlordism - Tibet, Xinjiang, and Outer Mongolia declared independence (Mongols in Inner Mongolia debated whether to join Outer Mongolia or declare their own separate nation) - and Manchus in China were massacred, a Han military leader emerged in Manchuria. Zhang Zuolin (Fengtian clique) was no mere warlord. He understood to conquer China proper would require a stable base with a functioning state that collected taxes, built and ran war industries, and needed a large population to provide labour. Millions of Han moved into the Manchurian homeland and overtook the Manchu demographically. Zhang was aided by Japan's Kwantung Army that had been in parts of Manchuria since the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Tokyo (more specifically the IJA) was concerned by what it called its Manchuria-Mongolia problem and decided to aid efforts by those in both regions to split from the Chinese Republic. Though Zhang did capture Beijing, declared himself dictator, and ruled for about a year, his zeal to conquer China proved to be an over reach and economically ruinous. He was eventually defeated by Chiang's Nationalists, and upon return to Manchuria the Japanese assassinated him in June 1928. Succeeded by his son Zhang Xueliang (the Kwantung Army thought it could install Yang Yuting to run the place but they botched it), Zhang the younger was of a different mould having no aspirations to conquer China. Instead he began converting Manchuria's industries to compete with Japanese civilian manufactures, building railways running in parallel to Japan's South Manchuria Railway to deprive it of business, demanding renegotiation of contracts, and he aligned himself with Chiang's Nationalist cause. Japan's Manchurian railway was no mere train line but an industrial conglomerate that was becoming the foundation of the Kwantung Army's power. Zhang the younger's challenge to the Kwantung Army's plans proved too much to endure and he was toppled in 1931. Most Han had no emotional attachment to Manchuria; three of the four conquest dynasties came from the 'barbaric' Northeast and the place was seen as one that caused grief for Han lives, The Manchu was especially bloody and disruptive - it included one of the largest mass relocations of people from China's southern coast to 15 km inland to isolate the Ming resistance on Formosa. Calls for the boycott of Japanese goods in 1931 went nowhere largely. It wasn't until 1937's invasion of northern China and then the IJN's blockade and invasions of China's coastal cities that the ordinary Han responded. Overseas Chinese merchants, who Japanese businesses relied on in SE Asia, launched a boycott that was particularly damaging to Japan's earnings of foreign currency. They also raised considerable sums to finance Chiang's army.
An excellent presentation and speaker. Dr. Li presents a Chinese perspective rarely discussed. I hope to see more of this speaker’s presentations.
The issue of starting a lecture in 1931 or 1937 is it erases many important aspects that led to the events. What is called China today with its present borders was created largely by the Manchu conquerors and colonisers of the Ming dynasty, which was China proper, i.e. the Han provinces, as well as Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet. (The only reason Formosa came under Han control was the remnants of the Ming dynasty fled there to escape the Manchu.) The Manchus picked up Mongol allies (chiefly in Inner Mongolia) as well as Han military men who had enough of what they perceived to be Ming antagonism towards them, growing the number of Bannermen and aiding the Manchu effort on the Han side of the Great Wall. It was a Ming general who opened the gate to allow the Manchu in.
Thereafter, the Qing dynasty was run something akin to an apartheid state with the Han at the bottom of the pecking order. Manchu Bannermen were reserved gov't privileges and guaranteed employment, a two-tier legal system was established, separate housing was built and occupied, non-Banner Han could not wed Manchu women, etc. Han were also banned from settling in either the Manchu or Mongol homelands, i.e. Manchuria and Mongolia (inner Mongolia would become important later as it was seen to to be North China by the Han nationalists, especially Chiang who wanted its cotton to build Chinese industry). Even some Han who joined the Bannermen late in the conquest period were later purged and sent to the Green Standard Army. It was upon the Russian expansion east that Qing began that worry that these sparely populated homelands were ripe for plucking by the tsar, and eventually some territory was handed over, for example where Vladivostok is. The ban on Han migration was relaxed. Nationalist Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmenghui) leader Sun Yat-Sen and others loathed the Manchu. The nationalist slogans of the era were about driving the Manchu out of China - 'Expel the Tatar (Manchu) barbarians!' Sun stated that his idea of the Chinese Republic would be one without Manchuria.
In 1911, Sun appealed to the Japanese for military and political assistance to organise the pivotal uprising in Hankou (Hankow then) on October 10, leading to the fall of the Qing dynasty (Xinhai Revolution). Tokyo refused to do something for nothing, so Sun signed private agreements during his exile in Tokyo with the Japanese. These promised Tokyo that Japan’s aid would be duly reciprocated with Japan's 'interests' in Manchuria 'protected'. The new Chinese regime would acquiesce to an independent pro-Japanese regime in Manchuria or even to its occupation.
As China splintered into conflict and warlordism - Tibet, Xinjiang, and Outer Mongolia declared independence (Mongols in Inner Mongolia debated whether to join Outer Mongolia or declare their own separate nation) - and Manchus in China were massacred, a Han military leader emerged in Manchuria. Zhang Zuolin (Fengtian clique) was no mere warlord. He understood to conquer China proper would require a stable base with a functioning state that collected taxes, built and ran war industries, and needed a large population to provide labour. Millions of Han moved into the Manchurian homeland and overtook the Manchu demographically. Zhang was aided by Japan's Kwantung Army that had been in parts of Manchuria since the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Tokyo (more specifically the IJA) was concerned by what it called its Manchuria-Mongolia problem and decided to aid efforts by those in both regions to split from the Chinese Republic. Though Zhang did capture Beijing, declared himself dictator, and ruled for about a year, his zeal to conquer China proved to be an over reach and economically ruinous. He was eventually defeated by Chiang's Nationalists, and upon return to Manchuria the Japanese assassinated him in June 1928. Succeeded by his son Zhang Xueliang (the Kwantung Army thought it could install Yang Yuting to run the place but they botched it), Zhang the younger was of a different mould having no aspirations to conquer China. Instead he began converting Manchuria's industries to compete with Japanese civilian manufactures, building railways running in parallel to Japan's South Manchuria Railway to deprive it of business, demanding renegotiation of contracts, and he aligned himself with Chiang's Nationalist cause. Japan's Manchurian railway was no mere train line but an industrial conglomerate that was becoming the foundation of the Kwantung Army's power. Zhang the younger's challenge to the Kwantung Army's plans proved too much to endure and he was toppled in 1931.
Most Han had no emotional attachment to Manchuria; three of the four conquest dynasties came from the 'barbaric' Northeast and the place was seen as one that caused grief for Han lives, The Manchu was especially bloody and disruptive - it included one of the largest mass relocations of people from China's southern coast to 15 km inland to isolate the Ming resistance on Formosa. Calls for the boycott of Japanese goods in 1931 went nowhere largely. It wasn't until 1937's invasion of northern China and then the IJN's blockade and invasions of China's coastal cities that the ordinary Han responded. Overseas Chinese merchants, who Japanese businesses relied on in SE Asia, launched a boycott that was particularly damaging to Japan's earnings of foreign currency. They also raised considerable sums to finance Chiang's army.