How did they take over?

             The Ming dynasty was already weakening due to rebellion in the first half of the 17^th century. Rebels like Li Zicheng Zhang (northeast China) Xianzhong (Sichuan) made great headway. Li even took over Beijing at one point. These were the rebels that forced the Ming to request Manchu assistance in putting down uprisings. General Wu Sangui and others had been fighting the Manchu in the Northeast when these rebellions began; they asked the Manchu to help squash the rebellions. As Ming forces outnumbered Manchu forces, the generals didn’t think they would have problems with the Manchus. However, due to Ming disorganization, the Manchus got inside the wall and after conquering the rebels, they conquered the Ming.

            It probably wasn’t that difficult to do, and there was not a lot of resistance from the population, after all, in 1648, Chinese men made up 75 percent of the entire army. Only 16 percent of the banner men were Manchu. (Fairbanks) Many Ming officials chose to switch sides and collaborate with the new dynasty – after all, it seemed that the heavenly mandate had long since passed from the Ming.

            The Manchus may have taken over smoothly in Beijing, but rebel forces congregated in the South of China, and proceeded to pester the new dynasty. It was a whole generation before every rebel leader was successfully defeated. There were three notable leaders of rebel movements in the south, and the most notable of them all was General Wu Sangui. Apparently, he decided that he’d rather have power of his own rather than remain friendly with the Manchus that he allowed into China in the first place. The three main leaders rebelled in 1673. It took eight years for the Kangxi emperor to get rid of them. (Fairbanks)

            After these rebels were defeated, a very famous time of relative prosperity followed for China. The three emperors responsible for it were Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.