To Extent to Which the Reign of the Emperor Jia Qing Gives Evidence for Qing Decline
The Qing dynasty, established in 1644, is often said to have been a
‘victim of its own success.’ It is often argued that, by the time
western influence became more pervasive, the system had already
developed many grave political, social and economic flaws. In this
essay, four major aspects of reign of Emperor Jia Qing, son of
Qianlong, will be examined in detail for evidence of such a decline.
These aspects are the state of administration and bureaucracy, the
extent of corruption, the state of intellectual integrity and
education, and the state of the economy. It will be seen that, Qing
decline is clearly evidenced to a large extent by Jia Qings reign.
The first factor to be examined is the state of administration and
bureaucracy during Jia Qings reign. It can be seen that the inherited
flawed system was still firmly in place and largely unreformed during
Jiaqings time. The hierarchicial nature of the Qing imperial system of
government was completely based on the Chinese construct that they had
needed to emulate in order to gain power, which was already cumbersome
due to the importance placed on the largest possible amount of
descisions being made through the divine, godlike Emperor . It was
made worse by their pro Manchu measures of pairing Chinese top
officials with Manchu ‘supervisors.’ By Jia Qings regin, this system
had degenerated into inefficiency and stagnation, a fact evident in
the red tape surrounding the Canton system. Jia Qings incapability to
even comprehend the thought of modifying the restrictive system of
trade (whereby simple proce...
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of imperial revenue, had their figures totally falsified by corrupt
officials who increased their expected ‘customary charge’ for
transaction to about 50 per cent of the tax itself! Local officials
were often not above raising exchange rates for their own benefits,
and ground level bastardization of the revenue system was commonplace
and everyday. Therefore, it is evident that in this aspect, Jia Qings
reign can clearly be seen to evidence Qing decline.
In conclusion, in the case of the state of the economy, the state of
the education and intellectual system, the state of administration and
bureaucracy, and the extent of corruption, the regin of JiaQing
clearly gives evidence for Qing decline. The lack of reform and
inherited problems resulting from dynastic stagnation were definite
factors in his rule.