Review
Building on meticulous research in several languages, Perdueargues convincingly that the Qing conquests were of enormous importance both locally and globally. Drawing us deep into interconnected issues of frontier environments, state formation, and control of the historical record before the age of mass communication, his nuanced account sets a new standard for the study of both comparative empires and identity formation in the early modern world.
Book Description
From about 1600 to 1800, the Qing empire of China expanded to unprecedented size. Through astute diplomacy, economic investment, and a series of ambitious military campaigns into the heart of Central Eurasia, the Manchu rulers defeated the Zunghar Mongols, and brought all of modern Xinjiang and Mongolia under their control, while gaining dominant influence in Tibet. The China we know is a product of these vast conquests.
Peter C. Perdue chronicles this little-known story of China's expansion into the northwestern frontier. Unlike previous Chinese dynasties, the Qing achieved lasting domination over the eastern half of the Eurasian continent. Rulers used forcible repression when faced with resistance, but also aimed to win over subject peoples by peaceful means. They invested heavily in the economic and administrative development of the frontier, promoted trade networks, and adapted ceremonies to the distinct regional cultures.
Perdue thus illuminates how China came to rule Central Eurasia and how it justifies that control, what holds the Chinese nation together, and how its relations with the Islamic world and Mongolia developed. He offers valuable comparisons to other colonial empires and discusses the legacy left by China's frontier expansion. The Beijing government today faces unrest on its frontiers from peoples who reject its autocratic rule. At the same time, China has launched an ambitious development program in its interior that in many ways echoes the old Qing policies.
China Marches West is a tour de force that will fundamentally alter the way we understand Central Eurasia.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/PERCHI_excerpt.pdf
China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia FROM THE PUBLISHER
"In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Qing empire of China expanded to unprecedented size. With a series of ambitious military campaigns into the heart of Central Eurasia, astute diplomacy, and economic investment, the Manchu rulers of the Qing defeated their major rivals, the Zunghar Mongols, and brought all of modern Xinjiang and Mongolia under their control, while gaining dominant influence in Tibet. The Chinas we know today is a product of these vast frontier conquests." Peter Perdue chronicles for the first time in English this little-known story of the Qing conquest, discussing the military strategies, diplomatic maneuvers, logistical preparations, and ideological proclamations of all the contending parties. Han Chinese, Manchus, Mongols, Uighurs, Russians, and Tibetans all played their part in this early version of the Central Asian Great Game. Perdue explains why the Qing, unlike all previous Chinese dynasties, were able to achieve enduring domination in the region, and examines how the Qing rulers ensured that their control would last. They did not shrink from forcible repression, but they also aimed to win over subject populations by peaceful means. They invested heavily in economic and administrative development, promoted peasant migration and merchant trade networks, and conducted ceremonies adapted to the distinct peoples they rules. Their cultural vision stressed the valuable role of the frontier regions in the all-powerful imperial state. They rewrote the history of the conquest to make the victories look like inevitable results of Heavenly grace.
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