Nurhachi's unification of the Jurchen tribes
In the second half of the 16th century, Nurhachi started his life of founding the country and fighting for his life on the grounds that his grandfather and father were mistakenly killed by the general soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.
The Jurchen tribes changed in turmoil, and in order to become the king, everyone fought and killed each other, and even killed each other. In the face of such a grim situation, Nurhachi, because of his foresight and bravery, successfully conquered the tribes. After more than 60 years of war, the country was finally unified in the first year of Shunzhi and the last feudal dynasty on the stage of Chinese history was established.
In the process, Nurhachi realized that a reliable army was needed to maintain his rule, and he began to form the "Eight Banners" system. He divided the tribe into blue, white, and red tricolor flags, each with four "main flags" and four "secondary flags", for a total of twenty-four flags. These flags led the soldiers on the battlefield and became the symbol of the Manchus.
The development and reform of the Eight Banners system
With the rise and development of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners system also underwent some changes.
First of all, the Qing Dynasty expanded the scope of the Eight Banners, and in addition to the Manchus, both the Mongols and the Han Chinese could become the children of the Eight Banners. Secondly, the number of eight flags has also changed, from the original twenty-four flags to more flags. In addition, the Qing Dynasty also created new forms of the army, such as the green battalion and the yellow flag.
In this process, the superiority of the Eight Banners system gradually disappeared, and its management and organization methods could no longer meet the needs of the times. Corruption within the Qing Dynasty and external pressure also gradually intensified. Especially in the mid-19th century, with the invasion of Western powers and peasant uprisings at home, the decline of the Qing Dynasty became inevitable.
The decline and demise of the Eight Banners system
Over time, the Eight Banners system revealed some problems. On the one hand, internal corruption and external pressure intensified in the Qing Dynasty, and the management and organization of the Eight Banners system could no longer meet the needs of the times. On the other hand, the superiority of the Eight Banners system gradually disappeared.
Especially in the mid-19th century, with the invasion of Western powers and peasant uprisings at home, the decline of the Qing Dynasty became inevitable. The Eight Banners system struggled to cope with these challenges and became one of the factors in the fall of the Manchus. Eventually, after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution in 1912, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and the Eight Banners system came to an end.