Michael Yan Hon Chung“ ‚Body at the Qing but Heart at the Ming‘: Shifting Ethnic Rhetoric towards Han Soldiers in Pre-Conquest Qing

Please see below for information about the fifth session of the 2024-2025 Enemy Encounters in East Asia webinar series of the Research Training Group „Ambivalent Enmity: Dynamics of Antagonism in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East” at Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies, Germany. As previously announced the Aftermath of the East Asian War of 1592-1598 webinar series has come to a close, but it has been succeeded by this new webinar series.

“`Body at the Qing but Heart at the Ming’: Shifting Ethnic Rhetoric towards Han Soldiers in Pre-Conquest Qing”
Michael Yan Hon Chung 
(PhD Candidate, Emory University)

• February 12, 2025, 3:00 PM (Heidelberg, CET) via ZOOM. 
• The webinar will be recorded, but not the question time.
• If you would like to attend the webinars, please contact barend.noordam[at]hcts.uni-heidelberg.de. 

In this session, Michael Yan Hon Chung (PhD Candidate, Emory University) will share his thoughts on the ethnic rhetoric towards Han soldiers during the Ming-Qing transition:

This webinar examines the evolving ethnic rhetoric directed towards Han soldiers in the pre-conquest Qing state. In an effort to incorporate the latest European artillery technology into the Qing army, the Manchu ruling elites began enlisting defected or captured Han gunners and artillery experts from 1631. However, the Chinese artillery corps, which was known as Hanjun, grew in size and political influence, the Manchu elites grew increasingly wary of its rising political demands and questioned their loyalty, given their shared ethnic background with the Ming adversaries. To curb the Hanjun’s political influence, the emperor crafted an ethnic rhetoric that elevated the military valor and contributions of Manchu soldiers while downplaying those of the Hanjun, citing incidents of Chinese espionage for the Ming. This new ethnic rhetoric not only influenced the development of the Hanjun but also shaped the ethnic landscape of the emerging Qing empire.

For more information about the Research Training Group „Ambivalent Enmity: Dynamics of Antagonism in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East”, please go to our website  https://ambivalentenmity.org/.      

This project has received funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG).