Timeline of the Qing dynasty

See also: Timeline of the Ming dynasty, Timeline of the Jurchens, and Timeline of Republic of China history

This is a timeline of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912).

The Qing Empire ca. 1820, marked the time when the Qing began to rule these areas.

Qing dynasty in 1820. Includes provincial boundaries and the boundaries of modern China for reference.

Background

16th century

1580s

Year	Date	Event
1583		Nurhaci becomes leader of the Jianzhou Left Branch[1]
1587		Nurhaci founds Fe Ala[2]

1590s

Year	Date	Event
1592		Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98): Nurhaci offers to fight the Japanese but is refused; Ming reacts with alarm to the size and quality of Nurhaci's troops[3]
1593		Nurhaci defeats the Hulun Confederation and Khorchin Mongols[4]

17th century

1600s

Year	Date	Event
1600		Nurhaci creates the Banner Army[5]
1601		Nurhaci subjugates the Hada[6]
1603		Nurhaci and Ming generals agree to delineate the boundary between their territories[7]
		Nurhaci moves his capital to Hetu Ala due to water problems at Fe Ala[8]
1605		Gwanghaegun of Joseon sends an expedition north of the Tumen River to destroy the Jurchen Holjaon community[6]
1607		Nurhaci subjugates the Hoifa[6]

1610s

Year	Date	Event
1611		Nurhaci subjugates the Wild Jurchens[9]
1613		Nurhaci incorporates the Ula into his confederation[10]
1615		Nurhaci increases the number of banners from four to eight[10]
		Nurhaci sends his last tributary emissary to Beijing[11]
1616		Nurhaci declares the Later Jin, also known as the Amaga Aisin Gurun[12]
1618	9 May	Battle of Fushun: Later Jin seizes Fushun[13]
	summer	Battle of Qinghe: Later Jin takes Qinghe[14]
1619	18 April	Battle of Sarhū: Ming forces are annihilated by Later Jin[15]
	26 July	Battle of Kaiyuan: Later Jin takes Kaiyuan[16]
	3 September	Battle of Tieling: Later Jin takes Tieling[16]
	September	Battle of Xicheng: Later Jin annexes the Yihe Jurchens[17]
		Chahar-Jurchen War: Ligdan Khan attacks Guangning, a horse trading town under the protection of Nurhaci, but is defeated[18]

1620s

Year	Date	Event
1621	4 May	Battle of Shen-Liao: Later Jin seizes Shenyang[19]
	December	Battle of Fort Zhenjiang: Ming raids into Later Jin are repulsed[20]
1622	11 March	Battle of Guangning: Later Jin seizes Guangning[20]
1625		Chahar-Jurchen War: Ligdan Khan's attack is turned back by a combined Khorchin Jurchen force[21]
1626	10 February	Battle of Ningyuan: A Later Jin attack on Ningyuan is repulsed and Nurhaci is wounded[22]
	30 September	Nurhaci succumbs to his wounds and dies[23]
1627	January - March	Later Jin invasion of Joseon: Hong Taiji is elected khan and subjugates Joseon[24]
	spring	Battle of Ning-Jin: Later Jin forces under Hong Taiji attack Jinzhou but are repelled[25]
1629	winter	Jisi Incident: Later Jin forces break through the Great Wall and loot the region around Beijing[26]

1630s

Year	Date	Event
1630	summer	Jisi Incident: Later Jin forces retreat[26]
1631	21 November	Battle of Dalinghe: Later Jin seizes Dalinghe[27]
1633	April	Wuqiao Mutiny: Shandong rebels defect to Later Jin[28]
	summer	Siege of Lüshun: Later Jin seizes Lüshun[29]
1634		Chahar-Jurchen War: Ligdan Khan of the Chahar Mongols is overthrown and displaced by Hong Taiji[30]
1635		Hong Taiji unites all Jurchen tribes under the name of Manchu; so ends the Jurchens[24]
		Hong Taiji attacks the Hurha[31]

17th century

1630s

Year	Date	Event
1636	April	Hong Taiji proclaims the Qing dynasty[32]
	9 December	Qing invasion of Joseon: Hong Taiji invades Joseon[33]
1637	30 January	Qing invasion of Joseon: Joseon is defeated and becomes a Qing tributary[33]
1638		Qing dynasty conquers Shandong[34]
1639		Qing dynasty attacks the Daur and Solon people[31]

1640s

Year	Date	Event
1640	May	Qing dynasty captures the Evenk fortresses of Duochen, Asajin, Yakesa, and Duojin[31]
1642	8 April	Battle of Song-Jin: Qing dynasty takes Jinzhou[35]
1643		Northeastern natives submit to the Qing dynasty[36]
1644	27 May	Battle of Shanhai Pass: Wu Sangui lets the Qing forces through the Great Wall and their forces defeat Li Zicheng in battle, after which Li retreats to Beijing[37]
	5 June	Qing dynasty takes Beijing and Li Zicheng flees[37]
	8 November	Shunzhi Emperor is enthroned in the Forbidden City[38]
1645	January	Qing forces capture Luoyang[39]
	20 May	Qing forces capture Yangzhou[39]
	16 June	Qing forces capture Nanjing and the Hongguang Emperor[40]
	6 July	Qing forces capture Hangzhou[40]
	21 July	All nonclerical adult male citizens are ordered to adopt the Manchu queue to show their allegiance to the Qing dynasty[41]
1646	February	Ming forces are defeated in Jiangnan[42]
	10 July	Qing forces defeat the Ming army at Tonglu[43]
	30 September	Qing forces capture Yanping[44]
	6 October	The Longwu Emperor is killed by Qing forces[44]
	17 October	Qing forces take Fuzhou[44]
1647	2 January	Zhang Xianzhong is killed by Qing forces but his army occupies Chongqing and then occupies Sichuan under the leadership of Sun Kewang[45]
	20 January	Qing forces capture Guangzhou and the Shaowu Emperor[46]
	5 March	Qing forces conquer Guangdong, half of Guangxi, and Hainan[46]
	March	Qing forces take Changsha[47]
	spring	Qing forces raid Anping[48]
	23 September	Qing forces take Wugang[49]
1648	20 February	Ming loyalists rebel at Nanchang and Nanning[50]
	14 April	Qing forces fail to take Guilin[49]
1649	15 January	Ming loyalists rebel at Datong[51]
	1 March	Qing forces take Nanchang[52]
	4 October	Ming loyalists at Datong are defeated[51]
	summer	Qing forces conquer southern Huguang[53]
	24 November	Qing forces slaughter the population of Guangzhou[54]
	27 November	Qing forces capture Guilin[54]
	2 December	Qing forces capture Zhaoqing and the Yongli Emperor flees[54]

1650s

Year	Date	Event
1651	15 October	Qing forces capture Zhoushan and Zhu Yihai flees[55]
1652	24 March	Qing attack on Achansk is defeated[56]
	7 August	Rebel general Li Dingguo takes Guilin[57]
	winter	Sun Kewang's army is routed by Qing forces[57]
1654	July	Battle of Hutong: Korean-Manchu army defeats a force of Russians[56]
		Qing forces attack the Daur people[58]
1655	March–April	Qing forces fail to take Komar[56]
		Li Dingguo's army is routed by Qing forces[57]
1656	9 May	Qing forces try to invade Kinmen Island (Quemoy) but their fleet is destroyed in a storm[59]
		Qing forces attack the Daur people[58]
1657	February	Ming forces defeat a Qing army near the Changjiang River Delta[59]
	December	Sun Kewang surrenders to the Qing dynasty[60]
1658	10 June	Battle of Hutong (1658): Qing-Joseon forces defeat a Russian fleet on the Songhua River[56]
	June	Zheng Chenggong occupies Wenzhou[61]
1659	7 January	Qing forces advance into Yunnan and the Yongli Emperor flees to Toungoo dynasty[62]
	10 March	Qing forces capture Yongchang and defeat Li Dingguo's army, securing Yunnan[62]
	10 August	Zheng Chenggong takes Zhenjiang[63]
	24 August	Zheng Chenggong lays siege to Nanjing[63]
	9 September	Zheng Chenggong's army is annihilated and he retreats to Xiamen[64]

1660s

Year	Date	Event
1660	February	Qing forces launch an attack on Kinmen Island (Quemoy) and Xiamen but fail[64]
		Upkeep for the Eight Banners exceeds the entire Qing dynasty's regular income[65]
1662	20 January	Qing forces advance towards Inwa and force the return of the Yongli Emperor[66]
	May	The Yongli Emperor is executed in Yunnan; so ends the Southern Ming resistance on the mainland[66]
1664		The Qing dynasty conquers Fujian and Zheng Jing retreats to Taiwan[67]

1670s

Year	Date	Event
1674		Poverty in the Eight Banners is noted to be caused by excessive and extravagant spending[68]

1680s

Year	Date	Event
1683	July	Battle of Penghu: Qing dynasty defeats the Kingdom of Tungning and conquers the island of Taiwan, beginning the period of Taiwan under Qing rule[69]
1684		The Han Chinese banners, "Hanjun", decline to uselessness[70]
1685	May–July	Siege of Albazin: Qing forces take Albazin[71]
1686	July–October	Siege of Albazin: The Russians return to Albazin but the Qing forces lay siege to it again until the Russians are forced to leave[71]
1689	27 August	Treaty of Nerchinsk: The Tsardom of Russia abandons the Amur River region to the Qing in return for trading privileges[71]

1690s

Year	Date	Event
1690	3 September	Battle of Ulan Butung: Galdan Boshugtu Khan leads 20,000 troops into battle with a Qing army 300 km north of Beijing, ending with Dzungar withdrawal[72]
1691		The Khalkha Mongols submit to the Qing dynasty[73]
1696		Battle of Jao Modo: The Qing dynasty invades Mongolia with 100,000 troops in three columns. Galdan Boshugtu Khan suffers defeat against the Western Route Army but manages to escape.[72] The Qing dynasty takes all of Mongolia from the Dzungar Khanate[73]
1698		Dzungar–Qing Wars: Qing dynasty occupies Hami[74]

18th century

1720s

Year	Date	Event
1720		Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720): The Qing dynasty expels the Dzungars from Tibet, beginning the period of Tibet under Qing rule[75]
		Dzungar–Qing Wars: Amin Khoja leads a rebellion in Turpan against the Dzungar Khanate and defects to the Qing dynasty[74]
		Zhu Yigui rebels in Taiwan and is defeated[76]
1723		Plains aborigines living in Dajiaxi village along the central coastal plain of Taiwan rebel; the aborigines are defeated but Han Chinese settlers continue to rebel[77]
		The government starts investing in the Eight Banners' livelihoods to reduce their reliance on state subsidies[78]
1727		The government orders the comprehensive collection of genealogical tables for the Eight Banners[79]
1728	25 June	Treaty of Kyakhta (1727): The Mongolian border of the Qing dynasty and Empire of Russia is delineated[80]

1730s

Year	Date	Event
1732		Dzungar–Qing Wars: The Dzungars attack Amin Khoja, who takes his people to settle in Guazhou[74]
		Han Chinese rebels in Taiwan are defeated[77]
1735		Miao Rebellion: Qing forces defeat and massacre 28,900 Miao and Kam people in Rongjiang[81]
		Military upkeep reaches 32 million taels, a bit more than half of the empire's budget[82]
1737		Dzungar–Qing Wars: Abuse by the Dzungars cause residents of the Tarim Basin to flee to the Qing dynasty[83]

1740s

Year	Date	Event
1742		Bannermen of Chinese origin who joined after 1644 are allowed to leave the banner system[84]

1750s

Year	Date	Event
1754		Dzungar–Qing Wars: The Dörbet and Amursana defect to the Qing dynasty[85]
		State investment programs for the Eight Banners end[86]
		Chinese bannermen at the Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Jingkou garrisons are "let go" and "excused" from their duties[84]
1755		Dzungar–Qing Wars: The Qing dynasty sends 50,000 troops in two columns against the Dzungars, meeting little resistance, and complete the destruction of the khanate in just 100 days, however Amursana revolts in the aftermath[74]
1756		All secondary status households in the Eight Banners are ordered to register as civilians[87]
1757		Dzungar–Qing Wars: Amursana flees the Qing dynasty, dying in Tobolsk[85]
		Chinese bannermen in Beijing who are too old, maimed, or incompetent are let go[88]

1760s

Year	Date	Event
1760		The government spends 4 million taels buying back land from Han owners for the Eight Banners[89]
1761		Chinese bannermen at Suiyuan are replaced by Mongols and Manchus[88]
1762		All Chinese bannermen are given the choice of leaving the banner system[88]
1763		Chinese bannermen at Liangzhou and Zhuanglang are let go[88]

1770s

Year	Date	Event
1779		Chinese bannermen at Xi'an are let go[88]

1780s

Year	Date	Event
1786		Lin Shuangwen rebellion: Lin Shuangwen rebels in Taiwan[90]
1788		Lin Shuangwen rebellion: Lin Shuangwen is defeated[90]

19th century

1820s

Year	Date	Event
1820		Poverty becomes endemic in the Eight Banners[91]

1840s

Year	Date	Event
1841		Ding Gongchen builds China's first steam engine[92]
1842	29 August	The Treaty of Nanking is signed between Britain and China, to come into effect on 26 June 1843.

1860s

Year	Date	Event
1863		Restrictions on banner occupations are officially lifted to no effect[93]

1870s

Year	Date	Event
1871	December	Mudan incident: A Ryukyuan tributary ship crashes off the southern coast of Taiwan[94]
1872	July	Mudan incident: The survivors of the Ryukyuan shipwreck who survive a massacre by Taiwanese indigenous peoples find shelter among Han Chinese locals and are shipped home from mainland China[95]
1874		Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874): Japanese forces invade aboriginal territory in southern Taiwan using the Mudan incident as pretext and retreat after forcing the Qing to pay an indemnity[96]

1890s

Year	Date	Event
1895	17 April	First Sino-Japanese War: The Qing cede the Penghu islands and Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki[97]
1898	11 June	The Guangxu Emperor begins the Hundred Days' Reform[98]
	5 September	Zhang Yuanji recommends ending Manchu-Han differences and dissolving the Eight Banners system[99]
	21 September	Empress Dowager Cixi puts the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest[100]
	22 September	Empress Dowager Cixi comes to power[101]

20th century

1900s

Year	Date	Event
1900	June	Boxer Rebellion: Empress Dowager Cixi declares war on foreign powers[101]
	14 August	Boxer Rebellion: Foreign troops enter Beijing[102]
	7 September	Boxer Rebellion: The Boxer Protocol is signed[103]
	17 September	Boxer Rebellion: Foreign troops leave Beijing[103]
1901	July	The Zongli Yamen is replaced with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs[104]
1902	7 January	Empress Dowager Cixi returns to Beijing[103]
	1 February	Ban on intermarriage between Manchus and Han Chinese is lifted[105]
1903	29 December	Manchu monopoly on posts in the Eight Banners is abolished[105]
1905	16 July	The government issues an edict proclaiming the need for leading officials to investigate new ways of government from abroad[106]
	24 September	Anti-Manchu proponent Wu Yue fails to assassinate the constitutional study commissioners[107]
		The prohibition on transfer of property from the Eight Banners to civilians is lifted[104]
1906	1 September	Empress Dowager Cixi promises to form a constitutional government with no specified date[108]
1907	April	The territories of Manchuria are reorganized into provinces[104]
	6 July	Anhui governor Enming is assassinated by the anti-Manchu Xu Xilin[109]
	20 September	Empress Dowager Cixi declares her intention to create "a bicameral deliberative body"[110]
	27 September	An edict is passed to disband provincial banner garrisons over a 10-year period[111]
	9 October	An edict is passed to create a set of codes which apply uniformly to Manchus and Han Chinese[110]

Gallery

• 
  Major Mongol and Jurchen rulers on the eve of the Jurchen unification and conquest (early 17th century)
• 
  Mainland East Asia in 1616
• 
  Chahar-Jurchen War (1619-1634)
• 
  Battle of Ningyuan in 1626
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  Later Jin invasion of Joseon in 1627
• 
  Qing invasion of Joseon in 1636
• 
  Battle of Shanhai Pass in 1644
• 
  Southern Ming in November 1644
• 
  Russian-Qing border conflicts (1652-1686)
• 
  Dzungar Khanate (1634–1758) and Khoshut Khanate (1642–1717)
• 
  Revolt of the Three Feudatories (1673–1681)
• 
  Taiwan in the 17th century prior to the Qing conquest in 1683
• 
  Mainland East Asia in 1688
• 
  Dzungar–Qing Wars (1687–1757)
• 
  Mainland East Asia in 1757
• 
  Changes in Russian-Chinese borders from the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689 to the Convention of Peking in 1860
• 
  First Opium War (1839–1842)
• 
  Taiping Rebellion (1850– 1864)
• 
  Nian Rebellion (1851–1868)
• 
  Yellow River course change in 1855
• 
  Dungan Revolt (1862–77)
• 
  Sino-French War (1884–1885)
• 
  Boxer Rebellion (1900-1901)
• 
  Mutual Protection of Southeast China in 1900