The last emperors

by Evelyn Sakakida Rawski

The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was the last and arguably the greatest of the conquest dynasties to rule China. Its rulers, Manchus from the northeast, held power for three centuries despite major cultural and ideological differences from the Han majority. In this book, Evelyn Rawski offers a bold new interpretation of the remarkable success of this dynasty, and argues that it derived not from the assimilation of the dominant Chinese culture, as has previously been believed, but from an artful synthesis of Manchu leadership styles and Han Chinese policies.