Reflections on the "New Qing History" School in the United States

Abstract

The rise of the "New Qing History" school in the United States has opened new vistas for the study of Qing history. The school challenged the long-received idea of "sinification" in evaluating the dynasty and the non-Han Chinese regimes in general. It proposed to analyze the success and failure of Manchu rule in China from the Manchu perspective and focus on how Manchu rulers sought to maintain the Manchu ethnic identity throughout Qing history. All this could be useful for Chinese scholars of Qing history to explore new issues in their studies.