Recently, a very interesting exhibition is being held in the British Museum, called “China’s Hidden Century”, or “Lives in the late Qing Dynasty” in Chinese. Regarding the Qing Dynasty, modern Chinese actually have some completely different and divisive views. This is because China is a multi-ethnic country. Before the end of the Qing Dynasty, the concept of a so-called Chinese nation did not actually form.

最近，在大英博物馆正在进行一个很有意思的展览，叫做中国的隐藏世纪，中文则翻译成晚清百态。对于清朝，现代中国人其实有一些截然不同的观点，这是因为中国是一个多民族国家，在清朝结束之前，其实并没有形成一个所谓中华民族的概念。

 

 

The Qing Dynasty was established after the Manchus overthrew the Han regime in the Ming Dynasty. After that, the Han people belonged to the conquered class in the social structure, almost at the bottom. At the same time, because of the large number of Han people, it is an ethnic group that Manchu rulers should pay special attention to. The embarrassing thing is that the civilisation of the Manchus is lower than that of the Han people. The Manchu ruling class is gradually sinicised, and the Manchus and Hans have also begun a long process of integration. This process is dominated by the Manchus. For example, the hairstyle of Han men is regulated by law with the front half shaved and a long pigtail left in the second half. The restrictions of women clothing are slightly looser. At that time, Han women can still wear Ming Dynasty costumes, but through the restrictions on accessories and styles, it is hard not to notice a clear contrast with the bright and beautiful costumes of the noble Manchus.

清朝由满族人推翻明朝的汉族政权后建立，其后汉人在社会结构中一开始属于被征服者，位于底层。同时又因为汉族人数众多，是满族统治者要特别注意提防的族群。尴尬的是，满族人的文明程度比汉族落后，满族统治阶级逐渐汉化，满汉也开始了漫长的融合过程。这种融合，由满族来主导。在发型上，汉族男人的发型蛮夷化，前半部分剃光，后半部分则留了一个长长的猪尾巴。在服饰上略微宽松，当时汉人女子仍然有穿着明朝的服装，不过通过对饰物的限制，和满人光鲜亮丽的盛装形成了明显的反差。

 

 

No matter how self-sinicisation is carried out, a very simple fact is still placed in front of the Manchu rulers: I am a Manchu, an aristocrat, and a ruler, and the Han people are slaves of this country ruled by us, and they are different from us. Once the Han people have the opportunity, they will rebel and carry out the so-called “Anti-Qing Restore-Ming Movement”. Looking around, through the entire life of Qing Dynasty, some Han people have indeed been resisting, and paid the price of their lives for it. However, most of the Han people became the support force of the Qing Dynasty because of their better living standards and more content with the status quo.

不管如何进行自我汉化，一个很浅显的事实仍然摆在满族统治者的面前：自己是满人，是贵族，是统治者，汉人是这个被自己统治的国家的奴隶，是和自己不一样的人。一旦汉人有机会，就会叛乱，进行所谓反清复明。放眼望去，横贯整个清朝，部分汉人确实一直在进行反抗，并为此付出了生命的代价。但也有大部分的汉人因为生活水平较好，更安于现状，成为了清国的支持力量。

 

 

The forces of support and opposition have been competing to form a balance. If there is no external interference, due to habit and inertia, the Qing Dynasty may continue forever, and the Manchus and Han people may one day blend in with each other, and it will no longer be possible to distinguish them. However, the world has entered another period. The West, especially the British Empire, came to Asia with its superior industrial civilisation strength. In South Asia, the Indians were also being ruled by the alien Mongols, the so-called Mughal Empire. The British first conquered the Mongol rulers and made them agents of British rule in India. Later, the Mongol ruling class was directly packaged and thrown away, and India became part of the empire on which the sun never sets. In China, the situation is different. The British routed the Manchu rulers and forced them to sign the humiliating Treaty of Nanking. However, the Qing Empire was not merged into the British Empire, except for Hong Kong.

支持与反对的力量一直在较劲，形成了平衡。如果没有外部的干扰，因为习惯和惰性，清朝可能将永久的持续下去，满人和汉人也许终有一天水乳交融，不再可能被区分。不过，世界已经进入到了另一个时期，西方，特别是英帝国依靠着超强的工业文明实力，来到了亚洲。在南亚，印度人也正在被异族蒙古人统治，即是所谓的莫卧儿帝国。英国人先是征服了蒙古统治者，使其成为英国统治印度的代理人。后来则直接将这个统治阶级打包扔掉，印度成为了日不落帝国的一部分。在中国，情况有所不同。英国击溃了满族统治者，强迫其签订了屈辱的南京条约。不过，清帝国并没有整体被并入英帝国，除了香港。

 

 

Here, I want to stress that: the development of history always seems to be unexpected. The people of India and Hong Kong who were colonised by the British may mourn their fate. However, today, their descendants do have a good feeling of Britain.

这里，我想插一句题外话，就是：历史的发展似乎总是出人意料。当初被英国殖民的印度和香港人，也许很为自己的命运哀悼。然而到了今天，他们的后代确是对英国颇有好感。

 

 

Back to the Qing Dynasty, the rulers who had internal and external troubles, lost control of the entire country. Within the country, the lowest stratum of the Han people, that is, the peasants, guided by the Bible, challenged the Manchu regime, and even divided the country in a certain period of time. They waged a human catastrophe fighting against the army of the Manchus (and the inferior Hans) in the civil war. These Han Chinese armed forces who called themselves the Taiping Army shocked the British Parliament which had been watching and secretly supporting them, because they were too cruel and anti-human.

回到清朝，内忧外患的满清统治者，对于整个国家失去了控制。在国家内部，汉人最低级的阶层，也就是农民用圣经组织起来，挑战满族政权，在一定的时间内甚至二分天下，和满人（以及下等汉人）的军队进行了一场人类浩劫般的内战。这些自称太平军的汉人武装，因为过于凶残反人类，震惊了曾经观望和暗暗支持的英国国会。

 

 

Although the Taiping Army failed eventually, it fundamentally shook the entire country. In less than 50 years, the Manchu Qing Dynasty declared a peaceful end, and China entered a new stage of the Three Principles of the People. The pigtail has been cut off, and the thoughts of Chinese people, whether they are Han or Manchu, or other ethnic groups, have become chaotic and diverse. The advanced and the backward coexist, the big cities are the first to be Westernised, and the concept of the Chinese nation has also been officially promoted, with the Han nationality as the foundation and composed of five major ethnic groups.

太平军虽然最终失败，但是从根本上动摇了整个国家。不到50年的时间，满清就宣告和平结束，中国进入了三民主义的新阶段。猪尾巴被剪掉了，不管是汉人还是满人，以及其他民族的中国人，思想皆变得混乱而多样。先进和落后并存，大城市率先进行西方化，中华民族的概念也被官方开始推行，以汉族为底色，由五个主要民族共同组成。

 

 

The concept of the Chinese nation has been honed over a century and has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people now. So a particularly interesting phenomenon happened, that is, today’s Han people will cry bitterly for the defeat of the Manchu ruling class in the past, feel humiliated by the unequal treaties signed by the Manchus, and even think that the cultural relics and treasures in the palace courtyard looted by the West belong to them. This kind of cognition and thinking is completely different from that of the ancestors of the Han people hundreds of years ago. Why is that? One possible explanation is the education about history. Based on national unity and patriotism considerations, Chinese officials blur and hide the concepts of the ruling class, government, and country, so that the descendants of slaves now share the misfortune of their former masters, passionately.

中华民族的概念经过了百年洗炼，深入人心。于是发生了一个特别有趣的现象，就是如今的汉人，会替过去的满人统治阶级的战败而流泪痛哭，会因为满人签订的不平等条约而感到丧权辱国，甚至会认为被西方掠走的深宫内院的文物宝物都是属于自己的，这种认知和想法与几百年前的汉人祖先完全不同。为什么会有这样的情况呢？一个可能就是关于历史的教育，中国的官方基于民族团结和爱国主义的教育考虑，对统治阶级，政府，国家这些概念进行模糊和隐藏，让家奴的后代们和昔日主子的不幸遭遇，产生共情。

 

 

Indeed, when visiting this exhibition, I found that a lot of modern Chinese people have not been able to stay out and examine this extinct dynasty objectively and carefully. First, they were so excited about the Qing Dynasty’s geographical map of unification, “How vast is my China.” Immediately afterwards, they sincerely admired how exquisite and elegant the clothes of the Manchu royal family are! The battle armour of the Eight Banners is so strong and light. Then, they would collectively line up to take pictures before the Treaty of Nanjing, as if they were talking to their distant ancestors. Yet the content is not “My ancestors, the Qing Dynasty finally perished under internal and external attacks hooray”, but “Don’t worry, our China is now very strong, and will not be humiliated again.” In the end, they will sigh, “why these exquisite objects are not in China, but are exiled overseas, which is really a great shame.”

的确如此，参观此展的时候，我发现大多数当代中国人并没有能够置身事外，客观而仔细的去审视这个已经灭亡的朝代。他们先是为大清万年一统地理全图感到亢奋，“我中国曾经多么幅员辽阔”。紧接着由衷的赞叹，满族皇室的衣服是多么精致而考究啊！八旗子弟的战甲又是多么的结实轻便。然后，他们会集体排长队，在南京条约前久久凝望拍照，似乎在和遥远的祖先对话。可是这内容并不是“我的祖先啊，大清终于在内外夹击下亡了”， 而是“你们放心吧，我们中国现在强大了，不会再丧权辱国了”。最后，他们会发出感慨，这些精致的物件为什么不在中国，而是流落到了海外，真是巨大的耻辱。

When I heard these words, I couldn’t help feeling that the Qing Dynasty was not dead. Its legacy is being perfectly inherited by some of the Chinese mainland people at the moment.

当我听到这些言语的时候，不能不感慨，大清其实并没有亡。它的遗产，正在被此刻的一些中国内陆人完美继承。

 

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In a global first, the resilience and innovation of 19th-century China is revealed in a major new exhibition.

Between 1796 and 1912 Qing China endured numerous civil uprisings and foreign wars, with revolution ultimately bringing an end to some 2,000 years of dynastic rule and giving way to a modern Chinese republic. This period of violence and turmoil was also one of extraordinary creativity, driven by political, cultural and technological change. In the shadow of these events lie stories of remarkable individuals – at court, in armies, in booming cosmopolitan cities and on the global stage.

The exhibition is underpinned by a four-year research project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and led by the British Museum and London University, in collaboration with over 100 scholars from 14 countries.

Exquisite objects are brought together for the first time – from cloisonné vases given by the Last Emperor’s court to King George and Queen Mary for their coronation in 1911, to a silk robe commissioned by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The show illuminates the lives of individuals – an empress, a dancer, a soldier, an artist, a housewife, a merchant and a diplomat.

Visitors will glimpse the textures of life in 19th-century China through art, fashion, newspapers, furniture – even soup ingredients. Many people not only survived but thrived in this tumultuous world. New art forms, such as photography and lithographic printing, flourished while technology and transport – the telegraph, electricity, railways – transformed society.

This extraordinary exhibition will open a new page in public understanding of late imperial China.