Historians major in East Asiatic History estimated the late-Ming's population was between 200 to 250 millions at AD.1600(the 28th year of Ming emperor Wanli). [1] By AD.1650(the sixth year of Shunzhi), the estimated population was between 40-100 millions. [2] The yet to be verified speculation is that between AD. 1600-1650, 40 millions to 100 millions lifes(mainly Han Chinese plus other ethnicity) were lost, probably the indirect result of many massacres and atrocities conducted by Manchu barbarians. [3] Though there are counter arguments towards this claim. [4]
There are many historical records on the Manchu's mass murders of ethnic Han Chinese in Liaodong before they entered Shanhaiguan, and the estimated murdered victims may be as high as 3 millions. [5]
On the first month of the ninth year of Manchu
Tribal chief
Nurhachi,(Chinese: 天命九年正月), nine royal decrees were issued to eliminate 'poor people'(Chinese:無穀之人, translation: people who possessed no grains). Specific orders were issued:
On the fifth month and thirteen year of Gwanghaegun , The true record of Yi dynasty (Chinese:李朝实录, a Joseon history book ) recorded the following passage:At this time Nurhachi the bandit had invaded Liaoyang, soldiers and civilians of Liaodong Eight Stations who refused to follow Nurhachi, have gathered alongside the river....later on, many of the Nurhachi bandits have arrived, those people who refused to shave their hair, all jumped into the Yalu river and died.
The Yangzhou massacre is a massacre of mainly Han Chinese during Manchu Qing dynasty in 1645 when Manchu conquerers led by Prince Dodo conducted mass killings of the residents of Yangzhou. The atrocity lasted for ten days and the alleged number of victims was close to 800,000 (though some scholars doubt its accuracy). [6]
The alleged reasons for the massacre were:
When Manchu soldiers invaded Jiading city estimated 50,000 Han Chinese were killed by the Manchu. [7]
The siege of the Jiangyin city lasted 81 days, estimated loss of life(mainly Han Chinese) was about 170,000; and only 53 persons were found to be alive at the end of the siege. [8]
Over 100,000 Han Chinese were killed after Manchu soldiers invaded Chaozhou city. Monks were collecting corpses to burn before the spread of diseases.
THERE'S AN BIG MISTAKE IN HIS ACCOUNT, the death toll is 100,000. The book written by that historian with an is not internationally accepted, because of his exaggerations of death toll. He was also known for his anti Manchu-sentiments and exaggerations of any Manchu related incidents. In Guangzhou, the number of death tole in 1650 AD was 100,000.
Source: Siege Warfare: The fortress in the early modern world, 1494-1660 By Christopher Duff [10]
"They took Canton in 1650 after an eught month sieger, cutting down 100,000 of the citizens in the process"
Source: Warfare and armed conflicts: a statistical reference to casualty and other figures, 1500-2000. [11]
"In 1650, Manchus carried an great massacred against ming defenders. In the siege of eight months upward of 100000 people died in Canton."
When Jinan city was invaded by the Manchu, 130,000 Han Chinese were killed, and all the women that were left over were taken away.
1850 to 1864. With an estimated death toll of between 20 and 30 million(need to be verified) due to warfare and resulting starvation, this civil war ranks as one of the bloodiest conflicts in history (see List of wars and disasters by death toll).
Note:Original Chinese text at talk page.
On 31 July 2007, Song Yida, a reporter of Quilin Daily filed a report on a historical event that happened between 1850-1864.
Translation begins:The tale of "The Taipin army's bloodshed of Quan Zhou City(Chinese:全州城)" was wide spread, I myself used to believe it, but different versions of the tale were just as popular among folks.
Did Taipin army massacred the city folks? The answer is in the number of the defending army. According to the newly edited Quan Zhou County journal, back then, there were 500 soldiers inside the walled city, with the reinforcement of 400 soldiers from Hunan, the total number of soldiers were 900. To strengthen the defense of the city, Cao Xiepei enlisted local militia, including numbers of women doing cooking on top of the city walls, plus prisoners being enlisted into the fighting force, the total defense force was up to 1000, equivalent to the number of people killed by the Taipin army.
By now it should be clear that this tale "The Taipin army's bloodshed of Quan Zhou City" was a smear campaign by the Manchu army against the Taipin army, or it can be said that the bloodshed was targeted on the defense force. Local old folks said the defense force deserved to be killed. In fact, to prevent any undue civilian casualty, Taipin army had declared that any civilians escaped through South Gate would not be harmed, thus there was no civilians left during the war, and until today, many locals still called South Gate the Gate of life. By now we should know the true story of The Taipin army's bloodshed of Quan Zhou City". [12]
From the Ming historical book:(Chinese:明會要):
On AD 1578(the sixth year of Ming
Wanli reign),
Sichuan province had 262,694 families and population of 3,102,073.
From the historical book:(Chinese:四川道志):
On AD 1685(the 24th year of emperor
Kangxi), the Sichuan population was a low 18,000. The whole of
Chengdu city had less than 20 families left.
The original Chinese text is on talk page:
(Between AD 1862-1879)(Shanxi province) Conclusion
(1) The amount of population loss is staggering. In the short time of 17 years, the population of the whole province went from 13,940,000 to 7,720,000, the total loss was as high as 6,220,000, about 44.6% of the original population before the war.
(2) The loss of population during the war was far higher than those losses during famine and disasters. Natural disasters were terrible, man-made disasters(meaning wars) were even worst, in 17 years, the war-caused population loss went up to 5,208,000, was 83.7% of the total loss of population, and the loss of population during natural disasters were only 1,012,000, a mere 16.3% of the total loss of population. End of translation.
[13]
Note:All the figures quoted below are speculations, and need to be verified.
Before the war, the population of Shaanxi province was about 13 million, at least 1,750,000 were Dungan(Hui). After the war, the population dropped to 7 million; 150,000 fled to other parts of China, with about 50,000 left. Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, was the Holy city of Dungan (Hui) in China before the revolt. But once-flourishing Chinese Muslim communities fell 93% in the revolt in Shaanxi province. Between 1648 and 1878, around twelve million Hui and Han Chinese were killed in ten brutal suppressions by the Manchu Eight Banners soldiers. [3] [4] [5]
Between 1856-1873, the rebellion caused the death of up to a million people in Yunnan. [14]
In 18th century, the Dzungars suffered complete annihilation by Qianlong Emperor in several military campaigns. Between 1755-1757, the Eight Banner Army of the Qing Dynasty destroyed the remnants of the Dzunghar khanate. Their last leader, the rebellious Prince Amursana, fled to the North to seek refuge with the Russians. About 80% of the Dzungar population, or around 500,000 to 800,000 people, were killed during or after the Manchu conquest. Historians had noted that many Dzunngars also fall victims to the infectious disease Smallpox. Qianlong was reputed to have ordered the complete extermination of the Dzungars tribe. [15]
The murder of the BMS missionaries took place at the end of June 1900. The Taiyuan missionaries fled into a co-worker's house because Boxers were burning churches and houses, killing Christians and foreigners. Three days later, the Governor sent four deputies with soldiers, "promising to escort them in safety to the coast". Instead the missionaries were taken to a house near the Governor’s residence, were then "taken to the open space in front of the Governor’s residence, and stripped to the waist, as usual with those beheaded". [16]
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“ | The murderous Boxer Rebellion came as a sudden thunderstorm; all foreigners were to be killed not in the sudden merciful death of a bullet but sliced to death by big, old rusty knives and swords.... I had an old Winchester rifle and plenty of ammunition ready for the journey....The Boxer uprising ultimately claimed the lives of more than 32,000 Chinese Christians and several hundred foreign missionaries (historian Nat Brandt called it “the greatest single tragedy in the history of Christian evangelicalism” [17] | ” |
“ | By June 1900, placards calling for the death of foreigners and Christians covered the walls around Beijing. Armed bands combed the streets of the city, setting fire to homes and "with imperial blessing" killing Chinese Christians and foreigners. [18] | ” |
“ | People who had been flayed (skinned) alive,
people who had been burned alive, people who had been tortured by the Boxers in the temples. Men, women, children with their eyes gouged out (and) trussed up like chickens. There were also massacres of foreign missionaries who had not managed to reach safety. [19] |
” |
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