AHC: Qing succeeded by another imperial dynasty

SavoyTruffle

SavoyTruffle

The Qing were notably China's last dynasty in a millennia-old dynastic cycle, ended by the Revolution of 1911 which gave way to the early republican period of Chinese history.

Your challenge is to make it so that instead of a republic arising in the place of the Qing, a new dynasty enters the picture and continues the Chinese dynastic cycle.
 

Enigmajones

Maybe the Empire of China (Yuan Shikai's short lived empire) succeeds? I know he was respected as a political leader until he crowned himself Hongxian Emperor.
 

RousseauX

Donor
SavoyTruffle said:
The Qing were notably China's last dynasty in a millennia-old dynastic cycle, ended by the Revolution of 1911 which gave way to the early republican period of Chinese history.

Your challenge is to make it so that instead of a republic arising in the place of the Qing, a new dynasty enters the picture and continues the Chinese dynastic cycle.
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yeah that's easy. Some kind of ethnic Han revolt/coup in the 19th century or Yuan's new dynasty succeeds under better circumstances.
 
The Byronic Hero

The Byronic Hero

Whiteshore said:
Easy. Have the Taiping succeed in defeating the Qing.
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The homicidal, genocidal, suicidal Taiping? The endgame for that regime, to me, always seems to be the Western powers dividing it as the Taiping's fanatical beliefs get in the way of Western profit. Xinjiang and other regions were already pulling away. Top that with the instability of the Taiping regime and the Chinese have a worse future ahead of it.
 
Whiteshore

Whiteshore

Inferus said:
The homicidal, genocidal, suicidal Taiping? The endgame for that regime, to me, always seems to be the Western powers dividing it as the Taiping's fanatical beliefs get in the way of Western profit. Xinjiang and other regions were already pulling away. Top that with the instability of the Taiping regime and the Chinese have a worse future ahead of it.
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Well, it still technically counts as the Qing succeeded by another dynasty, however short-lived it would be.
 
Superninja76

Superninja76

Could the White Lotus successfully mobilise enough support to overthrow Qing? There was a number of other rebellions happening at the same time, such as the Miao revolt and the abortive Āfāqi Khoja revolt of 1797, so it's not a stretch to say the armies of Qing were being spread relatively thin; the Taiping would also expose the Qing military for being so spectacularly useless in a contest of arms with an opponent it cannot simply overpower with numbers. If the White Lotus could consolidate under one leader and fight a more conventional war instead of the OTL conflict that was more akin to an insurgency, I think they could be rather successful and perhaps end up usurping the reigning dynasty, if given time. And, of course, time they do have; Europe was rather indisposed for around 30~ years with that rampaging republic in France, and later the upstart Napoleon.
 

Doctor What

Just as an FYI, there was an excellent ATL based on this very idea that was made on this very board and subsequently published as a book.

A few members of the board (including yours truly) contributed to the book as well.

You can check it out here

 
SavoyTruffle

SavoyTruffle

PrinceofApathy said:
The Kuomintang briefly floated the idea of naming the descendants of Confucius the imperial throne, that could work as a constitutional monarchy.
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Hmm, that's an interesting idea. Perhaps if the revolution were less republican in its outlook (maybe Dr Sun Yat-sen thinks differently, or someone else is at the forefront) maybe they could work out a system where Confucius' line has the Mandate of Heaven, but with the consent of the Chinese people.
 

CountDVB

I actually have an idea with this! Basically, have Sun Yat-sen and his revolutionaries instead maintain the idea of a constitutional monarchy and exploit the presence of the "Mandate of Heaven"within the culture to their advantage. After all, the Qing's Manchurian ties were a sticking point so a rallying cry would be restoring a Han Chinese to the throne descended of the Ming dynasty.

Why the Mandate of Heaven being used? Cause of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_of_Heaven#The_right_to_rule_and_the_right_of_rebellion

Aka, someone from the House of Zhu, preferably with leftist leanings. Even if they may not have much if any official political power, he would still be the emperor. That vast amount of cultural power and influence cannot be underestimated. He would be the representation of modern China and this who all should emulate.

And I even have a pretty good idea on who should be the new Emperor if you will.

"Zhu Jianfan (simplified Chinese: 朱剑凡; traditional Chinese: 朱劍凡, 1883–1932, born in Ningxiang, Hunan), previously named as Zhou Jia-Chun (Chinese: 周家純), was a famous revolutionary educator. He founded Zhounan Women's School (Chinese: 周南女學堂) by selling off and contributing all his property, which was valued at 111,700 silver dollars. He held the post of principal until 1927. It is a rare magnificent feat in the educational history of China. In 1911, he led students participate in Anti-Manchurian Revolution, and persuaded Hunan army to correspond to Wuchang Uprising. In 1922, he invited Mao Zedong to live on his campus, and sponsored Mao's library"

He would fit pretty well and while it may be a bit of a hard sell to convince Zhu Jianfan of it, the pragmatism of the choice and being able to put in alot of reforms would make it worth it. Sun Yat-sen meanwhile would become Grand Chancellor (in keeping the name) and thus he and his coalition could pass the reforms needing while the new Emperor would serve as a beacon of hope, the return of the rightful king if you will.
 
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