Abstract
This article studies the development during the Qing of the Hua–Yi (“Chinese– foreigner” or “civilized–barbarian”) dichotomy by examining two questions. First, what peoples within and outside the Qing realm could, in the eyes of the state, legitimately be described as Yi? Second, from the perspective of the Qing state, what criteria determined that status? It argues that the Qing state modified the preceding, Ming-era, Hua–Yi binary into a tripartite division by carving out an implicit third status—“non-Yi.” “Non-Yi” applied to Inner Asians, particularly Manchus and Mongols, who were regarded as distinct from Han Chinese but equal in their level of civilization and not subject to the discourse of “transformation” applied to those considered Yi. Studying this “non-Yi” status offers insight into the Qing ideology that justified Manchu rule over a composite state of which China was only one component. The conclusion explores tensions and contradictions apparent when the Qing state tried to repurpose existing Chinese political vocabulary to discuss the equal but distinct status of Inner Asia within the Qing realm.
Keywords
Qing empire, ideology, Hua–Yi (Chinese-barbarian) dichotomy, Inner Asia
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