Qing dynasty · 1616-1683

1644: from Ming to Qing

In 1644 rebels took Beijing, the last Ming emperor died, and the Manchus rode through the Great Wall to found the Qing dynasty. Students trace the collapse on the map and weigh the choices of rebels, generals and conquerors.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1620 to AD 1650
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1644 rebels took Beijing, the last Ming emperor died, and the Manchus rode through the Great Wall to found the Qing dynasty. Students trace the collapse on the map and weigh the choices of rebels, generals and conquerors.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the Ming dynasty collapsed in 1644.
  • Describe how the Manchus took Beijing and founded Qing rule over China.
  • Weigh different views of the change of dynasty, from Ming loyalists to Qing supporters.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1620

The Manchus rise

Open the map in 1620 and zoom in north of the eastern end of the Great Wall. Nurhaci's Jurchens, later called Manchus, were building a state here. What lies between them and Beijing?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1644

Beijing falls

Zoom in on Beijing in 1644. In April rebels under Li Zicheng took the city, and the last Ming emperor took his own life on a hill behind the Forbidden City. Why could the Ming not defend its own capital?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1650

The last Ming stronghold

Open the map in 1650 and zoom in on Taiwan. Who holds its southwest coast? In 1662 the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong drove them out, and in 1683 the Qing took the island.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. In the 1630s and 1640s the Ming suffered famine, cold years and peasant revolts. Which problem do you think was most dangerous, and why?
  2. General Wu Sangui opened the gate at Shanhaiguan to the Manchus. Was he a traitor, or did he have good reasons?
  3. The Qing ordered all Chinese men to shave their foreheads and wear a queue (a long braid). Why would a ruler force people to change their hair?
  4. The Manchus were few but ruled many millions. How did keeping the Ming exams and officials help them?
  5. Why might people in 1644 have seen the Qing either as restorers of order or as foreign conquerors?
4

Game round

10 min

Rule History has no Ming or Qing emperor, so play Tokugawa Ieyasu, who built a new order in Japan in the same decades. Let students take turns ruling. Then compare: how did Ieyasu and the early Qing each win over the people they had defeated?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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