Ten Great Campaigns

The Ten Great Campaigns were a series of military operations launched by the Qing dynasty. These events occurred during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, who ruled from 1735 to 1796. The campaigns served two main purposes for the empire. Some were designed to expand Qing control into Inner Asia. Others were "police actions" intended to manage frontiers that the empire already controlled. These conflicts helped reshape the borders of Asia.

Three of these campaigns targeted Inner Asia to enlarge the empire's reach. The most significant was the struggle against the Dzungars, also known as the Zunghars. This conflict began due to a power struggle between Dawachi and the prince Amursana. After being defeated, Amursana fled to the Qing imperial court for help. In 1755, the Qianlong Emperor sent General Zhaohui to lead an army against the Dzungars. Zhaohui used Amursana's help to force Dawachi to surrender near the river Ili.

However, the situation changed when Amursana started a revolt in 1756. General Zhaohui had to lead new campaigns to suppress this uprising. He won important victories at the Battle of Oroi-Jalatu and the Battle of Khurungui in 1758. These battles were so notable that the Emperor had the Puning Temple built in Chengde to celebrate them. Eventually, Amursana fled to Russia, while his ally Prince Chingünjav was captured and executed in Beijing.

Following the Dzungar wars, a third campaign addressed the Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas from 1757 to 1759. Two brothers, Burhān al-Dīn and Khwāja-i Jahān, led this revolt. They were supported by Kyrgyz and Uyghur peoples in the Tarim Basin. The fighting included the Battle of Qurman in 1759. During this battle, 600 Qing relief troops faced 5,000 enemy cavalry. The Qing forces used muskets and zamburak artillery camels to win the fight. After this victory, the rebels fled to Badakhshan, where they were captured and handed over to the Qing.

Some campaigns were much more difficult and expensive than others. The suppression of the Jinchuan hill peoples in Sichuan was the most destructive. The Gyalrong tribes lived in stone towers located in steep mountains. During the second campaign, which began 20 years after the first, the Qing faced a long war of attrition. This conflict cost the Imperial Treasury several times more than the conquests in Xinjiang. To win, the Qing used cannon fire to dislodge the tribes from their mountain forts. The region was later reorganized into a military prefecture.

Between 1765 and 1769, the Qing launched four invasions of Burma. This was a very difficult frontier war that resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 Qing soldiers. The Manchu Bannermen, who were elite soldiers, struggled with the tropical terrain and deadly diseases. The successful Burmese defense helped establish the modern boundary between Myanmar and China. Although the Emperor claimed victory when diplomacy resumed in 1790, the war had actually helped ensure Burmese independence. It also allowed the Siamese to regroup after their own conflicts.

Other campaigns involved managing internal revolts and distant borders. In 1786, a group called the Tiandihui rose up in Taiwan. Led by Lin Shuangwen, the rebels occupied most of southern Taiwan. General Fuk'anggan eventually used 20,000 soldiers to quell the rebellion. Finally, the Qing conducted two campaigns against the Gurkhas on the border between Tibet and Nepal between 1788 and 1793. Together, these ten campaigns demonstrate the massive scale of the Qing dynasty's efforts to manage its vast territories.