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Green Standard Army
The Green Standard Army (Chinese: 綠營兵; pinyin: Lǜyíngbīng; Manchu: niowanggiyan turun i kūwaran) was a category of military units under the control of China's Qing dynasty. It was made up mostly of ethnic Han soldiers and operated concurrently with the Manchu–Mongol–Han Eight Banner armies. In areas with a high concentration of Hui people, Muslims served as soldiers in the Green Standard Army. After the Qing consolidated control over China, the Green Standard Army was primarily used as a police force.
Despite its name, the Green Standard Army served as a gendarmerie rather than a military force. After the formation of "brave battalions" in response to the mid-19th century rebellions in China, who were mercenaries hired and financed by provincial governors, the Green Standard were relegated for local security only, while the braves became the Qing dynasty's rapid response force. There was an effort starting in the 1860s to modernize Green Standard units to make them similar to the braves, and the Late Qing reforms in the early 1900s began the process of disbanding the worst Green Standard forces while integrating the rest into the New Army. This process was not completed before the 1911 Revolution against the Qing dynasty and the Green Standard were being used as reservists for the New Army.
The original Green Standard troops were the soldiers of the Ming commanders who surrendered to the Qing in 1644 and after. Their troops enlisted voluntarily and for long terms of service; they usually came from the socially disadvantaged, and remained segregated from Chinese society, partly because of the latter's deep anti-military bias during the late Ming period, and partly because they were paid too poorly and irregularly to marry and support a family.
The Qing relied on the Green Standard soldiers, comprising defected Han Ming military forces who joined the Qing, in order to help rule northern China. It was Green Standard Han troops who actively military governed China locally while Han Bannermen, Mongol Bannermen, and Manchu Bannermen were only brought into emergency situations when there was sustained military resistance.
The Manchus sent Han Chinese Bannermen to fight against Ming loyalists in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian. The Qing carried out a massive depopulation policy and clearances, forcing people to evacuate the coast in order to deprive Koxinga's Ming loyalists of resources, leading to a myth that it was because Manchus were "afraid of water". In parts of Southern Fujian, northern Han Bannermen fought for the Qing and, in so doing, disproved the claim that the earlier coastal evacuation, which especially affected the ethnic Tanka people, was ordered by the Manchus out of fear of the water.
At the outset of the Revolt of the Three Feudatories (1673–81), four hundred thousand Green Standard Army soldiers were deployed by the Manchus/Qing against the Three Feudatories, in addition to 200,000 Bannermen. However, during 1673 and 1674, the Qing forces were soundly defeated by the forces of the rebel Wu Sangui. The Qing had the support of the majority of Han Chinese soldiers and the Han elite against the Three Feudatories and they refused to join Wu Sangui in the revolt, but the Eight Banners and Manchu officers fared poorly against Wu's forces, so the Qing responded with a massive army of more than 900,000 non-Banner Han Chinese, instead of the Eight Banners, to subdue the rebels. Wu Sangui's forces were crushed by the Green Standard Army, which was made up of defected Ming soldiers.
During the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, Manchu Generals and Bannermen were initially put to shame by the better performance of the Han Chinese Green Standard Army, which was noted by the Kangxi Emperor, leading him to task generals Sun Sike, Wang Jinbao, and Zhao Liangdong with leading Green Standard Soldiers to put down the rebellion. The Qing considered the Han Chinese to be superior fighters, so used the Green Standard Army, rather than Bannermen, as the main force in defeating the rebels.
Against Wang Fuchen in north-western China, the Qing put Bannermen in the rear as reserves. They used Han Chinese Green Standard Army soldiers and Han Chinese generals, such as Zhang Liangdong, Wang Jinbao, and Zhang Yong, as the primary military forces, and they achieved victory over the rebels. Sichuan and southern Shaanxi were retaken in 1680 by the Han Chinese Green Standard Army under Wang Jinbao and Zhao Liangdong, with Manchus only dealing with logistics and provisions. Four hundred thousand Green Standard Army soldiers and 150,000 Bannermen served on the Qing side during the war. Two hundred and thirteen Han Chinese Banner companies, and 527 companies of Mongol and Manchu Banners were mobilized by the Qing during the revolt.
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Green Standard Army
The Green Standard Army (Chinese: 綠營兵; pinyin: Lǜyíngbīng; Manchu: niowanggiyan turun i kūwaran) was a category of military units under the control of China's Qing dynasty. It was made up mostly of ethnic Han soldiers and operated concurrently with the Manchu–Mongol–Han Eight Banner armies. In areas with a high concentration of Hui people, Muslims served as soldiers in the Green Standard Army. After the Qing consolidated control over China, the Green Standard Army was primarily used as a police force.
Despite its name, the Green Standard Army served as a gendarmerie rather than a military force. After the formation of "brave battalions" in response to the mid-19th century rebellions in China, who were mercenaries hired and financed by provincial governors, the Green Standard were relegated for local security only, while the braves became the Qing dynasty's rapid response force. There was an effort starting in the 1860s to modernize Green Standard units to make them similar to the braves, and the Late Qing reforms in the early 1900s began the process of disbanding the worst Green Standard forces while integrating the rest into the New Army. This process was not completed before the 1911 Revolution against the Qing dynasty and the Green Standard were being used as reservists for the New Army.
The original Green Standard troops were the soldiers of the Ming commanders who surrendered to the Qing in 1644 and after. Their troops enlisted voluntarily and for long terms of service; they usually came from the socially disadvantaged, and remained segregated from Chinese society, partly because of the latter's deep anti-military bias during the late Ming period, and partly because they were paid too poorly and irregularly to marry and support a family.
The Qing relied on the Green Standard soldiers, comprising defected Han Ming military forces who joined the Qing, in order to help rule northern China. It was Green Standard Han troops who actively military governed China locally while Han Bannermen, Mongol Bannermen, and Manchu Bannermen were only brought into emergency situations when there was sustained military resistance.
The Manchus sent Han Chinese Bannermen to fight against Ming loyalists in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian. The Qing carried out a massive depopulation policy and clearances, forcing people to evacuate the coast in order to deprive Koxinga's Ming loyalists of resources, leading to a myth that it was because Manchus were "afraid of water". In parts of Southern Fujian, northern Han Bannermen fought for the Qing and, in so doing, disproved the claim that the earlier coastal evacuation, which especially affected the ethnic Tanka people, was ordered by the Manchus out of fear of the water.
At the outset of the Revolt of the Three Feudatories (1673–81), four hundred thousand Green Standard Army soldiers were deployed by the Manchus/Qing against the Three Feudatories, in addition to 200,000 Bannermen. However, during 1673 and 1674, the Qing forces were soundly defeated by the forces of the rebel Wu Sangui. The Qing had the support of the majority of Han Chinese soldiers and the Han elite against the Three Feudatories and they refused to join Wu Sangui in the revolt, but the Eight Banners and Manchu officers fared poorly against Wu's forces, so the Qing responded with a massive army of more than 900,000 non-Banner Han Chinese, instead of the Eight Banners, to subdue the rebels. Wu Sangui's forces were crushed by the Green Standard Army, which was made up of defected Ming soldiers.
During the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, Manchu Generals and Bannermen were initially put to shame by the better performance of the Han Chinese Green Standard Army, which was noted by the Kangxi Emperor, leading him to task generals Sun Sike, Wang Jinbao, and Zhao Liangdong with leading Green Standard Soldiers to put down the rebellion. The Qing considered the Han Chinese to be superior fighters, so used the Green Standard Army, rather than Bannermen, as the main force in defeating the rebels.
Against Wang Fuchen in north-western China, the Qing put Bannermen in the rear as reserves. They used Han Chinese Green Standard Army soldiers and Han Chinese generals, such as Zhang Liangdong, Wang Jinbao, and Zhang Yong, as the primary military forces, and they achieved victory over the rebels. Sichuan and southern Shaanxi were retaken in 1680 by the Han Chinese Green Standard Army under Wang Jinbao and Zhao Liangdong, with Manchus only dealing with logistics and provisions. Four hundred thousand Green Standard Army soldiers and 150,000 Bannermen served on the Qing side during the war. Two hundred and thirteen Han Chinese Banner companies, and 527 companies of Mongol and Manchu Banners were mobilized by the Qing during the revolt.