The Bannerman Community of Fujian Qinjiang under the Qing Dynasty: A Case Study in Acculturation (涵化)

Abstract

The banner city constructed in 1729 at the village of Qinjiang, Fujian, provides a typical example of interaction and acculturation between Qing bannermen and local Chinese. The bannermen were the small, ethnically defined, but humanly constructed minority that ruled China for two hundred and sixty-eight years. The Qinjiang banner city was established well into that era, and records of life there indicate how much the newcomers accepted Han Chinese culture, local religious beliefs, and Fujian kinship modes. But we also see how the Bannermen maintained self-identity, such as the inner banner circle marriage model and banner community maintenance.