ABSTRACT
By sheer force of arms the Manchus invaded and conquered China; at the point of the bayonet, the vanquished Chinese unwillingly submitted to the newly founded dynasty. The Manchus went into China at the moment when the old theory "the throne for the virtuous," had become a mere shiboleth of scholars: it had entirely lost its influence in the government. It was the moment when the ancient revolutions which Confucius hailed as the deliverance of the people almost came to be denounced as rebellions. Under those circumstances and with the desire of upholding the throne to the highest degree, the Manchus adopted a policy, or rather cherished a desire, of keeping the throne as long as possible by monopolizing as much power as they could. This policy shows, too, that as soon as they sat on the throne, they followed implicitly the beaten path of the emperors of the preceding dynasties.
