"China's 1911-12 Revolution, which overthrew a two-thousand-year succession of dynasties, is thought of primarily as a change in governmental style, from imperial to republican, traditional to modern. But given that the dynasty that was overthrown - the Qing - was that of a minority ethnic group that had ruled China's Han majority for nearly three centuries, and that the revolutionaries were overwhelmingly Han, to what extent was the revolution not only anti-monarchical, but also anti-Manchu?".

"Edward Rhoads explores this provocative and complicated question in Manchus and Han, analyzing the evolution of the Manchus from a hereditary military caste (the "banner people") to a distinct ethnic group and then detailing the interplay and dialogue between the Manchu court and Han reformers that culminated in the dramatic changes of the early twentieth century.".

"He traces Han opinions and treatment of Manchus from the criticisms of the 1898 reformers and the post-Boxer republican revolutionaries, to the climax of the revolution that overthrew the Qing, and into the Republic as well as the People's Republic.".

"Manchus and Han is a study that will forever change the way historians of China view the events leading to the fall of the Qing dynasty. Likewise, it will clarify for ethnologists the unique origin of the Manchus as an occupational caste and their shifting relationship with the Han, from border people to rulers to ruled."--BOOK JACKET.