Oboi Regency

Robert Oxnam, “Policies and Institutions of the Oboi Regency,” Journal of Asian Studies, 32.2 (Feb. 1973), 265-286.

We read in chapter 2 about the emperor Shunzhi who took control with the help of his regent Dorgon. Many Manchu were dissatisfied with the amount of favoritism Shunzhi showed to the eunuchs and how he kept so much of the Chinese system in his government. When Shunzhi died in 1661, 4 men with the help of the empress Dowager, stole Shunzhi’s will and substituted a will that vilified Shunzhi’s life, claiming he realized that he was wrong to put so much power into the hands of the eunuchs and corrupt official, that he should have trusted his faithful Manchu followers and upheld tradition. My reading was about these four men, Soni, Suksaha, Ebilun, and Oboi, who became regents of the young emperor Hsuan-yeh who ruled under the title Kangxi, and the changes that they made to the Qing government.

These 4 regents were all military men but they were very different from each other in most other aspects.

Soni was the eldest and most respected. He was a skilled diplomat and interpreter and he led the movement against the Regent Dorgon. Suksaha was a blood relative of the royal family and was originally loyal to Dorgon because they were both of the plain white banner but switched sides when the balance of power shifted. Ebilun was the most passive of the four and inherited most of his honors. One reason why Ebilun was so timid was probably because his father was very strict and even killed Ebilun’s brother with a knife for being insolent. Oboi was from a military family and led a distinguished military life. One person wrote that most people disliked him. Oboi was the most ambitious and gained control over the other regents in 1666. Thus the time from 1661-1669 is called the Oboi regency.

The four regents disliked and distrusted the weak Chinese scholar official class and having to conform to a Chinese form of government based on Confucianism. Oboi changed the ancient Chinese system of government so it was based on the procurement of taxes and the maintenance of control through a police force and placed more power in the hands of the Manchu.

1. First, Oboi got rid of the eunuchs. The Chinese system had sensors who were supposed to criticize the emperor and his officials, but the manchu’s military mindset meant that they wanted absolute obedience without question. So they greatly reduced the number of sensors and the remaining sensors were too frightened to say anything.

2. He made the Counsel of Deliberative Officials that acted as the emperor’s cabinet and was made mainly of old Manchu military men and some Mongols. They made most of the major military and civil policy decisions. This counsel actually wasn’t made only of Oboi supporters but also of those critical of oboi, even prince Giyesu, the man who led the eventual purge of the oboi faction.

3. He changed the exams that had been in place for millennia. They cut the quota for the exam in half and changed the tests and evaluations to test how well you can procure taxes.

The Oboi regency started to lose power by the mid 1660s and the Emperor Kangxi took this chance to regain power. He made policies that were beneficial to the irate Chinese and created a funerary tablet celebrating his father as a great ruler; finally deposing Oboi in 1669.

Kangxi acted as a learned Confucian scholar emperor like the Chinese wanted and brought back some of the traditional parts of Chinese government such as the old examinations. However, he also kept many of the changes that Oboi made such as the Council of Deliberative officials, rigorous control of taxation and the police forces, and the military values of the Manchu.Cixi