Historical territories of the Manchu-led Qing empire
The Qing Empire in 1820. The Inner Asian regions are shown in light yellow (different from the dark yellow area called
Han Eighteen provinces).
Official map of the Qing Empire published by the Qing in 1905.
The
Qing dynasty in Inner Asia
was the expansion of the
Qing dynasty
's realm in
Inner Asia
in the 17th and the 18th century AD, including both
Inner Mongolia
and
Outer Mongolia
, both
Manchuria
(
Northeast China
) and
Outer Manchuria
,
Tibet
,
Qinghai
and
Xinjiang
.
Wars were fought primarily against the
Northern Yuan dynasty
(before 1636) and the
Dzungar Khanate
(1687?1758). Even before the conquest of
China proper
(see
Transition from Ming to Qing
), the
Manchus
had established the
Later Jin dynasty
that controlled
Manchuria
(modern
Northeast China
as well as
Outer Manchuria
) and Inner Mongolia, with the latter being previously controlled by the Northern Yuan dynasty under
Ligdan Khan
.
After suppressing the
Revolt of the Three Feudatories
and the conquest of
Taiwan
as well as ending the
Sino-Russian border conflicts
in the 1680s, the
Dzungar?Qing War
broke out. This eventually led to Qing conquests of
Outer Mongolia
,
Tibet
, Qinghai and
Xinjiang
. All of them became part of the Qing Empire and were garrisoned by Qing forces, but they were governed through several different types of administrative structures
[1]
and also retained many of their existing institutions. Furthermore, they were not governed as regular provinces (until Xinjiang and Manchuria were turned into provinces during the late Qing period), but instead were supervised by the
Lifan Yuan
, a Qing government agency that oversaw the empire's frontier regions.
Manchuria
[
edit
]
Manchuria within the Qing dynasty in 1820
The Qing dynasty was founded not by
Han Chinese
, who form the majority of the Chinese population, but by a sedentary farming people known as the
Jurchen
, a
Tungusic people
who lived around the region now comprising the Chinese provinces of
Jilin
and
Heilongjiang
.
[2]
What was to become the Manchu state was founded by
Nurhaci
, the chieftain of a minor Jurchen tribe – the
Aisin Gioro
– in
Jianzhou
in the early 17th century. As a vassal of the Ming emperors who officially considered himself a guardian of the Ming border and a local representative of imperial power of the Ming dynasty,
[3]
Nurhaci embarked on an intertribal feud in 1582 that escalated into a campaign to
unify the nearby tribes
. By 1616, however, he had sufficiently consolidated Jianzhou so as to be able to proclaim himself
Khan
of the
Great Jin
in reference to the
previous Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty
.
Two years later, Nurhaci announced the "
Seven Grievances
" and openly renounced the sovereignty of Ming overlordship in order to complete the unification of those Jurchen tribes still allied with the Ming emperor. After a series of successful battles against both the Ming and various tribes in the area that became
Outer Manchuria
, he and his son
Hong Taiji
eventually controlled the whole of Manchuria. However, during the
Qing conquest of the Ming
in the later decades, the
Tsardom of Russia
tried to gain the land north of the Amur River. This was eventually rebutted by the Qing in the 1680s, resulting in the
Treaty of Nerchinsk
in 1689 which gave the land to China. During the mid-19th century, however, Outer Manchuria was eventually lost to the Russians during the
Amur Annexation
by the
Russian Empire
.
Chongzheng Hall of
Mukden Palace
Han Chinese were banned from settling in this region but the rule was openly violated and Han Chinese became a majority in urban areas by the early 19th century.
In 1668 during the reign of the
Kangxi Emperor
, the Qing government further decreed a prohibition of non-
Eight Banner
people getting into this area of their origin.
However Qing rule saw an massively increasing amount of Han Chinese both illegally and legally streaming into Manchuria and settling down to cultivate land as Manchu landlords desired Han Chinese peasants to rent on their land and grow grain, most Han Chinese migrants were not evicted as they went over the Great Wall and Willow Palisade, during the eighteenth century Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares of privately owned land in Manchuria and 203,583 hectares of lands which were part of courtiers' and nobles' estates, and Banner lands, in garrisons and towns in Manchuria Han Chinese made up 80% of the population.
[5]
Han Chinese farmers were resettled from north China by the Qing to the area along the Liao River in order to restore the land to cultivation.
[6]
Wasteland was reclaimed by Han Chinese squatters in addition to other Han who rented land from Manchu landlords.
[7]
Despite officially prohibiting Han Chinese settlement on the Manchu and Mongol lands, by the 18th century the Qing decided to settle Han refugees from northern China who were suffering from famine, floods, and drought into Manchuria and Inner Mongolia so that Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares in Manchuria and tens of thousands of hectares in Inner Mongolia by the 1780s.
[8]
Qianlong allowed Han Chinese peasants suffering from drought to move into Manchuria despite him issuing edicts in favor of banning them from 1740 to 1776.
[9]
Chinese tenant farmers rented or even claimed title to land from the "imperial estates" and Manchu Bannerlands in the area.
[10]
Besides moving into the Liao area in southern Manchuria, the path linking
Jinzhou
,
Fengtian
,
Tieling
,
Changchun
,
Hulun
, and
Ningguta
was settled by Han Chinese during the
Qianlong Emperor
's reign, and Han Chinese were the majority in urban areas of Manchuria by 1800.
[11]
To increase the Imperial Treasury's revenue, the Qing sold formerly Manchu only lands along the Sungari to Han Chinese at the beginning of the
Daoguang Emperor
's reign, and Han Chinese filled up most of Manchuria's towns by the 1840s according to Abbe Huc.
[12]
Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia
[
edit
]
Inner and Outer Mongolia within the Qing dynasty in 1820
During the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, most regions inhabited by ethnic Mongols, notably Outer and Inner Mongolia became part of the Qing Empire. Even before the dynasty began to take control of
China proper
in 1644, the escapades of
Ligden Khan
had driven a number of Mongol tribes to ally with the
Manchu
state. The Manchus conquered a Mongol tribe in the process of war against the Ming. Nurhaci's early relations with the Mongols tribes was mainly an alliance.
[13]
[
full citation needed
]
[14]
With Ligden's defeat and death his son
Ejei Khan
had to submit to the Manchus, and most of what is now Inner Mongolia was incorporated to the Qing. The three khans of Khalkha in Outer Mongolia had established close ties with the Qing dynasty since the reign of Hong Taiji, but had remained effectively self-governing. While Qing rulers had attempted to achieve control over this region, the
Oirats
to the west of Khalkha under the leadership of
Galdan
were also actively making such attempts. After the end of
the war against the Three Feudatories
, the
Kangxi Emperor
was able to turn his attentions to this problem and tried diplomatic negotiations. But Galdan ended up with attacking the Khalkha lands, and Kangxi's responded by personally leading Eight Banner contingents with heavy guns into the field against Galdan's forces, eventually defeating the latter. In the meantime, Kangxi organized a
congress
of the rulers of Khalkha and Inner Mongolia in
Duolun
in 1691, at which the Khalkha khans formally declared allegiance to him. The war against Galdan essentially brought the Khalkhas to the empire, and the three khans of the Khalkha were formally inducted into the inner circles of the Qing
aristocracy
by 1694. Thus, by the end of the 17th century the Qing dynasty had put both Inner and Outer Mongolia under its control.
Han Chinese were officially forbidden to settle in Inner and Outer Mongolia. Mongols were forbidden from crossing into the Han Chinese 18 provinces (neidi) without permission and were given punishments if they did. Mongols were forbidden from crossing into another Mongol leagues. Han Chinese settlers violated the rule and crossed into and settled in Inner Mongolia.
Despite officially prohibiting Han Chinese settlement on the Manchu and Mongol lands, by the 18th century the Qing decided to settle Han refugees from northern China who were suffering from famine, floods, and drought into Manchuria and Inner Mongolia so that Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares in Manchuria and tens of thousands of hectares in Inner Mongolia by the 1780s.
[15]
Winter Palace of the
Jebtsundamba
in
Urga
Ordinary Mongols were not allowed to travel outside their own leagues. Mongols were forbidden by the Qing from crossing the borders of their banners, even into other Mongol Banners and from crossing into neidi (the Han Chinese 18 provinces) and were given serious punishments if they did in order to keep the Mongols divided against each other to benefit the Qing.
[16]
During the eighteenth century, growing numbers of
Han Chinese
settlers had illegally begun to move into the Inner Mongolian steppe. By 1791 there had been so many Han Chinese settlers in the
Front Gorlos Banner
that the jasak had petitioned the Qing government to legalize the status of the peasants who had already settled there.
[17]
Tibet
[
edit
]
Tibet within the Qing dynasty in 1820
Gushi Khan
, founder of the
Khoshut Khanate
overthrew the prince of
Tsang
and made the
5th Dalai Lama
the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet,
[18]
establishing the regime known as
Ganden Phodrang
in 1642. The
Dzungar Khanate
under
Tsewang Rabtan
invaded Tibet in 1717, deposed the pretender to the position of Dalai Lama of
Lha-bzang Khan
, the last ruler of the Khoshut Khanate, and killed Lha-bzang Khan and his entire family. In response,
an expedition
sent by the
Kangxi Emperor
of the Qing dynasty, together with Tibetan forces under
Polhane Sonam Topgye
of Tsang and
Kangchennas
(also spelled Gangchenney), the governor of Western Tibet,
[19]
[20]
expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720 as patrons of the Khoshut and liberators of Tibet from the Dzungars. This began the
Qing administrative rule of Tibet
, which lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, although the region retained a degree of political autonomy under the
Dalai Lamas
. The Qing emperors appointed imperial residents known as the
Ambans
to Tibet, who commanded over 2,000 troops stationed in
Lhasa
and reported to the Lifan Yuan.
The Qing stationed both Manchu Bannermen and Han Chinese
Green Standard Army
soldiers in Tibet. A community descended from Han Chinese soldiers and officials grew in Lhasa.
Gateway to Lhasa (western gate), pictured here at the time of the 1904
British expedition to Tibet
At multiple places such as Lhasa, Batang, Dartsendo, Lhari, Chamdo, and Litang, Green Standard troops were garrisoned throughout the Dzungar war.
[21]
Green Standard Army
troops and Manchu Bannermen were both part of the Qing force who fought in Tibet in the war against the Dzungars.
[22]
It was said that the Sichuan commander Yue Zhongqi (a descendant of
Yue Fei
) entered Lhasa first when the 2,000 Green Standard soldiers and 1,000 Manchu soldiers of the "Sichuan route" seized Lhasa.
[23]
According to Mark C. Elliott, after 1728 the Qing used
Green Standard Army
troops to man the garrison in Lhasa rather than
Bannermen
.
[24]
According to Evelyn S. Rawski both Green Standard Army and Bannermen made up the Qing garrison in Tibet.
[25]
According to Sabine Dabringhaus, Green Standard Chinese soldiers numbering more than 1,300 were stationed by the Qing in Tibet to support the 3,000 strong Tibetan army.
[26]
In the mid 19th century, arriving with an Amban, a community of Chinese troops from Sichuan who married Tibetan women settled down in the Lubu neighborhood of Lhasa, where their descendants established a community and assimilated into Tibetan culture.
[27]
Hebalin was the location of where Chinese Muslim troops and their offspring lived, while Lubu was the place where Han Chinese troops and their offspring lived.
[28]
Qinghai
[
edit
]
Qinghai within the Qing dynasty in 1820
From 1640 to 1724, a big part of the area that is now Qinghai was under the control of the
Khoshut
Mongols, who nominally acknowledged their allegiance to the Qing dynasty. However, after the Dzungar invasion which ended the
Khoshut Khanate
in Tibet and the subsequent Qing conquest of Tibet in 1720, the
Upper Mongols
led by the ruling prince Lubsan Danzan in Qinghai revolted against the Qing under the
Yongzheng Emperor
in 1723. Lubsan Danzan also made contact with the
Dzungar Khanate
in
Xinjiang
before the revolt. 200,000 Tibetans and Mongols in Qinghai attacked
Xining
, although Central Tibet did not support the rebellion. In fact,
Polhanas
based in Central Tibet blocked the rebels' retreat from Qing retaliation.
[29]
Chinese commanders such as
Nian Gengyao
were sent to suppress the revolt. Eventually the rebellion was brutally suppressed, which marked the onset of direct Qing rule in Qinghai. Lubsan Danzan fled to the Dzungar Khanate and was later captured by the Manchus in 1755 during the
Qianlong Emperor
's campaigns to Xinjiang. Most of present-day Qinghai was put under the control of the Minister of Xining Handling Affairs (Chinese: 西寧辦事大臣, also known as the Xining
Amban
) located in Xining in 1724 by the Qing, although Xining itself was governed by the
Gansu
province during the period. This lasted until the end of the Qing dynasty.
Xinjiang
[
edit
]
Xinjiang within the Qing dynasty in 1820
The area called
Dzungaria
in present-day Xinjiang was the base of the
Dzungar Khanate
. The Qing dynasty gained control over eastern Xinjiang as a result of a
long struggle with the Dzungars
that began in the 17th century. In 1755, with the help of the Oirat noble
Amursana
, the Qing attacked
Ghulja
and captured the Dzungar khan. After Amursana's request to be declared Dzungar khan went unanswered, he led a revolt against the Qing. Over the next two years, Qing armies destroyed the remnants of the Dzungar khanate. The native
Dzungar Oirat Mongols
suffered heavily from the brutal campaigns and a simultaneous
smallpox
epidemic. After the campaigns against the Dzungars in 1758, two
Altishahr
nobles, the
Khoja
brothers
Burh?n al-D?n
[
zh
]
and
Khw?ja-i Jah?n
[
zh
]
, started a revolt against the Qing Empire. However, it was crushed by the Qing forces by 1759, which marked the beginning of whole Xinjiang under Qing rule. The
Kumul Khanate
was incorporated into the Qing Empire as a semi-autonomous vassal within Xinjiang. The
Qianlong Emperor
compared his achievements with that of the
Han
and
Tang
ventures into
Central Asia
.
[30]
The Qing dynasty put the entire Xinjiang under the rule of the
General of Ili
who established a center of government at the fort of
Huiyuan
(the so-called "Manchu Kuldja", or Yili), 30 km (19 mi) west of
Ghulja
(Yining). This brought the previously two separate regions, the Dzungaria in the north and the
Tarim Basin
(Altishahr) in the south under his rule as Xinjiang.
[31]
The Qing's campaigns in Central Asia led to the latter calling for help from
Ahmad Shah Durrani
of
Afghanistan
. The Qing forces and Afghan forces of the
Durrani Empire
sent troops to
Kashgar
and
Kokand
respectively in 1762 to be ready for a potential war, which eventually did not break out.
[32]
Tacheng
(Chuguchak) was among the towns that suffered grievously during the fighting
insurrection of 1864
.
The Qing implemented two different policies for Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin. Han Chinese were encouraged by the Qing to permanently settle and colonize Dzungaria while permanent Han settlers were banned from the Tarim with only Han merchants and Han Green Standard Army soldiers stationed in rotating garrisons allowed in the Tarim Basin. The ban was lifted in the 1820s after the invasion of
Jahangir Khoja
and Han Chinese were allowed to permanently settle in the Tarim. During the weakening of the Qing dynasty in the mid-19th century, both Chinese Muslims (
Hui
) and Turkic Muslims (now known as the
Uyghurs
) rebelled in Xinjiang cities, following on-going Chinese
Muslim Rebellions
in
Gansu
and
Shaanxi
provinces further east. In 1865,
Yaqub Beg
, a warlord from the neighbouring
Khanate of Kokand
, entered Xinjiang via Kashgar and established the state known as
Yettishar
which conquered nearly all of Xinjiang over the next six years.
[33]
At the
Battle of Urumqi (1870)
Yaqub Beg's Turkic forces, allied with a Han Chinese militia, attacked and besieged Chinese Muslim forces in Urumqi. In 1871, the
Russian Empire
took advantage of the chaotic situation and seized the rich
Ili River
valley, including
Gulja
. At the end of this period, forces loyal to the Qing held onto only a few strongholds, including
Tacheng
. Yaqub Beg's rule lasted until the Qing general
Zuo Zongtang
(also known as General Tso)
reconquered the region
between 1876 and 1878. In 1881, the Qing recovered the Gulja region through diplomatic negotiations, via the
Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881)
. The Qing dynasty established Xinjiang ("new frontier") as a province in 1884, formally applying to it the political systems of the
China proper
and dropping the old names of Zhunbu (準部, Dzungar region) and Huijiang, "Muslimland."
[34]
[35]
Identifying the Qing state with China
[
edit
]
Lizheng Gate (麗正門) in the
Chengde Mountain Resort
. Over the gate there is an inscription written in the scripts used in the Qing China:
Mongolian script
from the left,
Chagatai
Arabic script
,
Chinese
,
Tibetan
, and
Manchu
.
The Qing identified their state as
Zhongguo
("中國", lit. "central state", the term for "China" in
modern Chinese
), and referred to it as "Dulimbai Gurun" in
Manchu
and "China" in
English
. The Qing equated the lands of the Qing state (including Manchuria, Xinjiang, Mongolia, and other areas under Qing control) as "China" in both the Chinese and Manchu languages, defining China as a multi-ethnic state. After the Qing conquered
Xinjiang
in 1759, they proclaimed that the new land was now absorbed into "China" (Dulimbai Gurun) in a Manchu language memorial.
[36]
[37]
[38]
The
Qianlong Emperor
explicitly commemorated the Qing conquest of the Dzungars as having added new territory in Xinjiang to
Zhongguo
, defining China as a multi-ethnic state, rejecting the idea that China only meant Han-populated areas in "
China proper
", meaning that according to the Qing, both Han and non-Han peoples were part of China (Zhongguo). Similarly, the "Chinese language" (Dulimbai gurun i bithe) referred to Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol languages, while the term "people of China" (中國之人 Zhongguo zhi ren; Manchu: Dulimbai gurun i niyalma) referred to all Han, Manchus, Mongol, and other subjects of the Qing. The Qing expounded on their ideology that they were bringing together the "outer" non-Han peoples like the Inner Mongols, Eastern Mongols, Oirat Mongols, and Tibetans together with the "inner" Han people, into "one family" united in the Qing state, showing that the diverse subjects of the Qing were all part of one family, the Qing used the phrase "Zhong Wai Yi Jia" (中外一家) or "Nei Wai Yi Jia" (內外一家, "interior and exterior as one family"), to convey this idea of "unification" of the different peoples.
[39]
The Qianlong Emperor rejected earlier ideas that only Han people could be subjects of China and only Han lands could be considered as part of China, saying in 1755 that "There exists a view of China (Zhongxia), according to which non-Han people cannot become China's subjects and their land cannot be integrated into the territory of China. This does not represent our dynasty's understanding of China, but is instead that of the earlier
Han
,
Tang
,
Song
, and
Ming
dynasties."
[40]
The term "Zhongguo" or "China" was also used extensively to refer to the Qing in foreign communications and treaties with other states. It appeared in a formal Qing government document for the first time in the 1689
Treaty of Nerchinsk
signed with the
Russians
. Nevertheless, the Qing implemented different ways of legitimization for different peoples within the Qing Empire. For example, Qing emperors were referred to as "Khagan of China" (or "
Chinese khagan
") by their Turkic Muslim subjects (now known as the
Uyghurs
),
[41]
as "
Bogda Khan
" or "(Manchu) Emperor" by their Mongol subjects, and as "
Emperor of China
" (or "Chinese Emperor") and "the Great Emperor" (or "Great
Emperor Manjushri
") by their Tibetan subjects (such as in the 1856
Treaty of Thapathali
).
[42]
[43]
[44]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
The Cambridge History of China: Volume 10, Part 1, by John K. Fairbank, p37
- ^
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (2010).
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China
. Cambridge University Press. p. 220.
ISBN
978-0-521-12433-1
.
- ^
The Cambridge History of China: Volume 9, The Ch'ing Empire to 1800, Part 1, by Denis C. Twitchett, John K. Fairbank, p. 29
- ^
Richards 2003
, p. 141.
- ^
Reardon-Anderson 2000
, p. 504.
- ^
Reardon-Anderson 2000
, p. 505.
- ^
Reardon-Anderson 2000
, p. 506.
- ^
Scharping 1998
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- ^
Reardon-Anderson 2000
, p. 507.
- ^
Reardon-Anderson 2000
, p. 508.
- ^
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- ^
Marriage and inequality in Chinese society By Rubie Sharon Watson, Patricia Buckley Ebrey, p.177
- ^
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- ^
Reardon-Anderson, James (Oct 2000). "Land Use and Society in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia during the Qing Dynasty".
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doi
:
10.2307/3985584
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JSTOR
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S2CID
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- ^
Bulag 2012
, p. 41.
- ^
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- ^
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The Empire of the Steppes
, New Brunswick 1970, p. 522
- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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, p. 81.
- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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978-9004145504
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?“斌?案”看?代?疆官??新疆的?定
Archived
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Wayback Machine
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, p. 77.
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, p. 83.
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Elliott 2001
, p. 503.
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, pp. 76-77.
- ^
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, p. 4.
- ^
Onuma, Takahiro (2014).
"The Qing Dynasty and Its Central Asian Neighbors"
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Saksaha: A Journal of Manchu Studies
.
12
(20220303).
doi
:
10.3998/saksaha.13401746.0012.004
. Retrieved
September 17,
2023
.
- ^
Treaty between Tibet and Nepal, 1856 (translation)
- ^
Bell, Charles (1992).
Tibet Past and Present
. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 278.
ISBN
9788120810679
.
- ^
Dunnell, Ruth (2004).
New Qing Imperial History: The Making of Inner Asian Empire at Qing Chengde
. Taylor & Francis. p. 124.
ISBN
9781134362226
.
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