grand historician, thank for your post. that explains me a bit more.
I read in a book over the history of China that the Manchus or Qing followed a very racism policy after they defeated the Ming. The Manchus rulers demanded as a sign of submission that all Han men had to shave their heads. Further they forbade mixed marriages between the native Manchus and Hans, and even any settlement into their homeland of Manchuria.
I don't have much knowledge on the Sino-French war I'll leave that subject to some one else.
How is it shaming the native Han population,from the emperor to the beggar all the Manchus and Han all had the same hairstyle my interpretation is it is used to solidify the Manchus and the Han as one Chinese people.
Funny thing is that the queue was recognized as Chinese bu the populace after the fall of Qing people were forced to cut it by the revolutionaries.
There is also the misconception of Hanfu being banned,the civliain population adopted Manchu clothing to emulate the elite there is no evidence of Hanfu being banned for the common people only government officials had to swtich from Ming Hanfu to Manchu clothing.
Ever see Beijing Opera?
What they are wearing is Hanfu.
There was no edict preventing Han bannermen from marrying Manchu and Mongol bannerwomen or vice versa,what was banned was mixing with the everyday Han Chinese though we all know even if something is illegal its still going to happen.
The emperors Kangxi,Qianlong and Jiaqing all had Han bannermen mother.
Han bannermen either married with the Manchus/Mongols,within their own banners or with the local populace,
Besides there are records of Ming deserters that settled with the Jurchens and were absorbed into the population.
The Manchu term for Han Chinese "Nikan" was a reference to those who adopted Chinese culture and spoke it whether they were truly descended from Ming settlers,Koreans or Jurchens didn't matter.
The Korean Shin Chungil noticed that Nurhaci and other Jurchens had many Chinese/Korean(as Koreans had the same naming style as Chinese it is hard to differentiate) workers and bondservants.
These Han Chinese were further subdivided those outside the Great Wall ie Liaodong Han Chinese and the Han Chinese that joined after ie deserting Ming soldiers/officials the former were treated better than the later and the Eastern Liaodong/Jilin Han(Tai Nikan) and Fushun Han(Fushun Nikan) bannermen were directly incorporated to the Manchu banners in 1740.
There are several prominent "Chinese" families the Li of Tieling,Shi of Guangning and the Tong of Fushun that greatly interacted with Nurhaci.
Individual Han Chinese rose to great ranks,Gong Zhenglu originally from Shaoxing,Zhejiang was doing business in Liaodong when he was captured by a raid however currying favor he was prized by Nurhaci was given wealth,wives and a job to tutor Nurhaci's sons.
The Eastern Liaodongnese Han soliders were also greatly respected and cherished by the Manchus.
The origin of the Li pf Tieling is speculated to be a Koreanized Jurchen who later moved to Ming China after the death of Li Rubo(brother to famed Imjin War veteran Li Chengliang) his nephews Li Zunzu and Li Sizheng as well as another relative Li Yongfang defected to Nurchaci and intermarried with Manchus.
The origin of Shi of Guangning and Tong of Fushun are both Chinese however they decided to fabricate their origins later on which I will explain in a moment.
The Tong of Fushun were descended from Han Chinese or Jurchens,Tong Dali a Ming infantrymen also the founder of the lineage married a women surnamed Wang(Many Jurchens adopted the surname Wang from Wanggiya so it is unknown if she is Jurchen or Han).
The point being after several generations even if they weren't Han to begin with they were Han in the eyes of their neighbors.
Anyways the descendants of the defector Tong Yangxing, eventually had a daughter the mother of Emperor Kangxi.
Kangxi's maternal uncle Tong Guogang in 1688 petitioned Kangxi using the claim that his family was descended from the Tunngiya Jurchen clan, and his relatives were elevated to the bordered yellow banner of the Manchus
Shi Huashan also petitioned Kangxi to be admitted under the guise his family was descended from Bukha and was granted his wish.
However both these lineages are false,Shi's imagined lineage was not found in the Suwan's(a Manchu group) ancestral records and the Tunggiya were founded later then the Tong of Fushun.
I'm not saying discrimination didn't exist what I'm saying is that even "pure" blooded Manchu probably have Han Chinese blood.
Information from the the Manchu Way by Mark C. Elliot:
Manchus bannermen outnumbered the Han Chinese bannermen in 1648 (206,961-389,436 vs 171,591-322,881) but by 1720 the Manchu bannermen were eclipsed (576,786-1,083,480 vs 766,279-1,442,747). That's not even mentioning the bondservants who were mostly Chinese.
No,Manchuria is a Western concept it didn't' exist during the Qing,true they forbade Han settlers but its not like they kicked out the existing Han living there.
For further reading:
The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China
A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology