Green standard

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The Green Standard ( Chinese  綠營 兵 , Pinyin lùyíngbīng ) was the name of a Chinese army during the Qing Dynasty . It consisted mostly of Han Chinese and was up against the predominantly Manchurian - Mongolian embossed Eight banners .

Originally the Green Standard consisted of the Chinese troops that surrendered to the advancing Qing in 1644 . It was recruited from mostly long-term volunteers from socially disadvantaged strata of the population. Often the sons of soldiers who were already serving were recruited. Service in the standard was basically intended as a life's work, but leaving and returning to civilian life was relatively easy. Usually the soldiers were paid so badly and irregularly that it was almost impossible for them to marry and maintain a family. The Chinese civilian population remained largely at a distance from them, in particular because of deeply ingrained anti-military prejudices.

From the 18th century, the Green Standard was mainly used as a police and guard force to maintain peace and order and to put down minor local unrest. Sometimes they were also used in the justice and finance sectors. Organizationally, the force was very fragmented. The provincial governors were each subordinate to a battalion , but there were also thousands of outposts scattered across the country, often barely a dozen men.

The Opium Wars and the Taiping Uprising showed that the Green Standard - like the Eight Banners - was not up to the requirements of modern warfare, which was to herald the decline of the troops.

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