Recruitment age in Qing dynasty

The military forces of the Qing Dynasty were mainly the Eight Banners and green camp.

Let's talk about the military service system of the Eight Banners first. From the era of Huang Taiji, the recruitment of flag soldiers began to form a certain system. The Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners draw one soldier every three days, and the recruitment ratio of the Eight Banners of the Han Army is recorded in different ways, but it is generally much less than that of the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners. When the Qing soldiers first entered the customs, due to the unprecedented expansion of the ruling area, the standard-bearer was in short supply. General 15 to 60-year-old flag-bearer able-bodied men may be recruited as soldiers as long as their height is above 1.65 meters. This is also the principle followed by the standard-bearer military service system. According to the regulations, the Eight Banners will compete once every three years, and the deputy team leader will preside over this work. It is mainly to register the able-bodied men of school age in detail, and at the same time, the names and ages of other flag-bearers and slaves should also be recorded in the files, while the old and disabled flag-bearers should be removed from their names. Generally speaking, an able-bodied man of school age is counted from the age of 15, and is written off from the file at the age of 60. These registered able-bodied men have the obligation to serve as soldiers, and whether they serve or not depends on the number of soldiers and the needs of war.

At first, green camp personnel were recruited from local people. Later, because most of green camp's soldiers came from green camp's children, it gradually formed a world war system. All the children of green camp soldiers whose fathers and brothers are in the camp can be chosen as "Yu Ding". /kloc-at the age of 0/6, Yu Ding was selected as the garrison (the lowest rank in the regular army). According to the system of Qing Dynasty, cavalry were selected from infantry, infantry from garrison, and garrison from Yu Ding. So, that is to say, 16 is the age of service. Soldiers over the age of 50 will be "retired", that is, retired, if they cannot take up their duties and participate in training. If you have served in the war, you can give a certain monthly salary. If you are injured, sick or disabled in the war, even if you are under 50 years old, you will be given a certain monthly salary. If a soldier is killed in battle, a pension of 50-70 Liang will be paid to his family; If Yu Ding is killed, his family will get 25 taels of silver. If the children of the deceased are qualified, they can replace the soldiers. If they are too young, they can also enjoy half the salary of soldiers.

From the Tongzhi period to the first decade of Guangxu, due to the needs of foreign wars, the traditional navy was built into a navy with modern colors and began to form a modern navy. Navy soldiers are completely recruited. The recruitment age requirement is 16- 18 years old, in which the height requirement of 16- 17 years old is not less than 4 feet 6 inches, and the height requirement of 18 years old is not less than 4 feet 7 inches. If you choose from the perspective of practicing bravery, the age can be relaxed appropriately, but the requirements for physique and skills are more stringent.

The rise of the new army in the late Qing Dynasty became a form of military service that impacted the world military system. Under these forms of conscription, the requirements for soldiers are more stringent. For example, when Yuan Shikai was training in a small station, the "Regulations on the Recruitment of New Army" formulated clearly stipulated the "recruitment format": "The number of years is 20 to 25 years old; The force is limited to 100 kg; The official limit is more than four feet eight inches; Limit the step to 20 miles at a time; Explain the surnames, addresses and hops of three generations; Those who have smoked foreign cigarettes will not accept it; ..... "These became the blueprint of the Qing court's" recruitment system ".