Eight Banners The Eight Banners ( In Manchu : " jakūn gūsa " , Chinese : 八旗 " bāqí " ) were administrative divisions into which all Manchu families were placed . They provided the basic framework for the Manchu military organization . The fundamental building block of the banners was the company ( Manchu : niru , Chinese : 佐領 zuǒlǐng ) , some of which reflected pre - existing lineage or tribal connections in their membership , while others deliberately overrode such connections in an effort to create a more centralized military force . Each company was , in principle , required to furnish 300 troops to the larger banner army . Establishment . The banner system was established by Nurhaci in the early seventeenth century . By 1601 Nurhaci was reorganizing his military forces into the basic structure of the banners and some evidence suggests that he might have started as much as a decade earlier . There are clear references to military units called " banners " in Korean sources in 1607 and sources dating from 1615 describe the " banner " unit structure . Details are uncertain due to the scarcity of source material and a lack of cultural referents ; compounding the matter is a linguistic difficulty : In Manchu the term " gūsa " denotes a large military formation called a " banner " and " tu " refers to a flag known as a " banner " , but in Chinese ( the language used in nearly all the pertinent records ) the character " qi " ( 旗 ) is used for both meanings . Thus it is often somewhat difficult to tell whether the material refers to the use of cloth flags in battle or a unit of troops . Ethnic components . The Eight Banners consisted of three principal ethnic components : the Manchu , the Han , and the Mongols , and various smaller ethnic groups , such as the Daur and Evenki . Beginning in the late 1620s , Nurhaci ' s successors incorporated allied and conquered Mongol tribes into the Eight Banner system . The first Chinese additions were merely sprinkled into existing banners as replacements . Eventually , the sheer numbers of Chinese soldiers caused Manchu leaders to form them into the " Old Han Army " ( 舊漢軍 , jiù hànjūn ) , mainly for infantry support . In 1631 , a separate Chinese artillery corps was formed . Four Chinese banners were created in 1639 and finally the full eight were established in 1642 . Some Han Chinese were also absorbed directly into the Manchu banners . The Eight Banners were created at the same time as the Jurchen people were renamed the Manchu ethnic group . The Chinese banners were known as the " Nikan " Banners , made out of a massive amount of Chinese POWs and defectors . Jurchen women married those Chinese who had no family with them . There were so many Chinese entering the Banners that there were more of them than the Jurchen . Attempts by Hung Taiji were made to separate Chinese and Jurchen banners . In Chinese and Jurchen of Liaodong were mix in culture . Many bannermen forged genealogies of their origin since they did not have any , and then these decided whether or not they were in a Chinese or a Jurchen banner . The Eight Banners were then created from the old black Chinese banners and Jurchen banners and made equal to each other . The Mongol Eight banners were also created at this time , and anyone who was not classified into a Chinese or a Mongol banner became a Manchu , an ethnic group which Hung Taiji created . The Manchu leader Nurhaci embarked on the conquest of Liaodong from the Ming dynasty , luring Chinese to his side to defect by threatening them with destruction and at the same time also promising them rewards , with important positions . A massive revolt against the Jurchens by the Liaodong Chinese broke out in 1623 , due to the Jurchens squeezing the Chinese for labor and stationing Jurchen in Chinese households . Acts of sabotage and slaughter of the Jurchen were carried out by the Chinese rebels in retaliation . Hong Taiji , who succeeded Nurhaci , began to include many Chinese in his government and copy the Chinese style of governing . After defeats inflicted by the Chinese General Yuan Chonghuan upon the Manchus , the Manchu then decided to absorb Chinese prisoners who knew how to use guns into their army to supplement their forces . The Manchus also lured Chinese Generals into defecting and joining the Banners by marrying them to women from the Imperial Aisin Gioro family . One Chinese General , Li Yongfang ( Li Yung - fang ) was bribed by the Manchus into defecting by being married to an Aisin Gioro wife , and being given a position in the banners . Many more Chinese abandoned their posts and joined the Manchus . A mass marriage of Chinese to Manchu women numbering 1 , 000 took place in 1632 after Prince Yoto came up with the idea . They were either generals or officials . It was said by the Manchu leader that " since the Chinese generals and Manchu women lived together and ate together , it would help these surrendered generals to forget their motherland . " Women from the Imperial family were also married to other Chinese who joined the Qing after their conquest of China . The Manchus also created an artillery unit out of Chinese , which they used against the Ming army . Chinese were also lured by the Manchus into defecting and entering their employ in civil service by granting them privileges such as calling themselves " ministers " , while Manchus in the same position were regarded as " slaves " . Some Han Chinese also joined Manchu banners directly , instead of joining the separate Chinese banners . Han Chinese in the Manchu Banners became Manchucized . The Manchu White Banner were joined by some Zhejiang Han Chinese with the last name Tao who defected to the Qing towards the end of the Ming Dynasty . Their last name was changed to the Manchu sounding " Tohoro " . One of their descendants was the Manchu Duanfang , an official in late Qing dynasty China . Han Chinese bannermen manchufied their last names with adding " giya " at the end . However , some Han Chinese bannermen like Zhao Erfeng , Zhao Erxun and Cao Xueqin did not use Manchu names . A lot of other Han Chinese bannermen used Manchufied names , one Han bannermen with a Manchu name of Deming also had a separate Chinese name , Zhand Deyi . The Manchu bannermen typically used their first / personal name to address themselves and not their last name , while Han bannermen used their last name and first in normal Chinese style . A lot of Chinese bannermen adopted Manchu names , which may have been motivated by associating with the elite . One Chinese bannerman named Cui Zhilu who knew Manchu had changed his name to the Manchu Arsai , and the emperor asked him how he came about his name . Chinese bannermen also adopted Manchu personal naming practices like giving numbers as personal names . Banner soldiers . From the time China was brought under the rule of the Qing dynasty ( 1644 – 1683 ) , the banner soldiers became more professional and bureaucratized . Once the Manchus took over governing , they could no longer satisfy the material needs of soldiers by garnishing and distributing booty ; instead , a salary system was instituted , ranks standardized , and the Eight Banners became a sort of hereditary military caste , though with a strong ethnic inflection . Banner soldiers took up permanent positions , either as defenders of the capital , Beijing , where roughly half of them lived with their families , or in the provinces , where some eighteen garrisons were established . The largest banner garrisons throughout most of the Qing dynasty were at Beijing , followed by Xi ' an and Hangzhou . Sizable banner populations were also placed in Manchuria and at strategic points along the Great Wall , the Yangtze River and Grand Canal . Green Standard Army . Over time , many Chinese banner companies in the provincial garrisons were reclassified as civilian or placed in the Green Standard Army . At the end of the Qing dynasty , all members of the Eight Banners , regardless of their original ethnicity , were considered by the Republic of China to be Manchu . Hierarchical structure . The banners had a hierarchical structure . The smallest unit was niru ( or 佐領 zuǒlǐng in Chinese ; 300 men ) . The next was jalan ( or 參領 cānlǐng ) ; 5 " niru " and 5 " jalan " constituted a gūsa ( banner ) . Of course , these were ideal numbers and their actual sizes varied substantially . Effectiveness . Although the banners were instrumental in the Qing Empire takeover of China proper in the 17th century from the Ming Empire , they began to fall behind rising Western powers in the 18th century . By the 1730s , the traditional martial spirit had been discarded , as the well - paid Bannerman spent their time gambling and theatergoing . Subsidizing the 1 . 5 million men women and children in the system was an expensive proposition , compounded by embezzlement and corruption . They were unable to deal with internal rebellions such as the Taiping Rebellion , and were helpless before European armies . Ross says , " Their claim to be military men is based on their descent rather than on their skill in arms ; and their pay is given them because of their fathers ' prowess , and not at all from any hopes of their efficiency as soldiers . Their soldierly qualities are included in the accomplishments of idleness , riding , and the use of the bow and arrow , at which they practice on a few rare occasions each year . " During the Boxer Rebellion , 1899 - 1901 , 10 , 000 Bannermen were recruited from the Metropolitan Banners and given modernized training and weapons . One of these was the Hushenying . Existence . By the late 19th century , the Qing Dynasty began training and creating New Army units based on Western training , equipment and organization . Nevertheless , the banner system remained in existence until the fall of the Qing in 1911 , and even beyond , with a rump organization continuing to function until the expulsion of Puyi ( the former Xuantong emperor ) from the Forbidden City in 1924 .