The Sino-Burmese War (Chinese: 清緬戰爭; Burmese: တရုတ်-မြန်မာ စစ်ပွဲများ), also known as the Qing invasions of Burma or the Myanmar campaign of the Qing dynasty, was a war fought between the Qing dynasty of China and the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). The Qing under the Qianlong Emperor launched four invasions of Burma between 1765 and 1769, which were considered one of his Ten Great Campaigns. Nonetheless, the war, which claimed the lives of over 70,000 Qing soldiers and four commanders, is sometimes described as "the most disastrous frontier war that the Qing dynasty had ever waged", and one that "assured Burmese independence". Burma's successful defense laid the foundation for the present-day boundary between the two countries.
At first, the Qing emperor envisaged an easy war, and sent in only the Green Standard Army troops stationed in Yunnan. The Qing invasion came as the majority of Burmese forces were deployed in their latest invasion of Siam. Nonetheless, battle-hardened Burmese troops defeated the first two invasions of 1765–1766 and 1766–1767 at the border. The regional conflict now escalated to a major war that involved military maneuvers nationwide in both countries. The third invasion (1767–1768) led by the elite Manchu Bannermen nearly succeeded, penetrating deep into central Burma within a few days' march from the capital, Ava (Inwa). But the bannermen of northern China could not cope with unfamiliar tropical terrains and lethal endemic diseases, and were driven back with heavy losses. After the close call, King Hsinbyushin redeployed his armies from Siam to the Chinese front. The fourth and largest invasion got bogged down at the frontier. With the Qing forces completely encircled, a truce was reached between the field commanders of the two sides in December 1769.
The Qing kept a heavy military lineup in the border areas of Yunnan for about one decade in an attempt to wage another war while imposing a ban on inter-border trade for two decades. The Burmese, too, were preoccupied with the Chinese threat, and kept a series of garrisons along the border. When Burmese tributary missions to the Qing resumed in 1788, the Qing unilaterally viewed the act as Burmese submission, and claimed victory. Ultimately, the main beneficiaries of this war were the Siamese, who reclaimed most of their territories in the next three years after having lost their capital Ayutthaya to the Burmese in 1767.
Background
The long border between Burma and China had long been vaguely defined. The Ming dynasty first conquered Yunnan borderlands between 1380 and 1388, and stamped out local resistance by the mid-1440s. The Burmese control of the Shan States (which covered the present-day Kachin State, Shan State and Kayah State) came in 1557 when King Bayinnaung of the Toungoo dynasty conquered all of the Shan States. The border was never demarcated in the modern sense, with local Shan sawbwas (chiefs) at the border regions paying tribute to both sides. The situation turned to China's favor in the 1730s when the Qing dynasty decided to impose a tighter control of Yunnan's border regions while the Burmese authority largely dissipated with the rapid decline of the Toungoo dynasty.
Qing consolidation of borderlands (1730s)
The Qing attempts for tighter control of the border were initially met with fierce resistance by the local chiefs. In 1732, the Yunnan government's demand of higher taxes led to several Shan revolts at the border. Shan resistance leaders united people by saying "The lands and water are our properties. We could plow ourselves and eat our own produces. There is not a need to pay tributes to foreign government". In July 1732, a Shan army, mostly consisted of native mountaineers, laid siege to the Qing garrison at Pu'er for 90 days. The Yunnan government responded with an overwhelming force numbered around 5,000 and lifted the siege. The Qing army pursued further west but could not put down persistent local resistance. Finally, the Qing field commanders changed their tactics by allying with neutral sawbwas, granting them Qing titles and powers, including Green Standard captainships and regional commanderships. To complete the agreements, the third ranking officer of Yunnan traveled to Simao personally and held a ceremony of allegiance. By the mid-1730s, the sawbwas of the border who used to pay dual tributes, were increasingly siding with the more powerful Qing. By 1735, the year which the Qianlong Emperor ascended the Chinese throne, ten sawbwas had sided with the Qing. The annexed border states ranged from Mogaung and Bhamo in present-day Kachin State to Hsenwi State (Theinni) and Kengtung State (Kyaingtong) in present-day Shan State to Sipsongpanna (Kyaingyun) in present-day Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan.
While the Qing were consolidating their hold at the border, the Toungoo dynasty was faced with multiple external raids and internal rebellions and could not take any reciprocal action. Throughout the 1730s, the dynasty faced Manipuri raids that reached increasingly deeper parts of Upper Burma. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Burma revolted and founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. By the mid-1740s, the authority of the Burmese king had largely dissipated. In 1752, the Toungoo dynasty was toppled by the forces of the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom which captured Ava.
By then, the Qing control of the former borderlands was unquestioned. In 1752, the Emperor issued a manuscript, Qing Imperial Illustration of Tributaries, saying that all "barbarian" tribes under his rule must be studied and reported their natures and cultures back to Beijing.
Burmese reassertion (1750s–1760s)
In 1752, a new dynasty called Konbaung rose to challenge Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and went on to reunite much of the kingdom by 1758. In 1758–59, King Alaungpaya, the founder of the dynasty, sent an expedition to the farther Shan States (present-day Kachin State and northern and eastern Shan State), which had been annexed by the Qing over two decades earlier, to reestablish Burmese authority. (Nearer Shan States had been reacquired since 1754). Three of the ten farther Shan state sawbwas (Mogaung, Bhamo, Hsenwi) and their militias reportedly ran away into Yunnan and tried to persuade Qing officials to invade Burma. The nephew of Kengtung sawbwa and his followers also fled.
The Yunnan government reported the news to the Emperor in 1759, and the Qing court promptly issued an imperial edict ordering reconquest. At first, the Yunnan officials, who believed that "barbarians must be conquered using barbarians", tried to resolve the matter by supporting the defected sawbwas. But the strategy did not work. In 1764, a Burmese army, which was on its way to Siam, was increasing its grip of the borderlands, and the sawbwas complained to China. In response, the Emperor appointed Liu Zao, a respected scholarly minister from the capital to sort out the matters. At Kunming, Liu assessed that the use of Tai-Shan militias alone was not working, and that he needed to commit regular Green Standard Army troops.
First invasion (1765–1766)
In early 1765, a 20,000-strong Burmese army stationed at Kengtung, led by General Ne Myo Thihapate, left Kengtung for yet another Burmese invasion of Siam. With the main Burmese army gone, Liu Zao used a few minor trade disputes between local Chinese and Burmese merchants as the excuse to order an invasion of Kengtung in December 1765. The invasion force, which consisted of 3,500 Green Standard Army troops along with Tai-Shan militias, laid siege to Kengtung but could not match battle-hardened Burmese troops at the Kengtung garrison, led by General Ne Myo Sithu. The Burmese lifted the siege and pursued the invaders into Pu'er Prefecture, and defeated them there. Ne Myo Sithu left a reinforced garrison, and returned to Ava in April 1766.
Governor Liu, in his embarrassment, first tried to conceal what had happened. When the Emperor became suspicious, he ordered Liu's immediate recall and demotion. Instead of complying, Liu committed suicide by slicing his throat with a stationery knife, writing as blood was pouring from his neck: "There is no way to pay back the emperor's favor. I deserve death with my crime". While this kind of suicide in the face of bureaucratic failure apparently was not unusual in Qing China, it reportedly enraged the Emperor nonetheless. Sorting out the Mien (the Chinese word for "Burmese") was now a matter of imperial prestige. The Emperor now appointed Yang Yingju, an experienced frontier officer with long service in Xinjiang and Guangzhou.
Second invasion (1766–1767)
Yang Yingju arrived in the summer of 1766 to take command. Unlike the invasion of Liu Zao in Kengtung, which was located far away from the Burmese heartland, Yang was determined to strike Upper Burma directly. He reportedly planned to place a Qing claimant on the Burmese throne. Yang's planned path of invasion was via Bhamo and down the Irrawaddy River to Ava. The Burmese knew the route of invasion in advance, and were prepared. Hsinbyushin's plan was to lure the Chinese into Burmese territory, and then surround them. The Burmese commander in the field Balamindin was ordered to give up Bhamo, and instead stay at the Burmese stockade at Kaungton, a few miles south of Bhamo on the Irrawaddy. The Kaungton fort had been especially equipped with the cannon corps led by French gunners (captured at the battle of Thanlyin in 1756). To reinforce them, another army led by Maha Thiha Thura and posted at the easternmost Burmese garrison at Kenghung (present-day Jinghong, Yunnan), was ordered to march to the Bhamo theater across the northern Shan states.
Trap at Bhamo–Kaungton
As planned, the Qing troops easily captured Bhamo in December 1766, and established a supply base. The Chinese then proceeded to lay siege to the Burmese garrison at Kaungton. But Balamindin's defenses held off repeated Chinese assaults. Meanwhile, two Burmese armies, one led by Maha Sithu, and another led by Ne Myo Sithu, surrounded the Chinese. Maha Thiha Thura's army also arrived and took position near Bhamo to block the escape route back to Yunnan.
The impasse did not favor the Chinese troops who were utterly unprepared to fight in the tropical weather of Upper Burma. Thousands of Chinese soldiers reportedly were struck down by cholera, dysentery, and malaria. One Qing report stated that 800 out of 1,000 soldiers in one garrison had died of disease, and that another 100 were ill.
With the Chinese army greatly weakened, the Burmese then launched their offensive. First, Ne Myo Sithu easily retook the lightly held Bhamo. The main Chinese army was now totally holed up in the Kaungton-Bhamo corridor, cut off from all supplies. The Burmese then proceeded to attack the main Chinese army from two sides— Balamindin's army out of Kaungton fort, and Ne Myo Sithu's army from the north. The Chinese retreated eastwards and then northwards where another Burmese army led by Maha Thiha Thura was waiting. The two other Burmese armies also followed up, and the Chinese army was destroyed entirely. Maha Sithu's army which had been guarding the western flank of the Irrawaddy River, then marched north of Myitkyina and defeated other lightly held Chinese garrisons at the border. The Burmese armies proceeded to occupy eight Chinese Shan states within Yunnan.
Aftermath
Victorious Burmese armies returned to Ava with the captured guns, muskets and prisoners in early May. At Kunming, Yang Yingju began resorting to lies. He reported that Bhamo had been occupied; that its inhabitants had begun wearing Manchu-style pigtails; and that the Burmese commander, Ne Myo Sithu, after losing 10,000 men had sued for peace. He recommended that the emperor graciously accept the peace offer to restore the normal trade relations between the two countries. The Qianlong Emperor however realized the falsity of the report, and ordered Yang back to Beijing. On his arrival, Yang committed suicide at the order of the Emperor.
Third invasion (1767–1768)
Chinese mobilization
After the two defeats, the Qing emperor and his court could not comprehend how a relatively small country like Burma could resist the might of the Qing. For the Emperor, it was time for the Manchus themselves to come into the picture. He had always doubted the battle-worthiness of his Chinese Green Standard armies. The Manchus saw themselves as a warlike and conquering race and the Chinese as an occupied people. He commissioned a study of the first two invasions, and the report reinforced his biases—that the low battle-worthiness of the Green Standard armies was the reason for the failures.
In 1767, the Emperor appointed the veteran Manchu commander Ming Rui, a son-in-law of his, as governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou, and head of the Burma campaign. Ming Rui had seen battle against Turkic peoples in the northwest and was in command of the strategically key post of Ili (in present-day Xinjiang). His appointment meant that this was no longer a border dispute but a full-fledged war. Ming Rui arrived in Yunnan in April. An invasion force consisting of Mongol and elite Manchu troops rushed down from northern China and Manchuria. Thousands of Green Standards from Yunnan and Tai-Shan militias accompanied this force. Provinces throughout China were mobilized to provide supplies. The total strength of the invasion force was 50,000 men, the vast majority being infantry. The mountains and thick jungles of Burma kept the use of cavalry forces to a minimum. The Qing court now seriously considered the threat of illnesses among its troops; as a precaution, the campaign was planned for the winter months when diseases were believed to be less prevalent.