What was the state and nature of Chinese military forces during the 17th and 18th centuries, during the early to middle periods of the Qing Dynasty?
Were Chinese soliders in this period mostly tribal Manchu levies, or were these professionals paid a salary?
How common were firearms and what kinds of firearms were in use? How about artillery?
Were the armies of the period mostly non-Han, or were there large numbers of Han serving under Manchu overlords? Can a comparison be drawn to the armies of the 30 Year War in Europe, where the "Swedish" or "Austrian" armies would have a few native commanders and be filled out by massive levies of Germans, Finns, Croats, and Czechs?
I know there's probably too many questions here, but I'm trying to find some decent sources for understanding the Chinese military forces in use during the Qing conquest and the various subsequent frontier wars of the 18th century. These questions were triggered by watching some modern Chinese "historical dramas" on Netflix and being struck by how anachronistic the technology and social systems seemed to my modern eyes. I'm not sure how much of that is just my unfamiliarity with this period, and how much of it is "Hollywood History", Beijing-style.
Qing armies were divided into two categories: bannermen and the Green Standard. The Green Standard armies were Han conscripts and were generally (considered to be) of lower quality than banner forces. They were, however, more numerous than the bannermen, and in the later Qing era acquired more and more significance, in part as a result of the failure of mainline Qing troops to cope with the Taiping Rebellion and European armies during the Opium Wars (as a result of the mid-19th century crises, Han generals were given much more authority over their troops and were able to incorporate Western technologies and training).
Banner troops were divided into Manchu, Mongol, and hanjun banners. The hanjun are kind of an odd case: they were Chinese who had joined the Qing before the conquest of Beijing in 1644 (either voluntarily or after the conquest of the Northeast in the first half of the 17th c.) and enjoyed more privileges than Green Standard troops, although they began to be gradually dissolved in the mid-18th century. In Qing armies, they served as artillerymen and other specialized formations.
Machu and Mongol bannermen (as well as people from smaller northern steppe communities like Solons and Daurs) were the mainstay of the Qing army. Manchus served in garrisons sprinkled all over the empire and received a stipend in silver from the state in exchange for not being allowed (formally) to farm, run businesses, or engage in other civilian activities. In theory, the entire Manchu population of the Qing empire was supposed to be a standing army. Manchus were expected to practice horse-archery as a sign of their devotion to steppe traditions, although by the 18th century this practice had substantially declined. Mongols and other non-Manchu steppe peoples, who were usually conscripted on a campaign basis, were the backbone of the Qing wars of conquest in the 18th century, particularly in the territory which would become Xinjiang; Green Standard troops were more significant in Qianlong's southern campaigns, which were generally not very successful.
Firearms were standard equipment, especially in the 18th century, but Qing rifles were matchlocks which were obsolete in comparison to Western equipment of the same era. The same held true for artillery, which was much closer to 16th century European standards than to 18th c. field guns. Soldiers also carried lances, bows, and swords. Banner troops were generally supposed to fight on horseback, though this was highly dependent on terrain; Green Standard troops were infantry-based.
If anyone has good late 19th century Qing I'd also want to know as well. Turn of the century qing equipment is very fascinating to me.