: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-century China , Volume 1 Frederic E. Wakeman University of California Press , Jan 1, 1985 - History - 1337 pages 1 Review 00 In classical Chinese, The Great Enterprise means winning The Mandate of heaven to rule over China, the Central Kingdom. This two-volume work on The Great Enterprise of the Manchus is the first scholarly narrative in any language relating their conquest of China during the seventeenth century. In classical Chinese, The Great Enterprise means winning The Mandate of heaven to rule over China, the Central Kingdom. This two-volume work on The Great Enterprise of the Manchus is the first scholarly narrative in any language relating their conquest of China during the seventeenth century. Preview this book »