Ancient Genomes from the Qing Dynasty Reveal Unbroken Genetic Continuity in China's Central Plains

Abstract

The Central Plain of China, the cradle of Chinese civilization, experienced major demographic upheavals during the Qing era (1644 - 1912 AD), yet its population's genetic history during this critical period remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we generated genome-wide data for 46 Qing Dynasty individuals from the Sanzhiyuan cemetery in Sanmenxia, Henan province. The Sanzhiyuan population exhibits remarkable genetic homogeneity and shows substantial genetic continuity with preceding populations of the Yellow River region dating back to the Late Neolithic. We successfully model them as direct descendants of Tang Dynasty populations. Notably, despite the Qing being ruled by the ethnically distinct Manchu elite, we detected no evidence of large-scale genetic admixture with Manchu, Mongol, or other northern or West Eurasian groups. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these Qing-era individuals are direct ancestors of the modern Han population in Henan, completing an unbroken multi-millennial genetic lineage. Our findings further demonstrate the stability of the genetic profile of the Central Plains population—a stability that has persisted for millennia and remained profoundly unaffected by major historical upheaval.