Battle of Shanhai Pass
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Shanhai Pass, fought on 27 May 1644 at Shanhaiguan
(山海關) at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China
, was a decisive battle leading to the formation of the Qing dynasty
in China. There, Qing Prince-Regent Dorgon
allied with former Ming
general Wu Sangui
to defeat rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty
, allowing Dorgon and the Manchu
s to rapidly conquer Beijing
and replace the Ming Dynasty.
captured Songshan and Jinzhou
in early 1642. The garrison of Ming general Wu Sangui in Ningyuan became the only major army standing between the Qing forces and the Ming capital in Beijing. In the summer of 1642, a Qing army managed to cross the Great Wall and ravaged northern China for seven months before withdrawing in May 1643 with prisoners and booty, without having fought any large Ming army.
In September 1643 Hung Taiji suddenly died without having named an heir. To avert a conflict between two strong contenders for succession – namely Hong Taiji's eldest son Hooge
and Hung Taiji's agnate brother Dorgon
, a proven military leader – a committee of Manchu princes chose to pass the throne to Hong Taiji's five-year-old son Fulin
and appointed Dorgon and Jirgalang
as co-regent
s. Because Jirgalang had no political ambition, Dorgon became the prime ruler of the Qing government.
, peasant rebellions were ravaging northern China and dangerously approaching the Ming capital Beijing
. In February 1644, rebel leader Li Zicheng had founded the Shun Dynasty
in Xi'an
and proclaimed himself king. In March his armies had captured the important city of Taiyuan
in Shanxi
.
Seeing the progress of the rebels, on April 5 the Ming Chongzhen Emperor
requested the urgent help of any military commandant in the empire. Eager to secure the loyalty of his military elite, on April 11 he granted the title of "Earl" to four generals, including Wu Sangui and Tang Tong (唐通). Tang Tong, the only one of these new earls who was then in Beijing, reorganized the capital's defenses and, with a eunuch named Du Xun (杜勳), went to fortify Juyong Pass, the last stronghold protecting the northern approach to Beijing. On April 22, the Ming court learned that Tang Tong had surrendered to Li Zicheng the day before, and that the rebels' army was now in Changping, sixty-five kilometers northwest of Beijing.
Li and his army reached the suburbs of the capital on April 23, but instead of mounting a full-scale attack on the city walls Li sent the recently surrendered eunuch Du Xun to see the emperor, hoping to secure his surrender. The monarch refused. On April 24 Li Zicheng breached the walls of Beijing; the emperor hanged himself the next day on a hill behind the Forbidden City
. He was the last Ming emperor to reign in Beijing.
had left his stronghold of Ningyuan
north of the Great Wall and started marching toward the capital. On April 26, his armies had moved through the fortifications of Shanhai Pass
(the eastern end of the Great Wall) and were marching toward Beijing when he heard that the city had fallen. He returned to Shanhai Pass. Li Zicheng sent two armies to attack the Pass but Wu's battle-hardened troops defeated them easily on May 5 and May 10. In order to secure his position, Li was determined to destroy Wu's army. On May 18 he personally led 60,000 troops out of Beijing to attack Wu. Meanwhile, Wu Sangui was writing to Dorgon to request the Qing's help in ousting the bandits and restoring the Ming dynasty.
Wu Sangui's departure from the stronghold of Ningyuan
had left all territory outside the Great Wall under Qing control. Dorgon's Chinese advisors Hong Chengchou
and Fan Wencheng (范文程) urged the Manchu prince to seize the opportunity of the fall of Beijing to claim the Mandate of Heaven
for the Qing dynasty. Therefore when Dorgon received Wu's letter, he was already leading an expedition to attack northern China and had no intention to restore the Ming. Dorgon asked Wu to work for the Qing instead; Wu had little choice but to accept.
Also on May 25, Dorgon received a letter from Wu Sangui declaring that Wu was willing to surrender to the Qing in return for Dorgon's help in suppressing Li Zicheng's forces. Immediately setting his troops on a forced march toward Shanhai Pass, Dorgon and the Qing army quickly covered about 150 kilometers. On their way to Shanhaiguan, they ran into Tang Tong, who had been ordered to attack Wu Sangui from behind with a few hundred men. The forces of the former Ming general were virtually annihilated by the Qing army, and though Tang Tong managed to escape he soon surrendered to the Qing. At dusk on May 26, Dorgon's forces settled eight kilometers away from the Pass and slept in their armor until midnight, when they were awoken again to continue marching. Having instructed his brothers Ajige
and Dodo
to lead two wings of ten thousand men each to protect his flanks, Dorgon led his main force toward the Pass.
claims that by the late afternoon, Wu Sangui's army was on the verge of defeat when a "violent sandstorm" started blowing on the battlefield.
Dorgon chose this moment to intervene: galloping around Wu's right flank, the Qing cavalry charged Li's left wing. When they saw mounted warriors with shaved foreheads rushing at them out of the storm, Shun troops broke their lines and fled. With their left wing shattered, the Shun army disbanded; thousands of Shun soldiers were massacred as they retreated chaotically toward Yongping.
Li was probably unaware of the Manchus' presence when he arrived at Shanhaiguan; certainly, had he been aware of it, his enemies' numerical superiority, in addition to their more experienced soldiers, might have dissuaded him from pressing battle.
gives a figure of 60,000 men for Li's army, whereas Frederick Mote claims that Li had more than 100,000 troops under his command.
Assessments of Wu's forces range from 40,000 to 80,000, mounting to a total of about 100,000 when counting militia units. Wakeman claims that Wu's "regular army" counted 40,000 men, but that he commanded "50,000 troops of his own" and had managed to raised 50,000 men from local militia. Mote, on the other hand, states that Wu had 80,000 men garrisoned in Ningyuan when he left that city for Shanghaiguan in April 1644, and that 20,000 to 30,000 militiamen also came to him unsolicited the day of the battle of Shanhai Pass. Angela Hsi, for her part, cites a contemporaneous source to argue that Wu led 40,000 troops ("one of the better military forces of the day") and that he was assisted by 70,000 residents of Liaodong (遼東), "who were reputed to be excellent fighters."
of the Great Shun at the Wuying Palace (武英殿). After 42 days in Beijing, Li Zicheng set the imperial palace complex on fire and abandoned the capital to flee toward the west. The Beijing population then massacred nearly two thousand rebels who had not fled.
On June 5, the Beijing population prepared to welcome those who had defeated Li Zicheng. The elders and officials who went out of the city expecting to greet Wu Sangui and the Ming heir apparent were shocked when the leader of the victorious army turned out to be Prince Regent Dorgon of the Qing. Dorgon and his retinue rode to Donghua Gate (東華門), an eastern gate to the Forbidden City
, to receive the imperial regalia; Dorgon was then escorted to Wuying Palace by the former Ming imperial bodyguards, who had previously submitted to Li Zicheng but now vowed to serve the Qing. Dorgon welcomed the Shunzhi Emperor to Beijing on October 19. The young monarch was officially enthroned as Emperor of China
on Novermber 8, 1644, marking the moment when the Qing seized the Mandate of Heaven
.
On May 28, Wu Sangui's Ming title of Pingxi Earl (平西伯) was raised to Pingxi Prince (平西王). His troops shaved their heads and joined the main Qing forces. Very soon after entering Beijing, Dorgon despatched Wu and his troops to pursue Li Zicheng. Wu managed to engage Li's rearguard many times, but Li still managed to cross Gu Pass into Shanxi; Wu then broke pursuit to return to Beijing. Li then reestablished a power base in Xi'an
(Shaanxi
province), where he had declared the foundation of his Shun dynasty
in February 1644.
After repressing revolts against Qing rule in Hebei
and Shandong
in the Summer and Fall of 1644, in October of that year Dorgon sent several armies to extirpate Li Zicheng from his Shaanxi stronghold. Qing armies led by Ajige
, Dodo
, and Shi Tingzhu (石廷柱) won consecutive engagements against Shun forces in Shanxi and Shaanxi, forcing Li Zicheng to leave his Xi'an headquarters in February 1645. Li retreated through several provinces until he was killed in September 1645, either by his own hand or by a self-defense peasant group.
The Qing conquest of China lasted for several more decades. Resistance to Qing rule was intensified by the "haircutting command" of June 1645, which forced all Chinese men to shave their forehead and tie their remaining hair into a queue
. Zhu Youlang, the last emperor of the Southern Ming, was killed by Wu Sangui in 1662. Wu Sangui was given a large territory in the southwest China, where he reigned as a satrap
until he was recalled to Beijing in 1673. He and three other governors then rose in rebellion against the Qing. Though Wu died in 1678, the rebellion of the Three Feudatories lasted until 1681. In 1683 the Kangxi Emperor
(r. 1662-1722) defeated the forces of Koxinga
, the leader of the last Ming restoration movement. After this period of solidification, the Qing controlled China until 1912.
Shanhai Pass
Shanhai Pass , or Shanhaiguan, along with Jiayu Pass and Juyong Pass, is one of the major passes of the Great Wall of China It is located in Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao, Hebei. In 1961, Shanhaiguan became a site of China First Class National Cultural Site.It is a popular tourist destination,...
(山海關) at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
, was a decisive battle leading to the formation of the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
in China. There, Qing Prince-Regent Dorgon
Dorgon
Dorgon , also known as Hošoi Mergen Cin Wang, the Prince Rui , was one of the most influential Manchu princes in the early Qing Dynasty. He laid the groundwork for the Manchu rule of China.-Early life:Dorgon was born in Yenden, Manchuria , China...
allied with former Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
general Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...
to defeat rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty
Shun Dynasty
The Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li, however, only went by the title of King, not Emperor...
, allowing Dorgon and the Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
s to rapidly conquer Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and replace the Ming Dynasty.
Rise of the Manchus
As the Ming dynasty faltered and the threat from northern enemies grew, Ming emperors saw the strategic value of Shanhai Pass and frequently garrisoned troops there, armies which sometimes reached up to 40,000 men. Under Emperor Hung Taiji (r. 1626–1643), the Qing was becoming more aggressive against the Ming. After an intermittent siege that lasted over ten years, Qing armies led by JirgalangJirgalang
Jirgalang or Jirhalang , the sixth son of Nurhaci's younger brother Šurhaci of the Aisin Gioro clan, was a Manchu noble and an important military and political leader in the early years of the Qing dynasty. From 1638 to 1643, he took part in many military campaigns that helped bring down the fall...
captured Songshan and Jinzhou
Battle of Songjin
The Battle of Songjin in 1640 was fought at Songshan and Jinzhou , hence the name "Song-Jin". It spelled the end of the Ming Dynasty. Hong Chengchou's 130,000 elite troops, which was sent to break the siege of Jinzhou, were crushed by the Eight banner armies of the Qing Dynasty at Songshan...
in early 1642. The garrison of Ming general Wu Sangui in Ningyuan became the only major army standing between the Qing forces and the Ming capital in Beijing. In the summer of 1642, a Qing army managed to cross the Great Wall and ravaged northern China for seven months before withdrawing in May 1643 with prisoners and booty, without having fought any large Ming army.
In September 1643 Hung Taiji suddenly died without having named an heir. To avert a conflict between two strong contenders for succession – namely Hong Taiji's eldest son Hooge
Hooge
Hooge can refer to:*Hooge, Prince Su*Houvenkopf Mountain known as "Hooge Kop"*Hooge, Germany, an island and municipality in northern Germany*Hooge, Belgium...
and Hung Taiji's agnate brother Dorgon
Dorgon
Dorgon , also known as Hošoi Mergen Cin Wang, the Prince Rui , was one of the most influential Manchu princes in the early Qing Dynasty. He laid the groundwork for the Manchu rule of China.-Early life:Dorgon was born in Yenden, Manchuria , China...
, a proven military leader – a committee of Manchu princes chose to pass the throne to Hong Taiji's five-year-old son Fulin
Shunzhi Emperor
The Shunzhi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period...
and appointed Dorgon and Jirgalang
Jirgalang
Jirgalang or Jirhalang , the sixth son of Nurhaci's younger brother Šurhaci of the Aisin Gioro clan, was a Manchu noble and an important military and political leader in the early years of the Qing dynasty. From 1638 to 1643, he took part in many military campaigns that helped bring down the fall...
as co-regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
s. Because Jirgalang had no political ambition, Dorgon became the prime ruler of the Qing government.
The fall of Beijing
Just as Dorgon and his advisors were pondering how to attack the MingMing Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
, peasant rebellions were ravaging northern China and dangerously approaching the Ming capital Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. In February 1644, rebel leader Li Zicheng had founded the Shun Dynasty
Shun Dynasty
The Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li, however, only went by the title of King, not Emperor...
in Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
and proclaimed himself king. In March his armies had captured the important city of Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
in Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
.
Seeing the progress of the rebels, on April 5 the Ming Chongzhen Emperor
Chongzhen Emperor
The Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :...
requested the urgent help of any military commandant in the empire. Eager to secure the loyalty of his military elite, on April 11 he granted the title of "Earl" to four generals, including Wu Sangui and Tang Tong (唐通). Tang Tong, the only one of these new earls who was then in Beijing, reorganized the capital's defenses and, with a eunuch named Du Xun (杜勳), went to fortify Juyong Pass, the last stronghold protecting the northern approach to Beijing. On April 22, the Ming court learned that Tang Tong had surrendered to Li Zicheng the day before, and that the rebels' army was now in Changping, sixty-five kilometers northwest of Beijing.
Li and his army reached the suburbs of the capital on April 23, but instead of mounting a full-scale attack on the city walls Li sent the recently surrendered eunuch Du Xun to see the emperor, hoping to secure his surrender. The monarch refused. On April 24 Li Zicheng breached the walls of Beijing; the emperor hanged himself the next day on a hill behind the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
. He was the last Ming emperor to reign in Beijing.
Wu Sangui
Soon after the emperor had called for help, powerful Ming general Wu SanguiWu Sangui
Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...
had left his stronghold of Ningyuan
Xingcheng
Xingcheng , former name Ningyuan , is a county-level city of Northeast China with a population of approximately 140,000 urban inhabitants, and is located in southwest Liaoning on the northern coast of the Bohai Sea...
north of the Great Wall and started marching toward the capital. On April 26, his armies had moved through the fortifications of Shanhai Pass
Shanhai Pass
Shanhai Pass , or Shanhaiguan, along with Jiayu Pass and Juyong Pass, is one of the major passes of the Great Wall of China It is located in Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao, Hebei. In 1961, Shanhaiguan became a site of China First Class National Cultural Site.It is a popular tourist destination,...
(the eastern end of the Great Wall) and were marching toward Beijing when he heard that the city had fallen. He returned to Shanhai Pass. Li Zicheng sent two armies to attack the Pass but Wu's battle-hardened troops defeated them easily on May 5 and May 10. In order to secure his position, Li was determined to destroy Wu's army. On May 18 he personally led 60,000 troops out of Beijing to attack Wu. Meanwhile, Wu Sangui was writing to Dorgon to request the Qing's help in ousting the bandits and restoring the Ming dynasty.
Wu Sangui's departure from the stronghold of Ningyuan
Battle of Ningyuan
The Battle of Ningyuan was a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchurian Later Jin in 1626. The Ming won this battle. This battle marked the temporary resurgence of the Imperial Ming army after a long series of defeats....
had left all territory outside the Great Wall under Qing control. Dorgon's Chinese advisors Hong Chengchou
Hong Chengchou
Hong Chengchou or Hung Cheng-chou was a Military commander from Fujian at the end of the Ming Dynasty.-Biography:...
and Fan Wencheng (范文程) urged the Manchu prince to seize the opportunity of the fall of Beijing to claim the Mandate of Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...
for the Qing dynasty. Therefore when Dorgon received Wu's letter, he was already leading an expedition to attack northern China and had no intention to restore the Ming. Dorgon asked Wu to work for the Qing instead; Wu had little choice but to accept.
Preparations for battle
On May 25, Li Zicheng deployed his men along the Sha River (沙河) a few kilometers west of the Shanhaiguan fortifications. He could observe the battlefield from a nearby hill, accompanied by two young Ming princes whom he had taken hostage. Wu Sangui assigned two trusted lieutenants to the defense of the northern and western walls of Shanhaiguan, and let gentry-led militia protect the eastern wall of the garrison. He then deployed his troops near Sha River to face Li Zicheng's army.Also on May 25, Dorgon received a letter from Wu Sangui declaring that Wu was willing to surrender to the Qing in return for Dorgon's help in suppressing Li Zicheng's forces. Immediately setting his troops on a forced march toward Shanhai Pass, Dorgon and the Qing army quickly covered about 150 kilometers. On their way to Shanhaiguan, they ran into Tang Tong, who had been ordered to attack Wu Sangui from behind with a few hundred men. The forces of the former Ming general were virtually annihilated by the Qing army, and though Tang Tong managed to escape he soon surrendered to the Qing. At dusk on May 26, Dorgon's forces settled eight kilometers away from the Pass and slept in their armor until midnight, when they were awoken again to continue marching. Having instructed his brothers Ajige
Ajige
Ajige was a prince and general of the Qing Dynasty. He was born of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan as the 12th son of Nurhaci, khan of the Later Jin Dynasty ....
and Dodo
Dodo (prince)
Dodo was a Manchu prince and military general of the early Qing Dynasty. His title was "Prince Yu of the First Rank" .-Family background:...
to lead two wings of ten thousand men each to protect his flanks, Dorgon led his main force toward the Pass.
The battle
At dawn on May 27, the main Qing army reached the gates of Shanhaiguan, where Dorgon received Wu Sangui's formal surrender. Wu Sangui asked his men to attach pieces of white cloth to their back so that the Qing forces could tell them apart from the Shun rebels. Wu Sangui's forces were deployed in the vanguard and were ordered to charge the Shun army, but despite disorder in the Shun ranks, their defense line did not yield. Unable to break the rebels' line, Wu's troops suffered heavy casualties. Historian Frederic WakemanFrederic Wakeman
Frederic Evans Wakeman, Jr. was a prominent American scholar of East Asian history. He also served as presidents of the American Historical Association and Social Science Research Council in the past.-Biography:...
claims that by the late afternoon, Wu Sangui's army was on the verge of defeat when a "violent sandstorm" started blowing on the battlefield.
Dorgon chose this moment to intervene: galloping around Wu's right flank, the Qing cavalry charged Li's left wing. When they saw mounted warriors with shaved foreheads rushing at them out of the storm, Shun troops broke their lines and fled. With their left wing shattered, the Shun army disbanded; thousands of Shun soldiers were massacred as they retreated chaotically toward Yongping.
Li was probably unaware of the Manchus' presence when he arrived at Shanhaiguan; certainly, had he been aware of it, his enemies' numerical superiority, in addition to their more experienced soldiers, might have dissuaded him from pressing battle.
Number of troops
The number of troops that took part in the battle is unclear and has been disputed. Early Qing sources tend to inflate the number of Li Zicheng's troops because they wanted to emphasize the Qing's military prowess against the Shun; these sources claim that Li Zicheng's army counted up to 200,000 men. Modern historians have largely deflated these figures: Frederic WakemanFrederic Wakeman
Frederic Evans Wakeman, Jr. was a prominent American scholar of East Asian history. He also served as presidents of the American Historical Association and Social Science Research Council in the past.-Biography:...
gives a figure of 60,000 men for Li's army, whereas Frederick Mote claims that Li had more than 100,000 troops under his command.
Assessments of Wu's forces range from 40,000 to 80,000, mounting to a total of about 100,000 when counting militia units. Wakeman claims that Wu's "regular army" counted 40,000 men, but that he commanded "50,000 troops of his own" and had managed to raised 50,000 men from local militia. Mote, on the other hand, states that Wu had 80,000 men garrisoned in Ningyuan when he left that city for Shanghaiguan in April 1644, and that 20,000 to 30,000 militiamen also came to him unsolicited the day of the battle of Shanhai Pass. Angela Hsi, for her part, cites a contemporaneous source to argue that Wu led 40,000 troops ("one of the better military forces of the day") and that he was assisted by 70,000 residents of Liaodong (遼東), "who were reputed to be excellent fighters."
Aftermath
On the evening of May 27, Li and his main army stayed at Yongping (永平) on the road to Beijing while many of his officers and soldiers fled toward the capital. On the next day he retreated toward Beijing, which he reached on May 31. He then let his troops loot the capital's official residences and government bureaus. On June 3, as a "final gesture of defiance" after his decisive defeat, Li officially declared himself EmperorEmperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
of the Great Shun at the Wuying Palace (武英殿). After 42 days in Beijing, Li Zicheng set the imperial palace complex on fire and abandoned the capital to flee toward the west. The Beijing population then massacred nearly two thousand rebels who had not fled.
On June 5, the Beijing population prepared to welcome those who had defeated Li Zicheng. The elders and officials who went out of the city expecting to greet Wu Sangui and the Ming heir apparent were shocked when the leader of the victorious army turned out to be Prince Regent Dorgon of the Qing. Dorgon and his retinue rode to Donghua Gate (東華門), an eastern gate to the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
, to receive the imperial regalia; Dorgon was then escorted to Wuying Palace by the former Ming imperial bodyguards, who had previously submitted to Li Zicheng but now vowed to serve the Qing. Dorgon welcomed the Shunzhi Emperor to Beijing on October 19. The young monarch was officially enthroned as Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
on Novermber 8, 1644, marking the moment when the Qing seized the Mandate of Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...
.
On May 28, Wu Sangui's Ming title of Pingxi Earl (平西伯) was raised to Pingxi Prince (平西王). His troops shaved their heads and joined the main Qing forces. Very soon after entering Beijing, Dorgon despatched Wu and his troops to pursue Li Zicheng. Wu managed to engage Li's rearguard many times, but Li still managed to cross Gu Pass into Shanxi; Wu then broke pursuit to return to Beijing. Li then reestablished a power base in Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
(Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
province), where he had declared the foundation of his Shun dynasty
Shun Dynasty
The Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li, however, only went by the title of King, not Emperor...
in February 1644.
After repressing revolts against Qing rule in Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
and Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
in the Summer and Fall of 1644, in October of that year Dorgon sent several armies to extirpate Li Zicheng from his Shaanxi stronghold. Qing armies led by Ajige
Ajige
Ajige was a prince and general of the Qing Dynasty. He was born of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan as the 12th son of Nurhaci, khan of the Later Jin Dynasty ....
, Dodo
Dodo (prince)
Dodo was a Manchu prince and military general of the early Qing Dynasty. His title was "Prince Yu of the First Rank" .-Family background:...
, and Shi Tingzhu (石廷柱) won consecutive engagements against Shun forces in Shanxi and Shaanxi, forcing Li Zicheng to leave his Xi'an headquarters in February 1645. Li retreated through several provinces until he was killed in September 1645, either by his own hand or by a self-defense peasant group.
The Qing conquest of China lasted for several more decades. Resistance to Qing rule was intensified by the "haircutting command" of June 1645, which forced all Chinese men to shave their forehead and tie their remaining hair into a queue
Queue
A queue is a particular kind of collection in which the entities in the collection are kept in order and the principal operations on the collection are the addition of entities to the rear terminal position and removal of entities from the front terminal position. This makes the queue a...
. Zhu Youlang, the last emperor of the Southern Ming, was killed by Wu Sangui in 1662. Wu Sangui was given a large territory in the southwest China, where he reigned as a satrap
Satrap
Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....
until he was recalled to Beijing in 1673. He and three other governors then rose in rebellion against the Qing. Though Wu died in 1678, the rebellion of the Three Feudatories lasted until 1681. In 1683 the Kangxi Emperor
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
(r. 1662-1722) defeated the forces of Koxinga
Koxinga
Koxinga is the customary Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong , a military leader who was born in 1624 in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant/pirate, and his Japanese wife and died in 1662 on the island of Formosa .A Ming loyalist and the arch commander of...
, the leader of the last Ming restoration movement. After this period of solidification, the Qing controlled China until 1912.
Timeline
The battle of Shanhai Pass took place on May 27, 1644, but it was preceded and followed by a series of events that gave the battle a special historical significance. This timeline presents these events. All the dates are for 1644.- February 8: on New Year's DayChinese New YearChinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
, Li Zicheng founds the "Great ShunShun DynastyThe Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li, however, only went by the title of King, not Emperor...
" dynasty in Xi'anXi'anXi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
and proclaims himself King (wang 王). - February 17: JirgalangJirgalangJirgalang or Jirhalang , the sixth son of Nurhaci's younger brother Šurhaci of the Aisin Gioro clan, was a Manchu noble and an important military and political leader in the early years of the Qing dynasty. From 1638 to 1643, he took part in many military campaigns that helped bring down the fall...
willingly yields control of all official matters to his co-regent DorgonDorgonDorgon , also known as Hošoi Mergen Cin Wang, the Prince Rui , was one of the most influential Manchu princes in the early Qing Dynasty. He laid the groundwork for the Manchu rule of China.-Early life:Dorgon was born in Yenden, Manchuria , China...
. - March 5: Dorgon sends an amicable letter to Li Zicheng proposing that they "devise a plan in common to unite their forces" against the Ming.
- March 17: personally led by Li Zicheng, the Shun army captures TaiyuanTaiyuanTaiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
(ShanxiShanxi' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
) and executes high officials and members of the imperial family. - April 5: seeing the progress of rebel armies in north China, the Chongzhen EmperorChongzhen EmperorThe Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :...
issues a call for the immediate help of any military commandant in the empire. - April 6: Wu SanguiWu SanguiWu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...
, a powerful Ming general, is ordered to move his forces from the fortified city of NingyuanXingchengXingcheng , former name Ningyuan , is a county-level city of Northeast China with a population of approximately 140,000 urban inhabitants, and is located in southwest Liaoning on the northern coast of the Bohai Sea...
to Shanhai PassShanhai PassShanhai Pass , or Shanhaiguan, along with Jiayu Pass and Juyong Pass, is one of the major passes of the Great Wall of China It is located in Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao, Hebei. In 1961, Shanhaiguan became a site of China First Class National Cultural Site.It is a popular tourist destination,...
(at the eastern end of the Great Wall), where it could better protect the capital. The transfer of troops, done by boat from a port in Liaoxi (遼西), would take ten days to complete. Wu's departure from Ningyuan, where Ming armies had defeatedBattle of NingyuanThe Battle of Ningyuan was a battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchurian Later Jin in 1626. The Ming won this battle. This battle marked the temporary resurgence of the Imperial Ming army after a long series of defeats....
Qing founder NurhaciNurhaciNurhaci was an important Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late sixteenth century in what is today Northeastern China...
in 1626, leaves all territory outside the Great Wall under Qing control. - April 11: desperate to secure proper military support, the Chongzhen emperor names Wu Sangui, Tang Tong (唐通), and two other generals earls (bo 伯). Wu thus becomes "Earl who Pacified the West" (pingxi bo 平西伯). Tang Tong, the only earl who was then in Beijing, reorganizes the capital's defenses and goes to post himself at the Juyong Pass, the last fortification defending the northern approach to Beijing.
- April 21: Li Zicheng's northern army reaches Juyong Pass: Tang Tong surrenders without a fight.
- April 22: Li Zicheng captures ChangpingChangping DistrictChangping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
on the northern outskirts of Beijing; he burns some of Ming imperial tombsMing Dynasty TombsThe Ming Dynasty Tombs are located some 51.35 kilometers due north of central Beijing, within the suburban Changping District of Beijing municipality...
. The Chongzhen court hears that Tang Tong surrendered the day before. - April 23: Li Zicheng's army reaches the western suburbs of Beijing and starts attacking the city walls. Li does not order a full-scale assault because he hopes the emperor will surrender.
- April 24: a eunuch opens one of the city gates to Li Zicheng's troops. Li's men quickly overrun the southern city.
- April 25: the Chongzhen Emperor commits suicide on a hill behind the Forbidden CityForbidden CityThe Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
. - April 26: having reached Fengrun (豐潤) halfway to the capital from Shanhai Pass, Wu Sangui hears that the capital has fallen; he returns to fortify Shanhai Pass.
- May 3: Li Zicheng sends the recently surrendered general Tang Tong to attack Wu Sangui at Shanhai Pass.
- May 5: Wu Sangui routs Tang Tong's army.
- May 10: Tang Tong's defeated army returns toward Shanhai Pass with reinforcements led by Bai Guang'en (白廣恩), but their joint army is again defeated by Wu Sangui.
- May 13: words reach the Qing capital of Mukden that Li Zicheng has been brutalizing former Ming officials and the population of Beijing. Grand Secretary Fan Wencheng (范文程) uses these news to argue for a Qing intervention in China. Dorgon agrees to mount a military expedition to punish the rebels and occupy the Central Plains.
- May 14: Dorgon leads the Qing "Grand Army" out of Mukden and starts marching south toward the Great Wall.
- May 18: after the defeat of two of his armies a few days earlier, Li Zicheng leaves Beijing with a large army to take Shanhai Pass himself.
- May 20: two of Wu Sangui's lieutenants arrive at Dorgon's camp at the Liao RiverLiao RiverThe Liao River is the principal river in northeast China . The province of Liaoning and the Liaodong Peninsula derive their names from the river....
carrying a message asking the Manchus to help Wu defeat Li Zicheng's bandits and restore the Ming dynasty in return for "great profits" (大利). Later that day the Manchus hear for the first time that the Chongzhen emperor was dead. Dorgon sends a letter back to Wu Sangui asking Wu to surrender to the Qing in exchange for help in destroying the Shun rebels. Still on that day, but as a result of earlier plans, small groups of Qing troops start to cross the Great Wall to distribute written proclamations announcing that the Qing will not harm the population and will only kill Li Zicheng's bandits. - May 25: Dorgon receives a letter confirming that Wu Sangui has accepted to work for the Qing: he takes his army on a forced march toward Shanhai Pass. By the same date, Li Zicheng's army is already camping in the outskirts of Shanhai Pass, near the Sha River a few kilometers west of the Shanhai Pass garrison; Wu Sangui sends his troops to confront him there.
- May 26: having covered more than 150 kilometers in 24 hours, Dorgon's troops settle eight kilometers away from the Pass to rest for a few hours. They are awoken at midnight to continue marching.
- May 27: Battle of Shanhai PassBattle of Shanhai PassThe Battle of Shanhai Pass, fought on 27 May 1644 at Shanhaiguan at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China, was a decisive battle leading to the formation of the Qing dynasty in China...
. - May 28: Li Zicheng retreats from Yongping toward Beijing. Dorgon raises Wu Sangui from Earl to Prince; Wu's remaining troops shave their heads and join the Qing forces.
- May 31: Li Zicheng reenters Beijing with his troops, which proceed to loot the capital.
- June 3: Li Zicheng officially declares himself EmperorEmperor of ChinaThe Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
of the Great Shun. - June 4: after six weeks in Beijing, Li Zicheng sets the imperial palaces on fire and abandons the capital to flee toward the west. The Beijing population massacres Shun stragglers.
- June 5: led by Dorgon, Qing troops are welcomed into the capital; the Beijing population is shocked because it was expecting Wu Sangui to bring back the Ming heir apparent.
- October 19: the Shunzhi EmperorShunzhi EmperorThe Shunzhi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period...
arrives in Beijing through the Zhengyang Gate, where he is welcomed by Dorgon. - November 8: a formal ritual of enthronement is held for the six-year-old Emperor: he is now Emperor of ChinaEmperor of ChinaThe Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
.