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The fall of the Ming and the Manchu conquest that followed was a period of catastrophic war and population decline in China, comparable to Europe's Thirty Years War (1618-1648). China experienced a period of extremely cold weather from the 1620s until the 1710s.[4] Some modern scholars link the worldwide drop in temperature at this time to the Maunder Minimum, an extended period from 1645 to 1715 when sunspots were absent.[5] Whatever the cause, the change in the climate reduced agricultural yields and cut state revenue. It also led to drought, which displaced many peasants. There were a series of peasant revolts in the late Ming, culminating in a revolt led by Li Zicheng which overthrew the dynasty in 1644. Ming ideology emphasized authoritarian and centralized administration, referred to as "imperial supremacy" or huángjí. However, comprehensive central decision-making was beyond the technology of the time.[6] The principle of uniformity meant that the lowest common denominator was often selected as the standard. The need to implement change on an empire-wide basis complicated any effort to reform the system, leaving administrators helpless to respond in an age of upheaval. Civil servants were selected by an arduous examination system which tested knowledge of classic literature. While they might be adapt at citing precedents from the Zhou dynasty of righteous and unrighteous behavior, they were rarely as knowledgeable when it came to contemporary economic, social, or military matters. Unlike previous dynasties, the Ming had no prime minister. So when a young ruler retreated to the inner court to enjoy the company of his concubines, power devolved to the eunuchs.[7] Only the eunuchs had access to the inner court, but the eunuch cliques were distrusted by the officials who were expected to carry out the emperor's decrees. Officials educated at the Donglin Academy were known for accusing the eunuchs and others of a lack of righteousness. On April 24, 1644, Li's soldiers breached the walls of Beijing. The Chongzhen emperor committed suicide the next day to avoid humiliation at their hands. Remnants of the Ming imperial family and some court ministers then sought refuge in the southern part of China and regrouped around Nanjing, the Ming auxiliary capital, south of the Yangtze River. Four different power groups emerged: The Shun dynasty, led by Li Zicheng, ruled north of the Huai river. Zhang Xianzhong's Great West regime controlled Sichuan province. The Manchu-founded Qing dynasty controlled the north-east area beyond Shanhai Pass, as well as many of the Mongol tribes. The remnants of the Ming dynasty could only survive south of the Huai river. The Nanjing court (1644-1645) Main article: Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu History of China History of China ANCIENT Neolithic c. 8500–c. 2100 BCE Xia dynasty c. 2100–c. 1600 BCE Shang dynasty c. 1600–c. 1046 BCE Zhou dynasty c. 1045–256 BCE Western Zhou Eastern Zhou Spring and Autumn Warring States IMPERIAL Qin dynasty 221–206 BCE Han dynasty 206 BCE – 220 CE Western Han Xin dynasty Eastern Han Three Kingdoms 220–280 Wei, Shu and Wu Jin dynasty 265–420 Western Jin Eastern Jin 16 Kingdoms Southern and Northern Dynasties 420–589 Sui dynasty 581–618 Tang dynasty 618–907 (Second Zhou 690–705) 5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms 907–960 Liao dynasty 907–1125 Song dynasty 960–1279 Northern Song W. Xia Southern Song Jin Yuan dynasty 1271–1368 Ming dynasty 1368–1644 Qing dynasty 1644–1911 MODERN Republic of China 1912–1949 People's Republic of China 1949–present Republic of China on Taiwan 1949–present Related articles [show] This box: view talk edit When the news of the Chongzhen emperor's death reached Nanjing in May 1644, the fate of the heir apparent was still unknown.[8] But court officials quickly agreed that an imperial figure was necessary to rally loyalist support. In early June, a caretaker government led by the Prince of Fu was created.[9] By the time he arrived in the vicinity of Nanjing, the prince could already count on the support of both Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa.[10] He entered the city on June 5 and accepted the title "protector of the state" the next day.[11] Prodded by some court officials, the Prince of Fu immediately begin to consider ascending the throne.[12] The prince had a problematic reputation in terms of Confucian morality, so some members of the Donglin faction suggested the Prince of Lu as an alternative. Other officials noted that the Prince of Fu, as next in line by blood, was clearly the safer choice. In any case, the so-called "righteousness" faction was not keen to risk a confrontation with Ma, who arrived in Nanjing with a large fleet on June 17.[13] The Prince of Fu was crowned as the Hongguang emperor on June 19.[13][14] It was decided that the next lunar year would be the first year of the Hongguang reign. The Hongguang court proclaimed that its goal was "to ally with the Tartars to pacify the bandits," that is, to seek cooperation with Qing military forces in order to annihilate rebel peasant militia led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.[15] Because Ma was the emperor's main supporter, he started to monopolize the royal court's administration by reviving the functions of the remaining eunuchs. This resulted in rampant corruptions and illegal dealings. Moreover, Ma engaged in intense political bickering with Shi, who was affiliated with the Donglin movement. In 1645, Zuo Liangyu, a former warlord and governor of Wuchang for the Hongguang regime, sent his troops towards Nanjing with the purpose of "clearing corrupt officials from the emperor's court." Seeing that this threat targeted him, Ma declared: "I and the emperor would rather die at the hand of the Great Qing, we will not die at the hand of Zuo Liangyu." By then, the Qing army had begun to move southwards: it had occupied Xuzhou and was preparing to cross the Huai River. Ma nonetheless ordered Shi to direct his riverine troops (which were positioned to counter the incoming Qing attack) against Zuo Liangyu. This displacement of troops facilitated the Qing capture of Yangzhou. This resulted in the Yangzhou massacre and the death of Shi in May 1645. It also led directly to the demise of the Nanjing regime. After the Qing armies crossed the Yangtze River near Zhenjiang on June 1, the emperor fled Nanjing. Qing armies led by the Manchu prince Dodo immediately moved toward Nanjing, which surrendered without a fight on June 8, 1645.[16] A detachment of Qing soldiers then captured the fleeing emperor on June 15, and he was brought back to Nanjing on June 18.[17] The fallen emperor was later transported to Beijing, where he died the following year.[17][18] The official history, written under Qing sponsorship in the eighteenth century, blames Ma's lack of foresight, his hunger for power and money, and his thirst for private revenge for the fall of the Nanjing court. The southern Ming was a loyalist movement that was active in southern China following the Ming dynasty's collapse in 1644. The Ming were overthrown when peasant rebels captured Beijing. Ming generals then opened the gates of the Great Wall to the Manchu, hoping they would fight the rebels. Loyalists fled to Nanjing, where they enthroned the Prince of Fu. The Nanjing regime lasted until 1645, when the Manchu captured Nanjing. Later, a series of pretenders held court in various southern Chinese cities.[1] The Nanjing regime lacked the resources to pay and supply its soldiers, who were left to live off the land and pillaged the countryside.[2] The soldiers' behavior was so notorious that they were refused entry by those cities in a position to do so.[3] Court official Shi Kefa obtained modern cannons and organized resistance at Yangzhou. The cannons mowed down a large number of Manchu soldiers, but this only enraged those who survived. After the city fell in May 1645, the Manchu slaughtered as many as 800,000 inhabitants in a notorious massacre. Nanjing surrendered promptly and without resistance on June 6. The Prince of Fu was taken to Beijing and executed in 1646. The literati in the provinces responded to the news from Yangzhou and Nanjing with an outpouring of emotion. Some recruited their own militia and became resistance leaders. Shi was lionized and there was a wave of hopeless sacrifice by loyalists who vowed to erase the shame of Nanjing. By late 1646, the heroics had petered out and the Qing advance had resumed. Notable Ming pretenders held court in Fuzhou (1645-1646), Guangzhou (1646-1647), and Anlong (1652-1659). The Prince of Ningjing maintained a palace at Tainan in Taiwan until 1683. The end of the Ming and the subsequent Nanjing regime are depicted in Peach Blossom Fan, a classic of Chinese literature. The upheaval of this period, sometimes referred to as the Ming-Qing cataclysm, has been linked to a decline in global temperature. With agriculture devastated by a severe drought, there was manpower available for numerous rebel armies. |
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