The new Southern Ming emperor sent emissaries to the Manchus.. Following the Manchu capture of Nanjing, sev-eral Ming princes were elevated to lead movements by loyalists against the Man
Trang 1The first of these was Zhu Yusong (Chu
Yu-sung), better known as the Prince of Fu He was
descended from Emperor Wanli (Wan-Li) (r 1573–
1620); in fact all of the main claimants of the Southern
Ming were descended from him He assumed the title
Emperor Hongguang (Hung-kuang) and reigned in
Nanjing (Nanking)
The new Southern Ming emperor sent emissaries to
the Manchus He initially tried to conciliate the
Man-chus and offered them a subsidy if they would return
to Manchuria The offer was rejected by the Manchu
regent, Prince Dorgon In the ensuing fighting, the
Southern Ming fared badly Nanjing was captured by
the Manchus and Hongguang was taken prisoner to
Beijing (Peking), where he died in captivity in 1646
Following the Manchu capture of Nanjing,
sev-eral Ming princes were elevated to lead movements
by loyalists against the Manchus, but none of them
showed worthy qualities and their causes fizzled in
quick succession, succumbing to campaigns led by
both Manchus and Han Chinese generals who had
defected to the Manchus
The most notable example of Han Chinese
partic-ipation in opposing the restoration of the Ming was
Wu Sangui (Wu San-kuei), the general guarding the
easternmost pass of the Great Wall against the
chus, who opened the way for the combined
Man-chu and his effort that defeated the rebel Li Zicheng
(Le Tzu-ch’eng) General Wu commanded a force
that drove Prince Guei (Kuei), a Ming pretender, into
Burma and was rewarded with a princely title and
granted Yunnan Province as his fief
The most sustained resistance was led by Zheng
Chenggong (Cheng Ch’eng-kung), better known
as Koxing in the West (1624–62) who had a
formi-dable force along the southern coast and along the
Yangzi (Yangtze) River After his defeat on mainland
China, Zeng and his son retreated to Taiwan where
they held out until 1683 The fall of Taiwan to
Man-chu forces ended the southern Ming resistance
See also Great Wall of China; Ming Dynasty, late;
Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty, rise and zenith
Further reading: Dennerline, Jerry The Chia-ting
Loyal-ists: Confucian Leadership and Social Change in
Seven-teenth-Century China New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press, 1981; Hummel, Arthur W Eminent Chinese of the
Ch’ing Period, 1644–1912 Washington, DC: U.S
Govern-ment Printing Office, 1943; Kessler, Lawrence D
Kiang-hsi and the Consolodation of Ch’ing Rule, 1661–1684
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976; Struve, Lynn
A The Southern Ming, 1644–1662 New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press, 1984
Justin Corfield
Ming dynasty, late
The Ming dynasty of China (1368–1644) was founded
by a commoner, Zhu Yuanzhang (Chu Yuan-chang), who ruled as Emperor Hongwu (Hung-wu), 1368–98
He expelled the Mongols and began the recovery of China His son, Emperor Yongle (Yung-lo), ruled from
1402 to 1424 and was also a capable general and ad-ministrator Together they expanded China’s borders, strengthened the defenses, and pursued policies that led to economic recovery and agricultural revival The schools that they founded and the examination system that they revitalized to recruit government officials would serve the empire well during long decades when minors and weaklings occupied the throne However
a succession of capricious and weak rulers eventually led to eunuchs’ controlling power and massive corrup-tion that resulted in domestic revolts, unwise foreign wars, and dynastic collapse
Emperor Hongwu instituted an autocratic style of government and both he and Yongle exercised their power vigorously and effectively However while Hon-gwu treated eunuchs as mere palace servants, Yongle began to entrust them with administrative duties, but under his firm control Yongle died leading his fifth campaign against the Mongols His son was already ill and died within a year, passing the throne to his son, who ruled for 11 years as Emperor Xuande (Hsuan-teh) Xuande was succeeded by his eight-year-old son
in 1436 Such short reigns were damaging in an auto-cratic system of government where continuity in lead-ership was an asset Minors on the throne required regencies by empress dowagers, who notoriously relied
on eunuchs rather than ministers for advice
Most Ming dynasty eunuchs came from poor fami-lies in northern China and were noted for their greed and extortion Boy emperors who were isolated from normal human contacts grew up dependent on them as friends and advisers For example Emperor Zhengtong (Cheng-t’ung) appointed his eunuch Wang Zhen (Wang Chen) commander in chief and the two men set out together in 1494 with a large army against the Mongol Esen Khan The army was cut to pieces, Wang died, and Zhengtong was taken prisoner Although the Mongols were too weak to take the offensive, this disaster ended
4 Ming dynasty, late