Qing Dynasty

The conquest of China

After years of civil unrest, the Ming capital Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng. The Ming dynasty officially came to an end when the last Ming emperor committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree on the hill overlooking the Forbidden City. After taking Beijing in April 1644, Li Zicheng led an army of 60,000 strong to confront Wu Sangui, the general commanding Ming's 100,000 strong garrison guarding Shanhaiguan (山海關). Shanhaiguan is the pivotal northeastern pass of the Great Wall of China located fifty miles northeast of Beijing and for years its defenses were what kept the Manchus at bay and out of China. Wu, caught between two enemies, decided to cast his lots with the Manchus and made an alliance with Prince Dorgon, regent to the then six-year old Emperor Shunzhi, son of Emperor Huang Taiji who had passed away the year before.

Related Topics:
Beijing - Li Zicheng - Last Ming emperor - Forbidden City - Wu Sangui - Shanhaiguan - Great Wall of China

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Together the two armies met Li Zicheng's rebel forces in battle on May 27, 1644. Even though the rebel forces were routed, Wu's army was so weakened by the day's fighting that he had no choice but to join the Manchus forces as they captured Beijing on June 6 and began their conquest of the whole of China. The process took another seventeen years of battling Ming loyalists, pretenders and rebels. The last Ming pretender, Prince Gui, sought refuge in Burma but was turned over to a Qing expeditionary force headed by Wu Sangui who had him brought back to Yunnan province and executed in early 1662.

Related Topics:
Prince Gui - Yunnan

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