Southern Ming Dynasty

See also: History of the Ming Dynasty and List of emperors of the Ming Dynasty
History of China
ANCIENT
3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors
Xia Dynasty 2100–1600 BCE
Shang Dynasty 1600–1046 BCE
Zhou Dynasty 1045–256 BCE
 Western Zhou
 Eastern Zhou
   Spring and Autumn Period
   Warring States Period
IMPERIAL
Qin Dynasty 221 BCE–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 16 Kingdoms
304–439
  Eastern Jin
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 (Taiwan)
1949–present

The Southern Ming Dynasty (Chinese: 南明; pinyin: Nán Míng) was the Ming loyalist regime that continued in Southern China from 1644 to 1662 following the capture of Beijing by rebel armies and the death of the last Ming emperor in 1644.

On April 24, 1644, Li Zicheng's rebel soldiers, of the recently proclaimed Great Shun dynasty, 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:

Contents

The Prince of Fu and the Hongguang reign

Main article: Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu

Enthronement

The news of the Chongzhen Emperor's suicide was met with consternation when it reached Nanjing in mid May 1644.[1] The highest officials in Nanjing soon met to deliberate about how to face the crisis.[2] Since the fate of the official heir apparent was still unknown at the time, many thought it was too early to proclaim a new emperor, but most agreed that an imperial figure was necessary to rally loyalist support for the Ming in the south. In early June 1644, the court decided that the caretaker government would be centered around Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu, who was next in line for succession after the dead emperor's sons.[3] When he arrived in the vicinity of Nanjing (he had come from his princedom in Henan), the Prince could count on the military and political support of Ma Shiying (馬士英) and Shi Kefa.[2] On June 5 the Prince entered the city, the next day he accepted the title of "Protector of the State" (監國, sometimes translated as "Regent"),[4] and on June 7 he moved into the imperial palace, where he received the insignia of his new office.[5][6] Prodded by some court officials, the Prince of Fu immediately started to consider becoming Emperor.[7] Fearing confrontation with Ma Shiying and other supporters of the Prince, Shi Kefa convinced reluctant members of the court to accept the enthronement.[8] The Prince of Fu was officially crowned as Emperor on June 19, 1644, under the protection of Ma Shiying, who had arrived in Nanjing two days earlier with a large war fleet.[8][9] It was decided that the next lunar year would be the first year of the Hongguang (弘光) reign.

Internal conflicts and final demise

The Hongguang court proclaimed that its goal was "to ally with the Tartars to pacify the bandits" (聯虜平寇), that is, to seek cooperation with Qing military forces in order to annihilate rebel peasant militia led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.[10]

Because Ma Shiying was the main supporter of the current emperor, he started to monopolise 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 Kefa, who had been a staunch follower of the Donglin movement.

In 1645, Zuo Liangyu (左良玉) (a former warlord who now served as 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 Shiying 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 Shiying nonetheless ordered Shi Kefa 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 (which led to the Yangzhou massacre) and the death of Shi Kefa in May 1645, and led almost directly to the annihilation of the Hongguang regime. After the Qing armies crossed the Yangtze River near Zhenjiang on June 1, the Hongguang Emperor fled Nanjing. Qing armies led by the Manchu prince Dodo immediately moved toward Nanjing, which surrendered without a fight on June 8, 1645.[11] A detachment of Qing soldiers then captured the fleeing emperor on June 15, and he was brought back to Nanjing on June 18.[12] The fallen Hongguang emperor was later transported to Beijing, where he died the following year.[12][13]

The History of the Ming, written under Qing sponsorship in the eighteenth century, blamed Ma Shiying's lack of foresight, his hunger for power and money, and his thirst for private revenge for the fall of the Hongguang court.

The Prince of Tang and the Longwu reign

Main article: Zhu Yujian, Prince of Tang

In 1644, Zhu Yujian, a ninth-generation of Zhu Yuanzhang who had been put under house arrest in 1636 under the Chongzhen Emperor, was pardoned and restored to his princely title by the Hongguang Emperor.[14] When Nanjing fell in June 1645, he was in Suzhou en route to his new fiefdom in Guangxi.[15] When Hangzhou fell on July 6, he retreated up the Qiantang River and proceeded to Fujian from a land route that went through northeastern Jiangxi and mountainous areas in norther Fujian.[16] Protected by general Zheng Hongkui, on July 10 he proclaimed his intention to become regent of the Ming dynasty, a title that he formally received on July 29, a few days after reaching Fuzhou.[17] He was enthroned as emperor on August 18, 1645.[17]

In Fuzhou, the Longwu Emperor was under the protection of Zheng Zhilong, a seatrader with exceptional organizational skills who had surrendered to the Ming in 1628 and recently been made an earl by the Hongguang emperor.[18] The Longwu emperor, who was childless, adopted Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, granted him the imperial surname, and gave him a new personal name: Chenggong.[19] The name Koxinga by which this adopted son is still known to Westerners was a distortion of his title "Lord of the Imperial Surname" (Guoxingye 國姓爺).[20]

Most Nanjing officials had surrendered to the Qing, but some followed the Prince of Tang in his flight to Fuzhou.

The Prince of Gui and the Yongli reign

Main article: Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui

Koxinga

Main article: Koxinga

Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), son of Zheng Zhilong, was awarded with the titles: Wei Yuan Hou (威远候), Zhang Guo Gong (漳国公), and Yan Ping Wang (延平王) by the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

On the eleven year of Yongli, various anti-Qing military commanders gathered in Fujian to select a northern expedition target. Koxinga chose Nanjing, which was emperor Hongwu's choice of a state capital, which would naturally have a large anti-Qing population. Nanjing was also an important strategic location. On the fifth month and the twelve year of Yongli, Koxinga led an army of 100,000 soldiers and 290 warships to attack Nanjing, leaving a small military force for the defence of Xiamen

Koxinga's military force went through Zhejiang, Pingyang, Ruian, Wenzhou, and Zhousan, joining forces with another military commander Zhang Huanyan . On the ninth day of the eight month, near Yangsan Island a hurricane caused massive damage to the fleet, resulting in the loss of 8,000 personnel, sinking of 40 warships, and various degree of damage to all the ships. Koxinga called a temporary halt to the military advance and ordered repairs and refurbishing of the fleet, waiting for the right moment to attack. The Manchu Qing Governor called for the strengthening of its defence surrounding Chongmin Island, Mount Fu, Quanzhou, and Zhengjiang by laying a long iron chain across the river, and building wooden rafts stationed with soldiers and cannons. Koxinga ordered soldiers to cut the iron chain by axes, and to set fire to the enemy's wooden rafts. When Koxinga joined forces with Zhang Huanyan at the Yangtze River, the defending forces' resistance was minimal and soon Nanjing was encroached.

However, he had fallen into the Manchu's trap and ambush, a number of his generals perished on the battlefield. After suffering a humiliating defeat at Nanjing, Koxinga eventually decided to retreat back to Xiamen. Chinese historians concluded that the battle of Nanjing was of the utmost importance in the life of Koxinga, since it dealt a fatal blow to his grand anti-Qing ambitions.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Struve (1988), 641.
  2. ^ a b Struve (1988), 642.
  3. ^ Struve (1988), 642. Zhu Yousong was a grand-son of the Wanli Emperor (r. 1573–1620). Wanli's attempt to name Yousong's father as heir apparent had been thwarted by supporters of the Donglin movement because Yousong's father was not Wanli's eldest son.
  4. ^ Hucker (1985), 149 (item 840).
  5. ^ Struve (1988), 641-42.
  6. ^ Wakeman (1985), vol. 1, 345.
  7. ^ Wakeman (1985), vol. 1, 345; 346, note 86.
  8. ^ a b Wakeman (1985), vol. 1, 346.
  9. ^ Struve (1988), 644.
  10. ^ Wakeman (1985), pp. 396, 404
  11. ^ Wakeman (1985), 578.
  12. ^ a b Wakeman (1985), 580.
  13. ^ Kennedy (1943), 196.
  14. ^ Struve 1988, p. 665, note 24 (9th-generation descendant), and p. 668 (release and pardon).
  15. ^ Struve 1988, p. 663.
  16. ^ Struve 1988, pages 660 (date of the fall of Hangzhou) and 665 (route of his retreat to Fujian).
  17. ^ a b Struve 1988, p. 665.
  18. ^ Struve 1988, pp. 666-67.
  19. ^ Struve 1988, p. 667.
  20. ^ Struve 1988, p. 667.

References

External links

Emperors
Hongwu · Jianwen · Yongle · Hongxi1 · Xuande1 · Zhengtong · Jingtai · Tianshun  · Chenghua · Hongzhi · Zhengde · Jiajing · Longqing · Wanli · Taichang · Tianqi · Chongzhen
Sovereigns
Hongguang · Longwu · Shaowu and Yongli (co-rulers) · Yongli