The Rise of the Manchus

"I, feeble and of small virtue, have offended against Heaven; the rebels have seized my capital because my ministers deceived me. Ashamed to face my ancestors, I die. Removing my imperial cap and with my hair dishevelled about my face, I leave to the rebels the dismemberment of my body. Let them not harm my people!" (Final message of the Chinese Emperor Chongzhen, 1644, in Paludan, p.187.)

The Manchus (known to themselves as the Jurchen) were one of the many fierce horse riding nomads to the north of China who supplemented their herding and hunting with the occasional raid into China. They terrorised the Chinese peasants, farmers and townspeople who were tied to one place and could only hope and pray that local officials - or even the distant Emperor - could mobilise a sufficiently powerful army to ward off the invaders.

As successors to the Jin who had ruled northern China in the C12th, many Manchu rulers may have dreamed of a destiny that saw their people again dominant in the world. However, the sheer size of the Chinese military was enough to prevent the Manchus from aspiring to more than the occasional hit and run raid to acquire booty and some slaves. Yet under the Emperor Tianqi, China had become fatally divided and appeared to be a plum ripening on the branch.

Tianqi acceded to the throne at the age of 15. He had been raised in the debauched court of the Emperor Wanli, who was his grandfather. Tianqi himself seems to have been illiterate and only happy when working at his carpentry. Day to day running of the government was largely left to the sinister figure of Wei Zhongxian, who was a friend of the Emperor's nanny. Wei misruled the court to such an extent that it appeared to the people that the Ming Dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven and were no longer fit to rule. After the death of Tianqi, his younger brother Zhu Yujian succeeded him, taking the regnal name of Chongzhen. Disrepute and famine characterised his rule and revolts broke out across the empire. The most serious was that of the 'Dashing General' Li Zicheng who led his army all the way into Beijing. Chongzheng and his family were abandoned by imperial troops and he raged drunkenly around the palace, ensuring family members either killed themselves or would be killed by him.

In this turmoil, the Manchus swept down from the north and then they too seized the capital and established a new dynasty - the Qing. The six-year old boy Fulin was declared to be the Emperor Shunzhi. The Manchus were no more than two per cent of the total population and so could hardly ensure their rule by extended military actions. Consequently, they decided to retain as much of the inherited Ming administration as they could. Taking advantage of the disorder, they enlisted Chinese forces to carry out their commands, which included requiring all Chinese to shave their heads and open the gates of their cities in token of surrender. When some cities refused, they were stormed and there were a number of terrible massacres, largely carried out by Chinese themselves.

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