With the untimely and mysterious death of Prince-Regent Dorgon, the thirteen-year-old Shunzhi Emperor takes personal command of the still unsteady Qing Empire. He’s got a lot to do – and it will turn out, not terribly long to do it! From purging prince, to beheading grand secretaries, to winning conquests… to perhaps that hardest of them all: standing up to his own mother, it’s Shunzhi in the driver’s seat!
Time Period Covered:
1651-1661 CE
Major Historical Figures:
House of Aisin Gioro:
The Shunzhi Emperor (Fulin) [r. 1651-1661]
Prince-Regent Dorgon [1612-1650]
Jirgalang, Prince Zheng of the First Rank [1599-1655]
Qing Imperial Court:
Grand Secretariat Chen Mingxia [1601-1654]
General Tantai of the Plain Yellow Banner [1594-1651]
Grand Academician Feng Chuan [1596-1572]
Grand Academician Ning Wanwo [1593-1665]
General Ren Zhen
Hong Chengchou, Pacifying General of Jiangnan [1593-1665]
Wu Sangui, Prince of Western Pacification [1612-1678]
Southern Ming/Rebels:
Li Dingguo, Prince of Jin [1621-1662]
Zheng Chenggong, Koxinga, Prince of Yanping [1624-1662]
Works Cited:
Dennerline, Jerry. “The Shun-chih Reign” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 9: The Ch’ing Dynasty, part 1: To 1800.
“Records of Emperor Shizuzhang, Vol. 74” in Records of the Qing Dynasty [Qing Shilu].
Wakeman, Frederic Evans. The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China.
Please consider helping THoC pay for itself! You will be granted the wisdom of the Three Sovereigns.
Do you feel like the show might be worth $1 an episode? If so, please consider becoming a recurring History of China Patron at our Patreon page.
Of course, our old standby Paypal link is still a perfectly acceptable option.
Thank you so very much!
Page done by: C.L.S.
The History of China 