Key Facts
- Duration
- 65 years (1618–1683)
- Estimated total deaths
- ~25,000,000
- Beijing fell to rebels
- April 24, 1644
- Last Ming emperor
- Chongzhen Emperor, died by suicide 1644
- Final resistance ended
- Battle of Penghu, 1683
Strategic Narrative Overview
In 1644, Beijing fell to the peasant rebel Li Zicheng, who proclaimed the Shun dynasty; the Chongzhen Emperor died by suicide. Ming general Wu Sangui defected to the Manchus, whose forces under Dorgon defeated Li at Shanhai Pass and proclaimed the Shunzhi Emperor. Resistance continued for decades in southern China, including the revolt of the Three Feudatories (1673) and the Ming loyalist Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan.
01 / The Origins
In 1618, Nurhaci, leader of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, issued the Seven Grievances against the Ming dynasty, citing Ming favoritism toward rival Manchu clans, and launched a rebellion in Liaoning. Simultaneously, the Ming faced severe fiscal strain, natural disasters, epidemics, and spreading peasant revolts, fatally weakening their capacity to resist both internal and external threats.
03 / The Outcome
Qing rule was consolidated when Admiral Shi Lang defeated the Kingdom of Tungning at the Battle of Penghu in 1683, ending the last organized Ming loyalist resistance. Taiwan was absorbed into the Qing Empire. The conquest united all of China under the Kangxi Emperor, establishing Manchu Qing dominance that would last until 1912.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Nurhaci, Dorgon, Shi Lang, Wu Sangui.
Side B
3 belligerents
Li Zicheng, Koxinga.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.