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Emperor Huang Taiji had died.  At that time, decisions on succession were made by a deliberative council. One brother stood out, Dorgon. Two candidates were being considered.  One was Dorgon. The other was Haoge. He was one of Huang Taiji’s sons.  The council chose Dorgon.  Haoge, however, had the best qualification because he was Huang Taiji’s oldest male heir.  But there is one problem with Hoage. Dorgon did not like him.  

But Dorgon refused to become the Emperor out of respect for his father, and because he believed the Emperor designation should go to one of Huang Taiji’s son, as long as it was not Haoge. A compromise was reached.  Hoage's younger brother, Fulin, was chosen. Dorgon and a cousin were co-regents.  Dorgon was the defacto Emperor until Fulin was old enough to rule himself.

Dorgon’s reign is known for his masterful campaigns through Southern China in the late 1640s. He nearly conquered all of China.  Dorgon was an effective, competent, if not brutal military leader.  He was the chief engineer behind the Qing conquest.

Next episode I will talk about the new Emperor Fulin.

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Part of Nurhaci's legacy are the sons that he left behind. Collectively and individually they were powerful, competent, strong, and experienced military leaders. The surviving sons chose a successor and it would be Nurhaci’s 8th son by the name of Huang Taiji.

Huang Taiji invaded Ming Dynasty China. It did not go well for the Manchus. Huang Taiji attacked again.  This time via Inner Mongolia.  His army made it to the outskirts of Peking in 1629. But Peking was well defended by the Ming army, and eventually the Manchu army withdrew from this area completely. 

In 1636, Huang Taiji himself led a second assault into Korea.  Again, as before, the Korean King was forced to swear an allegiance to the Manchus, renounce their allegiance to the Ming Dynasty, and give aid and support to the Manchus in their conquest of China.

The way now was open to China. But he never made it.  Huang Taiji died unexpectedly in 1643.  It would be only seven months later from this point that the Ming Dynasty would end.

The new dynasty begins in the next episode.

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Who were the Qing? The traditional mandarin written character for Qing means clear, pure, distinct. 

China has 56 ethnic groups, or 56 minorities. The Han Chinese are the majority. The Qing were Manchus, one of the other 55 minorities or ethnic groups in China.

Their founding father is Nurhaci. The region he was born was, at that time, outside of China bordering its Northeast border. That area is now within China and it comprises parts of its furthest Northeast provinces. 

The Manchus' relationship with the Ming Dynasty was rocky for many decades. While the Manchus paid their annual tribute as they were expected.  They also harassed the Dynasty along the border with China. 

Nurhaci created the eight-banner system.  The banner system was the backbone of the early Qing Dynasty.

In the early 17th century Nurhaci declared that Manchuria was independent from China. The Ming Emperor was not too happy about that declaration.  He sent the army to Manchuria to teach the Manchus a lesson. Nurhaci and his bannerman army defeated the Ming army.  

The next episode I will talk about his son.

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The Ming Dynasty would rule China for nearly 300 years. 

Firmly ensconced in the Chinese pathos is the concept of the Mandate of Heaven. This is similar to the European concept of the Divine Right of Kings. Both the Divine Right of Kings and the Mandate of Heaven are given by heaven.  Beyond that they are different.

For many decades the Ming had been fighting along their long border with Manchuria. There was also a major rebellion late in the 16th century in Sichuan Province. It was called the Bo Zhou Rebellion. The Ming also got involved in a war with Japan.  That war was called the Imjin War. 

A fellow by the name of Li ZhiChang led an uprising in North Central China.  He was called the Dashing King.  There was also another guy by the name of Zhong Xian Zhong that led an uprising.  He had the colorful name of the Yellow Tiger.  The Dashing King eventually made it all the way to Peking in 1644. On June 6, 1644, the combined Ming and Manchu armies defeated the Dashing King and conquered Peking and declared a new dynasty.

Next time I will talk about the Qing Dynasty's founding father.

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When I started my research for this podcast, I did not know that prior to present day China that there was such a thing as a national anthem during the Qing dynasty or any other dynasty prior to that.  It was never officially adopted until October 4th 1911, when the Qing Government made it official. Although they never made it public or never gave it an official debut.

I have several reasons for this podcast. This is personal to me. I have been to the area of China associated with the Qing, that is the northeast part of China, seven times. I have seen firsthand with my own eyes a lot of the geographic areas I am going to talk about. Secondly, I am passionate about history and passionate about all things history not just Chinese history. I also believe that this period of Chinese history as well as what was going on the world is not well known by Westerners.

The next episode I will talk about the end of the Ming Dynasty which is the dynasty that immediately preceded the Qing.

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