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6 June 1644Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Manchu Qing Dynasty Conquers Beijing

A former Ming general's defection lets the Manchus seize the capital and found a new dynasty

On the timeline · around 6 June 1644 · Qing and Modern ChinaSong, Yuan, and MingQing and Modern ChinaThe Manchu Qing Dynasty Conquers Beijing145015001550160016501700

Quick facts

Beijing falls to rebels
24 April 1644
Battle of Shanhai Pass
27 May 1644
Manchus take Beijing
6 June 1644
Dynasty span
1644-1912

What happened

The Manchus, a people from northeast Asia distinct in language and culture from the Chinese they would come to rule, took advantage of the Ming dynasty's collapse under rebel pressure. On 24 April 1644, the rebel leader Li Zicheng's forces took Beijing, and the last Ming emperor hanged himself in the imperial garden rather than face capture. Ming general Wu Sangui, guarding the frontier pass at Shanhaiguan, then allied with the Manchu prince-regent Dorgon against Li Zicheng, and their combined armies defeated the rebels at the Battle of Shanhai Pass on 27 May 1644, opening the way for Dorgon's forces to capture Beijing on 6 June. The Manchus, who had ruled there for more than 250 years afterward, established the Qing dynasty, continuing many existing Chinese institutions while promoting their own language and customs alongside them.

Why it matters

A Ming general's decision to ally with a foreign power against a domestic rebel handed Beijing to the Manchus rather than to the native rebellion that had actually toppled the Ming, and complete conquest of China proper took another seventeen years of further fighting against Ming loyalists and pretenders. The Qing dynasty that resulted would rule China, hold court in the Forbidden City, and eventually reach the empire's greatest territorial extent before its final collapse in 1912.

How we know

The sequence of Beijing's fall, the Battle of Shanhai Pass, and the Manchu capture of the capital is documented in both late-Ming and early-Qing official records from the transition itself.

Sources

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