Transition from Ming to Qing

The political and military upheaval in seventeenth-century China through which the Qing replaced the Ming dynasty, completed with the conquest of Taiwan in 1683.

Li Zicheng: A rebel leader whose forces captured Beijing in 1644, precipitating the Ming court's collapse. His capture of Beijing created the immediate opening for Qing entry into China proper.
Ming dynasty: A Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 1368 until its collapse in the seventeenth century. Its weakening institutions and divided armies shaped the conditions of its fall.
Hong Taiji: The Later Jin ruler who renamed his state Qing in 1636 and expanded its institutions and power. His state-building gave the conquest a dynasty and governing apparatus before 1644.
Qing dynasty: A Chinese imperial dynasty ruled by the Manchu Aisin Gioro house from 1636 to 1912. It emerged from the conquest and governed China for nearly three centuries.
Ming loyalism: Political and ethical allegiance to the Ming dynasty after its loss of power. Loyalists resisted Qing rule and shaped the transition's prolonged civil conflict.
Wu Sangui: A Ming general who opened Shanhai Pass to Qing forces in 1644 and later led a major revolt against them. His alliance with the Qing enabled their advance through the Great Wall.
Little Ice Age: A period of cooler climate in parts of the world, spanning roughly the fourteenth through nineteenth centuries. Climatic stress aggravated harvest failures and hardship in late Ming China.
Nurhaci: The Jurchen leader who united several Jurchen groups and founded the Later Jin state in 1616. His campaigns and Eight Banners laid foundations for the Qing military advance.
Queue order: A Qing rule requiring Han Chinese men to shave the front of the head and wear a long braid. The imposed hairstyle made submission to the new regime publicly visible.
Mandate of Heaven: A Chinese political doctrine that treats legitimate rule as conditional on moral governance and continued success. Dynastic legitimacy was contested as Ming authority collapsed and Qing power expanded.

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