THE FALL OF THE MINGS
It is almost a conventionalism to attribute the fall of a Chinese
dynasty to the malign influence of eunuchs. The Imperial court was
undoubtedly at this date entirely in the hands of eunuchs, who
occupied all kinds of lucrative posts for which they were quite
unfitted, and even accompanied the army, nominally as officials, but
really as spies upon the generals in command. One of the most
notorious of these was Wei Chung-hsien, whose career may be taken as
typical of his class. He was a native of Su-ning in Chihli, of
profligate character, who made himself a eunuch, and changed his name
to Li Chin-chung. Entering the palace, he managed by bribery to get
into the service of the mother of the future Emperor, posthumously
canonised as Hsi Tsung, and became the paramour of that weak
monarch's wet-nurse. The pair gained the Emperor's affection to an
extraordinary degree, and Wei, an ignorant brute, was the real ruler
of China during the reign of Hsi Tsung. He always took care to
present memorials and other State papers when his Majesty was
engrossed in carpentry, and the Emperor would pretend to know all
about the question, and tell Wei to deal with it. Aided by unworthy
censors, a body of officials who are supposed to be the "eyes and
ears" of the monarch, and privileged to censure him for
misgovernment, he gradually drove all loyal men from office, and put
his opponents to cruel and ignominious deaths. He persuaded Hsi Tsung
to enrol a division of eunuch troops, ten thousand strong, armed with
muskets; while, by causing the Empress to have a miscarriage, his
paramour cleared his way to the throne. Many officials espoused his
cause, and the infatuated sovereign never wearied of loading him with
favours. In 1626, temples were erected to him in all the provinces
except Fuhkien, his image received Imperial honours, and he was
styled Nine Thousand Years, i.e. only one thousand less than the
Emperor himself, the Chinese term in the latter case being _wan sui_,
which has been adopted by the Japanese as _banzai_. All successes
were ascribed to his influence, a Grand Secretary declaring that his
virtue had actually caused the appearance of a "unicorn" in Shantung.
In 1627, he was likened in a memorial to Confucius, and it was
decreed that he should be worshipped with the Sage in the Imperial
Academy. His hopes were overthrown by the death of Hsi Tsung, whose
successor promptly dismissed him. He hanged himself to escape trial,
and his corpse was disembowelled. His paramour was executed, and in
1629, nearly three hundred persons were convicted and sentenced to
varying penalties for being connected with his schemes.
Jobbery and corruption were rife; and at the present juncture these
agencies were successfully employed to effect the recall of a really
able general who had been sent from Peking to recover lost ground,
and prevent further encroachments by the Manchus. For a time,
Nurhachu had been held in check by his skilful dispositions of
troops, Mukden was strongly fortified, and confidence generally was
restored; but the fatal policy of the new general rapidly alienated
the Chinese inhabitants, and caused them to enter secretly into
communication with the Manchus. It was thus that in 1621 Nurhachu was
in a position to advance upon Mukden. Encamping within a mile or two
of the city, he sent forward a reconnoitring party, which was
immediately attacked by the Chinese commandant at the head of a large
force. The former fled, and the latter pursued, only to fall into the
inevitable ambush; and the Chinese troops, on retiring in their turn,
found that the bridge across the moat had been destroyed by traitors
in their own camp, so that they were unable to re-enter the city.
Thus Mukden fell, the prelude to a series of further victories, one
of which was the rout of an army sent to retake Mukden, and the chief
of which was the capture of Liao-yang, now remembered in connection
with the Russo-Japanese war. In many of these engagements the
Manchus, whose chief weapon was the long bow, which they used with
deadly effect, found themselves opposed by artillery, the use of
which had been taught to the Chinese by Adam Schaal, the Jesuit
father. The supply of powder, however, had a way of running short,
and at once the pronounced superiority of the Manchu archers
prevailed.
Other cities now began to tender a voluntary submission, and many
Chinese took to shaving the head and wearing the queue, in
acknowledgment of their allegiance to the Manchus. All, however, was
not yet over, for the growing Manchu power was still subjected to
frequent attacks from Chinese arms in directions as far as possible
removed from points where Manchu troops were concentrated. Meanwhile
Nurhachu gradually extended his borders eastward, until in 1625, the
year in which he placed his capital at Mukden, his frontiers reached
to the sea on the east and to the river Amur on the north, the
important city of Ning-yüan being almost the only possession
remaining to the Chinese beyond the Great Wall. The explanation of
this is as follows.
An incompetent general, as above mentioned, had been sent at the
instance of the eunuchs to supersede an officer who had been holding
his own with considerable success, but who was not a _persona grata_
at court. The new general at once decided that no territory outside
the Great Wall was to be held against the Manchus, and gave orders
for the immediate retirement of all troops and Chinese residents
generally. To this command the civil governor of Ning-yüan, and the
military commandant, sent an indignant protest, writing out an oath
with their blood that they would never surrender the city. Nurhachu
seized the opportunity, and delivered a violent attack, with which he
seemed to be making some progress, until at length artillery was
brought into play. The havoc caused by guns at close quarters was
terrific, and the Manchus fled. This defeat was a blow from which
Nurhachu never recovered; his chagrin brought on a serious illness,
and he died in 1626, aged sixty-eight. Later on, when his descendants
were sitting upon the throne of China, he was canonised as T'ai Tsu,
the Great Ancestor, the representatives of the four preceding
generations of his family being canonised as Princes.
Nurhachu was succeeded by his fourth son, Abkhai, then thirty-four
years of age, and a tried warrior. His reign began with a
correspondence between himself and the governor who had been the
successful defender of Ning-yüan, in which some attempt was made to
conclude a treaty of peace. The Chinese on their side demanded the
return of all captured cities and territory; while the Manchus, who
refused to consider any such terms, suggested that China should pay
them a huge subsidy in money, silk, etc., in return for which they
offered but a moderate supply of furs, and something over half a ton
of ginseng (_Panax repens_), the famous forked root said to resemble
the human body, and much valued by the Chinese as a strengthening
medicine. This, of course, was a case of "giving too little and
asking too much," and the negotiations came to nothing. In 1629,
Abkhai, who by this time was master of Korea, marched upon Peking, at
the head of a large army, and encamped within a few miles from its
walls; but he was unable to capture the city, and had finally to
retire. The next few years were devoted by the Manchus, who now began
to possess artillery of their own casting, to the conquest of
Mongolia, in the hope of thus securing an easy passage for their
armies into China. An offer of peace was now made by the Chinese
Emperor, for reasons shortly to be stated; but the Manchu terms were
too severe, and hostilities were resumed, the Manchus chiefly
occupying themselves in devastating the country round Peking, their
numbers being constantly swelled by a stream of deserters from the
Chinese ranks. In 1643, Abkhai died; he was succeeded by his ninth
son, a boy of five, and was later on canonised as T'ai Tsung, the
Great Forefather. By 1635, he had already begun to style himself
Emperor of China, and had established a system of public
examinations. The name of the dynasty had been "Manchu" ever since
1616; twenty years later he translated this term into the Chinese
word _Ch'ing_(or Ts'ing), which means "pure"; and as the Great Pure
Dynasty it will be remembered in history. Other important enactments
of his reign were prohibitions against the use of tobacco, which had
been recently introduced into Manchuria from Japan, through Korea;
against the Chinese fashion of dress and of wearing the hair; and
against the practice of binding the feet of girls. All except the
first of these were directed towards the complete denationalisation
of the Chinese who had accepted his rule, and whose numbers were
increasing daily.
So far, the Manchus seem to have been little influenced by religious
beliefs or scruples, except of a very primitive kind; but when they
came into closer contact with the Chinese, Buddhism began to spread
its charms, and not in vain, though strongly opposed by Abkhai
himself.
By 1635 the Manchus had effected the conquest of Mongolia, aided to a
great extent by frequent defections of large bodies of Mongols who
had been exasperated by their own ill-treatment at the hands of the
Chinese. Among some ancient Mongolian archives there has recently
been discovered a document, dated 1636, under which the Mongol chiefs
recognised the suzerainty of the Manchu Emperor. It was, however,
stipulated that, in the event of the fall of the dynasty, all the
laws existing previously to this date should again come into force.
A brief review of Chinese history during the later years of Manchu
progress, as described above, discloses a state of things such as
will always be found to prevail towards the close of an outworn
dynasty. Almost from the day when, in 1628, the last Emperor of the
Ming Dynasty ascended the throne, national grievances began to pass
from a simmering and more or less latent condition to a state of open
and acute hostility. The exactions and tyranny of the eunuchs had led
to increased taxation and general discontent; and the horrors of
famine now enhanced the gravity of the situation. Local outbreaks
were common, and were with difficulty suppressed. The most capable
among Chinese generals of the period, Wu San-kuei, shortly to play a
leading part in the dynastic drama, was far away, employed in
resisting the invasions of the Manchus, when a very serious
rebellion, which had been in preparation for some years, at length
burst violently forth.
Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng was a native of Shensi, who, before he was twenty
years old, had succeeded his father as village beadle. The famine of
1627 had brought him into trouble over the land-tax, and in 1629 he
turned brigand, but without conspicuous success during the following
ten years. In 1640, he headed a small gang of desperadoes, and
overrunning parts of Hupeh and Honan, was soon in command of a large
army. He was joined by a female bandit, formerly a courtesan, who
advised him to avoid slaughter and to try to win the hearts of the
people. In 1642, after several attempts to capture the city of
K'ai-fêng, during one of which his left eye was destroyed by an
arrow, he at length succeeded, chiefly in consequence of a sudden
rise of the Yellow River, the waters of which rushed through a canal
originally intended to fill the city moat and flood out the rebels.
The rise of the river, however, was so rapid and so unusually high
that the city itself was flooded, and an enormous number of the
inhabitants perished, the rest seeking safety in flight to higher
ground.
By 1644, Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng had reduced the whole of the province of
Shensi; whereupon he began to advance on Peking, proclaiming himself
first Emperor of the Great Shun Dynasty, the term _shun_ implying
harmony between rulers and ruled. Terror reigned at the Chinese
court, especially as meteorological and other portents appeared in
unusually large numbers, as though to justify the panic. The Emperor
was in despair; the exchequer was empty, and there was no money to
pay the troops, who, in any case, were too few to man the city walls.
Each of the Ministers of State was anxious only to secure his own
safety. Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng's advance was scarcely opposed, the eunuch
commanders of cities and passes hastening to surrender them and save
their own lives. For, in case of immediate surrender, no injury was
done by Li to life or property, and even after a short resistance
only a few lives were exacted as penalty; but a more obstinate
defence was punished by burning and looting and universal slaughter.
The Emperor was now advised to send for Wu San-kuei; but that step
meant the end of further resistance to the invading Manchus on the
east, and for some time he would not consent. Meanwhile, he issued an
Imperial proclamation, such as is usual on these occasions,
announcing that all the troubles which had come upon the empire were
due to his own incompetence and unworthiness, as confirmed by the
droughts, famines, and other signs of divine wrath, of recent
occurrence; that the administration was to be reformed, and only
virtuous and capable officials would be employed. The near approach,
however, of Li's army at length caused the Emperor to realise that it
was Wu San-kuei or nothing, and belated messengers were dispatched to
summon him to the defence of the capital. Long before he could
possibly arrive, a gate of the southern city of Peking was
treacherously opened by the eunuch in charge of it, and the next
thing the Emperor saw was his capital in flames. He then summoned the
Empress and the court ladies, and bade them each provide for her own
safety. He sent his three sons into hiding, and actually killed with
his own hand several of his favourites, rather than let them fall
into the hands of the One-Eyed Rebel. He attempted the same by his
daughter, a young girl, covering his face with the sleeve of his
robe; but in his agony of mind he failed in his blow, and only
succeeded in cutting off an arm, leaving the unfortunate princess to
be dispatched later on by the Empress. After this, in concert with a
trusted eunuch and a few attendants, he disguised himself, and made
an attempt to escape from the city by night; but they found the gates
closed, and the guard refused to allow them to pass. Returning to the
palace in the early morning, the Emperor caused the great bell to be
rung as usual to summon the officers of government to audience; but
no one came. He then retired, with his faithful eunuch, to a kiosque,
on what is known as the Coal Hill, in the palace grounds, and there
wrote a last decree on the lapel of his coat:--"I, poor in virtue and
of contemptible personality, have incurred the wrath of God on high.
My Ministers have deceived me. I am ashamed to meet my ancestors; and
therefore I myself take off my crown, and with my hair covering my
face, await dismemberment at the hands of the rebels. Do not hurt a
single one of my people!" Emperor and eunuch then committed suicide
by hanging themselves, and the Great Ming Dynasty was brought to an
end.
Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng made a grand official entry into Peking, upon which
many of the palace ladies committed suicide. The bodies of the two
Empresses were discovered, and the late Emperor's sons were captured
and kindly treated; but of the Emperor himself there was for some
time no trace. At length his body was found, and was encoffined,
together with those of the Empresses, by order of Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng,
by-and-by to receive fit and proper burial at the hands of the
Manchus.
Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng further possessed himself of the persons of Wu
San-kuei's father and affianced bride, the latter of whom, a very
beautiful girl, he intended to keep for himself. He next sent off a
letter to Wu San-kuei, offering an alliance against the Manchus,
which was fortified by another letter from Wu San-kuei's father,
urging his son to fall in with Li's wishes, especially as his own
life would be dependent upon the success of the mission. Wu San-kuei
had already started on his way to relieve the capital when he heard
of the events above recorded; and it seems probable that he would
have yielded to circumstances and persuasion but for the fact that Li
had seized the girl he intended to marry. This decided him; he
retraced his steps, shaved his head after the required style, and
joined the Manchus.
It was not very long before Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng's army was in full
pursuit, with the twofold object of destroying Wu San-kuei and
recovering Chinese territory already occupied by the Manchus. In the
battle which ensued, all these hopes were dashed; Li sustained a
crushing defeat, and fled to Peking. There he put to death the Ming
princes who were in his hands, and completely exterminated Wu
San-kuei's family, with the exception of the girl above mentioned,
whom he carried off after having looted and burnt the palace and
other public buildings. Now was the opportunity of the Manchus; and
with the connivance and loyal aid of Wu San-kuei, the Great Ch'ing
Dynasty was established.
Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng, who had officially mounted the Dragon Throne as
Emperor of China nine days after his capture of Peking, was now hotly
pursued by Wu San-kuei, who had the good fortune to recover from the
rebels the girl, who had been taken with them in their flight, and
whom he then married. Li Tz[)u]-ch'êng retreated westwards; and after
two vain attempts to check the pursuers, his army began to melt away.
Driven south, he held Wu-ch'ang for a time; but ultimately he fled
down the Yang-tsze, and was slain by local militia in Hupeh.
Li was a born soldier. Even hostile writers admit that his army was
wonderfully well disciplined, and that he put a stop to the hideous
atrocities which had made his name a terror in the empire, just so
soon as he found that he could accomplish his ends by milder means.
His men were obliged to march light, very little baggage being
allowed; his horses were most carefully looked after. He himself was
by nature calm and cold, and his manner of life was frugal and
abstemious.