Jiashen Incident

1644 rebellion in Beijing, China which deposed the Ming dynasty
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese. (January 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
  • Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
  • Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
  • You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at [[:zh:甲申之變]]; see its history for attribution.
  • You should also add the template {{Translated|zh|甲申之變}} to the talk page.
  • For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Jiashen Incident
Part of the Ming–Qing transition

20th-century illustration showing Li Zicheng's army burning and looting Beijing
Date22–25 April 1644
Location
Beijing, China
Result Ming dynasty overthrown;
Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide;
Shun dynasty occupied Beijing
Belligerents
Ming dynasty Shun dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Chongzhen Emperor † Li Zicheng
Strength
250,000 (excluding 100,000 reinforcements) 1,300,000
Casualties and losses
40,000 killed (included 25,000 Jinyiwei agents);
  • v
  • t
  • e
Ming−Qing transition

The Jiashen Incident (simplified Chinese: 甲申之变; traditional Chinese: 甲申之變), also known as the Battle of Beijing, took place in 1644 in the areas surrounding Beijing, and was fought between forces of the incumbent Ming dynasty and the Shun dynasty founded by peasant rebel leader Li Zicheng. It eventually resulted in the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Remnants of the Ming imperial family, whose regime is known as the Southern Ming dynasty in historiography, would continue to rule parts of southern China until 1662.

Li Zicheng led his rebel army to attack the Ming capital Beijing from two directions (north and south). The eunuch official Du Zhizhi (杜之秩) ordered the Ming forces defending Beijing to open the city gates and let Li Zicheng's army in. After the fall of Beijing, the last Ming ruler, the Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree near the Forbidden City.[1] No actual battle was fought in Beijing itself as the rebels marched into the capital unopposed, and even after occupying Beijing, the rebels did not face any resistance. Li Zicheng's short-lived Shun dynasty would be subsequently defeated by forces of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, which would go on to rule China proper until its fall in 1912.

See also

References

  1. ^ Xu, Shuofang; Sun, Qiuke (2021). A History of Literature in the Ming Dynasty. Springer Nature. p. 340. ISBN 978-981-16-2490-2.