Nurhaci

Image Source: Public Domain

About Nurhaci

Lifespan: 1559-1626 A.D

Reign Years: 1616-1626 A.D

Given Name: Nurhaci

Reign Name: Tainming

Nurhaci – Qing Dynasty

Nurhaci was the chieftain of the Chien Chou Juchen, who belonged to the Aisin Gioro clan. It was a Manchurian tribe known as the founding father of China’s Manchu state. Eventually, it became known as the Qing Dynasty.

Nurhaci of the Juchen tribes ruled from 1616 until he died in 1626. In a 30-year collection of military battles, Nurhaci united the different Juchen tribes located on the Chinese borders. Then, they started assaulting the Ming Empire.

This Manchu leader was known for building the Eight Banners. It was a patrilineal collection of administrative & military organizations during the Qing Dynasty. This allowed the rulers to keep their control and hold over the military.

He was also credited for having a script created for the Manchu language. Due to Nurhaci’s actions, the groundwork for China’s conquest by the Qing Dynasty was set.

These include his organization of the Manchus, plus the attacks on the Ming Dynasty and the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. Another reason he was able to do this was his conquest of the country’s northeast Liaodong Province.

Early Life of Nurhaci

Nurhaci was born in 1558. As part of the Suksuhu River tribe’s Gioro clan, he was technically a descendant of Mongke Temur. The latter was a Mongol-Juchen leader who lived two centuries earlier. Nurhaci’s family originated from today’s North Korea.

Based on Chinese resources, he grew up to be a soldier in the Li Chengliang household in Fushun. There, Nurhaci became well-versed in the Chinese language.

He named his family Aisin Gioro in 1612 when he formally took the throne as the later Jin Empire’s Khan.

The Juchen Tribes

He belonged to the Chien Chou Juchen tribe, one of the 5 Juchen Clans located along the outskirts of the Chinese Empire. The area was technically under the rule of the imperial court.

The Chien Chou Juchen were situated east of the Chinese border along the Long White Mountains, north of Yalu River. The other Juchen tribes were found further north of Manchuria’s steppe region and central forest.

These tribes existed in a frontier conflict that was encouraged by the government. It was a way to prevent them from becoming stronger and too powerful in the long run.

In 1582, Taksi and Giocangga, Nurhaci’s father and grandfather, were killed due to an attack by Nikan Wailan, a rival Juchen leader.

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Unification of Juchen Tribes

Starting in 1583, Nurhaci started uniting the Juchen groups. That same year, he beheaded Nikan Wailan to avenge the death of his grandfather and father. That time, they only left him a total of 13 suits of armor.

In 1586, he defeated a rival from his tribe and was being supported by the Chinese. After the incident, he spent the next years battling with other Juchen states.

To isolate his opponents from the Chinese, he invaded the Chinese-based portions of Manchuria.

In 1559, his translators Gagai Jarguchi and Erdeni Baksi made the written Manchu language. They were able to do this by adapting and modifying Mongolian alphabets. Then, they utilized the Mongolian script.

From 1599 to 1618, Nurhaci started a campaign against the Hulun tribes. In 1599, he started assaulting the Hada. Then in 1603, he was able to conquer them.

In 1607, they also took Hoifa with the death of their beile Baindari. It was followed by a journey in 1613 to battle against Ula and their beile Bujantai. Then in 1619, the Yehe and their beile, Gintaisi, were assaulted during the Battle of Sarhu.

Then in 1606, Nurhaci was given the title of Kundulun Khan by the Mongol people.

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Establishment of the Eight Banners

In 1615, Nurhaci built the Eight Banners. It was a collection of political, economic, and military units. It allowed the conquered tribespeople to readily shift their allegiance to his government.

The banners he created also worked as a form of a rudimentary administrative unit. They primarily focused on controlling and managing conscriptions, taxations, as well as mobilization in the area.

The members of these banners farmed during peacetime, and the men were called on to join battles whenever necessary. During a war, these Eight Banners worked as armies. However, its system was also considered as the standard organizational groundwork of the entire Manchu society.

Nurhaci was the highest-ranked commander of all these banners. Then, each of his sons and nephews was assigned to lead these. The main reason he did this was to preserve the traditions of the family without endangering his authoritative position.

In addition, these banners worked as units of taxation and administration for the Manchus.

With the successes in war, all conquered lands were given to the banners. The original cultivators of these became the serfs to these banners. However, land allotments weren’t given in cohesive units to avoid regionalism.

With that, the banner system became the bureaucratic state’s nucleus. As for the captives, they became the serfs and servants, whereas bannermen focused on various military tasks.

Founding of the Later Jin Dynasty

In 1616, Nurhaci named himself the Khan and established the Jin. He had a palace built in Mukden, and only after he became the Khan did Nurhaci unify Ula and Yehe.

To aid the freshly organized administration, five of the Khan’s trusted men were named chief councilors. These were Hurhan, Anfiyanggu, Eidu, Hohori, and Fiongdon.

Rebellion against the Ming of China

In 1618, Nurhaci commissioned a document made and was named Seven Great Vexations. Here, he listed the seven grievances against the Ming, then started rebelling against the empire.

Most of their issues were connected to the Ming’s favoritism towards the Yehe, and conflicts with that same tribe. Nurhaci declared war and easily scored victory after victory against the Ming Dynasty.

He was able to successfully absorb the Juchen rivals Ula and Hoifa into his domain. And the last battle would be with the most dangerous enemy, the Yehe and their Chinese allies.

Fushun, the Chinese border city, was captured when the commander Li Yungfang defected to the Manchus. It’s because he recognized a lot of opportunities if he served as a Manchu leader. There, he wouldn’t have to abandon his Chinese political and cultural experience.

He was the very first of the few Chinese officers who surrendered. Some were captured then allowed to enter Manchu to serve the administration.

Those who defected from the Ming Dynasty played a huge and vital role in the Qing’s conquest against them. The generals who defected to the Manchus were commonly married to the females from the Aisin Gioro clan. For the low-ranking defectors, they were allowed to marry non-imperial Manchu females.

Nurhaci even arranged marriages between one of his granddaughters and Li Yongfang. He was a Ming general who surrendered Fushun in the Liaoning area. He gave these to the Manchus in the year 1618 after engaging in the Battle of Fushun.

The Battle of Fushun

The Battle of Fushun was the first military clash in the war between Later Jin and the Ming. Nurhaci was driven to attack Fushun due to his objection against the Ming’s policies towards Juchen tribes. Another reason was the heavy rains that destroyed the crops of his people, which caused starvation.

Nurhaci had plotted military action against the Ming for several years. Its first success was the completion and execution of his plans.

Nurhaci’s preparations involved the establishment of military farms to increase soldiers and supplies. These also included the distribution of cattle for additional agricultural output, and cutting trees to construct buildings and siege weapons. Nurhaci hoped that by attacking Ming, he could fortify his position as Khan among assimilated Juchen tribes like Haixi Jurchens.

Fushun is a city on the Hun River, which is located about 10 kilometers on the east of Shenyang. It was one of the eighteen key fortresses that the Ming Dynasty founder established in Liaodong.

Since Fushun was close to Hetu Ala, the Jin capital, Nurhaci targeted this area. It was also isolated and had less protection, unlike other fortresses of the Ming army.

Nurhaci also knew the terrain and administration of Fushun. Since he was a Ming tributary, he previously traded there.

He knew the Ming army’s strength in Fushun was nominally 90,000. Despite that, the Ming’s military administration had been negligent, and their soldiers’ lacked skills and abilities. Their salaries and rations were also unpaid for several months.

In strategic terms, Fushun was an excellent springboard for the Jin army to attack.

The Jin army attacked the city walls using siege ladders. The Ming’s unprepared garrison defended the area hastily, resulting in the troops giving their lives.

Li Yongfang, together with Lieutenant Zhao Yiend, decided to surrender as long as no one would be harmed. Nurhaci agreed with the conditions and entered the Fushun. After that, Li Yongfang was assigned as commander of the Jin.

Since Li Yongfang reduced the losses of the Jin army, Nurhaci granted the commander his granddaughter as his concubine. Li was the one of the first people in a series of Ming defections.

End of the Conquest of Ming

Nurhaci left 4,000 men to control Fushun. He took the remaining army with him to seize two nearby fortresses, which he captured immediately.

The news of Fushun’s defeat had eventually reached Ming, so a relief contingent was dispatched to reclaim the area. After a few days, the Ming army arrived and set up three camps. They dug trenches and started barraging the city with cannon fire.

Nurhaci’s sons, Daisan and Hong Taiji, sailed forth and defeated the Ming forces, causing a lot of people’s deaths.

After that, the victorious Jin army returned to Hetu Ala. The battle ended with the Later Jin Dynasty’s decisive victory. As a result, Fushun and two other nearby fortresses had been captured.

In May 1621, NurhacI had seized Shenyang and Liaoyang. In the next few years, he proclaimed Shenyang as the new capital. This city held its status until the Qing’s conquest of Ming in 1644.

The Death of Nurhaci

Nurhaci led a lot of successful engagements against the Ming, Mongols, Koreans, and other Juchen tribes. As a result, he gradually expanded the territory under his control. He was beaten by Yuan Chonghuan, a Ming general, in his first serious military defeat at Ningyuan.

During the battle, Nurhaci was wounded and injured by Yuan’s Portuguese cannon, lowering his morale. His physical body was also unable to recover, which resulted in his death in 1626. He passed away at the age of 68, in a small town called De-A Man.

Nurhaci’s tomb can be found in the eastern portion of Shenyang.

Despite dying before accomplishing his conquest of the Ming Dynasty, Nurhaci laid out the preliminaries by merging the Juchen tribes. This resulted in the formation of a powerful, organized military force.

He was also able to develop an administration system, allowing the successful expansion of his empire. He absorbed the Chinese and Mongols to utilize their talents.

Another achievement during Nurhaci’s reign was the establishment of the Eight Banners. This system eventually became the backbone of the Qing empire’s military, and it lasted in place for 300 years.

The Succession of Nurhaci’s Throne

Nurhaci was succeeded by Huang Taiji, his eighth son. His name is often spelled as Hong Taiji.

The details regarding Hong Taiji’s succession as the Later Jin Dynasty’s Khan are unclear. Nurhaci didn’t designate a successor before dying in 1626, but he only encouraged his sons to rule equally.

Three of his sons and one of his nephews were the four senior beiles. The sons were Daisan, Manngultai, and Hong Taiji. The nephew was Amin, the son of Nurhaci’s brother, Surhaci.

On the day after Nurhaci’s death, they forced Lady Abahai, his primary consort, to take her life. This was to accompany the deceased emperor in death.

Because of this, some historians suspect that Nurhaci may have named his son, Dorgon, as successor, and Daisan, as regent.

Nurhaci left the two elite Yellow Banner for Dorgon and Dodo, who are Lady Abahai’s sons. Hong Taiji exchanged control of his two White Banners for the Yellow banners. With that, the power and influence of his younger brothers were exchanged with his own.