About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Hung Taiji

Encyclopedia : H : HU : HUN : Hung Taiji

250px

Hung Taiji (Manchu: 15px; Chinese: 皇太極 Huáng Tàijí; also known as 洪太極 Hóng Tàijí or 黃台吉 Huáng Táijí; sometimes referred erroneously to as Abahai in Western literature), (November 28, 1592-September 21, 1643), was first Khan of the Later Jin and then Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, after he changed its name, reigning from 1626 to 1643. He was responsible for consolidating the empire that his father, Nurhaci, had founded and for laying the groundwork for its eventual success in conquering Ming dynasty China, although he died before accomplishing that great achievement himself. He was responsible for changing the name of his people from Jurchen to Manchu in 1635 as well as that of the dynasty to Qing in 1636. The Qing dynasty would last all the way until 1912.

Hung Taiji was the eighth son of Nurhaci and succeeded him as the second ruler of the Later Jin dynasty in 1626. Although it was always thought as a gossip, he was said to be involved in the suicide of Prince Dorgon's mother, Lady Abahai in order to block the succession of his younger brother.

He continued the expansion of the state in the region later known as Manchuria, pushing deeper into Mongolia and raiding Korea and Ming China. His personal military abilities were widely praised and he effectively developed the military-civil administration known as the Eight Banners or Banner system. This system was well-suited to accept the different peoples, primarily Chinese and Mongols, who joined the Manchu state either following negotiated agreements or military defeat.

Although the historical record is unclear on the matter, it is quite possible that it was the ongoing incorporation of different peoples into the Later Jin state that encouraged Hung Taiji to change the name of both his people and the dynasty.

In 1635, Hung Taiji changed the name of his people from Jurchen to Manchu, or Manju in the Manchu language. The original meaning of Manju is not known and so the reasons for its adoption remain opaque. There are many theories as to the reason for the choice of name but two of the most commonly cited are its sounding similar to the Manchu word for "brave" and a possible connection with the Bodhisattva Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, of whom Nurhaci claimed to be an incarnation.

The dynastic name Later Jin was a direct reference to the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchen people, who ruled northern China from 1115 to 1234. As such, the name was likely to be viewed as closely tied to the Jurchens and would perhaps evoke hostility from Chinese who viewed the Song dynasty, rival state to the Jin, as the legitimate rulers of China at that time. Hung Taiji's ambition was to conquer China proper and overthrow the Ming dynasty, and to do that required not only a powerful military force but also an effective bureaucratic administration. For this, he used the obvious model, that of the Ming government, and recruited Ming officials to his cause. If the name of Later Jin would prove an impediment to his goal among many Chinese, then it was not too much to change it. Whatever the precise motivation, Hung Taiji proclaimed the establishment of the Qing dynasty in 1636. The reasons for the choice of Qing as the new name are likewise unclear, although it has been speculated that the sound - Jin and Qing are pronounced similarly in Manchu - or wuxing theory - traditional ideas held that fire, associated with the character for Ming, was overcome by water, associated with the character for Qing - may have influenced the choice.

In 1636, Hung Taiji invaded the Joseon Dynasty(see the Second Manchu invasion of Korea), because the Joseon Dynasty did not accept that Hung Taiji had become an emperor. Due to the fact that the Joseon Dynasty surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in 1637, Hung Taiji succeeded in making the Joseon Dynasty cut off the relations with the Ming Dynasty, and the Joseon Dynasty became Qing's protectorate.

Hung Taiji died in 1643, possibly at the hands of one of his officials, just a few months before his army would seize control of Beijing. He therefore did not live to see his ambition of conquering Ming China come about, although his son, the Shunzhi Emperor, succeeded him and became the first of the Qing dynasty emperors to govern China. That the Qing state succeeded not only in conquering China but also in establishing a capable administration was due in large measure to the foresight and policies of Hung Taiji.

His posthumous name evolved to become longer and longer:

Family

  1. Empress Jere, post-humously known as Empress Xiao Duan Wen
  2. Concubine Zhuang, who later became the Grand Empress Dowager Xiao Zhuang (Manchu: Hiyoošungga Ambalinggū Genggiyenšu Hūwanghu), the daughter of a Mongol prince of the Borjigit clan (the descendants of Chinggis Khan's brother Jöchi Khasar)
  3. Concubine Hailanzhu

See also

Preceded by:
Nurhaci		 Qing dynasty
Qing dynasty emperors		 Succeeded by:
The Shunzhi Emperor

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: