Dorgon , Chinese Chengzong or Ch’eng-tsung, (born Nov. 17, 1612, Yenden, Manchuria—died Dec. 31, 1650, Kharahotu), Prince of the Manchu people, instrumental in founding the Qing (Manchu) dynasty in China. He joined his former enemy Wu Sangui in driving the Chinese rebel Li Zicheng from Beijing, where Li had already unseated the last Ming-dynasty emperor. Though some wanted to put Dorgon on the throne, he saw to it that his nephew Fu-lin was proclaimed emperor (Dorgon acted as regent); this loyalty and selflessness won him the high regard of future historians.
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