Nurhachi summary

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Nurhachi , (born 1559, Manchuria—died Sept. 30, 1626), Chieftain of one branch of the Juchen (later called Manchu), whose attack on Ming China in 1618 presaged his son Dorgon’s conquest. Nurhachi first defeated a rival in his own tribe and then subdued the other four Juchen tribes in his immediate area. During this time, he also established a Manchu state and enlisted the scholar Erdeni to create a Manchu writing system. He organized his troops under the Banner system. In 1616 Nurhachi proclaimed himself khan and called his dynasty Jin, harking back to the Juchen Jin dynasty of the 12th century. In 1626 he was defeated by Ming forces and died of battle wounds. See also Hongtaiji; Qing dynasty.

Dorgon Summary

Dorgon was a prince of the Manchu people of Manchuria (present-day Northeast China) who played a major part in founding the Qing (Manchu) dynasty in China. He was the first regent for the first Qing emperor, Shunzhi. Dorgon was the 14th of the 16 sons of Nurhachi, founder of the Manchu state, who

army Summary

Army, a large organized armed force trained for war, especially on land. The term may be applied to a large unit organized for independent action, or it may be applied to a nation’s or ruler’s complete military organization for land warfare. Throughout history, the character and organization of

Qing dynasty Summary

Qing dynasty, the last of the imperial dynasties of China, spanning the years 1644 to 1911/12. Under the Qing the territory of the empire grew to treble its size under the preceding Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the population grew from some 150 million to 450 million, many of the non-Chinese

Manchuria Summary

Manchuria, historical region of northeastern China. Strictly speaking, it consists of the modern provinces (sheng) of Liaoning (south), Jilin (central), and Heilongjiang (north). Often, however, the northeastern portion of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region also is included. Manchuria is bounded