⌂ Atlas ☰ Read as a page The thread: How did the Ming, which ruled all of China in 1600, lose it by 1660 to the Manchus and to its own former servants?
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Key

The Ming throne and its servants Donglin officials Wei Zhongxian's palace faction Jurchens: Later Jin, then Qing Rebel armies: Shun and Great Xi Commanders who went over to the Qing bond — succession, office, alliance conflict — war, revolt, prosecution

Sources & method

  1. Wanli Emperor: the succession dispute, the Donglin Academy, the club attack of 1615, Sarhu — source
  2. Taichang Emperor: the month on the throne and the red pills; 紅丸案 — source
  3. 熊廷弼: dismissal, Guangning, the Donglin bribery charge, execution in 1625 — source
  4. Wei Zhongxian and Madame Ke: the Eastern Depot, Yang Lian's twenty-four crimes, the purge of 1625 — source
  5. Yuan Chonghuan and 毛文龍: Ningyuan, the imperial sword, Shuangdao, arrest and execution — source
  6. Wuqiao mutiny and Sun Yuanhua: Kong Youde, the Portuguese gunners of Dengzhou, the defection of 1633 — source
  7. Battle of Song-Jin: the relief army, Songshan, the surrender of Jinzhou — source
  8. Li Zicheng and 孫傳庭: the Dashing King, Tong Pass, the Shun, the fall of Beijing — source
  9. Battle of Shanhai Pass and Dorgon: Wu Sangui, the entry into Beijing, the queue edict — source
  10. Transition from Ming to Qing (with K. Swope, The Military Collapse of China's Ming Dynasty, and L. Struve, The Southern Ming) — source
  11. Hong Chengchou: the southern campaigns, Sun Kewang's defection, the drive into Yunnan — source
  12. Koxinga and 鄭成功北伐: the imperial surname, the father's surrender, the 1659 Yangzi expedition — source
Method. The chain of people follows a sourced account of the polity, 1600–1660; every claim the narration makes was checked against the sources above. Borders: historical-basemaps (A. Ourednik, GPL-3.0), the c.1600 snapshot, simplified — schematic, the right states in roughly the right places. Territorial changes: modern provinces (Natural Earth) or later snapshots standing in for historical ones. Portraits: each credited with its author, licence and source on the readable page. Relief: Esri World Physical Map. Narration: Azure neural voice.
A narrated polity atlas · 1600–1660

Ming China, 1600–1660

How did the Ming, which ruled all of China in 1600, lose it by 1660 to the Manchus and to its own former servants?
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