The Collapse of Ming Authority in Hubei

By early 1643, the Ming Dynasty’s grip on central China had deteriorated catastrophically. Rebel forces under Li Zicheng had already seized Xiaogan, Hanchuan, and Hanyang, bringing them within striking distance of Wuhan – the strategic heart of Hubei province. The Ming general Zuo Liangyu abandoned his post without resistance, fleeing down the Yangtze River to Chizhou (modern Guichi, Anhui). This left Hubei virtually defenseless against the peasant uprisings that would soon reshape the region’s political landscape.

Meanwhile, another rebel leader, Zhang Xianzhong, saw opportunity in this power vacuum. Having recently consolidated his forces after eliminating rival commanders Luo Rucai and He Yilong, Zhang turned his attention westward from Anhui into Huguang (modern Hubei and Hunan). His advance coincided with a remarkable social uprising in Macheng County, where enslaved servants of wealthy landowners organized the “Association of Benevolence” (Liren Hui) and “Association of Justice” (Zhidao Hui) to overthrow their oppressors.

The Rebel March on Wuhan

The Macheng uprising marked a turning point in Zhang’s campaign. When local rebel leader Tang Zhi invited Zhang’s forces into Hubei, the peasant army swept through Huangmei, Guangji, and Qizhou with startling speed. By early March 1643, they captured Qishui, where Zhang made a symbolic gesture by executing the family of former Ming commander Xiong Wencan.

As Zhang approached Huangzhou, local scholar Li Shirong famously “bowed before his horse” to surrender, while activist Zhang Yize mobilized popular support for the rebels. On April 6, Zhang’s forces entered Macheng, establishing their first formal local government. They renamed the county Changshun Zhou and appointed scholar Zhou Wenjiang as prefect – an early experiment in rebel administration that would foreshadow larger political ambitions.

The Siege of Wuhan

By summer 1643, Wuhan stood as an isolated Ming stronghold, caught between Li Zicheng’s forces to the west and Zhang’s approaching army. The city descended into chaos as officials begged the wealthy Prince of Chu, Zhu Huaikui, to fund its defense. In a scene that epitomized Ming aristocratic decadence, the prince offered only a gilded chair from the Hongwu era (1368-1398), declaring it his sole contribution. Only when catastrophe loomed did he finance a makeshift militia of deserters – troops so demoralized they would later open Wuhan’s gates to Zhang’s forces without resistance.

The rebel assault unfolded with precision. Advance units crossed the Yangtze at Tuanfeng on May 5, followed by the main force at Yadan Zhou on May 23. When Ming officials Wang Yangji and Fu Shangrui abandoned their posts on May 29, rebel sympathizers threw open the city gates. The capture of Wuhan yielded staggering wealth – hundreds of cartloads of silver and gold from the Chu prince’s palace, prompting Zhang’s famous rebuke: “With such riches, he couldn’t even defend his city! What a fool!”

Establishing the Western Kingdom

In Wuhan, Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed his “Great Western Kingdom” (Da Xi), implementing sweeping reforms:

1. Administrative Reorganization:
– Renamed Wuhan as the capital “Tianshou Fu”
– Established six ministries and five military commissions
– Appointed Zhou Wenjiang as Minister of War

2. Cultural Initiatives:
– Conducted imperial examinations, selecting 68 scholars for government posts
– Personally inspected schools, reviving Confucian education under rebel auspices

3. Social Policies:
– Distributed famine relief using confiscated aristocratic wealth
– Maintained relative discipline among troops compared to contemporary accounts

The regime’s hybrid nature – adopting Ming bureaucratic structures while redistributing elite wealth – reflected the contradictions of peasant rebellions transitioning to governance.

Historical Legacy and Modern Perspectives

Later Ming loyalist historians like Wu Weiye propagated lurid tales of mass drownings and “Battalion of Women” sex slavery in Wuhan. Yet these accounts contradict their own admissions of Zhang’s efforts to stabilize the region through examinations and famine relief. Archaeological evidence from Hubei confirms rebel coinage and administrative documents, suggesting at least temporary functional governance.

Zhang’s two-month Wuhan administration represents a fascinating “what if” in Chinese history – a brief glimpse of alternative state-building during the Ming-Qing transition. While ultimately crushed between Li Zicheng’s forces and the rising Manchus, the Western Kingdom experiment demonstrated peasant rebels’ capacity for governance amid dynastic collapse. Modern reassessments view Zhang not as the bloodthirsty bandit of Qing historiography, but as a complex figure navigating the violent tides of 17th century revolution.

The 1643 Wuhan campaign remains historically significant as:
– The first major urban administration by peasant rebels
– A case study in revolutionary state formation
– A pivotal moment in the Ming Dynasty’s final collapse
– A corrective to traditional elite-centered narratives of Chinese history

The stones of Wuhan’s Yellow Crane Tower – where Zhang reportedly composed poetry with his generals – still stand as silent witnesses to this dramatic chapter when peasants briefly held the reins of empire.