The Collapse of the Shun Dynasty and Qing Conquest

The year 1645 marked a pivotal moment in Chinese history as the newly established Qing dynasty consolidated its power across northern China. Following the fall of Beijing in 1644 and the suicide of the last Ming emperor, the Qing forces turned their attention to eliminating remaining resistance. In Shaanxi province, the remnants of Li Zicheng’s Shun dynasty forces found themselves in rapid retreat as Qing armies under Dodo and Ajige advanced westward.

This military pressure created a power vacuum in Shaanxi that would soon be filled by an unlikely coalition of former Ming loyalists, Shun dynasty remnants, and local militias. The Qing occupation forces, stretched thin across multiple fronts, struggled to maintain control over the mountainous terrain of southern Shaanxi, particularly around the strategic city of Hanzhong.

He Zhen: The Turncoat General Who Turned Again

At the center of this resistance stood He Zhen, a former Shun military commander whose complex allegiances reflected the chaotic political landscape. Initially surrendering to the Qing in early 1645, He Zhen was appointed as the Qing’s Hanzhong garrison commander by Prince Ajige. His early service included repelling attacks from both remaining Shun forces under Li Guo and Zhang Xianzhong’s rebel armies from Sichuan.

However, tensions quickly emerged between He Zhen and Qing authorities. The Shaanxi governor Meng Qiaofang, in secret memorials to the Shunzhi Emperor, expressed deep distrust of He Zhen and other former Shun commanders, describing them as “wolves with wild ambitions” who might rebel at any moment. Meng proposed transferring these commanders to distant postings to weaken their power base – a plan that ultimately backfired.

The Spark of Rebellion

In December 1645, He Zhen made his decisive break with the Qing dynasty. Leading his troops from Hanzhong, he attacked Fengxiang county where local Qing garrison commanders Wu Dading and Shi Guoxi joined his uprising. The rebels briefly captured the county seat before Qing reinforcements arrived.

This marked the beginning of a broader anti-Qing movement in Shaanxi. He Zhen soon joined forces with Sun Shoufa, a former Ming general who had been hiding in the Zhongnan Mountains since 1643. Sun brought legitimacy to the rebellion by proclaiming a surviving member of the Ming imperial clan as the new “Prince of Qin” and issuing proclamations in the name of the defunct Hongguang Emperor.

The Siege of Xi’an and Qing Counteroffensive

Bolstered by these alliances, He Zhen and Sun Shoufa assembled a formidable force of 70,000 troops and marched on Xi’an in late December 1645. The rebel coalition achieved early successes, with some Qing officials in the region defecting to their cause. For a brief moment, it appeared the Qing might lose control of all Shaanxi.

Governor Meng Qiaofang’s desperate defense of Xi’an bought crucial time for Qing reinforcements to arrive. In January 1646, the tide turned decisively when fresh Qing forces under Li Guohan defeated the rebels west of Xi’an. By month’s end, another Qing victory at Qianzhou stabilized the situation around the provincial capital.

The arrival of additional Qing troops under Hooge (Prince Su) in mid-1646 marked the beginning of the end for the rebellion. One by one, the rebel strongholds fell. Sun Shoufa was captured and executed in April 1647 after a heroic last stand where he reportedly killed dozens of Qing soldiers before falling. Wu Dading fled to Sichuan, while He Zhen’s ultimate fate remains unclear in historical records.

The Complex Motivations Behind the Uprising

This often-overlooked uprising reveals the complex political landscape of early Qing rule. The rebellion brought together three distinct groups with differing motivations:

1. Former Shun commanders like He Zhen who felt betrayed by Qing promises
2. Ming loyalists like Sun Shoufa seeking to restore the previous dynasty
3. Local militias protecting their communities from both Qing forces and bandits

The rebels’ shifting political proclamations – from using Hongguang to later adopting the Longwu era name – demonstrate their pragmatic approach to legitimacy. This fluidity also reflects the challenges of building a unified resistance movement from such diverse elements.

Military and Strategic Implications

The rebellion exposed several weaknesses in early Qing military administration:

1. Overextension of Qing forces across multiple fronts
2. Dependence on recently surrendered Ming and Shun troops
3. Difficulty controlling mountainous border regions
4. Tensions between Manchu commanders and Han Chinese officials

The Qing response demonstrated their growing sophistication in counterinsurgency operations, combining military force with political co-option of local elites. The eventual suppression of the rebellion allowed the Qing to secure their western flank before focusing on conquests further south.

Legacy and Historical Significance

While ultimately unsuccessful, the 1645-47 Shaanxi uprising represents an important transitional moment in the Ming-Qing transition period. It highlights:

1. The persistence of resistance to Qing rule even after the fall of Beijing
2. The complex alliances formed between former enemies against the common Qing threat
3. The challenges of establishing stable governance during dynastic transition

The rebellion’s suppression marked the end of organized large-scale resistance in northwest China until the much later Dungan revolts of the 19th century. It also demonstrated the Qing dynasty’s remarkable ability to adapt and overcome early challenges to its rule.

Modern historians continue to debate whether this uprising represented a genuine restoration attempt or simply opportunistic power struggles. What remains clear is that the events in Shaanxi during 1645-47 provide valuable insights into the chaotic and complex process through which the Qing dynasty established its authority over China.