The Fragile Southern Ming Coalition in Hunan

The mid-17th century witnessed one of China’s most turbulent periods as the Ming dynasty collapsed under peasant rebellions and Manchu invasions. By 1648, the Southern Ming regime under the Yongli Emperor represented the last significant Ming resistance, with Hunan province becoming a critical battleground. He Tengjiao, the Southern Ming’s commander-in-chief for Hunan and Hubei, found himself leading a fragile coalition of former Ming loyalists and surrendered rebel forces against the advancing Qing armies.

This coalition included the formidable “Loyal and True Battalion” (Zhongzhen Ying), composed of former peasant rebels under Li Chixin (Li Guo) and Gao Bizheng, alongside Ming loyalist commanders like Ma Jinzhong and Wang Jincai. The strategic importance of Hunan lay in its position as a gateway between the Southern Ming bases in Guangxi and the Yangtze valley, making control of Changsha a prize for both sides.

He Tengjiao’s Fatal Strategic Blunder

In late 1648, the Southern Ming forces had achieved remarkable successes, pushing Qing forces back and besieging Changsha. The Loyal and True Battalion played a crucial role in these victories, demonstrating their military effectiveness against Qing troops. However, He Tengjiao, motivated by personal ambition and distrust of the former rebel forces, made a catastrophic decision.

In November 1648, He ordered the withdrawal of the Loyal and True Battalion from the Changsha siege lines, hoping to claim the glory of capturing the city for his own forces. This decision revealed both his strategic shortsightedness and his inability to overcome factional prejudices within the Southern Ming leadership. Unbeknownst to him, the Qing court had already dispatched Prince Jirgalang (Jierhalang) with a massive army of Manchu and Han troops to reinforce Hunan.

The Qing Counteroffensive Under Jirgalang

The Qing response to the Southern Ming threat was swift and decisive. On September 11, 1648, the Shunzhi Emperor appointed Prince Jirgalang as “Great General Who Pacifies Distant Lands” to suppress the rebellion in Hunan. After dealing with local uprisings in Shandong and resting his troops in Hubei, Jirgalang began his march into Hunan in January 1649.

He Tengjiao’s forces, deprived of their most effective fighting unit and lacking proper intelligence about Qing movements, collapsed with startling rapidity. As Jirgalang’s army advanced, Southern Ming commanders fled without offering serious resistance. He found himself isolated in Xiangtan with only a small contingent under Ma Jinzhong, completely unprepared to face the Qing onslaught.

The Fall of Xiangtan and He Tengjiao’s Capture

On January 20, 1649, Qing forces reached Daolinshi without encountering resistance. From captured scouts, they learned of He Tengjiao’s presence in Xiangtan. The next morning, Qing troops swiftly surrounded the city. Ma Jinzhong managed to escape south with his forces, leaving He Tengjiao defenseless.

The Qing capture of Xiangtan was followed by one of the most brutal massacres of the Ming-Qing transition. Prince Jirgalang ordered the complete slaughter of the city’s population. Contemporary accounts describe horrific scenes: blood flowing in the streets, corpses piled as high as the eaves, and fewer than a hundred survivors in a city that had housed thousands. The massacre lasted six days, leaving Xiangtan virtually depopulated.

He Tengjiao was taken prisoner and executed on January 27 after refusing to surrender. According to accounts, his final moments were filled with regret, pounding the ground until his hands were bloody while crying “What a pity!” This suggests he may have realized how his personal ambitions and poor leadership had doomed the Southern Ming cause in Hunan.

The Collapse of Southern Ming Resistance in Hunan

With He Tengjiao eliminated and the Southern Ming command structure in disarray, Jirgalang’s forces rapidly expanded their control across Hunan. Qing columns under various commanders captured:

– Baoding (February 2)
– Hengzhou (February 9)
– Baoqing (February 18)
– Yuanzhou (March 6)
– Jingzhou (March 10)

The Loyal and True Battalion under Li Chixin and Du Yinxi attempted to make a stand in Chenzhou but were outmatched and forced to retreat south. By mid-1649, the Qing had effectively reconquered most of Hunan, dealing a devastating blow to Southern Ming hopes of recovering central China.

Historical Controversies and Distortions

The historical record of these events became heavily politicized. Southern Ming literati like Wang Fuzhi, seeking to protect He Tengjiao’s reputation, fabricated accounts blaming the Loyal and True Battalion and Du Yinxi for the disaster. These narratives falsely claimed the former rebel forces had provoked conflicts with other Ming commanders, leading to the collapse.

Contemporary Qing documents and more objective Southern Ming sources reveal a different story. The Loyal and True Battalion had been invited to Hunan by Du Yinxi and Ma Jinzhong specifically to bolster defenses against the Qing. Their withdrawal from Changsha came directly on He Tengjiao’s orders as part of his misguided attempt to monopolize military glory.

Strategic Consequences and Legacy

The 1648-49 Hunan campaign marked a turning point in the Ming-Qing conflict:

1. Military Impact: The Southern Ming lost their most experienced field army and strategic depth in central China, forcing them into permanent retreat toward the southwestern provinces.

2. Leadership Crisis: He Tengjiao’s death removed one of the Yongli regime’s senior commanders, exacerbating existing factional divisions.

3. Qing Consolidation: While the Qing would temporarily withdraw forces to deal with rebellions in the north, their 1649 campaign broke organized Ming resistance in Hunan for years.

4. Historical Memory: The episode became emblematic of the Southern Ming’s self-destructive factionalism and inability to unite against the Qing threat.

He Tengjiao’s legacy remains complex. His final refusal to surrender demonstrated personal courage, but his career was marked by strategic blunders, factionalism, and inability to manage the diverse forces under his command. The Hunan disaster exemplified how personal rivalries and prejudices among Southern Ming leaders consistently undermined their cause against the more disciplined Qing war machine.

The campaign also revealed the Qing’s growing military effectiveness in southern China. By combining Manchu cavalry with surrendered Ming units and adapting to local conditions, commanders like Jirgalang demonstrated the flexibility that would eventually lead to complete Qing victory. The brutal suppression of Xiangtan served as a grim warning to other cities considering resistance.

In the broader narrative of the Ming-Qing transition, the 1648-49 Hunan campaign represents a critical juncture where Southern Ming hopes of recovery were definitively crushed, setting the stage for their eventual destruction in the 1660s. The tragedy of He Tengjiao – his ambitions, miscalculations, and final moment of realization – encapsulates the larger tragedy of the Ming loyalist cause.