The Fall of Nanjing and the Qing Consolidation

In 1645, the Qing forces achieved a decisive victory by capturing Nanjing, the southern capital of the Ming dynasty, and apprehending the Hongguang Emperor. This marked a pivotal moment in the Qing conquest of China, as the new Manchu rulers sought to extend their control over the Yangtze Delta region. The Qing authorities dispatched envoys to persuade the various prefectures and counties of Southern Zhili (modern Jiangsu and Anhui) to submit to their rule.

Most local officials, intimidated by Qing military might, chose to surrender without resistance. The notable exception was Yang Wencong, who led troops into Suzhou and executed Huang Jiading, the Qing envoy sent to oversee the surrender of the Su-Song region. However, Yang failed to organize local gentry and militia for sustained resistance, instead retreating to Zhejiang before Qing forces arrived. This pattern of quick surrenders would soon be dramatically interrupted by an unexpected act of defiance from an unlikely place.

The Spark of Resistance in Jiangyin

The small county of Jiangyin would become the first to openly challenge Qing authority, setting in motion one of the most remarkable episodes of resistance during the Southern Ming period. The immediate catalyst was the Qing government’s controversial hair-cutting decree, which ordered all Han Chinese men to adopt the Manchu hairstyle – shaving the front of the head and growing a queue in the back – as a symbol of submission to Qing rule.

When the newly appointed Qing magistrate Fang Heng attempted to enforce this decree in Jiangyin, the local scholar Xu Yong and others gathered at the Confucian temple’s Minglun Hall on the first day of the intercalary sixth month. Their resolution was unequivocal: “We would rather lose our heads than cut our hair.” The situation escalated when Fang received a harsh directive from the Changzhou prefecture containing the infamous ultimatum: “Keep your hair and lose your head, or keep your head and lose your hair.” When a clerk copying this order reached this phrase, he threw down his brush in protest, declaring he would rather die than write such words.

Organizing the Defense

The discovery of Fang Heng’s secret request for military suppression proved the final straw. On the second day of the intercalary sixth month, the outraged citizens arrested Fang and other Qing officials, formally declaring their rebellion under the banner of “Restoration of the Great Ming.” They initially placed Chen Mingyu, a former low-ranking official, in charge of defense. Recognizing his limitations in military matters, Chen wisely recommended the leadership of Yan Yingyuan, a former county official with proven administrative and organizational skills.

Yan Yingyuan’s arrival transformed Jiangyin’s resistance. He conducted a thorough census, organized the able-bodied men into militia units, and assigned specific defensive responsibilities. The city’s 200,000 defenders were divided into shifts, with ten men assigned to each battlement. Key gates were guarded by military specialists: Wang Gonglue at the east gate, Wang Bazong at the south, Chen Mingyu at the west, while Yan himself took command of the crucial north gate.

The Siege Intensifies

The Qing response to Jiangyin’s defiance was swift and severe. The initial force of 300 soldiers sent by Changzhou Prefect Zong Hao was annihilated at the foot of Qinwang Mountain on the fifth day of the intercalary sixth month. This humiliation prompted the Qing commander Dodo to dispatch the turncoat general Liu Liangzuo with tens of thousands of troops to subdue the city.

Liu’s siege, beginning in late intercalary June, proved unexpectedly difficult. Despite repeated attacks and attempts at negotiation – including personal appeals from Liu himself – the defenders remained resolute. Yan Yingyuan’s famous rebuke from the city walls – “There may be surrendering generals, but never surrendering low-ranking officials!” – became a rallying cry for the resistance. The Qing court, frustrated by the prolonged siege, eventually deployed elite Manchu forces under princes Bolo and Nikan, along with the powerful Red Banner artillery corps.

The Final Stand and Aftermath

After nearly three months of heroic resistance, the Qing forces finally breached Jiangyin’s defenses on the twenty-first day of the eighth month by concentrating their cannon fire on the northeastern corner of the city walls. What followed was a brutal massacre as Qing troops exacted revenge for their prolonged humiliation. Chen Mingyu died in street fighting, while the wounded Yan Yingyuan attempted suicide by drowning before being captured and executed. The systematic slaughter continued for two days until the Qing authorities finally issued an order to “pacify the people” on the twenty-third. Of Jiangyin’s population, only fifty-three individuals reportedly survived.

The city’s sacrifice inspired a famous couplet commemorating their stand: “For eighty days they wore their hair in loyalty, exemplifying the spirit of seventeen Ming reigns; Sixty thousand hearts united in righteous death preserved three hundred li of Ming territory.” This poetic tribute captured the essence of Jiangyin’s resistance – a small community’s extraordinary determination against overwhelming odds.

Parallel Resistance Movements

While Jiangyin’s stand was the most dramatic, it was not isolated. Similar uprisings erupted across the region in response to the hair-cutting order:

### The Jiading Uprising
Under the leadership of scholar-official Hou Tongzeng and his sons, along with Huang Chunyao, Jiading organized a sophisticated defense system. They implemented a household conscription method, classifying families by wealth to determine their contributions to the defense effort. Despite their preparations, the city fell on the fourth day of the seventh month after Hou Tongzeng’s suicide attempt failed. The subsequent massacre, known as the “Jiading Three Massacres,” became one of the most notorious atrocities of the Qing conquest.

### Kunshan’s Rebellion
In Kunshan, former officials Wang Yongzuo and Zhu Tianlin joined forces with county magistrate Yang Yongyan to overthrow the Qing-appointed magistrate. The resistance, which included famous intellectuals like Gu Yanwu and Gui Zhuang, was crushed on the sixth day of the seventh month, with tens of thousands reportedly killed.

### The Lake Tai Resistance
The most militarily significant resistance emerged around Lake Tai under Wu Risheng (also known as Wu Yi). A former Ming military official, Wu leveraged the region’s waterways to conduct guerrilla warfare against Qing forces who struggled with naval combat. His forces achieved notable successes, including the recapture of Wujiang county and the clever sinking of Qing boats by hidden operatives. Wu’s movement persisted until his capture in 1646 while attending a banquet in Jiashan.

Historical Significance and Legacy

The Jiangyin resistance, though ultimately unsuccessful, became a powerful symbol of local defiance against foreign conquest. Several factors contributed to its enduring significance:

1. Duration Against Odds: Holding out for eighty days against professional Qing armies with only militia forces demonstrated remarkable organization and determination.

2. Leadership Model: The effectiveness of low-ranking officials like Yan Yingyuan and Chen Mingyu contrasted sharply with the failures of many high-ranking Ming commanders, prompting later historians to reconsider traditional hierarchies of merit.

3. Cultural Symbolism: The defense of Han hairstyles became intertwined with cultural identity and loyalty to Ming values, creating a potent ideological resistance.

4. Inspiration for Future Resistance: Jiangyin’s example inspired subsequent anti-Qing movements throughout the early Qing period.

The Longwu Emperor, upon hearing of Jiangyin’s stand, reportedly declared that even imperial descendants should show reverence to people from counties that demonstrated such loyalty. This imperial acknowledgment reflected how Jiangyin’s resistance had transcended local significance to become a national symbol.

Modern Reassessment

Contemporary historians have increasingly recognized Jiangyin’s resistance as more than just a military episode. It represents:

– A case study in local self-organization under extreme conditions
– The intersection of cultural identity and political resistance
– The limitations of Qing military power despite their overall conquest success

The meticulous records left by participants and observers, though sometimes exaggerated in details about Qing casualties, provide invaluable insights into grassroots resistance during dynastic transition. The various accounts – from the detailed Jiangyin City Defense Records to the more reflective Later Records of Jiangyin’s Defense – continue to fuel scholarly debate about this remarkable chapter in Chinese history.

The story of Jiangyin’s resistance remains particularly poignant as it highlights ordinary people’s capacity for extraordinary courage when faced with the erosion of their cultural identity and autonomy. In an era where many high officials quickly surrendered or collaborated, the determination of Jiangyin’s common citizens and low-ranking officials to defend their way of life continues to resonate centuries later.