The Fall of the Ming and the Rise of Southern Ming Resistance

When the Ming Dynasty collapsed in 1644 under the dual pressures of peasant rebellions and Manchu invasions, loyalists scattered across southern China to continue resistance. Among them was Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, a distant relative of the Ming imperial family. In July 1645, as Qing forces advanced southward, Zhu was proclaimed “Regent” (监国) by Ming loyalists in Zhejiang and Fujian, marking the beginning of his fraught leadership in the anti-Qing movement.

Unlike other Ming claimants, Zhu Yihai lacked a strong personal power base. His authority depended on the support of regional warlords, particularly the powerful Zheng clan—first Zheng Zhilong and later his son, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong). This precarious dynamic would define Prince Lu’s political existence.

The Struggle for Legitimacy and Survival

By 1651, Qing forces captured Zhoushan, forcing Zhu Yihai to retreat to Xiamen and Kinmen under the protection of general Zhang Mingzhen. Here, the prince faced his first major crisis: Koxinga, controlling the strongest Ming loyalist forces, refused to recognize Zhu’s regency, instead pledging allegiance to the Yongli Emperor—the last Ming claimant holding court in distant Yunnan.

In a 1653 political compromise, Zhu Yihai formally acknowledged Yongli’s supremacy while retaining his ceremonial regent title. Historians note this as a hollow gesture; real power remained with Koxinga, leaving Zhu a “guest prince” living on others’ sufferance. The 1661 capture of the Yongli Emperor by Qing forces created a vacuum that loyalists like scholar-general Zhang Huangyan sought to fill by elevating Zhu Yihai to emperor.

The Failed Restoration and a Prince’s Obscure Death

Zhang Huangyan’s impassioned memorials argued that Zhu Yihai—as the last Ming imperial survivor—must claim the throne to maintain dynastic continuity. He drew historical parallels to the Eastern Jin and Southern Song dynasties, where exiled princes had revived fallen regimes. Tragically, Koxinga’s son and successor Zheng Jing showed even less interest than his father in supporting Zhu.

Cut off from funds and political backing, the prince lived in poverty on Kinmen. Contemporary accounts describe his deteriorating health from chronic asthma. On November 13, 1662 (or November 23 in some records), Zhu Yihai died at 45, likely from respiratory complications. His modest grave on Kinmen—rediscovered in 1832—bears his calligraphy “汉影云根” (Roots of the Han Shadow), a poignant metaphor for Ming loyalism’s fading legacy.

Zhang Huangyan: The Last Guardian of Ming Ideals

With Zhu Yihai’s death, Zhang Huangyan became the movement’s moral compass. Refusing to follow Zheng Jing to Taiwan, he maintained guerrilla resistance from Zhejiang’s islands until his 1664 capture. Zhang’s prison poems, comparing himself to Yue Fei and Yu Qian, became canonical expressions of loyalist martyrdom. His execution in Hangzhou marked the effective end of organized Ming resistance.

Historical Reassessment and Modern Memory

Modern scholarship has reevaluated Zhu Yihai’s legacy. While traditionally overshadowed by Yongli and Koxinga, his persistence represented the Ming’s institutional continuity. In Kinmen and Taiwan, his tomb and calligraphy have become cultural heritage sites, though debates continue about his exact burial circumstances.

The Prince Lu episode reveals the Southern Ming’s fatal fractures: regional warlords prioritized local control over unified resistance, while scholar-officials like Zhang Huangyan clung to dynastic orthodoxy even as material support vanished. This tragic dichotomy between idealism and realpolitik would echo through later Chinese revolutionary movements, making Zhu Yihai’s story more than a historical footnote—it is a case study in the perils of fractured resistance.