kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia
Southern Ming
Origins
When Li Zicheng's Shun dynasty took Beijing in 1644 and the Chongzhen Emperor killed himself, officials in Nanjing enthroned the Prince of Fu as the Hongguang Emperor. The Qing Empire soon drove Li Zicheng out of Beijing and turned south.
Rule and society
Rival princes and factions undermined every Southern Ming court. Nanjing fell in 1645 after the massacre at Yangzhou, the Longwu Emperor, enthroned at Fuzhou, was captured in Fujian in 1646, and the Yongli Emperor ruled from Zhaoqing and later the south-west. The Qing order to shave the forehead in 1645 drove many to resist, and former rebels such as Li Dingguo and the coastal power of Koxinga fought for the Ming cause.
Decline and legacy
Driven from Yunnan in 1659, the Yongli Emperor took refuge with the Restored Toungoo Kingdom of Burma, which handed him to Wu Sangui in 1662; he was executed at Kunming. Loyalism lived on in the Kingdom of Tungning on Taiwan until 1683.
Lineage
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- Southern Ming was conquered by Qing Empire1662 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Southern Ming. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/southern-ming
- MLA
- “Southern Ming.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/southern-ming. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Southern Ming.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/southern-ming.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Southern Ming’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/southern-ming (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻