kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Zhou (Wu Sangui)

1678 CE – 1681 CE · capital Hengzhou

The dynasty proclaimed by Wu Sangui, the general who let the Manchus into China and later rebelled against them, during the Revolt of the Three Feudatories.

Origins

Wu Sangui, the Ming commander who opened the Shanhai Pass to the Manchus in 1644, conquered south-western China for the Qing Empire, executed the last Southern Ming emperor in 1662 and ruled Yunnan and Guizhou almost independently as a feudatory prince. When the Kangxi Emperor moved to abolish the feudatories in 1673, Wu rebelled, declaring a new Zhou dynasty.

Rule and society

With Geng Jingzhong in Fujian and Shang Zhixin in Guangdong, Wu at first controlled most of southern China, but his claim to restore Chinese rule was undermined by his own past. In 1678 he formally proclaimed himself emperor at Hengzhou (Hengyang) in Hunan. His regime was a military state financed by the resources of the south-west.

Decline and legacy

Wu Sangui died a few months after his enthronement in 1678. His grandson Wu Shifan retreated to Kunming as Qing armies advanced, and when the city fell in 1681 he killed himself, ending the revolt and opening the Qing consolidation of the south.

Lineage

Qing Empire 1644 CE – 1912 CEZhou (Wu Sangui)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Zhou (Wu Sangui). In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zhou-wu-sangui
MLA
“Zhou (Wu Sangui).” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zhou-wu-sangui. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Zhou (Wu Sangui).” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zhou-wu-sangui.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Zhou (Wu Sangui)’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zhou-wu-sangui (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻