View source for Shun dynasty

{{short description|Chinese dynasty during the Ming-Qing Transition (1644–46)}}

{{Infobox country
| native_name            = 大順
| conventional_long_name = Great Shun
| common_name            = Shun dynasty|
| era                    = [[Transition from Ming to Qing]]
| status                 = Short-lived dynasty of China
| status_text            = 
| empire                 = 
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]|
| year_start             = 1644
| year_end               = 1646|
| year_exile_start       = 
| year_exile_end         = |
| event_start            = Captured [[Beijing]]/Death of the [[Chongzhen Emperor]]
| date_start             = April
| event_end              = Surrender to the Southern Ming
| date_end               = |
| event1                 = Proclamation as the Yongchang Emperor
| date_event1            = 3 June 1644||
| event2                 = Fall of [[Beijing]]
| date_event2            = 5 June 1644|
| event_pre              = Established in [[Xi'an]]
| date_pre               = 8 February 1644
| event_post             = 
| date_post              = 
| today                  = [[China]]
| p1                     = Ming dynasty
| s1                     = Qing dynasty
| s2                     = Southern Ming
| image_flag             = 
| flag                   = 
| flag_type              = |
| image_coat             = 
| symbol                 = 
| symbol_type            = |
| image_map              = Shun-dynasty.png
| image_map_caption      = The Shun dynasty at its peak in 1644|
| capital                = [[Xi'an]]<br>(1644)<br>[[Beijing]]<br>(1644 – 5 June 1644)
| capital_exile          = 
| latd                   = 
| latm                   = 
| latNS                  = 
| longd                  = 
| longm                  = 
| longEW                 = 
| common_languages       = [[Chinese language|Chinese]]
| religion               = [[Buddhism]], [[Taoism]], [[Confucianism]], [[Chinese folk religion]]
| currency               = [[Ancient Chinese coinage|Chinese coin]], [[Cash (Chinese coin)|Chinese cash]]|
| leader1                = [[Li Zicheng]]
| year_leader1           = 1644–1645
| leader2                = Li Zijing
| year_leader2           = 1645–1646
| leader3                = Li Guo
| year_leader3           = 1646
| title_leader           = [[Emperor of China|Emperor]]
| stat_year1             = 
| stat_area1             = 
| stat_pop1              = 
| footnotes              = 
}}
{{History of China}}
{{Campaignbox Transition from Ming to Qing}}
The '''Shun dynasty''' ({{zh|s=顺朝|t=順朝|p=Shùn cháo}}), officially the '''Great Shun''' ({{zh|s=大顺|t=大順|p=Dà Shùn|links=no}}), also known as '''Li Shun''' ({{zh|s=李顺|t=李順|p=Lǐ Shùn|links=no}}), was a short-lived [[Dynasties of China|Chinese dynasty]] that existed during the [[Transition from Ming to Qing|Ming–Qing transition]]. The dynasty was founded in [[Xi'an]] on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by [[Li Zicheng]], the leader of a large [[Late Ming peasant rebellions|peasant rebellion]], by proclaiming himself "[[Emperor of China|emperor]]" ({{lang|zh|皇帝}}) instead of the title "[[Chinese sovereign|king]]" ({{lang|zh|王}}) before founding the dynasty.

The [[Battle of Beijing (1644)|capture of Beijing]] by the Shun forces in April 1644 marked the end of the [[Ming dynasty]], but Li Zicheng failed to solidify his political and military control, and in late May 1644 he was defeated at the [[Battle of Shanhai Pass]] by the joint forces of Ming general [[Wu Sangui]] who [[defected]] to the [[Qing dynasty]] after the fall of the Ming dynasty, with [[Manchu]] prince [[Dorgon]]. When he fled back to Beijing in early June, Li finally proclaimed himself the Yongchang Emperor of the Great Shun and left the capital the next day after setting the palace ablaze and ransacking the government offices. He may have intended to resume his Imperial claims later on by proclaiming his accession in the [[Forbidden City]]. After the death of the emperor, Shun remnants joined with the [[Southern Ming]] in [[Nanjing]], while continuing to refer to Li as their "deceased emperor".<ref>{{cite book|author=Frederic Wakeman Jr.|title=The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-century China|year=1985|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=978-0-520-04804-1|pages=313}}</ref> The Shun dynasty weakened dramatically after the death of Li Zicheng in 1645. The successors, his brother Li Zijing and nephew Li Guo, could not fight back and the dynasty ended in 1649 when Li Guo died in [[Nanning]], [[Guangxi]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Huang Weiping (黃衛平)|title=Draft history of Da Shun (大順史稿)|year=2010|publisher=Publishing House of San Qin (三秦出版社)|isbn=978-7-807-36899-1|pages=194 to 197}}</ref>

After the Shun was created, Li Zicheng ordered the soldiers to kill the Ming remnants still existing in Beijing, resulting in strong rebellions from the forces of the Southern Ming. With the Shun ministers constantly fighting for power, the dynasty effectively lasted less than a year.

== Monarchs ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! width="200" | Personal name<br>(birth–death)
! width="200" | Period of reign
! width="150" | [[Chinese era name|Era names]] and dates
|-
| [[Li Zicheng|Lǐ Zìchéng]]<br>李自成<br>(1606–1645)
| 1644–1645
| rowspan=3 | 
Yǒngchāng (永昌) 1644–1646
|-
| Lǐ Zìjìng<br>李自敬<br>(?–1646)
| 1645–1646
|-
| Lǐ Guò<br>李過<br>(?–1649)
| 1646
|}

== Generals and ministers ==
*Niu Jinxing (牛金星), [[chancellor]]
*Gu Jun'en (顧君恩), staff
*Li Yan (李岩), staff
*Song Xiance (宋獻策), staff
*Liu Zongmin (劉宗敏), general
*Yuan Zongdi (袁宗第)
*Tian Jianxiu (田見秀)
*Hao Yaoqi (郝搖旗), general
*Li Guo (李過), general and nephew of Li Zicheng
*Li Zijing (李自敬), general and younger brother of Li Zicheng, inherited the throne after the death of Li Zicheng
*Gao Jie (高傑), general
*[[Gao Guiying|Lady Gao Guiying]] (高桂英), Li Zicheng's wife and general

== See also ==
* [[Xi dynasty]]
* [[Qing dynasty]]
* [[Southern Ming]]
* [[Late Ming peasant rebellions]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Wakeman Frederic (1981). "The Shun Interregnum of 1644", in Jonathan Spence, et al. eds. ''From Ming to Ch’ing: Conquest, Region, and Continuity in Seventeenth-Century China''. [[Yale University Press]].
*Huang Weiping (黃衛平) (2010). "Draft history of Da Shun (大順史稿)"

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Dynasties in Chinese history]]|before=[[Ming dynasty]]|after=[[Qing dynasty]]|years=1644}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:Shun dynasty| ]]
[[Category:Dynasties of China]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[Category:1640s in China]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1644]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1645]]
[[Category:1644 establishments in China]]
[[Category:1645 disestablishments in China]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty]]