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81 days of Jiangyin
Date 23 July – 12 October, 1645 (81 days) Location Jiangyin, Qing China Result Qing victory
Belligerents
citizens in Jiangyin	Qing dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Chen Mingyu † Yan Yingyuan †	Dodo Liu Liangzuo Bolo Nikan
Strength
60,000–200,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
60,000–200,000	Unknown

The 81 days of Jiangyin saw citizens in Jiangyin's resistance against Qing dynasty, which arose on 24 July, 1645. In August, tens of thousands of Qing troops led by Liu Liangzuo sieged Jiangyin, attempting to suppress the rebellion. The citizens managed to guard until 21 August, and Qing troops massacred the city for two days. Only 53 survived the massacre.

Background

Further information: Tifayifu

Up to July 1645, Qing had conquered large area in northern China, including Zhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. Its main rivals, Shun and Hongguang court had both been devastated. Dorgun, arrogant, thought the whole China can be united without force. He nominated many officials to induce Guangdong, Huguang, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangdong, etc., to capitulate, on 16 July.

Dorgun, who is ironically Prince Rui (lit. 'Prince of Intelligence'), made a stupid decision to order Han Chinese to follow Manchu hairstyles. Since the hairstyle shaves front hair and left only a queue in the back, the order is referred as the tifaling (lit. 'order of shaving hair'). He further order Han Chinese to wear Manchu clothing, known as the yifuling (lit. 'order of changing costume').

This law was strongly opposed by Han Chinese, who made up most of the population at the moment. Besides the infamous tifaling and yifuling, Qing also deprived fields of Han Chinese forcibly, known as the enclosure campaign, and hunted taoren(lit. 'escaped man'), who was enslaved Han Chinese and escaped from Manchu nobles. As a result, Han Chinese arose numerous uprisings all over China for decades.

Arise

After fall of Hongguang court, Ming's county magistrate of Jiangyin, Lin Zhiji, resigned and left Jiangyin, and Qing nominated Fang Heng to the county. He then put up the tifaling in Jiangyin. On 23 July, some students gathered in the Temple of Confucius, concluding "Head can be cut off, but hair cannot". Meanwhile, a document from Changzhou Fu said "Hair left, head gone; head left, hair gone", which Fang ask his subordinate to write. The subordinate saw the sentence and was indignant, throwing his pen and saying "No more than death!". His action spreaded across the city quickly, and many citizens were wrathful. Fang learned his citizens refused to cut off hair, so he requested Changzhou Fu to deploy troops; the message was captured by citizens, and Fang was seized by the citizens.

On the next day, the citizens elected Chen Mingyu, serving as dianshi, as their leader and claimed their resistance to Qing. Chen, knowing that he was not good at military, recommanded Yan Yingyuan, who was a former dianshi and unemployed at that moment, to guard the city. Yan then checked the population of Jiangyin and selected male youth as militamen, who guarded the city wall along with over 200,000 vilige militamen in turn, each battlement guarded by ten men. He nominated Wang Gonglüe to guard east gate, Wang, a bazong, to guard south gate, Chen to guard west gate and himself to guard north gate. He and Chen patrolled the four gates day and night, interrogating who entered and exited the city and purging traitors. Yan then requsitioned both public and private supplies in the city, and entrust experts to allocate them. Jiangyin became orderly rapidly under Yan's rule.

Siege

Learning uprising in Jiangyin, the prefect of Changzhou Fu sent 300 soldiers to suppress it, who were annihilate at Mount Qinwang on 27 July. Dodo then ordered Liu Liangzuo, a former Ming general, to suppress the rebellion. Liu led his tens of thousands of troops to Jiangyin and besieged it in August, but he failed to capture the city numerous times and had to persaude Yan to capitulate through emissaries and letters on arrows. He even came to the gates of Jiangyin, trying to induce Yan, but was insulted for his betrayal. "There are only surrendered generals but dianshi!" said Yan, leaving Liu speechless.

Dodo then ordered Kong Youde and Bolo with Hongyipao to assist Liu. Bolo flogged Liu for his inability to occupy the small city, the latter pushing for attacking, remorseful and annoyed. Yan and Chen encouraged their soldiers to guard the city, and sent messagers to ask for reinforcements, however, with no respond.

Fall and sack

On 10 October, Qing fired their Hongyipao to the northeast of the city and broke the wall. Qing troops then attacked and entered Jiangyin, marking the fall of the city. Chen burnt his office and family, and was killed during the following urban warfare. Yan attempted to drown himself, but was captured by Qing troops and taken to Bolo. He continued scolding and was killed soon after.

The urban warfare continued until the next day, and Qing massacred the city. Bolo ordered that citizens who escaped throught east gate, and children under 13 could be pardoned, yet none surrendered to him. According to Records of Guarding Jiangyin, all of rivers in Jiangyin was filled with body piles; about 97,000 was killed inside the city, other 75,000 deceased outside.

On 12 October, Qing ended its massacre and started to pacify citizens; yet only 53, who hid in temples and towers, survived.

Aftermath

Later Record of Guarding Jiangyin concluded:

During the whole Ming dynasty, shi were having no shame. Those who served as senior officials and earned rich salaries, were only good at begging for surrender; those who served as viceroys and commanded armies, were only experts in infighting. Only Chen and Yan did their faith at such a city. If we had guarded Jingkou like this, Jiangnan should not have been annexed so easily.

Zhu Yujian, who had already ascended as Longwu emperor, was shaken and said "If my posterity meets people there, he should be respectful even though meeting a 3-chi-high child."

Jiangyin's uprising was the first after Tifayifu, and Qing would continue to meet numerous uprisings arisen by Han Chinese, yet they showed no repentance. Qing continued to execute Tifayifu, and Han Chinese would not be able to wear their own clothing until Xinhai Revolution, hundreds of years later.