The Battle of Shen-Liao was a military conflict between the
Later Jin Later Jin may refer to two states in imperial China:
* Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), one of the Five Dynasties
* Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor to the Qing dynasty
See also
* Jin (disambiguation)
Jin ...
and the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. In early 1621
Nurhaci
Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing (), was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro, he reigned ...
, khan of the Later Jin, invaded
Liaodong
The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River (the h ...
and captured the cities of
Shenyang
Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...
and
Liaoyang
Liaoyang () is a prefecture-level city of east-central Liaoning province, China, situated on the Taizi River. It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang, the provincial capital, by car. Liaoyang is home to Liaoning University's College of Fo ...
from the Ming.
Background
![Xiong Tingbi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Xiong_Tingbi.jpg)
After taking the city of Xicheng from his last Jurchen rivals, the Yihe clan,
Nurhaci
Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing (), was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro, he reigned ...
and his advisers started planning the conquest of
Shenyang
Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...
to make it the new capital of
Later Jin Later Jin may refer to two states in imperial China:
* Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), one of the Five Dynasties
* Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor to the Qing dynasty
See also
* Jin (disambiguation)
Jin ...
. In preparation for the coming battles Nurhaci began heavily courting nearby Mongol tribes, whose chieftains, and even Ming officers, defected to his banner. Defectors were rewarded with lands, titles, farms, slaves, livestock, and cash according to their ranks and contribution to the war effort. Nurhaci emphasized towards the Mongols especially that the Ming were their common foe, and that the Jurchens and Mongols shared a similar Central Asian origin. The rest of 1619 was spent sealing alliances with ritual feasts, even as Jin lands were suffering from famine. Nurhaci's overtures were not met with success everywhere, and
Ligdan Khan
Khutugtu Khan ( mn, Хутагт Хаан; ), born Ligdan ( mn, Лигдэн; ), (1588–1634) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1604 to 1634. During his reign, he vigorously attempted to reunify the divided Mongol Empire, a ...
killed Jin's envoys. Some Mongol tribes turned to the Ming.
The Ming court appointed Xiong Tingbi as Military Affairs Commissioner of Liaodong. Xiong's strategy was to further strengthen Ming defenses and to soothe the worries of the people. His rationale was that so long as the people of Liao understood their importance as protected subjects of Ming, they would refrain from joining the Jin. Xiong emphasized the need for Ming subjects to feel valued if they were to contribute to the war effort. One of his first actions after taking office was to immediately punish deserters. A pair of Ming commanders along with Li Ruzhen, who had fled from the
Battle of Tieling, were captured and executed.
Xiong estimated that Nurhaci had around 100,000 troops at his command while there were nominally 180,000 Ming soldiers in the Liaodong region. However, from his personal inspections, Xiong deduced that only 90,000 troops were available in Liaodong, and of those a great portion were unfit for service. To fund the rejuvenation of the northeastern military command, Xiong requested a disbursement of 1.2 million taels from the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry promised 400,000 taels and delivered only 100,000. After much badgering and condemnation by Xiong, the Minister of War suggested that it might be possible to dip into funds usually allocated to local regions, as well as raise contributions from the noble houses, aboriginal chieftains, and regular bureaucrats. Eventually Xiong received a total disbursement of 600,000 taels.
With half the funds he had requested, Xiong set out to build war carts, manufacture firearms, and repair moats and walls. The Ministry of War was tasked with producing 4,500 cannons. Roughly 37,000 carts worth of supplies pulled by 74,000 oxen arrived in Liaodong during the winter of 1619. In addition to the 1.2 million taels Xiong had requested, he also advocated for the relocation of 180,000 troops from other regions to Liaodong to man a defensive line stretching from Fushun to Fort Zhenjiang. This was approved by the court, which sent orders for troop transfers to be carried out. The order was met with considerable difficulties. In one instance the troops that had been assigned to Fort Zhenjiang, numbering 17,400 men, mutinied.
Xiong believed that it was unwise to defend Shenyang, which although a major city, was located on empty land and therefore more vulnerable to attack. Others argued that it could not be lightly abandoned.
Xiong Tingbi's plans were attacked by an official hailing from the south by the name of Yang Sichang. Yang argued that Xiong's plans were unreliable and costly, especially regarding the transportation of Sichuanese soldiers all the way to the northeastern frontier. To carry out all of Xiong's plans, Yang suggested that it was not 1.2 million taels that were needed, but 10 million taels, taken straight from the imperial Taicang vault. The
Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was the ...
ignored Yang's suggestion to draw funds from the Taicang vault, and raised taxes in early 1620 in the hopes of increasing revenues to 5.2 million taels. The tax increase was not carried out evenly across the empire. Some places, such as
Guizhou
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
, saw no increase at all, while others took on most of the burden.
Recognizing that Ming's only advantage over the Jin was firepower, Xiong opted not to take an aggressive stance, and simply fortified and rebuilt fortress walls and moats. Xiong hoped that by gradually improving defensive positions in Liaodong, Ming could regain lost ground without engaging the Jin in open battles. During Xiong's tenure security returned to Liaodong and many refugees were able to return home. Commerce picked up and Jin attacks decreased significantly. However the military strengthening effort ground to a halt when
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
was struck by famine and the court was forced to reduce taxes. Ming troops were constantly hampered by a lack of supplies and rations as the Jin carried out raids on grain stores.
The Wanli Emperor died on 18 August 1620 and the
Taichang Emperor
The Taichang Emperor (; 28 August 1582 – 26 September 1620), personal name Zhu Changluo (), was the 15th Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He was the eldest son of the Wanli Emperor and succeeded his father as emperor in 1620. However, his reign c ...
succeeded him. Taichang immediately released one million taels to fund the Liaodong defense, but at that point the official Li Ruhua estimated that a sum of 1.6 million taels would be needed to properly supply the eastern army. The Ministry of Revenue gave an even grimmer estimation of 3.2 million taels, and perhaps even 4 million taels after accounting for wastage. The military strengthening of Liaodong had also taken a toll on the capital defenses, which fell from 200,000 to 120,000 soldiers. Unfortunately for Xiong Tingbi, the change in leadership also brought new problems in the form of court slandering of his accomplishments. Liu Guojin, who had been impeached by Xiong for recruiting the soldiers that mutinied at Fort Zhenjiang, had started a faction and plot to slander Xiong of losing territory and cowardice in battle, both of which Xiong denied. Eventually Xiong decided to quit before he was arrested, and resigned from his position as Military Affairs Commissioner.
Yang Sichang took on the task of calculating revenues and affairs for Liaodong. He estimated that Liaodong's 177,00 troops and 100,000 mounts costed the court roughly 3.7 million taels per year. To offset these costs, he suggested establishing military farms so that at least the horses could be fed on local feed. Yang also recommended introducing a new pay scale based on the grade of soldiers to better motivate them as well as to reduce costs. Soldiers were divided into five classes, and the highest class earned 2.5 times what the lowest class made.
The Taichang Emperor died of bad diarrhea a month after assuming office, and the
Tianqi Emperor
The Tianqi Emperor (23 December 1605 – 30 September 1627), personal name Zhu Youjiao (), was the 16th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1620 to 1627. He was the eldest son of the Taichang Emperor and a elder brother of the Chongzhen ...
succeeded him. Yuan Yingtai was promoted to Military Affairs Commissioner of Liaodong and assumed an aggressive posture towards the Jin. Unlike his predecessor, Yuan wished to court the Mongols and add their strength to the Ming army. He believed that with the Mongols' aid, not only would they be able to protect Liaodong, they could actually invade the Later Jin and end the threat once and for all. According to Yuan, Mongols were essentially "free crack cavalry." While some factions were highly skeptical of this view, the attraction of decisive action won out in the end, and the Tianqi Emperor disbursed 3 million taels to persuade the Mongols to come to their side.
Course of battle
![Battle of Liaoyang1621](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Battle_of_Liaoyang1621.jpg)
In early 1621 the Jin attacked the Liaodong region and took the fortress of Fengjibao near Shenyang. Nurhaci attacked with all
Eight Banners
The Eight Banners (in Manchu language, Manchu: ''jakūn gūsa'', ) were administrative and military divisions under the Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasties of China into which all Manchu people, Manchu households ...
. Fengjibao's commander, Li Bingchen, sallied forth with 200 soldiers to meet the enemy in open battle. One banner proceeded to attack Li's troops, who managed to kill a Jin officer with cannon fire before retreating. Nurhaci pulled back his troops out of the range of Ming cannons and camped near Fengjibao. Ming scouts tried to spy on Jin camps that night, but were captured and executed. The next day Li tried to engage the Jin army again with 2,000 troops. The battle ended in complete defeat for Li and the Jin took Fengjibao.
From Fengjibao the Jin army advanced towards Shenyang. When they reached the banks of the
Hun River they erected defenses and made camp.
The commanders of Shenyang, He Shixian and You Shigong, had dug moats and erected palisades around Shenyang. Cannons and firearms were deployed. Not wanting to meet Ming firepower head on, Nurhaci opted to conduct raids on the city's outskirts and pillage the surrounding area in the hope that Shenyang's defenders would sortie out and meet them in the open field. The tactic went well and He Shixian led a contingent of 1,000 soldiers to meet the Jin in battle. They were quickly surrounded and forced to fight their way to the west gate of the city, but were unable to enter. He Shixian died in combat as four arrows pierced his body. You Shigong tried to save him but his troops were defeated as well. You died in combat. With the two commanders dead, Shenyang's defenses fell apart and the Jin quickly took the city.
Nurhaci then left to intercept a Ming relief contingent at the Hun River. Ming commander Chen Ce's heavy pikemen were flanked by Jin cavalry and driven into the river where they drowned. The remaining Ming troops rallied and engaged 200 Jin soldiers, who retreated. Nurhaci's son
Daišan
Daišan (Manchu: ; 19 August 1583 – 25 November 1648) was an influential Manchu prince and statesman of the Qing dynasty.
Family background
Daišan was born in the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan as the second son of Nurhaci, the founder of the ...
attacked the Ming column and broke their morale. The Jin army then chased Ming troops for a distance before returning to Shenyang.
Meanwhile, a Ming army of 50,000 had been dispatched and was on its way to besiege Shenyang. News of this reached Nurhaci, who rushed his banners out to confront the Ming before they could entrench themselves around the city. Taken by surprise, the Ming army was only able to fire their guns once before the Jin cavalry was upon them. The Jin cavalry caught them in a pincer attack, collapsing one side then another, until the entire army broke. They chased the scattered remnants for a time before regrouping. Next Nurhaci intercepted another army from
Liaoyang
Liaoyang () is a prefecture-level city of east-central Liaoning province, China, situated on the Taizi River. It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang, the provincial capital, by car. Liaoyang is home to Liaoning University's College of Fo ...
and defeated it in quick succession.
Seeing that Ming defenses had disintegrated, Nurhaci proceeded to invade Liaoyang, where Yuan Yingtai was headquartered. First Nurhaci directed one banner to cut off the city's water supply and another to begin sapping the east wall. Nurhaci's own banners began constructing siege works. Ming forces rushed out with 30,000 soldiers and fired their guns at the Jin, who engaged them in open combat, suffering heavy casualties. The Ming army was able to repulse Jin advances until they ran out of ammunition, after which they were routed. The Jin left wing took the Wujing Gate and severed the bridge, cutting off the broken Ming retreat. Scattered Ming soldiers were driven towards the city moat where they drowned.
Jin siege carts began moving towards the city. Scaling ladders were erected and the city was assaulted on all sides. The Ming defenders had run out of gunpowder after their gunpowder stores were hit by Li Yongfang's cannoneers. Finally morale broke as two walls fell to the Jin. As Yuan Yingtai saw this he set his watchtower on fire, committing suicide. Ming's Mongol allies who were present were too busy looting the city to do any fighting and fled soon after the Ming army was defeated. Following Yuan's example the other Ming officers committed suicide as well.
The victorious Jin were reportedly welcomed into the city with cries of joy.
After the capture of Shenyang and Liaoyang, Ming reinforcements from the south arrived, but by then the Jin had already occupied all the forts east of the
Liao River
The Liao River () is the principal river in southern Northeast China, and one of the seven main river systems in China. Its name derived from the Liao region, a historical name for southern Manchuria, from which the Liaoning province, Liaodong P ...
. Skirmishes were fought between the new Ming troops and the banners. Small victories were had by the Ming, who killed 3,000 Jin troops in one engagement, but were forced to concede defeat and retreat after they ran out of gunpowder.
Aftermath
Nurhaci moved the Later Jin capital to Liaoyang. To smooth the transition of the region, Nurhaci released Ming officials who had been jailed for opposing the Jin as a sign of goodwill, and their previous posts prior to the invasion were restored to them, only this time serving under the Jin. Orders were given not to loot from the commoners, and for the most part, the strict discipline of the Jin army made the occupation less painful than it could have been. Nurhaci celebrated the victory near his new capital and bestowed rewards upon his followers. Defections from Mongol and Ming subjects increased.
Letters were written to
Joseon
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
to pressure their king into renouncing allegiance with the Ming.
The Ming court appointed Xue Guoyong as Vice Minister of War and Military Affairs Commissioner of Liaodong. Wang Huazhen was appointed Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Right and Touring Pacification Commissioner of
Guangning. The Ministry of War began recruiting mercenaries from all over China to supplement their forces. The war in Liaodong had impoverished thousands who fled south seeking refugee. Shandong in particular was hit hard and local officials complained of the unrest that followed. The people of Liaodong had a bad reputation for being shifty and untrustworthy, and their influx in neighboring regions exacerbated already limited resources. Some also fled to Korea and islands in the
Bohai Sea
The Bohai Sea () is a marginal sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait. It has a mean depth of a ...
, where they were often subject to depredations from Ming soldiers.
Ming defenses moved back to the west bank of the Liao River and the city of
Guangning became the new headquarters. Xiong Tingbi was also called back into service. Xiong reiterated that the best strategy was to remain on defense. Not only that, Ming had to focus on securing naval security and attacking the Jin from the coast. Plans for the construction of a fleet were sent to
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
. Xiong requested 300,000 soldiers to man the defenses. The court estimated that it was possible to pull together maybe 260,000. However none of the requested troops came to fruition, and money and supplies were sent instead.
Xiong and the supply distributor, Wang Zaijin, came to blows and were unable to work together due to differences of strategy. Wang wished to spread out troops along the entire frontier while Xiong regarded the defense of Guangning as the most realistic course of action. Wang won out in the end.
See also
*
Timeline of the Ming dynasty
A timeline of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) from the rise of the Hongwu Emperor to the rise and establishment of the Qing dynasty.
Background
1320s
1330s
1340s
1350s
1360s
14th century 1360s
1370s
1380s
1390s
15th century 1400 ...
*
Timeline of the Qing dynasty
This is a timeline of the Qing dynasty (1636–1912).
Background 16th century 1580s
1590s
17th century 1600s
1610s
1620s
1630s
17th century 1630s
1640s
1650s
1660s
1670s
1680s
1690s
18th century 1720s
1730s
1740s ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{Qing dynasty topics
1621 in Asia
Shen-Liao 1621
Shen-Liao 1621