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 Qing dynasty. His mother was Nurhaci's first consort, Lady Tunggiya (佟佳氏). He was an older half-brother of Nurhaci's successor, Hong Taiji.

Career

Nurhaci's reign

During Nurhaci's campaign against the Ula clan and its ''beile'' Bujantai in 1607, Daišan distinguished himself on the battlefield by assisting Šurhaci and Cuyen. For his efforts, he was granted the title of "Guyen Baturu" () (literally: "exploring hero").

In 1613, Daišan again distinguished himself on the battlefield in Nurhaci's campaign against the Ula clan.

In 1616, when Nurhaci declared himself khan and established the Later Jin dynasty, Daišan was the first selected as '' beile'' of a special rank by Nurhaci to assist in administration. These four ''beile'' would be known as the Four Senior ''Beile''s the other places being filled by Amin, Manggūltai, and Hong Taiji .

From 1618, when the campaign against the Ming dynasty began with the pronouncement of the Seven Grievances by Nurhaci, until 1622 Daišan was a leading general and as captain of the Plain Red Banner of the Eight Banners, played an important role in the capture of Fushun in 1618, in the victory at the Battle of Sarhū in 1619, and in the occupation of Shenyang in 1621. Starting in 1621 Daišan and the other three senior ''beile''s served as assistants to Nurhaci on a monthly rotational basis in directing state affairs of the Later Jin dynasty.

Hong Taiji's reign

After the death of Nurhaci at the Battle of Ningyuan in 1626, Daišan was able to use his influence to make the princes and generals come to an agreement on Hong Taiji's accession as khan. However even though Hong Taiji had become khan, Daišan, along with Manggūltai and Amin continued to take turns as assistant administrators until 1629 as Hong Taiji began to consolidate power.

Between 1629 and 1634, Daišan took part in most of the campaigns of Hong Taiji against the Ming dynasty. In 1636, Hong Taiji declared himself emperor and renamed the Later Jin dynasty to "Qing dynasty". Daišan was conferred the title of " Prince Li of the First Rank" (和碩禮親王) and an additional title of "Elder Brother" (兄).

Shunzhi Emperor's reign

In 1643, Hong Taiji died and a successor was not named. At first, Daišan named Hong Taiji's eldest son Hooge as the heir, but the latter declined the offer to succeed his father. Ajige and Dodo wanted Dorgon to take the throne, but Dorgon declined on the grounds that acceptance would be an act of disloyalty to the late emperor, who raised him. The issue was finally settled when many generals who followed Hong Taiji into battle declared that they wanted one of Hong Taiji's sons on the throne. As such, Hong Taiji's ninth son Fulin (the future Shunzhi Emperor), then at the age of six, was proclaimed emperor, with Dorgon and Jirgalang acting as co-regents. Yet even after the entire Qing court had swore an oath of allegiance to the throne, and there was a conspiracy by some nobles to let Dorgon replace Fulin. Daišan settled the dispute by supporting Fulin and exposing the conspirators, which included his own son Šoto and his grandson Adali (eldest son of Sahaliyen). Dorgon and Daišan had them both of them executed.

Death and legacy

According to historical records, it seemed that Daišan never attempted to seize power for himself, and instead worked for the benefits of the Aisin Gioro clan. In 1643, he led a council of princes to appoint Jirgalang and Dorgon as co-regents for the Shunzhi Emperor. In 1644, he followed Dorgon to Beijing, where he died four years later.

At the time of his death, special posthumous honours were not awarded to him, except that the sum of 10,000 tael

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