Wu Sangui

Scion of a Martial House

Wu Sangui was born in 1612 in Liaodong to a prominent military lineage. Renowned for his striking appearance, daring horsemanship, and archery, he earned fame as a youth by galloping into a horde of besiegers with a handful of riders to rescue his trapped father. Rising quickly through the ranks, by his twenties he commanded the garrison at Shanhai Pass, defending the pivotal choke point between Manchuria and the central plains.

The Fateful Opening of the Shanhai Pass

In spring 1644, rebel forces led by Li Zicheng sacked Beijing, driving the Chongzhen Emperor to hang himself and collapsing the Ming dynasty. When news reached Wu that his father had been imprisoned in Beijing and his beloved concubine Chen Yuanyuan seized by a rebel general, Wu was consumed with fury. Caught between Li Zicheng's approaching 200,000-strong army and the Manchu host encamped outside the pass, Wu struck a deal with Qing regent Prince Dorgon. On May 27, 1644, Wu flung open the gates of Shanhai Pass. In the ensuing Battle of Shanhai Pass, Manchu cavalry smashed Li Zicheng's army, ushering the Qing dynasty into Beijing.

Princely Dominion, the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, and Ruin

Serving his new Manchu overlords, Wu spearheaded campaigns across southern China, pursuing the Southern Ming pretender Yongli into Burma and executing him. Rewarded with the hereditary title 'Prince Who Pacifies the West', Wu governed Yunnan and Guizhou as a virtual sovereign viceroy with private taxes and armies. However, when the ambitious young Kangxi Emperor moved to dissolve the feudatories in 1673, Wu rebelled, igniting the fierce eight-year Revolt of the Three Feudatories. Despite conquering lands south of the Yangtze, his coalition fragmented. Wu died of dysentery in 1678, and the Qing crushed his rebel state shortly thereafter.