Hong Taiji

Also known as Qing Taizong · Chongde Di · Tian Conghan · Ai Xin Jue Luo · Huang Tai Ji

Hong Taiji, eighth son of Nurhaci, was chosen khan by the assembled princes when his father died in 1626 and adopted the era name Tiancong the next year. In 1629 he led his armies around through Mongolia, broke through the Great Wall and reached the walls of Beijing, and later besieged Dalinghe until the Ming general Zu Dashou surrendered. He set up six ministries on the Ming model, in 1635 ordered that his people be called Manchu instead of Jurchen, and in 1636 took the imperial title at Mukden, renaming the state Great Qing and the era Chongde; the Mongol office became the Court of Colonial Affairs. He invaded Korea that winter and early in 1637 forced its king to submit and cut his tributary ties with the Ming. The long Battle of Song-Jin ended in 1642 with the capture and surrender of the Ming commander Hong Chengchou. He died suddenly at Mukden in 1643, aged fifty-two by Chinese reckoning, with the temple name Taizong.