Dorgon

Also known as Qing Chengzong · Shezheng Wang · Ruiqin Wang

Dorgon was the fourteenth son of Nurhaci. A campaign against the Chahar in 1628 earned him the title Mergen Daicing; later he obtained the Yuan imperial seal from Ligdan Khan's son, and in 1636 he became Prince Rui. After Hong Taiji died in 1643 he and Jirgalang installed the child Fulin as emperor and governed as regents. In 1644 Dorgon led the army to Shanhai Pass, accepted Wu Sangui's submission, defeated Li Zicheng's forces, entered Beijing in the fifth month and moved the Shunzhi emperor's court there. As regent he enforced the head-shaving order, land enclosures for bannermen and the law on runaway bondservants, and from 1648 was styled Imperial Father Regent. He died at Karacheng at the end of 1650 and was named Emperor Yi with the temple name Chengzong, but within months he was accused of treason and stripped of all honours. In 1778 the Qianlong emperor restored his rank, named him Zhong and placed his tablet in the imperial ancestral temple.