The Rise Of The Manchus

Twice had a Tartar empire been established in China, that of the Kin

dynasty in the north, and that of their successors, the Mongols, over

the whole country. A third and more permanent Tartar dynasty, that of

the Manchus, was yet to come. With the striking story of the rise and

progress of these new conquerors we are now concerned.



In the northeast of China, beyond the Great Wall and bordering on Corea,

l es the province of Liautung. Northward from this to the Amur River

extends the eastern section of the steppes, known on modern maps as

Manchuria. From these broad wilds the Kins had advanced to their

conquest of Northern China. To them they fled for safety from the Mongol

arms, and here lost their proud name of Kin and resumed their older and

humbler one of Niuche. For some five centuries they remained here

unnoticed and undisturbed, broken up into numerous small clans, none of

much strength and importance. Of these clans, which were frequently in a

state of hostility to one another, there is only one of interest, that

of the Manchus.



The original seat of this small Tartar clan lay not far north of the

Chinese border, being on the Soodsu River, about thirty miles east of

the Chinese city of Moukden. Between the Soodsu and Jiaho streams, and

south of the Long White Mountains, lies the valley of Hootooala, a

location of rugged and picturesque scenery. This valley, protected on

three sides by water and on the fourth by a lofty range of mountains,

the whole not more than twelve miles long, formed the cradle of the

Manchu race, the narrow realm from which they were to emerge to victory

and empire. In a certain respect it resembled the native home of the

Mongols, but was far smaller and much nearer the Chinese frontier.



In this small and secluded valley appeared, about the middle of the

fourteenth century, when the emperor Hongwou was fighting with the

Mongols, a man named Aisin Gioro. Tradition attributes to him a

miraculous birth, while calumny asserts that he was a runaway Mongol;

but at any rate he became lord of Hootooala and ancestor of its race of

conquerors. Five generations from him came a chief named Huen, who ruled

over the same small state, and whose grandson, Noorhachu by name, born

in 1559, was the man upon whom the wonderful fortunes of the Manchus

were to depend. Like many other great conquerors, his appearance

predicted his career. "He had the dragon face and the phoenix eye; his

chest was enormous, his ears were large, and his voice had the tone of

the largest bell."



He began life like many of the heroes of folk-lore, his step-mother,

when he was nineteen years of age, giving him a small sum of money and

turning him out into the world to seek his fortune. She repented

afterwards, and bade him come home again or accept further aid, but the

proud youth refused to receive from her any assistance, and determined

to make his own way in the world.



Noorhachu first came into notice in 1583. In that year Haida, chief of a

small district south of Hootooala, made an attack, assisted by the

Chinese, on some neighboring clans. One of these was governed by a

relative of the old Manchu chief Huen, who, with his son and a small

force, hurried to his aid and helped him to defend his town. Haida and

his allies, finding the place too strong for them, enticed a part of the

garrison outside the walls, and then fell upon and treacherously

massacred them. Among the slain were Huen and his son.



This brutal murder left Noorhachu chief of his clan, and at the same

time filled him with a fierce desire for revenge, both upon Haida and

upon the Chinese. He was forced to bide his time, Haida gaining such

influence with his allies that he was appointed by them chief of all the

Niuche districts. This act only deepened the hatred of Noorhachu, who

found himself made one of the vassals of the murderer, while many of his

own people left him and attached themselves to the fortunes of Haida.



Fortunately for the youthful chief, the Chinese did not strongly support

their nominee, and Noorhachu pursued his rival so persistently that the

assassin did not feel safe even within his stockaded camp, but several

times retreated for safety into Liautung. The Chinese at length, tired

of supporting a man without the courage to defend himself, seized him

and handed him over to Noorhachu, who immediately put him to death.



The energy and success of Noorhachu in this scheme of vengeance gave him

a high reputation among the Niuche. He was still but twenty-seven years

of age, but had probably laid out his life-work, that of making himself

chief of a Niuche confederacy, and employing his subjects in an invasion

of Chinese soil. It is said that he had sworn to revenge his father's

death by the slaughter of two hundred thousand Chinese.



He began by building himself a stronghold. Selecting a site in the plain

where water was abundant, he built a town and surrounded it with a

triple wall. This done, he began the work of uniting the southern clans

under his sway, a task which proved easy, they being much impressed by

his victory over Haida. This peaceful progress was succeeded by a

warlike movement. In 1591 he suddenly invaded the district of

Yalookiang, which, taken by surprise, was forced to submit to his arms.



This act of spoliation roused general apprehension among the chiefs.

Here was a man who was not satisfied with petty feuds, but evidently had

higher objects in view. Roused by apprehension of danger, seven of the

neighboring chiefs gathered their forces, and with an army of thirty

thousand Niuche and Mongols invaded the territory of the daring young

leader. The odds against him seemed irresistible. He had but four

thousand men to oppose to this large force. But his men had been well

chosen and well trained, and they so vigorously resisted the onset of

the enemy that the principal Niuche chief was killed and the Mongol

leader forced to flee. At this juncture Noorhachu charged his foes with

such vigor that they were broken and put to flight, four thousand of

them being slain in the pursuit. A number of chiefs were taken

prisoners, while the spoils included several thousand horses and plaited

suits of armor, material of great value to the ambitious young victor.



Eight years passed before Noorhachu was ready for another move. Then he

conquered and annexed the fertile district of Hada, on the north. In

1607 he added to this the state of Hwifa, and in the following year that

of Woola. These conquests were preliminary to an invasion of Yeho, the

most powerful of the Niuche states. His first attack upon this important

district failed, and before repeating it he deemed it necessary to show

his strength by invading the Chinese province of Liautung. He had long

been preparing for this great enterprise. He had begun his military

career with a force of one hundred men, but had now an army forty

thousand strong, well drilled and disciplined men, provided with engines

of war, and of a race famed for courage and intrepidity. Their chief

weapon consisted of the formidable Manchu bow, while the horsemen wore

an armor of cotton-plaited mail which was proof against arrow or spear.

The invasion was preceded by a list of grievances drawn up against the

Chinese, which, instead of forwarding it to the Chinese court, Noorhachu

burnt in presence of his army, as an appeal to Heaven for the justice of

his cause.



The Chinese had supinely permitted this dangerous power to grow up among

their tributaries on the north. In truth, the Ming dynasty, which had

begun with the great Hongwou, had shared the fate of Chinese dynasties

in general, having fallen into decadence and decay. With a strong hand

at the imperial helm the Manchu invasion, with only a thinly settled

region to draw on for recruits, would have been hopeless. With a weak

hand no one could predict the result.



In 1618 the Manchus crossed their southern frontier and boldly set foot

on the soil of China, their movement being so sudden and unexpected that

the border town of Fooshun was taken almost without a blow. The army

sent to retake it was hurled back in defeat, and the strong town of

Tsingho was next besieged and captured. The progress of Noorhachu was

checked at this point by the clamor of his men, who were unwilling to

march farther while leaving the hostile state of Yeho in their rear. He

therefore led them back to their homes.



The Chinese were now thoroughly aroused. An army of more than one

hundred thousand men was raised and sent to attack Noorhachu in his

native realm. But it was weakly commanded and unwisely divided into

three unsupported sections, which the Manchus attacked and routed in

detail. The year's work was completed by the conquest and annexation of

Yeho, an event which added thirty thousand men to Noorhachu's resources

and completed the confederation of the Niuche clans, which had been his

original plan.



The old Chinese emperor was now near his life's end. But his last act

was one of his wisest ones, it being the appointment of Tingbi, a

leader of skill and resolution, to the command in Liautung. In a brief

time this energetic commander had placed the capital and the border

towns of the province in a state of defence and collected an army of one

hundred and eighty thousand men on the frontier. Two years sufficed to

make the province impregnable to Manchu attack. During this period of

energy Noorhachu wisely remained quiet. But the Chinese emperor died,

and was succeeded by his son, who quickly followed him to the grave. His

grandson, a boy of sixteen, succeeded, and the court enemies of Tingbi

now had him recalled and replaced by a man who had never seen a battle.



The result was what might have been expected. Noorhachu, who had been

waiting his opportunity, at once led his army across the borders (1621),

marching upon the strong town of Moukden, whose commandant, more brave

than wise, left the shelter of his walls to meet him in the field. The

result was a severe repulse, the Manchus entering the gates with the

fugitives and slaughtering the garrison in the streets. Three armies

were sent to retake Moukden, but were so vigorously dealt with that in a

few weeks less than half Tingbi's strong army remained. Liauyang, the

capital of the province, was next besieged and taken by storm, the

garrison falling almost to a man, among them Tingbi's incapable

successor meeting his death. No further resistance was made, the other

towns, with one exception, opened their gates, and in a brief time

Noorhachu completed the conquest of the province of Liautung.



Only one thing kept the Manchus from crossing the Great Wall and

invading the provinces beyond. This was the stronghold of Ningyuen,

which a Chinese officer named Chungwan had reinforced with a small

party, and which resolutely resisted all assaults. Noorhachu, not daring

to leave this fortified place in his rear, besieged it with a strong

army, making two desperate assaults upon its walls. But Chungwan,

assisted by some European cannon, whose noise proved more terrible to

the Manchus than their balls, held out so vigorously that for the first

time in his career the Manchu chief met with defeat. Disappointed and

sick at heart, he retraced his steps to Moukden, then his capital, there

to end his career, his death taking place in September, 1626.



Such was the adventurous life of the man who, while not conquering China

himself, made its conquest possible to his immediate successors, who

acknowledged his great deeds by giving him the posthumous title of

Emperor of China, the Manchu dynasty dating its origin back to 1616. His

son, Taitsong, who succeeded him, renewed the attack on Ningyuen, but

found the heroic Chungwan more than his match. A brilliant idea brought

him final success. Leaving the impregnable stronghold in his rear, he

suddenly marched to the Great Wall, which he crossed, and was far on the

road to Peking before Chungwan knew of his purpose. At once abandoning

the town, the Chinese general hurried southward, and, having the best

road, succeeded in reaching the capital in advance of the Manchus. But

he came only to his death. Tingbi, the one man feared by Noorhachu, had

been executed through the machinations of his enemies, and now Chungwan

suffered the same fate, Taitsong, not being able to defeat him in the

field, having succeeded in forming a plot against him in the palace.



But Peking, though in serious peril, was not taken. A truce was

arranged, and Taitsong drew off his troops--for reasons best known to

himself. He was soon back in China, but did not again attack Peking,

devoting himself to raids through the border provinces. In 1635 he

assumed the title of Emperor of China, in consequence of the seal of the

Mongol dynasty, which had been lost in Mongolia two centuries before,

being found and sent to him. But Ningyuen still held out, under an able

successor to Chungwan, and in September, 1643, this second of the Manchu

leaders came to his death. The conquest of China was reserved for a

later leader.