Wu Sangui
Wu Sangui () (
1612 –
October 2,
1678) was a
Ming Chinese general who opened the gates of the
Great Wall of China at
Shanhai Pass to let
Manchu soldiers into
China proper.
It is commonly believed that he led to the ultimate destruction of the Ming Empire and the establishment of the
Qing Empire, although he did not surrender to the Manchus until after the defensive capability of the Ming Empire had been greatly weakened by the armies of
Li Zicheng. His
courtesy name was
Changbai (長白) or
Changbo (長伯).
Wu was born in
Gaoyou,
Jiangsu Province to Wu Xiang (襄). He was rewarded the position of Pingxi Wang (平西王) in
Yunnan by the Qing imperial court, after he conquered the region from the remnants of Ming loyalists. It was previously extremely rare for someone outside of the royal family, especially a non-Manchu, to be granted the title of Wang (
king), and those being awarded the title of Wang who were not members of the royal family were called Yixing Wang (异"王，literally meaning "kings whose surnames are different from that of the emperor"). It was believed Yixing Wangs didn't usually have good ends, largely because they were not trusted by emperors as members of the emperors' own family were.
Wu Sangui was not trusted by the Qing imperial court, as both he and the Manchus knew, though he was still be able to rule his land with little or no interference from the Imperial Court largely due to the fact that the Manchus needed time to recover and settle down after the prolonged campaign to conquer China.
Wu Sangui had foreseen the eventual clash with the Imperial court, so he spent the years of peace ììconsolidating his power in the region and building up his armies. In 1674, he revolted against the Qing Empire and started the
Revolt of the Three Feudatories, declaring himself the "All-Supreme-Military Generalissimo" (
Tiānxià Dōuzhāotǎo Bīngmǎ Dàyuánshuài 天下都招討兵馬大元帥). In 1678, he declared himself the emperor of a new
Zhou Dynasty, with the
era name of
Zhaowu (昭武), and made his capital at
Dongtianfu (洞庭湖), which was formerly
Hengzhou (衡州) and is now
Hengyang,
Hunan. He died there that same year of natural causes and was succeeded by his grandson
Wu Shifan and the remnants of his armies were defeated soon thereafter.
Wu Sangui's concubine was
Chen Yuanyuan.
Wu Sangui's son,
Wu Yingxiong (吳應熊), married the fourteenth daughter (建寧公主) of Manchu emperor
Hung Taiji.
Wu Sangui's reputation in contemporary China is as a traitor and opportunist, due his betrayal of both the Ming and the Qing.
His early life and military career were portrayed in the
China Central Television show
Jiangshan Fengyuqing (江山风雨情, which could be loosely translated as "Turmoil and love stories of the late Ming Dynasty").
