
Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645) was a Chinese rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China as the emperor of the short-lived Shun dynasty before his death a year later.
Biography[]
Li Hongji was born in Yan'an, Shaanxi, Ming China on 22 September 1606, and he worked on a farm, in a wine shop, in a blacksmith's shop, and as a mailman before being enslaved in 1630 for failing to repay loans to a usurious magistrate. The magistrate struck a guard who tried to give Li shade and water; however, Li was freed by a group of sympathetic peasants who wielded wooden sticks. They later ambushed a group of government soldiers sent to arrest them, obtaining their first real weapons. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong became major leaders in the peasant rebellions which plagued the Ming dynasty during the 1630s due to pervasive famine, plague, and poverty. In 1633, Li joined Gao Yingxiang's rebel army, and he inherited its leadership on Gao's death. Within three years, Li formed an army of 30,000 men, and his army killed prominent government officials such as Sun Chuanting in Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. As Li won more battles and gained more support, and he developed a Robin Hood image. In 1642, Li captured Xiangyang and proclaimed himself "King Xinshun", and his rebels captured and sacked Beijing in April 1644, leading to the Chongzhen Emperor committing suicide. Li claimed to have the Mandate of Heaven, and he was defeated at the 27 May 1644 Battle of Shanhai Pass. He was defeated by the Manchus, who proceeded to enter Beijing and establish the Qing dynasty. In the summer of 1645, Li and his remaining followers went to raid a village for food, but they were killed by the soldiers guarding the village.