Nurhaci

Nurhaci (1559–1626), also known as Aisin Gioro Nurhaci, was a Jurchen chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchen Confederation in northeast China. He unified and led the Jurchen tribes under a centralized authority and laid the political groundwork for what would become the Qing dynasty.

He reorganized his people into the Eight Banners, a military and social system that underpinned later Qing rule. He also sponsored the development of the Manchu script, a writing system adapted from the Mongolian alphabet to serve the Manchu language and to standardize administration and record-keeping across his realm.

Nurhaci directed campaigns against the Ming dynasty, expanding Jurchen control into Liaodong and surrounding regions. In 1616, he proclaimed the establishment of the Jin (Later Jin) dynasty and established Mukden (present-day Shenyang) as its capital. His leadership transformed the Jurchens into a centralized state capable of sustained military operations against China proper.

Nurhaci died in 1626 during a campaign in the northeast. He was succeeded by his son, Hong Taiji, who continued his conquests—the state would be renamed Qing in 1636 and eventually conquer all of China, ruling until 1912. Nurhaci’s reforms, particularly the Eight Banners and the Manchu script, remained central to Qing administration and identity.