Shunzhi

The Shunzhi Emperor (1638–1661) was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty and the first to rule over all of China proper. Born Aisin Gioro Fulin, he ascended the throne in 1643 at the age of five after the death of his father, Hong Taiji. Because of his youth, real power initially rested with a regency led by the Prince Regent Dorgon; the court was based in the Qing capital at Shenyang and later in Beijing after the Ming capital was captured in 1644. Dorgon’s regency lasted until his death in 1650, after which Shunzhi gradually assumed personal control of government and policy.

During his reign, Qing administration expanded beyond Manchu military power to include Han Chinese institutions. He supported the restoration of the traditional Chinese civil service examination and sought to legitimize Qing rule by incorporating Confucian ritual and bureaucratic norms. The regime also dealt with frontier politics—interacting with Mongol polities, managing relations with Ming loyalists, and consolidating control over newly acquired territories in northern China and the surrounding region. Economic and construction projects, as well as cultural patronage, characterized the period, though political power remained heavily centered on the imperial court and the regent’s circle in the early years.

Shunzhi died in 1661, and his son Xuanye ascended to the throne as the Kangxi Emperor. The Shunzhi era thus marked the transition from a regency under Dorgon to direct imperial rule and laid the foundations for Qing governance in China proper that would be built upon by Kangxi and later emperors.