Zhang Xianzhong

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Zhang Xianzhong : biography

September 18, 1606 – January 2, 1647

The conquest of much of the rest of Sichuan was made easier after he announced to the locals that they would not be harmed if they seize their officials, take possession of the storehouse and surrender without resistance. He took Chengdu in September 9, 1644, and met no real opposition in the rest of Sichuan afterwards. He then set up court in Chengdu, which he renamed Xijing (西京, Western Capital), and declared himself king of the Daxi Dynasty (大西王朝, Great Western Dynasty).

Rule in Sichuan

In Sichuan he attempted to set up a civil administration and initially gained considerable support. According to an account by Gabriel de Magalhães, a Portuguese Jesuit who was working in Sichuan with another Jesuit Lodovico Buglio (but both pressed to serve as astronomers to Zhang), "he began his rule with such liberality, justice and magnificence by which he captivated all hearts that many mandarins, famous both in civic as in military affairs whom fear was keeping concealed, left their hideouts and flew to his side."

However, resistance to his rule did not cease, and Chongqing was retaken by Ming loyalists in the spring of 1645. Zhang then embarked on a campaign of terror, which was well under way by the middle of 1645, to stamp out the remaining resistance in Sichuan. In November 1645, according to de Magalhães, Zhang, after hearing that "a huge and powerful army was coming against him", announced that "the people of his kingdom had a secret pact with the enemy and planned an uprising; because of this he was determined to kill all, leaving not one person alive". The Jesuits, who now "understood the evil of this man", reported that while they managed to save a few of their people who were taken, the rest were killed. Zhang’s policy of terror increased in intensity, especially in 1646 after he had decided to abandon Sichuan. By then, Zhang’s government had virtually disintegrated, all but three of his principal officials had either committed suicide or were executed.

Death

The Manchus invaded China after the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, and established the Qing Dynasty. In 1646 they sent out a force under the leadership of Haoge to attack Zhang’s domain in Sichuan. In October 1646, Zhang decided to abandon Sichuan, and headed towards his homeland in Shaanxi. However, the Qing army was also approaching from Shaanxi, and in January 1647, Zhang and the Qing forces met in Xichong where Zhang had set up camp, and he was killed in the confrontation. According to one account, he was betrayed by one of his officers, a native of Sichuan who resented his policy of terror in Sichuan. He pointed Zhang out to the Manchus when Zhang rushed out from his tent on learning of the betrayal, and he was then shot and killed by a skilled Manchu archer.

Aftermath

Before he abandoned Sichuan, Zhang divided his forces into four divisions, each led by one of his four generals (Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi) who were to operate independently should anything happen to him. These remnants of the his army, as well as Ming loyalists, held out in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou after Zhang’s death, and most of Sichuan did not come under control of the Manchus until a dozen years or so later, and fighting only finally ended in eastern Sichuan in 1664.

Resettlement of Sichuan

In order to fill up the depopulated regions of Sichuan, a massive resettlement program was initiated, starting around 1670 and 1671 and lasted more than two centuries during the Qing Dynasty, whereby millions of people from Hubei, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Shaanxi and other provinces were resettled in Sichuan. A large number of the migrants came from Huguang (now Hubei/Hunan), and the migration was therefore described by 19th century scholar Wei Yuan as "Huguang fill Sichuan" (湖廣填四川), and this migration in turn triggered another massive resettlement: "Jiangxi fill Huguang" (江西填湖廣). By 1720s, 70-80% of the population of Sichuan was reportedly non-native, and as much as 85% a century later.