Information about Nurhaci

Nurhaci (Chinese: 努爾哈赤 [Nǔ'ěrhāchì] or 努爾哈齊 [Nǔ'ěrhāqí]; Manchu: ) is considered to be the founding father of the Manchu state in China. Nurhaci is also credited with ordering the creation of a written script for the Manchu language.

Nurhaci's organization of the Manchu people, his attacks on China's Ming Dynasty and Korea's Joseon Dynasty, and his conquest of China's northeastern Liaodong province, laid the groundwork for the conquest of China by the Qing Dynasty.

Nurhaci reigned from 1616 to his death on September 30, 1626.

Name and titles

Nurhaci is also known as the Taizu Emperor, Nurgaci, Nurhachi, or Nuerhachi. Nurhaci is written as in the Manchu language. Nurhaci was the last chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchens and First Khan of Later Jin. His title as khan was Geren gurun-be ujire genggiyen Han (“Brilliant Khan Who Benefits All Nations”). His reign name was Tiānming (天命) (Mongolian Tengri-in Süldetü, Тэнгэрийн Сүлдэт). He was given a posthumous name in 1736: Chengtian-guangyun-shengde-shengong-zhaozhi-liji-renxiao-ruiwu-duanyi-qin'an-hongwen-dingye Gao Emperor (承天廣運聖德神功肇紀立極仁孝睿武端毅欽安弘文定業高皇帝). His temple name was Tàizǔ (太祖).

Life

Nurhaci was born in 1558. Being a member of the Gioro clan of the Suksuhu River tribe, Nurhaci also claimed descent from Möngke Temür, a Mongol-Jurchen headman who lived some two centuries earlier. The Gioro family originated in present day North Korea. According to Chinese sources, the young man grew up as a soldier in the household of Li Chengliang in Fushun, where he learned Chinese. He named his clan Aisin Gioro around 1612, when he formally ascended the throne as Khan of Later Jin.

In 1582 his father Taksi and grandfather Giocangga were killed in an attack on Gure by a rival Jurchen chieftain Nikan Wailan while being led by the Ming Dynasty General Li Chengliang. The following year, Nurhaci began to unify the Jurchen bands; when he was 25, he beheaded Nikan Wailan at Tulin to avenge the deaths of his father and grandfather, who are said to have left him nothing but thirteen suits of armor.

In 1599, he had two of his translators, Erdeni Bagshi and Gagai Jarguchi, create the written Manchu language by adapting the Mongolian alphabet.

In 1606, he was granted the title of Kundulun Khan by the Mongols.

In 1616, Nurhaci declared himself Khan (King) and founded the Jin Dynasty (aisin gurun), often called the Later Jin. He constructed a palace at Mukden (present-day Shenyang) in Liaoning province. (The first Jin Dynasty of the twelfth century had also been formed by the Jurchen.) Jin was renamed Qing by his son Hong Taiji after his death, thus Nurhaci is usually referred to as the founder of the Qing Dynasty.

Only after he became Khan did he finally unify the Ula (clan of his consort Abahai, mentioned below) and the Yehe (clan of his consort Monggo, along with the last empress dowager Cixi, and many more consorts of Qing Emperors in between).

In 1618, Nurhaci commissioned a document entitled the Seven Great Vexations in which he enumerated seven grievances against the Ming and began to rebel against the Ming Dynasty. A majority of the grievances dealt with conflicts against Yehe, and Ming favorism of Yehe.

Nurhaci led many successful engagements against the Ming Dynasty, the Koreans, the Mongols, and other Jurchen clans, greatly enlarging the territory under his control. Finally in 1626 Nurhaci suffered the first serious military defeat of his life at the hands of the Ming general Yuan Chonghuan. Nurhaci was wounded by Yuan's Portuguese cannon (紅衣大炮) in a battle at Ningyuan. Unable to recover either physically or morally, he died 2 days later at a little town called De-A Man (靉福陵隆恩門) on September 30, at the age of 68. His tomb is located in the east of Shenyang.

Among the most lasting contributions that Nurhaci left his descendants was establishing the so-called Eight Banners, which would eventually form the backbone of the military that dominated the Qing empire. The status of Banners didn't change much over the course of Nurhaci's lifetime, nor in subsequent reigns, remaining mostly under the control of the royal family. The two elite Yellow Banners were consistently under Nurhaci's control. The two Blue Banners were controlled by Nurhaci's brother Surhaci until he died, at which point the Blue Banners were given to Surhaci's two sons. Nurhaci's eldest son controlled the White Banner for most of his father's reign - until he rebelled. Then the Striped White Banner was given to Nurhaci's grandson and the Plain White was given to his eighth son and heir, Huang Taiji. However, by the end of Nurhaci's reign, Huang Taiji controlled both White Banners. Finally, the Red Banner was run by Nurhaci's second son Daishan throughout his lifetime.

As noted, Nurhaci was succeeded by his eighth son, Huang Taiji. It is said Huang Taiji took the throne by coercing his father's consort Abahai to commit suicide, in order to block the succession of his younger brother Dorgon. The reason such intrigue was necessary is that Nurhaci had left the two elite Yellow Banners to Dorgun and DuDo, who were the sons of Abahai. Huang Taji exchanged control of his two White Banners for that of the two Yellow Banners, shifting their influence and power from his young brothers onto himself. At the same time, by forcing Abahai to suicide, he assured that there would be no one to support the 15-year-old Dorgun or 14-year-old DuDo.

Family

• father: Taksi (塔克世).
• grandfather: Giocangga (覺昌安).
• mother: Concubine of the Hitara clan (喜塔拉氏).
• brother (same mother): Surhaci (蘇爾哈吉).
• consorts:

1. Empress Xiao Ci Gao (孝慈高皇后) of the Yehe Nara clan (1575 - 1603).
2. Yuan Fei, Hahana Dajing (Qingya) (元妃, 哈哈納扎青) of the Tunggiya clan (? - 1685).
3. Lady Gundai (繼妃, 袞代) of the Fuca clan (? - 1621).
4. Lady Abahai (大妃, 阿巴亥) of the Ula Nara clan (1590 - 1626).

• children

1. Cuyen
2. Daišan
3. Abai
4. Tangguldai
5. Manggūltai
6. Tabai
7. Abatai
8. Huang Taiji
9. Babutai
10. Degelei
11. Babuhai
12. Ajige
13. Laimbu
14. Dorgon
15. Dodo
16. Fiyanggu

Primary sources

Information concerning Nurhaci can be found in later, propagandistic works such as the Manchu Veritable Records (in Chinese Manzhou Shilu 滿洲實錄, in Manchu the Yarkiyang Kooli.) Good contemporary sources are also available. For instance, much material concerning Nurhaci's rise is preserved within Korean sources such as the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty (Joseon Wangjo Sillok朝鮮王朝實錄), especially the Seonjo Sillok and the Gwanghaegun Ilgi. Indeed, the record of Sin Chung-il's trip to Jianzhou is preserved in the Seonjo Sillok.

The original Manchu language records from Nurhaci's reign also survive. A revised transcription of these records (with the dots and circles added to the script) was commissioned by the Qianlong emperor. This has been translated into Japanese, under the title Manbun roto, and Chinese, under the title Manwen laodang. A project is currently under way at Harvard to translate them into English, as the Old Manchu Chronicles.

Trivia

In the adventure film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, an urn containing the remains of Nurhaci was portrayed as stolen in 1935 by Indiana Jones who attempted to trade it for a diamond (Peacock's Eye, See Young Indiana Jones - Episode 20). This is a Western pop culture reference to a significant historical figure of the East.

A lengthy historical dramatization, Epic of Tai Zu, was released in 2005. It is the third part of the Mi Shi (Secret History) series directed by You Xiaogang.

Nurhachius, a pterosaur (flying reptile), was named for him in 2005.

Nurhaci House of Aisin-Gioro Born: 1558 Died: September 30 1626
Preceded by Taksi	Chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchens 1583-1616	Succeeded by Huang Taiji
Preceded by -	Khan of Later Jin 1616-1626