In 1652, the Qing army marched south to attack the Southern Ming Dynasty, and the only Han princess of the Manchu Dynasty was born. This battle not only changed the political map of the time, but also witnessed a magnificent history. In that year, Li Dingguo, the last famous general of the Ming Dynasty, turned the tide and defeated the Qing army of Kong Youde, the old department of the Ming Dynasty, in the Battle of Guilin. Although the war is cool, it also gives birth to a life legend of ups and downs. Kong Sizhen, the daughter of Kong Youde, hung by a thread in this battle, and was eventually rescued and cherished by the Qing court. But what exactly was her life experience like? What happened to this unique Han princess?
1. The role of the overthrow of the Southern Ming Dynasty
In 1644, Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army captured Beijing, and the Ming Dynasty was overthrown. At the same time, Wu Sangui, the general stationed in Ningyuan, led his army to surrender to Manchuria, opening the door for the Qing army to cross the 38th parallel. The Ming Dynasty was officially overthrown, and the 276-year-old dynasty came to an end.
However, the remnants of the Ming dynasty did not stop there, and they established themselves as kings in various parts of the south to resist the rule of the emerging Qing regime. Among them, the largest and longest-lasting was the "Southern Ming" regime established by the Ming dynasty in Nanjing. From the restoration of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing in 1644 by Zhu Yousong, the Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, to the defeat of Zhu Youlang, the Yongli Emperor in Kunming, in 1662, this anti-Qing regime existed for nearly 20 years.
In the face of the stubborn resistance of the Southern Ming regime, the Qing army decided to adopt a strategy of all-out offensive. In 1652, the Qing army gathered a large army and launched a general attack on the Southern Ming Dynasty from two main routes. One route was led by Kong Youde, the new traitor warlord of the Qing Dynasty, who set off from Guilin and went straight to the area of the Nanming base camp. The other road was personally led by Wu Sangui, starting from Leshan, Sichuan, and the troops marched in two ways.
Seeing that the enemy was pressing, the Southern Ming court also set up its last troops to fight. Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang and other Ming Dynasty generals led the troops to wait for the battle. Among them, Li Dingguo, who has experienced a hundred battles and is eloquent, was entrusted with an important task and divided his troops into two ways to resist the Qing army. The northern route led by Liu Wenxiu and others led the Ming army to resist Wu Sangui's army; The East Road was personally commanded by Li Dingguo, and went straight to Quanzhou, Guangxi, cutting off Kong Youde's warlord base.
In order to ensure victory, the young Li Dingguo personally enacted five articles of military law, warning officers and men to strictly observe military discipline and fulfill their duties. These five military orders include not harming the lives of soldiers, not encroaching on the people, not looting property, not destroying farmland, and not burning houses. The entire Nanming army was uplifted and their fighting spirit was high.
In May 1652, Liu Wenxiu's Northern Route Army was the first to attack, linking Kezhijiang, Jingxian and Wugang. Shen Yongzhong's troops stationed in Hunan were in chaos and could only turn to Kong Youde for help. Upon learning of this letter, Kong Youde panicked and ordered the Qing army originally stationed in Guilin to reinforce the Hunan front.
Li Dingguo, who had a unique vision, realized that Kong Youde would inevitably expose his emptiness, so he made a quick decision, and the pro-unification army rushed to Shaoyang, setting up a huge elephant array to meet the enemy. Sure enough, the Qing army arrived in a hurry, and was shocked when they saw this, and they had no power to fight back. Li Dingguo's Ming army pursued the victory, opened a killing spree, and almost completely wiped out the Qing army. Just when Kong Youde arrived in embarrassment, Shaoyang was already in a mess.
Kong Youde, who had lost the foundation of Hunan, was now no longer protected, and Li Dingguo took advantage of the victory to pursue, and his troops were divided into three routes, and he set up a large number of elephant herd battle formations to attack Guilin for the first time. All the way, Ma Lianke Quanzhou, Yanguan and other places, forced Kong Youde's Qing army into a lonely city.
Until the seventh lunar month, Kong Youde personally led the remnants to break through the siege, but was fiercely counterattacked by Li Dingguo's elephant herd. The influx of elephants was enough to make the horses flee in convulsion, and the Qing army lost all their formation. Finally, Kong Youde died of self-immolation with hatred, and Guilin was also captured by the Ming army. Tens of thousands of Kong family members also died, but the youngest daughter Kong Sizhen lived alone with bravery.
Second, the body of the daughter in the smoke of war
The defeat of Kong Youde, the king of Dingnan of the Qing army, in the battle of Guilin not only meant that the Southern Ming Dynasty won a precious respite in this defensive battle, but also opened a long and bumpy life road for a special daughter. She is Kong Youde's youngest daughter Kong Sizhen.
Kong Sizhen was born in 1635 and came from an extraordinary family. Her father, Kong Youde, was originally a general of the Ming Dynasty, and once followed the Ming army to garrison Mao Wenlong in Guangxi. Until 1647, after Mao Wenlong died in battle, Kong Youde decided to cross the sea with a firearms team to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, adding powerful firepower to the Qing army on the battlefield. With this merit, Kong Youde was awarded the title of "King of Dingnan" and was entrusted with the important task of commanding the Qing army to conquer the south.
When he was a child, Kong Sizhen was once accepted as a righteous daughter by Wu Sangui, and followed him to learn archery, cavalry and other martial arts before the battle. As she grew older, she also followed her father to fight in the north and south, and witnessed the tragic battles of that year. In 1652, at the critical moment when the Qing army marched south to attack Nanming, his father Kong Youde ordered his subordinates to be escorted to Guilin, Guangxi, preparing to fight Nanming to the end.
In this pivotal decisive battle of Guilin, 17-year-old Kong Sizhen experienced life and death. At first, the Qing army was able to attack the city, and she and her family were able to live in the city. But soon, Li Dingguo's Ming army relied on the advantage of surprise attacks and the shock of the elephant battle array to surround Kong Youde's troops. The men and horses in the city were gradually cut off from all supply lines and fell into a desperate situation.
As the onslaught of the Ming army intensified, the defense of the city could not be sustained. Kong Youde had to personally lead the remnants to break through to the death in an attempt to reverse the situation. But at this critical moment, he was unfortunately shot in the forehead by the Ming army and was seriously injured. Before dying, Kong Youde burned all the wealth of his family, and killed his little wife, and finally died by self-immolation.
In the face of the Qing army's successive defeats, the defenders in the city were all panicked. Some eyewitnesses recalled that the city was in flames, smoke and dust, and screams were incessant. The family members were also dragged to the streets by the Qing army for execution, and the massacres were numerous and numerous. In this killing, Kong Sizhen's life hung by a thread, and with extraordinary courage and luck, he finally escaped from the encirclement.
Seeing the tragic situation of the city's broken relatives being killed, Kong Sizhen was even more physically and mentally exhausted. Fortunately, a well-meaning Ming soldier took her away from the battlefield and escorted her to a safe place away from the front line. Since then, this orphan of the Qing Dynasty who experienced the disaster of war has started a life of exile.
3. The life of being pampered by those in power
Fate seems to have a higher arrangement for Kong Sizhen. Despite her personal experience of the Guilin tragedy, she eventually escaped the killing and became the only Han Gege in the Qing court.
After successfully breaking through, Kong Sizhen once lived in exile and lived a turbulent life. It was not until 1656 that Li Dingguo finally captured Quanzhou and completely purged the remnants of Kong Youde. Wu Sangui, the commander of the Qing army, personally led his troops to conquer, but was unexpectedly counterattacked by the Ming army and was forced to retreat. It was during this battle that Wu Sangui found Kong Sizhen, who was besieged.
Out of sympathy and intention to suppress the Southern Ming Yu Party, Wu Sangui took Kong Sizhen to Yunnan to accept the arrangements of the upper echelons. At that time, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was already in charge of the country by the regent of Dolgon, and once Kong Sizhen was discovered by the upper echelons of the Qing Dynasty, he received great courtesy and attention.
In 1657, Kong Sizhen was named "Heshuo Gege", becoming the only Han princess in the court. According to the rules of the time, Gege was an honorific title for Mongolian aristocratic women, who were often valued and educated in the palace. Although he was born in Han, Kong Sizhen still got the treatment of Gege.
After entering the Forbidden City, Kong Sizhen was like an uncarved piece of jade, and was gradually built into a lady of noble people. She not only learned the basic subjects of Manchu, Chinese and female red, but also received many further Confucian students, and dabbled in rich fields such as poetry and praise, music and etiquette. Three years later, she was a virtuous lady full of talent and a good reader.
In 1660, Kong Sizhen completed his high rank, and officially entered the palace as Gege after being appreciated. Soon, Dolgon instructed her to marry her to Sun Yanling, who had been a concubine, and from then on lived a court life of fine clothes and fine food. As a descendant of an extremely rare official eunuch family in the Qing Dynasty, Sun Yanling's bloodline cannot be underestimated, and they seem to be a good match when they become husband and wife. As a result, Kong Sizhen married into this family as a Han Gege and started a new chapter in his life.
From a war-stricken refugee to being pampered and becoming a Gege, Kong Sizhen's experience is legendary. She was originally a victim of the Qing army's war, but she finally became the pearl of the Qing family. Dolgon and other authorities not only valued her Han background, but also hoped to take this survivor who had experienced the disaster of the Southern Ming War as a unique presence in the palace.
Fourth, the bumpy fate under the autocratic rule of the Qing court
After entering the court, Kong Sizhen, a Han Gege, lived a rich and noble life, but it was also followed by various obstacles and ups and downs under the autocratic rule of the Qing Dynasty.
At the beginning, Kong Sizhen was indeed favored and valued by the upper echelons of the Manchurians. As a survivor of the war, she not only witnessed the fall of the Nanming Dynasty, but also witnessed the eradication of the remnants of the Southern Ming Dynasty by the Qing Dynasty. This unique experience brought her to the attention of the palace and was seen as a powerful proof of the majesty of the Qing Dynasty to the Han Chinese masses.
In 1662, the 26-year-old Kong Sizhen finally married Sun Yanling, a noble relative of the family. In the Forbidden City, their wedding was so grand that even the emperor himself celebrated it. Soon after, Kong Sizhen became pregnant and is expected to add a descendant to the palace. For a while, the entire Forbidden City was excited, from the court to the people, all looking forward to the pregnant woman giving birth to the royal descendant.
However, the good times were short-lived, and with the accession to power of the Shunzhi Emperor, who was keen on autocratic rule, the Qing court's attitude towards the Han people gradually became harsh. As a Gege from the Han nationality, Kong Sizhen bore the brunt of the cold reception and exclusion of the Qing court.
In 1664, Emperor Shunzhi promulgated a new policy, strictly ordering all Han concubines and palace maids in the harem of the Qing Dynasty to be dismissed from their posts and confiscated into the army. Although Kong Sizhen has a high status as a Gege, he cannot escape this fate. Soon after, she was forced to leave the Forbidden City and separated from her husband, Sun Yanling.
After leaving the court, Kong Sizhen lived in poverty for a while and lived a life under the fence. Fortunately, she was successful in palace school, and her talents in poetry and song were quite outstanding, so she was still able to make a living from it. In the years that followed, she traveled from place to place, living a life of exile.
It is worth mentioning that when escaping the Forbidden City, Kong Sizhen was pregnant. It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, the baby died in childbirth, and she never gave birth to a descendant. Since then, her life has become more and more difficult, and she is often tormented by poverty.
Especially after the 1670s, the Qing Dynasty's campaign to eradicate the remnants of the party became increasingly fierce, and the social order collapsed during the turbulent years of the outbreak of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories. As a Han Chinese, she was suspected and discriminated against, and some people sometimes cracked down on her as a "traitor". In order to survive, Kong Sizhen had to flee everywhere, hide his identity, and live a life of униң.
Once beautiful, she eventually became a beggar, knocking on the streets to make ends meet. However, the most difficult moment seems to have not yet come, and as the years pass, another catastrophe is coming upon her......
Fifth, the bumpy road to survival in the midst of external and internal strife
Entering the 1670s, Kong Sizhen, an orphan of the Han nationality, fell into the whirlpool of life again. This time, it was not only the rejection of the Qing Dynasty rulers that brought her great disaster, but also the armed invasion from foreign tribes.
In 1673, the terrible news came from the northwest border: the quasi-tribal Heshuo Governor Kuo'er was transferred to the command of Emperor Kangxi, and led the tribe to enter the Naturalization City. Since then, they have harassed, burned, killed and plundered in the Shaanxi and Gansu areas, triggering a war that affected the Central Plains.
Kong Sizhen, who was over half a hundred years old, was living in the Guanzhong area of Shaanxi Province at that time, living by begging. The sudden invasion of foreign tribes brought unprecedented turmoil and threats to her life. In order to survive, she had to hide everywhere, leaving her homeland, and barely making ends meet while fleeing.
Seeing the continuous wars in various places, Kong Sizhen decided to leave his homeland. After a bumpy ride, she finally reached the northeast in 1675, far from the war-torn Rehe area. But who would have thought that the hope of living and working in peace and contentment was a dream after all. Shortly after she first settled down, the Rehe region was once again in the scourge of war.
In the spring of 1675, the Qing ruling group sent troops on a major northern expedition in order to suppress the harassment of the Mongols in Hurkhan, Korea. The Qing army, commanded by Emperor Kangxi himself, captured Rehe that year and wiped out the power of the local Mongol tribes. Kong Sizhen saw the war returning, and was displaced again.
Sadly, on the way to escape, Kong Sizhen was looted and beaten for no reason by the exile army, and was seriously injured. It was not until 1677 that she struggled to settle in Shanxi after the haze of war. For more than ten years, she lived a bumpy and displaced life, traveling to Shanxi, Hebei, Henan and other places.
During this time, Kong Sizhen tried to regain her former female celebrity skills and made a living by teaching poetry. However, due to her advanced age and the change of her family's poverty, her life has been in a state of poverty. Especially after the outbreak of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories in 1683, social unrest intensified, and there were many displaced people, and there were many wars. Under these circumstances, Kong Sizhen was often ravaged by plundering and unprovoked beatings.
Thankfully, despite the hardships of life, she has always maintained her humble and simple nature. Whether he is rich in the court or poor among the people, this Han Gege never puts on a grand attitude. On the contrary, she was always grateful and never despised Corporal Lixian. Perhaps it is this humble character that allows her to meet good karma in turbulent times and receive support and care from her neighbors.
It wasn't until he stopped in Shanxi in 1695 that the 64-year-old Kong Sizhen was able to take a breather. In the following ten years, she began to look back on her ups and downs and recorded them all, which became a valuable historical material for future generations to understand the chaotic years.