Introduction
The Manchus conquered the Ming dynasty after series of battle which started in April 1618, the leader of Munchurian region Jurchen issued several grievances against the regime of Ming dynasty. The grievances raised were of dire consequences and since the Ming leadership refused to address them, the Manchus leader, Nurhaci decided to declare himself the leader of Qing Dynasty. However, the battle started immediately on the northern border which resulted to several internal rebellion, famine as well as economic arrest which severally affected the Ming dynasty. Therefore, the Manchus defeated the Ming dynasty to take control of their territory to form Qing dynasty. In spite of its tiny numbers, the Manchus had a superior warrior, Ming dynasty had internal problems and the intermarriage between Manchus ‘s women and Ming soldiers who defeated to Manchus made Manchus to defeat Ming Dynasty. It allows the Manchus leader to understand the strategic operations of Ming dynasty and therefore, Ming could not defeat them on the battlefield. Manchus leader Nurhaci also applied divide and rule policy to conquer the Ming Dynasty.
In the early days, the Ming Dynasty was very strong until later in 1614 when it was involved in leadership tussle which made it weak. The leadership fight to inherit the leadership of Ming Dynasty weakened its military and also divided its warriors. According to Haw and Tonia (2009), WanLi wanted his third born son to inherit the leadership of the Empower and failure to achieve his wish made him to withdraw his support. This left the Ming Dynasty divided with shrinking military and economic prowess. The tussle for leadership position exposed the Dynasty and made other people from outside the Ming Dynasty to utilize the rift to penetrate their soldiers making military weak to fight the enemies. Therefore, when Manchus attacked the Ming Dynasty, there were several divisions with each group refusing to support the government in fighting the invaders. It therefore, made it possible for Manchus to capture Ming territory and establish Qing Dynasty easily without much resistance.
In order to assert his authority and conquered the Ming Dynasty, the Nurhaci, the leader of Manchus, applied divide and rule policy where he employed Mongolia to the Qing dynasty after defeating Ming Dynasty to allow to established a strong administration and rule the new dynasty without facing difficulty. As Stated by Zheng (2010), Manchus used leaders from the areas which he had conquered to administered services. Leaders from different religion groups such as Muslim and Buddhist were given position and therefore, it made it possible for Qing dynasty to be established without much resistance. Manchus leader Nurhaci strategically allocated resources and formed an inclusive government with other people who helped Manchus during the war to make sure that he faced minimal resistance within his territory as he engaged in fight with Ming Dynasty remaining soldiers.
Even though Manchus was a small territory with less population compared to Ming dynasty, it had superior warrior which made them to run over Ming dynasty’s army faster. According to (), the Manchus dynasty had numerous trainings which made them to be more prepared for the battle compared to Ming dynasty warriors. The Manchus leader Nurhaci sent young men to forest to get training as they gather fruits and hunt for food and in return they became highly skilled and could easily battle Ming warrior. Most soldiers who were fighting for Manchus were from Ming dynasty and therefore, they understand the streangth and weakness of Ming dynasty‘s soldier which gave them advantage and therefore, it made it possible for Manchus to win over several territories until it run over the leadership of dynasty. According to Haw and Tonia (2009), the defectors from Han Chinese formed a larger portion of Manchus soldiers and this gave Nurhaci advantage against the Ming Dynasty. Most Han soldiers adopted Manchus names and married their women to create confusing so that they could help the Manchus on gathering intelligent and fighting the Ming Dynasty to form Qing Dynasty. In order to establish a strong foundation and remain relevant for long,
Manchus lived in a Great Walls which covered their houses and therefore, it made it difficult for the Ming to penetrate the walls. This gave Manchus more advantages and therefore, they could resist any attack from their warriors and used the Chinese style of war to continue covering territories until they reach Beijing city. The fall of Beijing made it possible for the Manchus to establish Qing Dynasty (Spence & Wills, 1979.). The Manchus had a strategic advantage on the battlefield and they could easily drive away the Ming warriors to other locations. Besides having a well trained and united military, the Manchus leadership gathered information which could allow them launch strategic attack against the Ming weak and demoralized soldiers.
Most importantly, the corruption and mismanagement of the Ming dynasty left many people unhappy and divided. According to Haw and Tonia (2009), by 16000s the Ming dynasty had become so weak and corrupt and therefore, it could sustain battle with recharge Manchus which was determine to extend its territory. Manchus easily entered Ming dynasty and drove to Beijing. This gave Manchus power to defeat Ming and establish Qing Dynasty (Haw & Tonia, 2009). It is stated that because of corruption the people of Ming did not trust the regime and this made some of their soldier to pledge allergies to Manchus which assisted them in topple over the regime of Ming so that Qing could be established (Zheng, 2010).
The Manchus defeated the Ming Dynasty because by the time of the attack, the Ming Dynasty was suffering from several natural calamities which made it weak. The natural disaster hit the Ming territory as a punishment of bad ruling which made its people to suffer. According to Szczepanski (2017), the fiscal turmoil and Silk Road collapsed which made it impossible for trade to continue between them and the west. This led to the collapse of the trade which was a key economic activity for the region and therefore, it escalates the economic trouble resulting poverty hence several people got demoralized (Szczepanski, 2017). The Yellow River flooded a larger part of Chinese which made it impossible for the people to cultivate. It brought famine and other disease which made the people to lost trust on the leadership of Ming Dynasty and therefore, it made it possible for the regime to exist and by the time of invasion by the Manchus dynasty the people were ready to champion their destiny and start a new life.
In conclusion, the Manchus defeated the Ming Dynasty because of trouble which the leadership established over a long period. It is evidence that Ming Dynasty was weak and corrupt and this made many of its soldiers to defect to Manchus and helped the leadership of Manchus in stashing the Qing Dynasty with a promise of reward in the military. And because of superior warriors Manchus could easily fight Ming soldiers and take over their territories without much resistance. Finally, the fall of Beijing made it possible for Manchus to drive easily to Beijing to establish Qing Dynasty.
References
Haw, S., & Tonia, E. (2009). The Diary Of A Manchu Soldier In Seventeenth-Century China.
http://deepsky.com/~merovech/voynich/voynich_manchu_reference_materials/PDFs/sqsjzgygmzsbdrj.pdf , 4-45.
Spence, J., & Wills, J. ( 1979.). The Manchu-Chinese Relationship: 1618-1636. New York: Yale
University Press, , 13-45.
Szczepanski, K. (2017). The Fall of the Ming Dynasty in China, 1644.
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-fall-of-the-ming-dynasty-3956385 , 2-15.
Zheng, H. (2010). Snapshot of an Empire: The Manchus (Qing).
http://www.historyhaven.com/Manchu_snapshot.pdf , 5-15.
