Southern Ming Regimes

Timeline

1. 1644–1645Nanjing · East ChinaAfter the fall of the Ming in 1644, the Prince of Fu, Zhu Yousong, ascended the throne in Nanjing under the era name Hongguang, rebuilding the Ming administrative system with Nanjing as capital. The Hongguang regime controlled the vast region south of the Huai and Yangtze, but factional strife and military disarray left it to collapse rapidly after Qing forces advanced south in 1645.
2. 1645–1646Fuzhou—Guangzhou · SoutheastAfter the fall of Hongguang, the Prince of Tang, Zhu Yujian, proclaimed himself emperor in Fuzhou under the era name Longwu, while the Prince of Gui, Zhu Youlang, took the throne in Guangzhou the same year under the era name Shaowu; the two regimes briefly coexisted amid constant internal strife. In 1646 Qing forces destroyed Longwu and Shaowu respectively, and the Southern Ming's center of gravity shifted to the southwest.
3. 1646–1650Guangxi—Yunnan—Guizhou · SouthwestAfter the Yongli Emperor Zhu Youlang took the throne, he relied on southwestern forces under Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang to contend with the Qing army over a long period. Around 1650 the Southern Ming still held considerable military strength in the southwest and coordinated with Zhang Huangyan's loyalist forces in the southeast, becoming the most enduring political opponent in the early Qing wars of unification.