Early Qing Coastal Evacuation Order

Timeline

1. 1656Beijing (Qing court center) · BeijingEmperor Shunzhi, on the advice of senior Qing officials, issued the coastal evacuation order, requiring residents of the southeast coast to relocate thirty to fifty li inland and strictly forbidding private seaborne trade, to sever supplies to Zheng Chenggong's anti-Qing forces.
2. 1656–1658Coastal Fujian and Guangdong · GuangdongOfficials in Fujian, Guangdong, and Zhejiang carried out the evacuation, forcibly relocating hundreds of thousands of coastal residents inland and burning houses, boats, and fields; coastal areas were rapidly abandoned, the economy devastated, and the population left destitute.
3. 1657–1660Fujian-Guangdong coast · Southeast China coastThe evacuation order partially cut off grain, personnel, and intelligence links between coastal residents and Zheng Chenggong's fleet, increasing the Zheng group's logistical pressure and objectively accelerating Zheng's strategic shift toward seeking Taiwan.