Until quite recently, most students of Chinese history tended to regard the last twenty-five years of Ming rule as little more than another production of the old drama of dynastic decline and ultimate collapse that had been performed many times before. Yet to view the T'ai-ch'ang (28 August–26 September 1620), T'ien-ch'i (10 October 1620–30 September 1627), and Ch'ung-chen (2 October 1627–24 April 1644) reigns simply in terms of what is known about the end of the Han, T'ang, or Sung dynasties is to ignore much that is unique and significant about them, for in crucial aspects of economic, social, cultural, and political life, China during the first half of the seventeenth century was a vastly different country from that of previous ages. The changes that had occurred in Chinese society even since the beginning of the sixteenth century were of fundamental importance not only to the period under consideration here, but also to the subsequent development of Chinese civilization. Thus any attempts to pass over late Ming history with facile references to the inexorable workings of the dynastic cycle should be quickly and firmly rejected.

Yet the Ming empire was conquered during the 1640s by vastly outnumbered Manchu invaders and their allies, and one of the purposes of this chapter must be to explore how this momentous military and political event came about. Unfortunately, such an exploration must contend with obstacles that at times seem insurmountable. First, there is the sheer size and diversity of Ming China.