The peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, also known as the peasant war, the uprising in the late Ming Dynasty and the uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, broke out in the northern Shaanxi uprising in the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627) and ended completely in the thirteenth year of Kangxi (1664). It was the peasant war led by Li Zicheng and others. As a result, the peasant uprising failed and the Ming Dynasty perished.
Historical evaluation
front
The peasant war in the late Ming Dynasty was the longest, largest, sharpest and most far-reaching peasant war in the ancient history of China.
The most typical tactic of peasant war in the late Ming Dynasty was mobile warfare, which had great advantages. The rebel army moved at the wind and was inseparable, which made the Ming army exhausted. Although the Ming army is superior in number, it is often defeated because of the contradiction between the governor and the military attache, the political and military corruption, and the army has no fighting capacity. In specific battles, it is often only a fraction of the rebel army.
The peasant army used proper strategies, Mianchi broke through and completed the strategic shift. Later, from mobile warfare to positional warfare, we avoided unfavorable conditions and turned passivity into initiative. The rebel army has strict military discipline and strong fighting capacity, which is in sharp contrast with the Ming army.
After 1949, the traditional view of mainland history holds that the peasant revolution led by Li Zicheng dealt a heavy blow to the landlord class; Restrain the development of highly concentrated land and relax the personal attachment of farmers to the landlord class; The slogan of "equal farmland" put forward in the uprising is a new development of the peasant war since the Tang and Song Dynasties, which directly touches the feudal land ownership system. This is the first time in the history of the peasant war in China, which indicates that the peasant war in the feudal society of China has entered a new historical stage. The peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty wrote a glorious page in the history of the people's revolutionary struggle in China.
negative side
Slogan nothingness
The peasant army spread the slogan of "eat his mother, wear his mother, open the door to meet the king, and the king will not accept food when he comes." This extreme egalitarianism and anarchism slogan of "free food for all fields" can only further lead to military looting and reimbursement by Dashun to raise military expenses, so that on the way to Beijing, especially after Beijing, politicians, dignitaries, wealthy businessmen and gentlemen of the Ming Dynasty were severely tortured and blackmailed.
However, the peasant army's slogan of land equalization did not reflect the peasants' demand for land, but only demanded that taxes be reduced. The peasant army's policy of "cutting the rich to help the poor" also "does not mean that the peasant class redistributes the land of feudal landlords", but divides the "movable property" of the landlord class and takes the movable property of the landlord to help the poor respectively.
Whether the peasant army can consciously and actively put forward the question of denying feudal land ownership as the basis of feudal rule in the armed struggle in the late Ming Dynasty has always been worthy of future generations' attention. In the early 1960s, historians discussed the slogan of "land equalization system" of the peasant army in the late Ming Dynasty. Some scholars doubt whether the peasant army put forward the slogan of "equal farmland" in the late Ming Dynasty, let alone put it into practice because of the influence of the current situation.
Therefore, in addition to inspiring and appealing to the people in wartime, the simple slogan of "even farmland and free grain" still needs serious consideration, and the implementation of "even farmland and free grain" cannot be over-idealized.
Crime is rampant
Some scholars pointed out that the peasant army was forced to make a living and resisted tyranny, which is commendable. However, some documents also point out that the burning, killing and looting of the peasant army are more heinous than the official army. Although the history written by the feudal ruling class slandered the peasant army, it cannot hide the fact that the peasant army did evil in various places under the banner of resisting the government.
For example, Zhang Zhongxian practiced tyranny in Sichuan and other places, killing countless cities and almost killing Sichuanese; And the so-called disciplined Li Zicheng, in Wuguan massacre; Where it passes, "where there is wealth, it will be broken;" The house of clothes is restless, and the dead are everywhere after five consecutive sentences. " The victims of the massacre after his attack on Yanshi were mostly ordinary people.
Where the peasant army passed, the royal family, princes and county kings of the Ming Dynasty were doomed. The most magnificent Wang Fu Palace in all parts of the country was almost destroyed in the continuous national war. Bian Jiang, the commander-in-chief of Taiyuan in the Ming Dynasty, personally heard that the peasant army "plundered, burned and killed, and was extremely vicious, especially Zong Fan"; "The surname of Yun (now Datong, Shanxi Province) is about 4,000, and the thief occupied six days, and the slaughter will be exhausted ..." The Tale of Southern Xinjiang also said: "In the Ming Dynasty, the heaven was dim, and the disaster of sacrifice was rampant, and the slaughter was endless. "
Wherever the peasant army goes, it kills the royal family first. From the 14th year to the 17th year of Chongzhen, dozens of dignitaries such as Axe King, Tang Wang, Chong Wang, Wang Min, Dai Wangshu, Shu Wang and Wang Chu were killed by the peasant army. As for the county kings and generals, countless people were killed. In this way, millions of royal families in the Ming Dynasty were brutally extinct.
For example, in Shanxi, the peasant army killed more than 300 Wangs in Xihe in Pingyang, more than 400 Wangs in Taiyuan, more than 1,000 middle and lower clans, and more than 4,000 Wangs in Datong. According to statistics, Li Zicheng killed more than 10,000 descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang in Shanxi alone. Shanxi is just a microcosm. In fact, although Li Zicheng is famous for not killing indiscriminately, he fought in front of soldiers, and the royal family of the Ming Dynasty rarely survived.
When Luoyang was conquered, Zhu mixed deer blood with wine and named it "Fulu wine" and drank it to his heart's content. In Xiangyang, Zhang captured Xiang Wang alive. Although he knelt down and begged for a living, Zhang never spared his family. In Wuchang, Zhang and Chu Wang Zhu Huakui were captured alive and sank in the West Lake, and nearly a thousand palaces and castles of Chu Wang were also set on fire. Zhang captured Changde and the imperial clan was killed. Conquered Chongqing and killed Zhu Changhao, king of Shu, and his family. ...
During the war in the late Ming Dynasty, the death rate of the royal family also reached the highest in all social strata. One of the greatest characteristics of the rebel army in the late Ming Dynasty was its firmness and thoroughness. As long as they are descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang, whether they surrender voluntarily or are captured passively, whether they don't kneel down or struggle for survival, whether they refuse to give up the location of the treasure or give all their wealth happily, the result is the same: they will all be destroyed.
In history books, the words "Jin", "Jing" and "clan" are all used to describe the experience behind enemy lines. Historians concluded: "All branches of the palace, regardless of obedience, regardless of the military and civilians, are all surnamed Zhu, and they are all killed. The squire in the city has no class. "
In ancient history books, all kinds of folk events are recorded as "thieves". After 1949, historians have adopted the basic principles of Marxist theory of class struggle in many aspects of history. After putting the "peasant uprising" in the supreme position, they have understood all "thieves" as "uprisings". In fact, many of these thieves gathered and plundered in peacetime, which was extremely destructive and there was no "uprising" plan.