Shunzhi Emperor

Shunzhi Emperor 順治帝
17th century portrait
Emperor of the Qing dynasty
Reign	8 October 1643 – 5 February 1661
Predecessor	Hong Taiji
Successor	Kangxi Emperor
Regents	Dorgon (1643–1650) Jirgalang (1643–1647)
Emperor of China
Reign	1644–1661
Predecessor	Chongzhen Emperor (Ming dynasty)
Successor	Kangxi Emperor
Born	(1638-03-15)15 March 1638 (崇德三年 正月 三十日) Yongfu Palace, Mukden Palace, Mukden
Died	5 February 1661(1661-02-05) (aged 22) (順治十八年 正月 七日) Yangxin Hall, Forbidden City, Beijing
Burial	Xiao Mausoleum, Eastern Qing tombs
Consorts	Consort Jing ​ ​ (m. 1651; dep. 1653)​ Empress Xiaohuizhang ​ ​ (m. 1654)​ Empress Xiaoxian ​ ​ (m. 1656; died 1660)​ Empress Xiaokangzhang ​ ​ (m. 1653)​
Issue	Fuquan, Prince Yuxian of the First Rank Kangxi Emperor Changning, Prince Gong of the First Rank Lunghi, Prince Chunjing of the First Rank Princess Gongque of the Second Rank
Names Aisin-Gioro Fulin (愛新覺羅·福臨) Manchu: Fulin (ᡶᡠᠯᡳᠨ) Era dates Shunzhi (順治): 8 February 1644 – 17 February 1662 Manchu: Ijishūn dasan (ᡳᠵᡳᠰᡥᡡᠨ ᡩᠠᠰᠠᠨ) Mongolian: Эеэр засагч (ᠡᠶᠡᠪᠡᠷᠭᠦᠦ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠭᠴᠢ) Posthumous name Emperor Titian Longyun Dingtong Jianji Yingrui Qinwen Xianwu Dahe Honggong Zhiren Chunxiao Zhang (體天隆運定統建極英睿欽文顯武大德弘功至仁純孝章皇帝) Manchu: Eldembuhe hūwangdi (ᡝᠯᡩᡝᠮᠪᡠᡥᡝ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡩᡳ) Temple name Shizu (世祖) Manchu: Šidzu (ᡧᡳᡯᡠ)
House	Aisin-Gioro
Dynasty	Qing
Father	Hong Taiji
Mother	Empress Xiaozhuangwen

This article contains Manchu text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Manchu alphabet.

The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizu of Qing, personal name Fulin, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper. Upon the death of his father Hong Taiji, a committee of Manchu princes chose the 5-year-old Fulin as successor. The princes also appointed two co-regents: Dorgon, the 14th son of Nurhaci, and Jirgalang, one of Nurhaci's nephews, both of whom were members of the Qing imperial clan. In November 1644, the Shunzhi Emperor was enthroned as emperor of China in Beijing.

From 1643 to 1650, political power lay mostly in the hands of the prince regent Dorgon. Under his leadership, the Qing conquered most of the territory of the fallen Ming dynasty, chased Ming loyalist regimes deep into the southwestern provinces, and established the basis of Qing rule over China proper despite highly unpopular policies such as the "hair cutting command" of 1645, which forced all Qing male subjects to shave their forehead and braid their remaining hair into a queue resembling that of the Manchus. After Dorgon's death on the last day of 1650, the young Shunzhi Emperor started to rule personally. He tried, with mixed success, to fight corruption and to reduce the political influence of the Manchu nobility. In the 1650s, he faced a resurgence of Ming loyalist resistance, but by 1661 his armies had defeated the Qing's last enemies, Koxinga and the Prince of Gui, both of whom would succumb the following year.

The Shunzhi Emperor died at the age of 22 of smallpox, a highly contagious disease that was endemic in China, but against which the Manchus had no immunity. He was succeeded by his third son who assumed the throne as the Kangxi Emperor and went on to reign for sixty years. Because fewer documents have survived from the Shunzhi era than from later eras of the Qing dynasty, this era is a relatively little-known period of Qing history.