Tian Xiong

Surrender and military appointments

Tian Xiong, a native of Xuanhua in Zhili, was a commander whose career crossed the Ming–Qing transition. Originally a Ming regional commander (zongbing), he and Ma Degong handed the Southern Ming Hongguang emperor, Zhu Yousong, over to Qing forces in 1645, as the Qing armies advanced through Jiangnan and the Hongguang regime collapsed. Tian was subsequently appointed regional commander at Hangzhou. The episode belongs both to the history of an individual's transfer of allegiance and to the political disintegration of a Southern Ming court.

In 1646 Tian became provincial military commander (tidu) of Zhejiang. Under the overall authority of the governor-general Zhang Cunren, he took part in operations along the Zhejiang coast and toward the Zhoushan islands. A governor-general's coordinating authority over regional military and civil matters should not be confused with the tidu's primarily military responsibilities. Tian's opponents included forces associated with the Prince of Lu and the Zheng network, whose campaigns need to be distinguished by time and locality.

Banner registration and hereditary reward

In 1658 Tian petitioned to be incorporated into the Han-martial-banner Bordered Yellow Banner. This was a documented change late in his career, not a banner affiliation that can be assumed from birth. He received a second-class marquisate in 1661, died in 1663, and received the posthumous name Yiyong. An additional honorific, Shunyi, was attached to his noble title in 1749. Banner affiliation, provincial command, and hereditary nobility were separate institutions; inheritance of his marquisate did not mean that his descendants automatically became commanders in Zhejiang.