INDEPENDENT REFERENCE · MANCHU LANGUAGE, HISTORY & CULTUREManchuCulture.net ↗
EXPLORE MORELearn ManchuManchu ScriptMing YeMain Website
Wiki › Qing History › Tiancong: Hong Taiji's Early Reign Era
ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRY   /   Qing History

Tiancong: Hong Taiji's Early Reign Era

English editorial translation of the Chinese source entry

Tiancong was the reign-era name used by Hong Taiji during the Later Jin period. Its first year corresponded to 1627. Following Nurhaci's death, Hong Taiji succeeded in 1626 and, as recorded in the second fascicle of the Draft History of Qing, ordered that the following year begin…

Written by MING YEQing HistoryManchuCulture Wiki
Source-based English editorial manuscript · Historical details subject to final source verification.

Overview

Tiancong was the reign-era name used by Hong Taiji during the Later Jin period. Its first year corresponded to 1627. Following Nurhaci's death, Hong Taiji succeeded in 1626 and, as recorded in the second fascicle of the Draft History of Qing, ordered that the following year begin the Tiancong era. The period encompassed warfare and negotiations with the Ming state, Korea, and Mongol groups, alongside continuing changes in Banner command, political deliberation, and documentary administration.

Historical Background

An important chronological transition occurred in 1636. The third fascicle of the Draft History records that in the fourth lunar month of that year Hong Taiji assumed an imperial title, adopted the dynastic name Great Qing, and inaugurated the Chongde era. Events falling before and after the change can consequently be labeled differently in contemporary records. It is misleading to describe every event in the Gregorian year 1636 unconditionally as occurring in “the tenth year of Tiancong.”

Sources and Interpretation

Clan genealogies commonly describe an ancestor as having submitted “during Tiancong.” This establishes the reign-period category assigned by the compiler, not a precisely dated act of submission. Nor does it establish that the family's Banner affiliation remained unchanged in subsequent generations. Accurate historical entries should distinguish reign title, contemporary state designation, individual event dates, and the later Banner status recorded by Qing compilers.

Sources and Bibliography

  1. Historical text at Wikisource
  2. Historical text at Wikisource

Links reproduce references supplied with the Chinese editorial manuscript; they do not establish that every individual statement has undergone independent archival verification.