User:Madalibi/Shunzhi succession (draft)

The sudden death of Hung Taiji on September 9, 1643, confronted the fledgling Qing state with a serious crisis. (Manchu tradition: the best man succeeds, but Qing was poised on attacking the weakened Ming so couldn't afford civil war. Compromise: choose a young son of previous emperor, and a powerful regent. Effect: paternal descent as model for Qing imperial succession.)

The candidates
Manchu princes Dorgon, Dodo, and Ajige (all sons of Nurhaci from the same mother, and half-brothers of Hung Taiji), as well as Hung Taiji's eldest son Hooge, were all plausible contenders for succession to the imperial throne. Dorgon and Dodo controlled respectively the Plain White Banner and the Bordered White Banner, whereas Hooge had the loyalty of his father's two Yellow Banners.

The succession: a compromise
The decision about who would become the new Qing emperor fell to the Deliberative Council of Princes and Grand Ministers, which was the Manchus' main political body until the emergence of the Grand Council in the 1720s under the Yongzheng emperor. Many Manchu princes advocated that Dorgon, a proven military leader, should become the new emperor, but Dorgon refused and insisted that one of Hung Taiji's sons should succeed his father.

The decision to name five-year-old Fulin as the new emperor recognized the need to name a son of Hongtaiji as his successor, but also recognized Dorgon's authority by giving him the regency along with Jirgalang, a nephew of Nurhaci who controlled the Bordered Blue Banner.

One version of the succession says that Daisan, second son of Nurhaci and seniormost member of the Council, made the proposal to enthrone Fulin. Others see this plan as Dorgon's. A collectively written "General History of the Qing Dynasty" (in Chinese) even says that Jirgalang's choice as a co-regent was a subtle solution for Dorgon...