Loyalty and Traitor Are Difficult to Judge: Hong Chengchou

Hong Chengchou (1593-1665), courtesy name Yanyan and nickname Hengjiu, was a native of Nan'an, Fujian. He was a Jinshi in the Wanli year of the Ming Dynasty, and once served as the chief envoy of Shaanxi Province and participated in politics. At that time, Chongzhen served as the governor of the three borders of Shaanxi, plus the prince's Taibao and the minister of the Ministry of War. He also oversaw the military affairs of Henan, Shan, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Hu. In the 14th year of Chongzhen's reign, as the Qing army invaded the capital of the Ming Dynasty, he was transferred to the governor of Jiliao. He led eight generals with 130,000 soldiers and 40,000 horses to aid Jinzhou. He fought with the Qing army in the Songshan area, was defeated, and was captured to Shenyang. Emperor Chongzhen built a temple for him and held preliminaries for him because he would die for his country. However, he was willing to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and join the Han army with a yellow flag. In the first year of Shunzhi, he entered the Pass from the Qing army and later became governor of military affairs and suppressed the anti-Qing rebels in the south of the Yangtze River. In the 10th year of Shunzhi, he was ordered to manage Huguang, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, and suppress the peasant uprising armies of various ministries. In the 16th year of Shunzhi, he captured Yunnan and returned to Beijing. He successively served as a bachelor of Wuyingdian and the manager of the five provinces. In the 18th year of Shunzhi, Emperor Kangxi resigned after ascending the throne. He died in the fourth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign and became "Wenxiang".