Late Ming peasant rebellions | |||||||
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Part of the Ming-Qing transition | |||||||
![]() Late Ming peasant rebellions 1628–1636 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Various peasant rebels like the Shun and Xi dynasties | Ming dynasty | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Wang Jiayin Gao Yingxiang Li Zicheng Lao Huihui Luo Rucai Zhang Xianzhong |
Yang He Hong Chengchou Chen Qiyu Lu Xiangsheng Cao Wenzhao Cao Bianjiao Sun Chuanting Huang Degong Qin Liangyu Yang Sichang Ding Qirui Fu Zonglong You Shiwei | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
600,000+ | ~100,000 |
The late Ming peasant rebellions (Chinese: 明末民變) were a series of peasant revolts during the last decades of the Ming dynasty lasting from 1628 to 1644. They were primarily caused by natural disasters in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan. At the same time, the She-An Rebellion and Later Jin incursions forced the Ming government to cut funding for the postal service, which resulted in the mass unemployment of men in the provinces hit hard by natural disasters. Unable to cope with three major crises at the same time, the Ming dynasty collapsed in 1644.