1Dorgon, Manchu prince and regent, fourteenth son of Nurhaci, architect of the Qing conquest of China and regent for the child Shunzhi Emperor 1643–1650
Manchu prince, a son of Nurhaci, who led the Qing army through 山海关 to take Beijing in 1644, then ruled as regent for his young nephew, the Shunzhi Emperor. A familiar figure in Qing palace dramas.
Dorgon was the regent prince in the early Qing dynasty.
Tips
history
His Manchu name Dorgon means 'badger'; 多尔衮 only copies its sound. A year after his death the 顺治 Emperor stripped his titles and had his tomb dug up, and only in 1778 did the 乾隆 Emperor restore him as 睿亲王.
culture
Fiction often makes him the lover of 孝庄, the Shunzhi Emperor's mother. Whether she really married him, the rumour known as 太后下嫁, 'the empress dowager marries beneath her', is still argued; some historians call it a smear spread by Han Chinese at the time.
