November 8, 1644

Shunzhi Emperor

The Shunzhi Emperor's Beijing enthronement

The court waited for a jiazi day — the first of a new sixty-day cycle — to enthrone a six-year-old in Beijing and name the fallen Ming capital its own.

8 November 1644: an auspicious day chosen in Beijing

A formal imperial enthronement for the young Shunzhi Emperor was held in Beijing on 8 November 1644, an auspicious jiazi day beginning a new sexagenary cycle.

It was his second enthronement rather than his accession. He had already been enthroned at Mukden on 8 October 1643, and the Shunzhi era had begun with the lunar new year in February 1644.

The proclamation on yellow paper

The emperor issued an ascension proclamation asserting Qing sovereignty and naming Beijing as the dynasty's capital.

The surviving document is black ink on yellow paper and written only in Chinese, not in the Qing court's usual multilingual format. Feng Quan, a ritual expert and former Ming official, helped orchestrate the ascension using established Chinese court ritual.

The regent in the room

The emperor was six years old by Western reckoning. During the ceremony Dorgon's achievements were likened to those of the ancient regent the Duke of Zhou, and his status was elevated to Uncle Prince-Regent.

Dorgon had moved court and child emperor from Mukden after occupying Beijing. What the day asserted was rule from the former Ming capital; it did not found the Qing dynasty, which had borne that name since 1636.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

This was Shunzhi’s second enthronement ceremony, not his original accession. He had already been enthroned at Mukden on October 8, 1643.
Describing Shunzhi as the Qing dynasty’s “second” or “third” emperor depends on whether Nurhaci, ruler of the predecessor Later Jin state, is included in the Qing sequence.