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 "slug": "dashun-regime",
 "title": "Dashun Regime",
 "updated": "2026-10-21",
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 "excerpt": "The Dashun Regime (大顺政权) was the short-lived state founded by rebel leader Li Zicheng during the Ming collapse, holding the Yellow River basin in 1644.",
 "snippet": "The Dashun Regime (大顺政权) was the short-lived state founded by rebel leader Li Zicheng during the Ming collapse, holding the Yellow River basin in 1644.",
 "node": "society.history.asia.china.ming-late.rebellions-and-ming-qing-transition",
 "markdown": "# Dashun Regime\n\nThe **Dashun Regime** (大顺政权) was the short-lived state founded by the rebel leader [Li Zicheng](https://www.edgepedia.org/li-zicheng) (李自成) during the collapse of the [Ming dynasty](https://www.edgepedia.org/ming-dynasty), which held the [Yellow River](https://www.edgepedia.org/yellow-river) basin for a few months in 1644 before being destroyed in the course of 1645.\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Founder | Li Zicheng, leader of the rebel army that overthrew the Ming<sup>[1](https://www.dushu.com/showbook/101170/1041563.html)</sup> |\n| Signature policy | Three-year exemption from taxation, with military and civil costs met by confiscating Ming princely estates and by forced contributions from officials and gentry<sup>[1](https://www.dushu.com/showbook/101170/1041563.html)</sup> |\n| Legal code | A *Dashun Code* (《大顺律》) is recorded in no historical source; a fragmentary copy was bought by the National Library of China in 2000<sup>[2](https://www.ppdoc.com/periodical/11d1617b837df3556ad4ebac2a452fbc.html)</sup> |\n\n## Structure, functions, and personnel\n\nBefore 1643 Li Zicheng's rebel movement, which later became the Dashun regime, practiced a three-year exemption from taxation, financing its military and civil administration by confiscating the property of Ming princely establishments and by \"pursuing stolen goods to aid the army\" (追赃助饷), that is, forcing surrendered officials and gentry to pay<sup>[1](https://www.dushu.com/showbook/101170/1041563.html)</sup>. On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month of the jiashen year, Li Zicheng found that the seizures in Beijing had caused political damage and ordered them stopped; detained officials were released whether or not they had paid, but the pursuit of contributions continued in the provinces until the army's defeated retreat westward<sup>[1](https://www.dushu.com/showbook/101170/1041563.html)</sup>.\n\nGarrisoning was systematic rather than nomadic. [Gu Cheng](https://www.edgepedia.org/gu-cheng) rejects the old charge of \"bandit nomadism\" (流寇主义), noting that the regime posted a senior general with troops in every provincial area it held and assigned full-time military officers to maintain order at the prefecture and county level<sup>[3](https://www.bstxt.com/bsreadtxt/29081/7597263.html)</sup>.\n\nGu Cheng judges that even without [Wu Sangui](https://www.edgepedia.org/wu-sangui) (吴三桂)'s defection, 8,000 men under Tang Tong (唐通) could not have withstood a Qing invasion<sup>[4](https://www.dushu.com/guoxue/106720/1161264.html)</sup>.\n\nThe regime's laws are nearly invisible in the sources: the *Dashun Code* (《大顺律》) appears in no historical record, and the fragmentary copy acquired by the National Library of China through auction in 2000 drew wide attention among collectors and scholars precisely because of that silence<sup>[2](https://www.ppdoc.com/periodical/11d1617b837df3556ad4ebac2a452fbc.html)</sup>.\n\n## Political influence\n\nFor one season the Dashun regime replaced the Ming as the governing authority across the Yellow River basin, and its tax exemption and confiscation policies, rather than assessed land taxes, operated over a wide area until its retreat to Xi'an (西安) in June 1644<sup>[1](https://www.dushu.com/showbook/101170/1041563.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.dushu.com/guoxue/106720/1161264.html)</sup>. According to the *Nan Ming Shi*, its hold collapsed from within after the defeat at Shanhaiguan, and from 1644 to 1645, former Ming generals who had joined Dashun defected almost without exception<sup>[5](http://szzy.7lue.cn/read/95097aa97c11b8afe16b2ba505ec7584/ae69b2ec9c891f708f256eed5b5c2de4.md)</sup>. \n\n## References\n\n1. 顾诚《南明史》第二节：大顺政权在政治上和军事上的失误. https://www.dushu.com/showbook/101170/1041563.html\n2. 《关于国家图书馆2000年入藏的〈大顺律〉》. https://www.ppdoc.com/periodical/11d1617b837df3556ad4ebac2a452fbc.html\n3. 顾诚《明末农民战争史》附录说明. https://www.bstxt.com/bsreadtxt/29081/7597263.html\n4. 顾诚《南明史》第二节（国学频道版本）. https://www.dushu.com/guoxue/106720/1161264.html\n5. 顾诚《南明史》第五节：畿南、山东、晋北地方官绅反对大顺政权的叛乱. http://szzy.7lue.cn/read/95097aa97c11b8afe16b2ba505ec7584/ae69b2ec9c891f708f256eed5b5c2de4.md\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › China › Late Ming (1521 to 1662) › Rebellions and Ming–Qing transition*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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 "credit": "\"Dashun Regime\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/dashun-regime. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
 "credit_md": "\"[Dashun Regime](https://www.edgepedia.org/dashun-regime)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/dashun-regime](https://www.edgepedia.org/dashun-regime). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).",
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 "speakable": "The Dashun Regime was the short-lived state founded by rebel leader Li Zicheng during the Ming collapse, holding the Yellow River basin in 1644."
}