Dorgon

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Dorgon
Prince Rui of the First Rank
Portrait of Dorgon as regent in imperial regalia
Prince Regent of the Qing Empire
Reign	1643–1650
Co-Regents	Jirgalang (1643–1644)
Assistant-Regents	Jirgalang (1644–1647) Dodo (1647–1649)
Prince Rui of the First Rank
Reign	1636–1650
Predecessor	None
Successor	Chunying
Born	(1612-11-17)17 November 1612 Yenden (present-day Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County, Fushun, Liaoning, China)
Died	31 December 1650(1650-12-31) (aged 38) Kharahotun (present-day Chengde, Hebei, China)
Consorts	Lady Borjigit Borjigit Batema ​ (died 1650)​ Lady Tunggiya Lady Borjigit Lady Borjigit Lady Borjigit Princess Uisun
Issue	Donggo
Names Aisin-Gioro Dorgon (愛新覺羅 多爾袞) Posthumous name Emperor Maode Xiudao Guangye Dinggong Anmin Lizheng Chengjing Yi (懋德修道廣業定功安民立政誠敬義皇帝) (revoked in 1651) Prince Ruizhong of the First Rank (和碩睿忠親王) (granted in 1778) Temple name Chengzong (成宗) (revoked in 1651)
House	Aisin-Gioro
Father	Nurhaci
Mother	Empress Xiaoliewu

Dorgon (Manchu: ᡩᠣᡵᡤᠣᠨ, Möllendorff: dorgon, lit. 'badger';^[1] 17 November 1612 – 31 December 1650), was a Manchu prince and regent of the early Qing dynasty. Born in the House of Aisin-Gioro as the 14th son of Nurhaci (the founder of the Later Jin dynasty, which was the predecessor of the Qing), Dorgon started his career in military campaigns against the Mongols, the Koreans, and the Ming dynasty during the reign of Hong Taiji (his eighth brother) who succeeded their father.

After Hong Taiji's death in 1643, he was involved in a power struggle against Hong Taiji's eldest son, Hooge, over the succession to the throne. Both of them eventually came to a compromise by backing out and letting Hong Taiji's ninth son, Fulin, become the emperor; Fulin was installed on the throne as the Shunzhi Emperor. Dorgon served as Prince-Regent from 1643 to 1650, throughout the Shunzhi Emperor's early reign. In 1645, he was given the honorary title "Emperor's Uncle and Prince-Regent" (皇叔父攝政王); the title was changed to "Emperor's Father and Prince-Regent" (皇父攝政王) in 1649.

Under Dorgon's regency, Qing forces occupied Beijing, the capital of the fallen Ming dynasty, and gradually conquered the rest of the Ming in a series of battles against Ming loyalists and other opposing forces around China. Dorgon also introduced the policy of forcing all Han Chinese men to shave the front of the heads and wear their hair in queues just like the Manchus. He died in 1650 during a hunting trip and was posthumously honoured as an emperor even though he was never an emperor during his lifetime. A year after Dorgon's death, however, the Shunzhi Emperor accused Dorgon of several crimes, stripped him of his titles, and ordered his remains to be exhumed and flogged in public. Dorgon was posthumously rehabilitated and restored of his honorary titles by the Qianlong Emperor in 1778.