ConflictDecember 1636 – January 1637(Lunar)

Second Manchu Invasion of Korea

Qing invaded Joseon. King Injo held out at Namhansanseong before surrendering at Samjeondo.

Walls of Namhansanseong, where King Injo held out for 47 days
Walls of Namhansanseong, where King Injo held out for 47 days

Republic of Korea · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

In 1636 the Later Jin renamed itself Qing and demanded that the brotherly relationship become one of lord and vassal. At court Choe Myeong-gil and others argued for peace and Kim Sang-heon and others for resistance; the war party prevailed and the demand was refused.

In the 12th month Hong Taiji himself led more than 100,000 troops across the Yalu, bypassing Im Gyeong-eop’s fortress at Baengmasan and driving straight for Hanyang. The royal family fled to Ganghwa, but with the road cut Injo entered Namhansanseong on the 14th day of the 12th month and held out for 47 days. When Ganghwa fell and relief armies were beaten, on the 30th day of the 1st month, 1637, he came out and surrendered at Samjeondo, performing three kneelings and nine prostrations before the Qing emperor.

Joseon became a Qing vassal and broke with the Ming. Crown Prince Sohyeon, Grand Prince Bongnim and the three scholars who had opposed peace (Hong Ik-han, Yun Jip, O Dal-je) were taken to Shenyang, along with huge numbers of captives. At Qing demand Joseon erected the Samjeondo stele praising the emperor. The humiliation later fed King Hyojong’s plans for a northern campaign.

The map in 1636

OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

States and rulers at the time
Joseon · invaded — Injo
Qing · invader — Hong Taiji
Places
Namhansanseong

People

  • Injo1595 – 1649

    monarch · Sixteenth king of Joseon, enthroned by coup; endured two Manchu invasions and surrendered at Samjeondo

  • Hong Taiji1592 – 1643

    leader · Khan of the Later Jin and first emperor of Qing, who invaded Joseon twice

  • Choe Myeong-gil1586 – 1647

    diplomat · Westerner who helped stage the Injo Restoration and led the case for making peace with Qing in the Second Manchu Invasion; also versed in Yangming learning

  • Kim Sang-heon1570 – 1652

    participant · Westerner who led the call to fight on against Qing at Namhansanseong in the Second Manchu Invasion and was taken to Shenyang

Before and after

Earlier
1635 Yeongjeong Law

Related works

Dramatized works (films, dramas, novels) may differ from the historical record.

Themes that include this event

  • Ming, Qing and Edo Japan1500 – 1800

    The age when the Ming, shaken by northern raiders, southern pirates and the silver economy, fell to Li Zicheng’s rebels, and the Manchu Qing reached its greatest extent and prosperity under Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong — as Japan was unified out of the Warring States into the Edo shogunate’s bakuhan order and closed country, and Joseon, after two great wars, met its neighbours through embassies to Edo and the Northern Learning

  • Islamic Empires and the Atlantic World1500 – 1800

    Three centuries in which the Ottomans of Suleiman I, the Mughals of Akbar and the Safavids of Abbas I flourished and then faltered, while across the Atlantic the slave trade and colonies transformed the Americas, leading to American independence

  • Reformation and Absolutism1517 – 1796

    From Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to Catherine the Great — the wars of religion of a divided Christendom ended at Westphalia, and absolute monarchs armed with divine right, standing armies, bureaucracies and mercantilism, followed by the enlightened despots of eastern Europe, contended for the balance of power among sovereign states

  • Seoul18 BC – 1988

    From Hanseong Baekje to the June Democratic Struggle — the Han River land every kingdom fought for, and Joseon’s capital for five centuries

  • Ganghwa Island1000 BC – 2011

    From dolmens to the Treaty of Ganghwa — Goryeo’s refuge capital and the stage of Korea’s opening, the island the kingdom fell back on in every crisis