Hongguang

This article is about the era name of Zhu Yousong, the Southern Ming emperor. For the emperor who used this era name, see Hongguang Emperor.

Hongguang (28 January – 17 August 1645) was the era name of the Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming.

Hongguang
Chinese	弘光
Literal meaning	"great light"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hóngguāng Wade–Giles Hung-kuang

Hongguang Tongbao (弘光通寶) copper coin

Stone carvings of the first year of Hongguang in Huilong Township, Hezhou, Chongqing Prefecture — 明弘光元年乙酉春施財殿信人王來朝……

On 7 June 1644 (Chongzhen 17, 3rd day of the 5th month), Zhu Yousong was proclaimed "regent" (監國) in Nanjing and ascended the throne on 19 June (15th day of the 5th month), taking next year Hongguang 1 (弘光元年, "the first year of Hongguang"). On May 1645 (5th month), the Qing army conquered Nanjing, and Zhu Yousong was captured on 15 June (22nd day of the 5th month). On 18 August 1645 (27th day of the leap 6th month), the Longwu Emperor ascended to the throne and continued to use it. The following month, the era was changed to Longwu. On 24 August (4th day of the 7th month), Zhu Yihai, Prince of Lu, proclaimed himself "regent" and still using the Hongguang era name, and the following year, the era was changed to Jianguo Lu 1 (監國魯元年, "the first year of Jianguo Lu").

Comparison table

The Gānzhī of each month on the right side of the table was the first day of each month. "(Long)" means that the month has 30 days, and "(Short)" means that the month has 29 days. The numbers in the "leap month" table indicate the X leap month of that year, and the numbers below the first day of each month indicate the corresponding Western calendar date.

AD	Gānzhī 干支	Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	leap mon.
1645	Yǐyǒu 乙酉	Hongguang 1 (弘光元年)	Yǐyǒu (Short) 乙酉(小) 28/01	Jiǎyín (Long) 甲寅(大) 26/02	Jiǎshēn (Short) 甲申(小) 28/03	Guǐchǒu (Short) 癸丑(小) 26/04	Rénwǔ (Long) 壬午(大) 25/05	Rénzǐ (Short) 壬子(小) 24/06							6 Xīnsì (Short) 辛巳(小) 23/07

Hongguang	1
Qing dynasty	Shunzhi 2 順治二年

Other regime eras that existed during the same period

• China
  • Shunzhi (順治, 1644–1661): Qing dynasty — era name of the Shunzhi Emperor
  • Yongchang (永昌, 1644–1645): Shun dynasty — era name of Li Zicheng
  • Dashun (大順, 1644–1646): Xi dynasty — era name of Zhang Xianzhong
• Vietnam
  • Phúc Thái (福泰, 1643–1649): Later Lê dynasty — era name of Lê Chân Tông
  • Thuận Đức (順德, 1638–1677): Mạc dynasty — era name of Mạc Kính Vũ
• Japan
  • Shōhō (正保, 1644–1648): era name of Emperor Go-Kōmyō

See also

• List of Chinese era names
• List of Ming dynasty era names

Further reading

• Li Chongzhi (李崇智) (December 2004). Zhongguo lidai nianhao kao (中國歷代年號考). Beijing (北京): Zhonghua Book Co. (中華書局). ISBN 7101025129.
• Deng Hongbo (鄧洪波) (March 2005). Chronology of East Asian history (東亞歷史年表). Taipei (臺北): National Taiwan University, Program for East Asian Classics and Cultures (國立臺灣大學東亞經典與文化研究計劃). ISBN 9789860005189. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
• Qian Haiyue (錢海岳) (May 2006). History of Southern Ming (南明史). Beijing (北京): Zhonghua Book (中華書局). ISBN 7101044298.