The Chou Dynasty (1622 AD - 2010 AD)
The last dynasty to rule China was the Ch'ing Dynasty (1643-1912), which
was composed
of Manchurian people in governance over China's Han-Chinese populations.
The dynasty
prior to that was the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), run by China's Chun
(Chun, Chen, Chu)
clan.
During the ending part of the Ming Dynasty, the Chou clan patriarch, its
king
descendant, a cousin to the Ming Emperor, was selected as
Emperor-designate in 1622
AD. Other Chinese princes, from the Ming, vied for power, but never
surfaced as
having the Mandate of Heaven to rule all of China. Manchurians came
from the north
and conquered China in 1643. The Chinese Court coming out of many years
of rule by
foreigners (Yuan Dynasty or Mongolians, 1206-1368) did not want foreign
rule again, so
an official decision was made to install the Chou clan designate as
Emperor. Shun
Cheong was officially installed on October 30, 1644 (on the day that the
Manchurian
Emperor was installed). The Chinese Court and Imperial clans went into
hiding and
continued their customs, culture, and line of succession. See above,
Imperial
successsion.
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