The start of the (Lunar) New Year, 8th of February, 1644, found the Ming Dynasty in a poor state: invasions by the Manchurians (Qing) in the north east, constant pirate activity along the coast – including that of the persistent Europeans – and issues of poor harvest due to environmental factors causing widespread famine and disease, which in turn led to the rising up of peasant armies hell-bent on taking what the government could not provide for them.
One of these peasant armies was led by Li Zicheng. Who was he? Where did he come from? And how was he able to take the capital of Beijing in the name of the newly founded Shun Dynasty