1. Oboi reversed the benevolent policies of the Shunzhi Emperor, and vigorously pushed for clear reassertion of Manchu power over the Han Chinese.
20 Facts About Oboi
1. 2.
Oboi was born to the Manchu Guwalgiya clan, which had been distinguishing itself militarily since Oboi's grandfather Solgo submitted to Nurhaci in 1588.
3.
Oboi was first mentioned in official Qing history in the Veritable Records of Qing Taizong [Hong Taiji] in 1632, documenting his triumphant return from a minor raid into Ming territories in which he was allowed to keep his spoils as reward.
4.
Oboi officially started his military career in 1634 during the reign of Hong Taiji as a junior officer in the Banner's cavalry guard unit in which capacity he distinguished himself many times in battle against Ming forces and was renowned for his personal bravery.
5.
In 1637 during the Manchu's second campaign against Korea, Oboi volunteered and succeeded in capturing the small but strategically important Ka Island south of the Yalu River, from which the Ming army had led operations against the Liaodong peninsula, the main focus of armed conflict between the Manchus and the Ming.
6.
In 1641, Oboi again distinguished himself in battle scoring five victories in as many encounters in the consecutive sieges of Jinzhou and Songshan, two of the last Ming strongholds in Liaodong.
7.
Oboi was promoted to full colonel and given command of the Bayarai guards of the Bordered Yellow Banner.
8.
Oboi's rise in the Bordered Yellow Banner hierarchy continued apace with the Qing conquest of the Ming.
9.
From 1644 to 1648 Oboi was part of the armies that fought bandit and self declared emperor Li Zicheng, bandit king Zhang Xianzhong, and the remnants of Zhang's armies after Zhang was killed in 1647.
10.
Draft History of Qing claims that in early 1647 during the campaign to pacify Sichuan, Oboi was responsible for slaying Zhang in battle.
11.
Oboi ishere mentioned in this other account as being responsible for Zhang Xianzhong's death nor was Zhang beheaded in this account.
12.
In 1648, when Hooge was imprisoned and convicted by Dorgon, Oboi was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to loss of rank.
13.
Just as Hooge was arrested and eventually died in prison, in 1648 Oboi was stripped of his rank and titles under a charge of claiming false victories in battle.
14.
The charges against Oboi were most likely politically motivated and were rehabilitated in 1651 after Dorgon's death.
15.
In 1652 after Shunzhi successfully purged the court of the more powerful elements in Dorgon's faction, Oboi was elevated to a hereditary Duke of the Second Rank and more importantly appointed the commander of the imperial bodyguard, a job which doubled as the de facto police chief in the capital.
16.
Oboi forced the young Kangxi Emperor to execute Suksaha and his family.
17.
Oboi controlled Ebilun completely and then finally established a system of near absolute rule under himself.
18.
Oboi was sentenced to death but it was reduced to imprisonment in consideration of his achievements.
19.
Oboi appears as an antagonist in the early part of the wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron by Jin Yong.
20.
Oboi is shown to be an oppressive roadblock for the Kangxi Emperor in his mission regain his full political power and reaffirm his sovereignty.