Hong Chengchou was a descendant of a prominent family. He was the twelfth generation grandson of the Hong family in Wengshan, Wu Rong. He belonged to Dongxuan Wufang and came from a scholarly family. By the time of his great-grandfather's generation, his family was in decline and not wealthy.
My great-grandfather Hong Yishun was born in Xiang (a scholar).
My grandfather Hong Youzhi was born in Gong. The article was famous, and he died on the way to the examination at an early age. After the death of Youzhi, his wife Dai gave birth to a posthumous son, Hong Qixi (named Erchao, nicknamed Youjigong), who was Hong Chengchou's father. Dai served her aunt as a filial piety and raised her orphan. She was recognized as a filial and filial daughter by the imperial court and was given a first-class wife.
My father, Hong Qixi, was also a scholar. He had a solemn character and was well-known in his hometown for his filial piety. His wife, Mrs. Fu, was a lady from a famous family and was very strict in raising her children. He gave birth to three sons, who inherited the title of Chu, followed by Wan for the second time, and inherited Wan for the third time. Chengwan died young. Cheng Wan is a famous calligrapher in Wenquan County. Hong Chengchou went to Xiyikuan to study in his childhood. Due to his poor family background, he dropped out of school at the age of 11 and helped his mother make dried tofu at home. Every morning, he would go to Yingweipu street to sell dried tofu. At that time, Hong Qiyin, a talented scholar from Xixuan Changfang, was running a village school in Shuigou Hall. Besides selling dried tofu, Hong Chengchou often listened to classes outside the school and occasionally helped students make pairs. Hong Qiyin discovered that Hong Chengchou was extremely talented and ambitious, so he accepted Hong Chengchou as his apprentice for free and returned to school. After studying at Shuigou Hall for five years, he went to Quanzhou Chengbei Academy to study.
In the forty-third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1615), 23-year-old Hong Chengchou went to the province to take part in the provincial examination and was the 19th candidate for the Chinese examination in Yimao Branch. The following year, he went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, and was awarded the title of Jinshi. Hong Chengchou was first appointed as the head of the Jiangxi Qing Li Department of the Ministry of Punishment. He held the positions of Yuanwai Lang and Lang Zhong, and served in the Ministry of Punishment for 6 years. In the second year of Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty (1622)
He was promoted to Zhejiang Tixueqianshi, and he recognized people with high talents. The selected talents were all outstanding and were valued by the imperial court. Two years later, he was promoted to the official position of Zhejiang Chengxuan Government Senator Left.
In the seventh year of Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty (1627), he was promoted to governor of Shaanxi Province.
In the second year of Chongzhen (1629), the peasant army kings Zuogua and Miao Mei led their troops to attack Hancheng. Yang He, the governor of Shaanxi, had no generals. In desperation, he ordered Hong Chengchou, who was still involved in politics at the time, to lead the army into battle. Hong Chengchou killed 300 enemy soldiers and broke the siege of Hancheng, and immediately became famous.
In June of the third year of Chongzhen (1630), Hong Chengchou was appointed governor of Yansui.
In the fourth year of Chongzhen (1631), Yang He, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, was dismissed from office and imprisoned for this. Hong Chengchou succeeded him as the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi.
In December of the seventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1634), Zhu You, Emperor Sizong of the Ming Dynasty, evacuated Chen Qiyu. Hong Chengchou was still appointed as the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi. He was awarded the title of Taibao of the Crown Prince and Minister of the Ministry of War. He was also the governor of Henan and Henan. The military affairs of the five provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan became the main military commanders of the Ming Dynasty in suppressing peasant uprisings.
In January of the eighth year of Chongzhen (1635), Hong Chengchou led the main force out of Tongguan and gathered the generals in Xinyang, Henan, to prepare for a large-scale military encirclement and suppression of the rebel army.
In July of the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), Hong Chengchou led his army to defeat the peasant army in Lintong.
In the winter of the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638), the Qing army broke through the Great Wall from Qiangziling and other places near Miyun County, swept through 61 prefectures and counties in Hebei and Shandong, and robbed more than 460,000 residents of the capital. Urgent. Hong Chengchou was ordered to go north to help, and the following year he served as governor of Jiliao, responsible for the defense of the Qing army. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen (1641), the Qing army besieged Jinzhou again. Hong Chengchou led Wu Sangui and other eight general officers and 130,000 troops to rescue. Facing the powerful Qing army, Hong Chengchou originally wanted to form a camp and hold on to avoid a decisive battle in order to consume the Qing army. Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen, who was impatient and suspicious by nature, sent people to strictly supervise the battle. Hong Chengchou was forced to advance. However, the start of the army was not successful and more than 50,000 troops were lost. He had to retreat to Songshan City, eighteen miles away from Jinzhou.
The Qing army besieged Songshan City for half a year. In February of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642), Xia Chengde, the deputy general who defended the city, surrendered. Songshan City was destroyed, and Hong Chengchou was captured and taken to Shengjing (Shenyang), the capital of the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Taizong Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty sent Han minister Fan Wencheng to persuade him to surrender. During the conversation, Hong Chengchou raised his hand to brush away the dust that had fallen from the beams to his clothes. Fan Wencheng replied to Huang Taiji and said, "Chengchou will never die, but he will cherish his clothes and his body."
Huang Taiji then took action in person, and even took off his mink robe and gave it to Hong Chengchou, saying, "Sir, it's so cold." Hong Chengchou then knelt down and kowtowed to surrender. Huang Taiji was very proud of the surrender of Hong Chengchou. He invited Hong Chengchou to a banquet and watched the show, and also generously rewarded him, which aroused the confusion and dissatisfaction of the Qing generals. Huang Taiji explained that we have been conquering the Ming Dynasty for many years but have not yet succeeded. Now that we have surrendered Hong Chengchou, it is like a blind man walking with a guide. How can I be unhappy?
Since most of the generals who were defeated and captured in Songshan City refused to surrender and were killed, Emperor Chongzhen mistakenly believed that his close minister Hong Chengchou had also died for the country. He set up an altar outside the capital and wrote it himself. The memorial text says, "I also heard that Qing had been on hunger strike for several days and was dying... He fell to the ground and died, his eyes still wide open... His death was more serious than Mount Tai, and his spirit turned into a rainbow." There were originally two small temples in the Wengcheng of Zhengyangmen in Beijing, the Guandi Temple in the west and the Guanyin Temple in the east. According to legend, the altar set up by Emperor Chongzhen for Hong Chengchou is in the small temple to the east, with the intention of making him the god of war like Guan Gong and guarding the gate of the capital. After the news of Hong Chengchou's surrender to the Qing Dynasty came, the small temple in the east was changed to Guanyin Temple.