Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Lekedehun
LEKEDEHUN 勒克德渾, d. Apr. 19, 1652, age thirty-four sui (the Tung-hua lu gives his age as twenty-four sui), the first Prince Shun-ch'êng (順承), was a great-grandson of Nurhaci [q. v.], a grandson of Daišan [q. v.], and the second son of Sahaliyen [q. v.]. His elder brother, Adali 阿達禮, who succeeded to the second-class princedom in 1636, was executed in 1643 for attempting to dethrone his cousin, Fu-lin [q. v.], and make Dorgon [q. v.] emperor. For this offense Lekedehun was punished by being excluded from the Imperial Family, but was pardoned late in 1644 (after the government was established in Peking) on the ground that he was too young to share in the plot. He was at the same time given the rank of a prince of the third degree. In 1645 Lekedehun was appointed commander-in-chief of the armies in Kiangnan to relieve his uncle, Dodo [q. v.]. Invested with the title, P'ing-nan Ta Chiang-chün 平南大將軍, Lekedehun went to Nanking and with the help of Hung Ch'êng-ch'ou [q. v.] conquered the province of Chekiang. Late in 1645 he was ordered to proceed to Wuchang, Hupeh, and in the following year succeeded in defeating the armies under the Ming general, Ho T'êng-chiao [q. v.] at Ching-chou and Hsiang-yang. He returned to Peking late in 1646. In 1648 he was raised to the rank of prince of the second degree with the title Shun-ch'êng Chün-wang 順承郡王. Late in the same year he was ordered to assist Jirgalang [q. v.] against the Southern Ming troops under Ho Têng-chiao in Hunan. In 1649 the Manchu armies conquered Hunan and part of Kwangsi and captured Ho. After his triumphal return to Peking (1650) Lekedehun was made a member of the Council of State (議政), and in the following year a supervisor of the Board of Punishments. He died in 1652, and nineteen years later (1671) was given the posthumous name Kung-hui 恭惠.
His fourth son, Lergiyen 勒爾謹, succeeded to the princedom which continued in that branch of the family until 1715 when it was inherited by Norobu 諾羅布 (1650–1717, posthumous name 忠), who was Lekedehun's son. Norobu's fourth son, Hsi-pao (see under Furdan), the eighth Prince Shun-ch'êng, distinguished himself in the war against the Eleuths. The Princedom known as Shun-ch'êng constituted one of the eight branches of the Ch'ing imperial family which enjoyed special privileges (see under Dorgon). The family mansion in the west city, Peking, has in recent years been the property of Chang Hsüeh-liang 張學良.
[1/222/15a; 2/3/8a; 3/首8/33a; Tung-hua lu, Shun-chih, 9: 3; 京師坊巷志 Ching-shih fang-hsiang chih 5/10b.]