The Fate and Identity Dilemma of the"Turncoat Officials"in the Central Plains during Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties:a Case Study of Peng Ershu
Peng Ershu was a typical representative of the"turncoat officials"among the scholar-officials in the Central Plains during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties,and an underestimated litterateur in the early Qing dy-nasty.As a low-ranking official in the old dynasty,he saw the Qing army as a righteous army to"deliver the people from an abyss of misery"after seeing his hometown suffering the ravages of the peasant uprising.After the fall of the Ming Dynasty,Peng Ershu finally chose to be an official in the new dynasty,and made great contributions to the unification of the whole country.The main reasons for his becoming an official were his disappointment in the royal court of Southern Ming dynasty and his thought of making something of himself.Though he did not reveal obvious thoughts of his homeland and regret in his works after he came into office,the problem of identity dilemma still haunted him like a nightmare.
late Ming and early Qing dynastiesturncoat officialPeng Ershuidentity dilemma