ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the accounts of Zhang Xianzhong's bloody reign of terror, and considers the actions of other groups. It analyzes the social and environmental implications of the Ming-Qing transition in Sichuan. In 2002, workers were undertaking excavations as part of the municipal government's renovation of the south gate in the Sichuanese city of Chengdu, when they discovered masses of very old scattered bones. As the walls fell and the attackers "swarmed in like ants," the Ming vice-commander tried to mount a defense and a bloody street fight ensued but he was cut down. The lands around Qiongzhou were "covered in blood and flesh for 200 li." Wu Sangui and his men approached Chongqing, "corpses and bones were strewn alongside the road and only mountain flowers grew and the only sound emanating from the eaves of the houses was the sound of cuckoos calling.".
