Great Plague in the late Ming dynasty

The Great Plague in the late Ming dynasty (Chinese: 明末大鼠疫; pinyin: Míngmò Dàshǔyì), also known as the North China Plague in the late Ming dynasty (simplified Chinese: 明末华北鼠疫; traditional Chinese: 明末華北鼠疫; pinyin: Míngmò Huáběi Shǔyì), or the Great Plague of Jingshi (Chinese: 京师大鼠疫; pinyin: Jīngshī Dàshǔyì), was a major plague epidemic between 1633 and 1644, the last phase of the Ming dynasty in China, during the Chongzhen Emperor's reign (1627–1644). The epidemic started in Shanxi in 1633 and reached Beijing in 1641, where the plague caused the deaths of more than 200,000 people in 1643, directly contributing to the collapse of the Ming dynasty in 1644.