In 1616, Nurhaci proclaimed the Later Jin state in Manchuria after unifying many Jurchen groups. This new power challenged Ming authority on China's north-eastern frontier. It became the political foundation from which the Qing dynasty later conquered China.

The rise of the Manchus transformed Chinese court culture, frontier writing and the emotional world of Ming loyalist literature. Poets would later mourn dynastic collapse, negotiate service under new rulers or preserve older identities through allusive classical verse.