Background
Nurhaci was born in 1559 to an inconspicuous Jurchen chieftain family that had held Ming appointments for generations.
After the violent death in 1582 of both his grandfather and father in a Ming military campaign against the then-strongest Manchu tribe leader, Atai, Nurhaci went to Li Chengliang, the Ming commandinggeneral (of Korean descent), to demand indemnity.
In 1584, when he was 25, he attacked Nikan Wailan at Tulun (today a village in Xinbin too) to avenge the deaths of his father and grandfather, who are said to have left him nothing but thirteen suits of armor.
From 1599 to 1618, Nurhaci engaged on a campaign on conquering the four Hulun tribes. In 1599, he attacked the Hada, finally conquering the Hada in 1603. Then in 1607, with the death of its beile Baindari, Hoifa was conquered, followed by an expedition against Ula and its beile Bujantai in 1613 and finally defeating Yehe and its beile Gintaisi at the Battle of Sarhu in 1619.
In 1599, he had two of his translators, Erdeni Bagshi and Dahai Jarguchi, create the Manchu alphabet by adapting the Mongolian script.
In 1616, Nurhaci declared himself Khan (King) and founded the Jin Dynasty (aisin gurun), often called the Later Jin.