公元1644年，李自成的起义军攻入北京，当时在宁远的辽东总兵吴三桂接到命令，准备发兵保卫京城。部队行至山海关之时，就接到了崇祯皇帝自缢的消息。此时的吴三桂是真正的应了一句俗语“前有猛虎，后有追兵。”前面是李自成的义军拦路，后面是多尔衮的清军追击，无论面对谁，吴三桂都是无力一战。

于是降或死，这是一个问题，不过还在李自成抬了吴三桂一手，杀了吴三桂全家，夺了爱妾陈圆圆。Wu Three Gorge must avenge his family's death and reclaim his beloved concubine, Chen Yunduan. Thus, he had no choice but to surrender to the Qing dynasty.

Wu Three Gorge's betrayal of the Ming dynasty is particularly reviled because he was motivated by personal revenge rather than any noble cause. His actions were seen as a betrayal not just of the Ming dynasty, but of China itself.

In 1662, Wu Three Gorge marched into Burma and demanded that its king hand over the last Ming emperor, Zhu Youjiao. The Burmese king was powerless against Wu Three Gorge's forces and reluctantly complied. Unfortunately for Zhu Youjiao, Wu Three Gorge saw him as a threat and had him executed on the spot.

Finally, Wu Three Gorge established himself in Yunnan province as a vassal of the Qing dynasty. However, this arrangement did not last long as tensions between Wu Three Gorge and the Qing authorities continued to escalate until they finally revoked his fiefdom in 1673.

So why is it that among all the many Ming generals who defected to the Qing during this period, only Wu Three Gorge is remembered with such scorn? It is because his actions were seen as motivated by personal vengeance rather than any higher loyalty or principle. Additionally, popular culture has contributed to his negative image through exaggerated accounts of his treachery in novels like "The Romance of The Red Chamber" and other works.