明朝的末日，到底是什么时候？是1644年还是1683年？这两年的时间，似乎在很多吃瓜群众心中都有着不小的争议。今天，我们就来一探究竟。

首先要知道的是，明朝作为中国历史上倒数第二个大一统封建政权，其起始于1368年，并在1644年灭亡，国祚276年，共历12帝16世。在那一年北京沦陷后，由崇祯帝自尽，是北方被李自成的大顺政权所占据，而南方则依旧由忠于明朝的势力控制。

这些拥立明朝宗室藩王为帝的人们，在南方建立了南明政权，这段时期持续了39年，即到1683年才被清军收复。这一点，让一些人认为明朝并没有完全灭亡，而是有一个延续期。

然而，从存在时间和正统性来看，南明显然不能算作是完整的、有效的地理政治实体。以存在时间来说，它远远不及东晋103年的长久，或宋 dynasty south of the Lower Yellow River's 152 years' existence. Even more so, it is far from being a stable political entity like those that came before.

Moreover, South Ming was characterized by instability and constant changes in its territorial control and imperial lineage. It had four emperors in succession within just 15 years, which further erodes its legitimacy as a continuation of the Ming dynasty.

Lastly, when comparing South Ming to other historical dynasties that were forced to retreat into southern territories after their capitals fell, such as Eastern Jin or Southern Song dynasties, one can see that South Ming falls far short in terms of stability and longevity.

In conclusion, while there are some who argue for an extended period for the end of the Ming Dynasty up until 1683 due to the existence of the Southern Ming regime, this argument is not convincing given the instability and brevity of this regime. Therefore, we can firmly say that 1644 marks the definitive end date for China's last great imperial dynasty - The Great Qing Dynasty began its rule over China with military conquests from Manchuria but it was during Yongzheng Emperor's reign (1722-1735) did he start implementing policies towards integrating Han Chinese culture into Manchu rule thus creating a sense unity among different ethnic groups under his rule.

The Qing Empire lasted until 1912 when it was replaced by Republic Of China.

So if you think about history through different perspectives then you might have heard people saying something like "the fall of Rome" but actually they mean "the fall" happened at different times based on what they're looking at.