The Great Plague in late Ming Dynasty (Chinese: 明末大鼠疫) was a major plague epidemic between 1633 and 1644, the last phase of the Ming Dynasty in China (Chongzhen Emperor). The epidemic started in Shanxi Province 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.