Zhu Houzhao ( October 26, 1491 - April 20, 1521 ) is the tenth emperor of China from 1505 to 1521 from the Ming dynasty . The rules under the motto of Zhengde ( Kit. 正德 , Zhèngdé " True Virtue "), the posthumous temple name is Wu-tsung (武宗).
Zhu Houzhao | |||||||
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Whale. 朱 厚 照 | |||||||
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Predecessor | Zhu Yutan | ||||||
Successor | Zhu Houtsun | ||||||
Birth | October 26, 1491 Beijing , China | ||||||
Death | April 20, 1521 (29 years) Beijing , China | ||||||
Burial place | Tombs of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty | ||||||
Rod | Min | ||||||
Father | Zhu Yutan | ||||||
Mother | Chen | ||||||
Spouse | Jin Yi | ||||||
Children | absent | ||||||
Religion | Buddhism | ||||||
Biography
Born on October 26, 1491 in the family of Emperor Zhu Yutan and Empress Chen. Received a Confucian education. Even as the heir to the throne, the eunuch Liu Jin approached him.
In June 1505, after the death of his father Zhu Yutan, 14-year-old Zhu Houzhao took the imperial throne under the throne name of Zhengde. Unlike his father, Zhu Houzhao did not engage in public affairs, committed stupid and reckless acts. Zhu Houzhao handed over the management of the affairs of the empires to the eunuch Liu Jing, who led the clique, which was called the Eight Tigers. It consisted of palace eunuchs who ran all the affairs in the state. They contributed to the rise of corruption, lawlessness, violation of the judicial system. For some time, scientists from the Hanlin Academy tried to resist Liu Jingyu. However, the eunuch, through provocation, convinced Zhu Houzhao in collusion of Hanlin members against the emperor. As a result, dozens of scientists were executed, many were sent to exile. These actions significantly disrupted the administrative system. Peasant revolts , riots of citizens and insurrections began to break out. In 1507, a peasant uprising began in the provinces of Hubei and Hunan , which was successfully suppressed in 1511 . Subsequently, in 1510, a member of the ruling clan, Van Zhu Fa, came out against the emperor. However, this performance was suppressed thanks to the actions of the eunuch Zhang Yong. During the festive banquet, he persuaded Zhu Houzhao to conspire against him from Liu Jin. During the search, the latter found 36 million pounds of gold and silver, weapons, imperial clothes. For this, Liu Jin and the members of the eight tigers clique were executed.
After that, Zhu Houzhao continued to ignore public affairs, engaging in hunting and entertainment. The emperor also had a passion for adopting his favorites . The number of people adopted by them was close to a hundred. All of them received generous content from the treasury and large land holdings. To do this, increased and introduced new taxes. All this caused a great uprising in 1511 led by Liu Chun and Liu Zheng. It was suppressed only in 1512 .
Zhu Houzhao returned to reality for a while and settled down after a tiger injured him in 1514 during a hunt. In 1518 - 1519, under his leadership, two major military campaigns against the Mongols were accomplished, culminating in the cessation of the attacks of nomads on Chinese lands. In 1519, the emperor personally led a campaign in the province of Jiangxi, where he suppressed an uprising led by his relative, Grand Duke Ning Zhu Chenhao (Ning-wang). Ning-wang Zhu Chenhao himself was executed in 1521 , all members of his family were also executed.
April 20, 1521, 29-year-old Zhu Houzhao passed away, leaving no heirs, since all his sons died in childhood. He bequeathed that the management of public affairs was transferred to the Empress and dignitaries from the "Inside Cabinet" (Neige). In the same year, his cousin Zhu Houtsun was raised to the imperial throne.
Emperor Personality
He was a very peculiar figure in his personal life. He liked to dress in a simple dress and accompanied by one or two friends went for a walk around the capital city. Visited dens with women of easy virtue. I came at random to the homes of ordinary people, forcing women to accompany him on a long walk, and sometimes led them to the palace, striking the court with luxury. At the same time, he sometimes led troops in campaigns against the enemy or in the suppression of internal uprisings. He himself participated in the battles and scored the enemies he struck. In his free time, he liked to read books that were not related to politics or ideology. He taught foreign languages and, in particular, mastered Mongolian, Arabic and Sanskrit .
Sources
- Susan Naquin (2000). Peking: temples and city life, 1400-1900. University of California Press. p. 213. ISBN 0-520-21991-0 . Retrieved 28 November 2010.
- Wintle, justin. Guides, Rough. [2002] (2002). China ISBN 1-85828-764-2 . p 244-245.