Hongzhi Emperor
Ming · 10th ruler
弘治帝 Hóngzhì Dì朱祐樘 Zhū Yòutáng
Wade–Giles: Hung-chih Emperor · Chu Yu-t'ang
Reigned 1487–1505 (17 years)
Reigned 17 years (1487–1505). Died at 36 (East Asian reckoning) of natural causes. 10th ruler of Ming.
Facts
- Reign
- 22 September 1487 – 8 June 1505 (10th ruler of Ming)
- Length of reign
- 17 years
- Born
- August 1470
- Died
- 8 June 1505
- Age at accession
- 18
- Age at death
- 36
- Cause of death
- Natural causesNatural death or illness (including old age)
- Path to the throne
- Designated heirSucceeded the previous ruler of the same regime, who had chosen the heir (by testament, naming a crown prince, etc.)
- Predecessor
- Chenghua Emperor
- Successor
- Zhengde Emperor
- Era names
- 弘治 Hóngzhì (proclaimed 1487)
Ages are given in East Asian reckoning (sui): a person is one year old at birth and gains a year at each New Year, so the figure is one or two years higher than the Western age.
Life
In brief
He grew up with his birth kept hidden, and on taking the throne he drove out favorites and relied heavily on grand secretaries such as Liu Jian. The assessment in the History of Ming names him, together with the Hongxi Emperor and the Xuande Emperor, as a Ming emperor worthy of praise besides the Hongwu Emperor and the Yongle Emperor, and calls him respectful, frugal and restrained, diligent in government and loving toward the people.
Road to the throne
He was the third son of the Chenghua Emperor, and his mother was Consort Ji. Because Noble Consort Wan monopolized the emperor's favor, when he was born in 1470 no one in the palace dared tell the Chenghua Emperor. According to the biographies of consorts, Lady Ji was moved to the Anle Hall, where she gave birth to him, and the gate eunuch Zhang Min, who had been ordered to drown the baby, secretly raised him instead. When Zhang Min told the emperor about the prince in 1475, the Chenghua Emperor went to the western palace himself and sent for the boy, and wept, saying this was his son and looked like him. In the same year his mother Lady Ji died suddenly, and he was made crown prince. On Lady Ji's death, the annals say only that she died suddenly, while the biographies of consorts set side by side the account that she was killed by Noble Consort Wan and the account that she hanged herself. When the Chenghua Emperor died in 1487 he took the throne.
Reign and death
Right after his accession he dismissed Li Zisheng, the eunuch Liang Fang and others, and removed more than a thousand officials who had been appointed by direct palace order. He brought Liu Jian into the Grand Secretariat, and from 1497 it became his practice to summon Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian to the Wenhua Hall to discuss affairs of state. According to the biography of Xu Pu, from about 1495 he came to court later and later, and the eunuch Li Guang won favor through alchemy and Daoist rites. According to the biographies of eunuchs, Li Guang killed himself in fear after the Qingning Palace burned, and an account book of bribes listing the names of high officials was found in his house. The annals record the fire at the Qingning Palace in 1498, but do not mention Li Guang. He fell ill in 1505, entrusted his affairs after his death to Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, and died in the Qianqing Palace. The annals do not name the illness, but a memorial quoted in the biography of Liu Qian in the History of Ming says that the late emperor died because Zhang Yu and Liu Wentai were careless in giving him medicine, and the biography of Bian Gong records that Bian Gong impeached the eunuch Zhang Yu, the imperial physician Liu Wentai and others for their errors in prescribing.
Translated from the Japanese text of this site, which is written from the official histories. Years are given in the Western calendar; months are omitted because the histories use the Chinese lunar calendar.
During the reign
Number of times each event is recorded in the official histories. How each item is counted
- Era name changes
- 1
- General amnesties
- 3
- Empresses installed
- 1
- Crown princes deposed
- 0
- Personal campaigns
- 0
- Rebellions suppressed
- 5
- Rebellions faced
- 5
- Capital relocations
- 0
Emperors of Ming
- 1stHongwu Emperor洪武帝 Hóngwǔ Dì朱元璋 Zhū Yuánzhāng1368–1398 · 30 years · Natural causes, age 711368–139830 yearsNatural causes, age 71
- 2ndJianwen Emperor建文帝 Jiànwén Dì朱允炆 Zhū Yǔnwén1398–1402 · 4 years · Disputed1398–14024 yearsDisputed
- 3rdYongle Emperor永樂帝 Yǒnglè Dì朱棣 Zhū Dì1402–1424 · 22 years · Natural causes, age 651402–142422 yearsNatural causes, age 65
- 4thHongxi Emperor洪熙帝 Hóngxī Dì朱高熾 Zhū Gāochì1424–1425 · 264 days · Natural causes, age 481424–1425264 daysNatural causes, age 48
- 5thXuande Emperor宣德帝 Xuāndé Dì朱瞻基 Zhū Zhānjī1425–1435 · 9 years · Natural causes, age 381425–14359 yearsNatural causes, age 38
- 6th, 8thEmperor Yingzong of Ming正統帝 Zhèngtǒng Dì朱祁鎮 Zhū Qízhèn1435–1449; restored 1457–1464 · 21 years · Natural causes, age 381435–1449; restored 1457–146421 yearsNatural causes, age 38
- 7thJingtai Emperor景泰帝 Jǐngtài Dì朱祁鈺 Zhū Qíyù1449–1457 · 7 years · Disputed, age 301449–14577 yearsDisputed, age 30
- 9thChenghua Emperor成化帝 Chénghuà Dì朱見深 Zhū Jiànshēn1464–1487 · 23 years · Natural causes, age 411464–148723 yearsNatural causes, age 41
- 10thHongzhi Emperor弘治帝 Hóngzhì Dì朱祐樘 Zhū Yòutáng1487–1505 · 17 years · Natural causes, age 361487–150517 yearsNatural causes, age 36
- 11thZhengde Emperor正德帝 Zhèngdé Dì朱厚照 Zhū Hòuzhào1505–1521 · 15 years · Natural causes, age 311505–152115 yearsNatural causes, age 31
- 12thJiajing Emperor嘉靖帝 Jiājìng Dì朱厚熜 Zhū Hòucōng1521–1567 · 45 years · Natural causes, age 601521–156745 yearsNatural causes, age 60
- 13thLongqing Emperor隆慶帝 Lóngqìng Dì朱載坖 Zhū Zàijì1567–1572 · 5 years · Natural causes, age 361567–15725 yearsNatural causes, age 36
- 14thWanli Emperor萬曆帝 Wànlì Dì朱翊鈞 Zhū Yìjūn1572–1620 · 48 years · Natural causes, age 581572–162048 yearsNatural causes, age 58
- 15thTaichang Emperor泰昌帝 Tàichāng Dì朱常洛 Zhū Chángluò1620 · 29 days · Disputed, age 39162029 daysDisputed, age 39
- 16thTianqi Emperor天啓帝 Tiānqǐ Dì朱由校 Zhū Yóujiào1620–1627 · 7 years · Natural causes, age 231620–16277 yearsNatural causes, age 23
- 17thChongzhen Emperor崇禎帝 Chóngzhēn Dì朱由檢 Zhū Yóujiǎn1627–1644 · 16 years · Suicide (incl. forced), age 351627–164416 yearsSuicide (incl. forced), age 35