Jiajing Emperor
Encyclopedia
The Jiajing Emperor (嘉靖 tɕjɑ́tɕîŋ; 16 September 1507–23 January 1567) was the 11th Ming Dynasty
Emperor of China
who ruled from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor
's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), the Prince of Xing, was the fourth son of the Cheng-hua emperor (1465–1487) and the eldest son of three sons born to the emperor's concubine, Lady Shao.
His era name
means "Admirable tranquility".
, Zhu Houcong was not brought up to succeed to the throne. However, the throne became vacant in 1521 with the sudden death of the Hongzhi Emperor's son, Emperor Zhengde, who did not leave an heir. The 14 year old Zhu Houcong was chosen to become emperor, and so relocated from his father's fief (near today's Zhongxiang
, in Hubei
Province) to Beijing
.
As the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong had his parents posthumously elevated to an "honorary" imperial rank, and had an imperial-style Xianling Mausoleum built for them near Zhongxiang.
." The Jiajing Emperor prevailed, and hundreds of his opponents were banished, physically beaten in the court (廷杖) or executed. Among the banished was the great Ming poet Yang Shen
.
The Jiajing Emperor was known to be a cruel and self-aggrandizing emperor and he also chose to reside outside of the Forbidden City
in Beijing so he could live in isolation. Ignoring state affairs, Jiajing employed incapable individuals such as Zhang Cong and Yan Song, on whom he thoroughly relied to handle affairs of state. In time Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan - who gained power only as a result of his father's political influence - came to dominate the whole government even being called the "First and Second Prime Minister". Loyal individuals such as Hai Rui
and Yang Xusheng challenged and even chastised Yan Song and his son but were thoroughly ignored by the emperor. Hai Rui and many loyal ministers were eventually dismissed or executed. Jiajing also abandoned the practice of seeing his ministers altogether from 1539 onwards and for a period of almost 25 years refused to give official audiences, choosing instead to relay his wishes through eunuchs and officials. Only Yan Song, a few handful of eunuchs and Daoist priests ever saw Jiajing. This eventually led to corruption at all levels of the Ming government.
Jiajing's ruthlessness also led to an internal plot by his concubines to assassinate him in October, 1542 by strangling him while he slept. He is said to have used young girl's menstrual blood as an elixir he hoped would give him immortality. A group of palace girls who had had enough of Jiajing's cruelty decided to band together to murder the emperor. The lead palace girl tried to strangle the emperor with ribbons from her hair while the others held down the emperor's arms and legs but made a fatal mistake by tying a knot around the emperor's neck which would not tighten. Meanwhile some of the young girls involved began to panic and one (Zhang Jinlian) ran to the empress. The plot was exposed and on the orders of the empress, all of the girls involved, including the emperor's favourite concubine (Consort Duan, née Cao) and another concubine (Consort Ning, née Wang), underwent execution by the slow slicing method and their families were killed.
The Ming dynasty had enjoyed a long period of peace, but in 1542 the Mongol leader Altan Khan
began to harass China along the northern border. In 1550 he even reached the suburbs of Beijing. Eventually the empire appeased him by granting special trading rights. The empire also had to deal with pirates
attacking the southeastern coastline; general Qi Jiguang
was instrumental in defeating these pirates.
Starting in 1550, Beijing was enlarged by adding the "Outer" or "Chinese City".
The deadliest earthquake of all times, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 that killed over 800,000 people, occurred during the Jiajing Emperor's reign.
, which lay only a days ride from Beijing
. Yen Sung blamed this on the aggressive policies of his adversary Xia Yen, but he himself offered no strategy to counter the invasion. Then Xia Yen was executed. The Mongol army succeded in penetrating the inner line of Beijing defense, and approached the Imperial tombs.
In March 1549, Mongols attacked Xuan Fu again, Altan routed the imperial army but Ming force managed to block his retreat and won several encounters. During this raid, several Ming commanders were warned that if trade was not allowed, Beijing would be attacked in the fall. Upon hearing this, Jiajing Emperor ordered that measures be taken to thwart the plan.
By March 1550, no rain or snow had fallen for over 150 days. Spies reported that the hordes were assembling for a major attack. In July, after several skirmishes near Datong
the Mongols rode east, having been bribed by the commandant of the region to go elsewhere. On 26 September the entire raiding party breached the defenses of Gubei Pass, just 40 miles northeast of Beijing and went south of Tongzhou
, where a camp was established. On 30 September an advance party reached the gates of Beijing and the city was besieged, and the suburbs were looted.
In 1550 military registered for capital garrisons carried about 140,000 names, but only fifty or sixty thousands were assigned to military duties, the rest worked on constructions projects. The soldiers refused to go outside of the city to fight, in other hand, reinforcement army arriving to defend the city but have no provisions. The army was starving, unfit to fight and committed looting. Ministry of war was in stress over this situation, and on Yen Sung's advice, he ordered the various regional commanders not to pursue, so the raiding parties were able to retreat several days later.
On 6 October 1550, the minister of war was executed by Jiajing Emperor with the reasons that he was unable to defend Beijing. After that, general Qiu Luan was trusted by Jiajing for military affairs, he was the commander who previously bribed the Mongols to pass by Datong. Qiu’s forces engaged the Mongols on 6 October, but thousands of men were lost. Qiu barely escaped with his life, but he reported a victory to the Emperor. Qiu Luan was rewarded as commander of all garrisons army and training camps around Beijing.
In 1551, the Mongols begin to raid again until 1552. In April of the same year, Qiu Luan forces were ambushed by Mongols and badly defeated on the steppe north of Datong. Again, he reported victories to Jiajing, but the Emperor was suspicious of the report. When the raid continued to the frontier, Qiu was executed on August 31 for fooling the Emperor. Later Qiu was accused of treason, on 13 September his corpse was exhumed and cut into pieces.
The Mongol raids continued until 1566. The main reason was that they were starving and Ming refused to trade with them. During this, all the Ming generals failed to repel the raids.
and attempted to suppress Buddhism
. After the assassination attempt in 1542, Jiajing began to pay excessive attention to his Taoist pursuits while ignoring his imperial duties. He built the three Taoist temples Temple of Sun
, Temple of Earth
and Temple of Moon and extended the Temple of Heaven
by adding the Earthly Mount. Over the years, Jiajing's devotion to Taoism was to become a heavy financial burden for the empire and create dissent across the country.
Particularly during his later years, Jiajing was known for spending a great deal of time on alchemy in hopes of finding medicines to prolong his life. He would forcibly recruit young girls in their early teens and engaged in sexual activities in hopes of empowering himself, along with the consumption of potent elixirs
. He employed Taoist priests to collect rare minerals from all over the country to create elixirs, including elixirs containing mercury
, which inevitably posed health problems at high doses.
– and was succeeded by his son, the Longqing Emperor
. Though his long rule gave the dynasty an era of stability, Jiajing's neglect of his official duties resulted in the decline of the dynasty at the end of the 16th century. His style of governing or for that matter the lack thereof would be emulated by his grandson
later in the century.
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
who ruled from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor
Zhengde Emperor
The Zhengde Emperor was emperor of China between 1505-1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son...
's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), the Prince of Xing, was the fourth son of the Cheng-hua emperor (1465–1487) and the eldest son of three sons born to the emperor's concubine, Lady Shao.
His era name
Chinese era name
A Chinese era name is the regnal year, reign period, or regnal title used when traditionally numbering years in an emperor's reign and naming certain Chinese rulers . Some emperors have several era names, one after another, where each beginning of a new era resets the numbering of the year back...
means "Admirable tranquility".
Early years
As the nephew of the Hongzhi EmperorHongzhi Emperor
The Hongzhi Emperor was emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1487 and 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng , he was the son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called the Hongzhi...
, Zhu Houcong was not brought up to succeed to the throne. However, the throne became vacant in 1521 with the sudden death of the Hongzhi Emperor's son, Emperor Zhengde, who did not leave an heir. The 14 year old Zhu Houcong was chosen to become emperor, and so relocated from his father's fief (near today's Zhongxiang
Zhongxiang
Zhongxiang is a county-level city of Jingmen, central Hubei province, Central China. Zhongxiang means "Blessed with propitious omen", which was gifted by Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. Zhongxiang is a well-known historical and cultural city in China....
, in Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
Province) to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
As the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong had his parents posthumously elevated to an "honorary" imperial rank, and had an imperial-style Xianling Mausoleum built for them near Zhongxiang.
Reign as Emperor
Custom dictated that an emperor who was not an immediate descendant of the previous one should be adopted by the previous one, to maintain an unbroken line. Such a posthumous adoption of Zhu Houcong by Emperor Zhengde was proposed, but he resisted, preferring instead to have his father declared emperor posthumously. This conflict is known as "The Great Rites ControversyGreat rites controversy
The Great rites controversy took place in 1524 in China.The young and newly empowered Emperor Shizong tried to posthumously give his father the title of emperor in order to legitimize his claim to the throne...
." The Jiajing Emperor prevailed, and hundreds of his opponents were banished, physically beaten in the court (廷杖) or executed. Among the banished was the great Ming poet Yang Shen
Yang Shen
Yang Shen , son of Yang Tinghe, zi Yòngxiū , hao Shēng'ān , also hao Bonanshanren , Bonanshushi , was a poet in the Ming Dynasty....
.
The Jiajing Emperor was known to be a cruel and self-aggrandizing emperor and he also chose to reside outside of the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
in Beijing so he could live in isolation. Ignoring state affairs, Jiajing employed incapable individuals such as Zhang Cong and Yan Song, on whom he thoroughly relied to handle affairs of state. In time Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan - who gained power only as a result of his father's political influence - came to dominate the whole government even being called the "First and Second Prime Minister". Loyal individuals such as Hai Rui
Hai Rui
Hai Rui was a famous Chinese official of the Ming Dynasty. His name has come down in history as a model of honesty and integrity in office and he reemerged as an important historical character during the Cultural Revolution.-Biography:Hai Rui, whose great-grandfather married an Arab and...
and Yang Xusheng challenged and even chastised Yan Song and his son but were thoroughly ignored by the emperor. Hai Rui and many loyal ministers were eventually dismissed or executed. Jiajing also abandoned the practice of seeing his ministers altogether from 1539 onwards and for a period of almost 25 years refused to give official audiences, choosing instead to relay his wishes through eunuchs and officials. Only Yan Song, a few handful of eunuchs and Daoist priests ever saw Jiajing. This eventually led to corruption at all levels of the Ming government.
Jiajing's ruthlessness also led to an internal plot by his concubines to assassinate him in October, 1542 by strangling him while he slept. He is said to have used young girl's menstrual blood as an elixir he hoped would give him immortality. A group of palace girls who had had enough of Jiajing's cruelty decided to band together to murder the emperor. The lead palace girl tried to strangle the emperor with ribbons from her hair while the others held down the emperor's arms and legs but made a fatal mistake by tying a knot around the emperor's neck which would not tighten. Meanwhile some of the young girls involved began to panic and one (Zhang Jinlian) ran to the empress. The plot was exposed and on the orders of the empress, all of the girls involved, including the emperor's favourite concubine (Consort Duan, née Cao) and another concubine (Consort Ning, née Wang), underwent execution by the slow slicing method and their families were killed.
The Ming dynasty had enjoyed a long period of peace, but in 1542 the Mongol leader Altan Khan
Altan Khan
Altan Khan , whose given name was Anda , was the ruler of the Tümet Mongols and de facto ruler of the Right Wing, or western tribes, of the Mongols...
began to harass China along the northern border. In 1550 he even reached the suburbs of Beijing. Eventually the empire appeased him by granting special trading rights. The empire also had to deal with pirates
Wokou
Wokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...
attacking the southeastern coastline; general Qi Jiguang
Qi Jiguang
Qi Jiguang was a Chinese military general and national hero during the Ming Dynasty. He was best remembered for his courage and leadership in the fight against Japanese pirates along the east coast of China, as well as his reinforcement work on the Great Wall of China.-Early life:Qi Jiguang was...
was instrumental in defeating these pirates.
The deadliest earthquake of all times, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 that killed over 800,000 people, occurred during the Jiajing Emperor's reign.
Mongols Raid
In June 1548 Mongols attacked Xuan Fu and defeated the imperial army. In October they invaded again and reached HualaiHuailai County
Huailai is a county in the Hebei province of northern China, under the administration of Zhangjiakou prefecture-level city.Huailai County is a center for grape wine production, with the China Great Wall Wine Company, Ltd. headquartered in the town of Shacheng. Huailai Tianyuan Special Type Glass...
, which lay only a days ride from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. Yen Sung blamed this on the aggressive policies of his adversary Xia Yen, but he himself offered no strategy to counter the invasion. Then Xia Yen was executed. The Mongol army succeded in penetrating the inner line of Beijing defense, and approached the Imperial tombs.
In March 1549, Mongols attacked Xuan Fu again, Altan routed the imperial army but Ming force managed to block his retreat and won several encounters. During this raid, several Ming commanders were warned that if trade was not allowed, Beijing would be attacked in the fall. Upon hearing this, Jiajing Emperor ordered that measures be taken to thwart the plan.
By March 1550, no rain or snow had fallen for over 150 days. Spies reported that the hordes were assembling for a major attack. In July, after several skirmishes near Datong
Datong
Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province of North China, located a few hundred kilometres west by rail from Beijing with an elevation of...
the Mongols rode east, having been bribed by the commandant of the region to go elsewhere. On 26 September the entire raiding party breached the defenses of Gubei Pass, just 40 miles northeast of Beijing and went south of Tongzhou
Tongzhou
Tongzhou may refer to:* Tongzhou, Jiangsu, current Nantong city, a former city in Jiangsu** Tongzhou District, Nantong, in Jiangsu* Tongzhou, Hebei, current Tongzhou District in Beijing, a former city in Hebei* Tongzhou District, Beijing...
, where a camp was established. On 30 September an advance party reached the gates of Beijing and the city was besieged, and the suburbs were looted.
In 1550 military registered for capital garrisons carried about 140,000 names, but only fifty or sixty thousands were assigned to military duties, the rest worked on constructions projects. The soldiers refused to go outside of the city to fight, in other hand, reinforcement army arriving to defend the city but have no provisions. The army was starving, unfit to fight and committed looting. Ministry of war was in stress over this situation, and on Yen Sung's advice, he ordered the various regional commanders not to pursue, so the raiding parties were able to retreat several days later.
On 6 October 1550, the minister of war was executed by Jiajing Emperor with the reasons that he was unable to defend Beijing. After that, general Qiu Luan was trusted by Jiajing for military affairs, he was the commander who previously bribed the Mongols to pass by Datong. Qiu’s forces engaged the Mongols on 6 October, but thousands of men were lost. Qiu barely escaped with his life, but he reported a victory to the Emperor. Qiu Luan was rewarded as commander of all garrisons army and training camps around Beijing.
In 1551, the Mongols begin to raid again until 1552. In April of the same year, Qiu Luan forces were ambushed by Mongols and badly defeated on the steppe north of Datong. Again, he reported victories to Jiajing, but the Emperor was suspicious of the report. When the raid continued to the frontier, Qiu was executed on August 31 for fooling the Emperor. Later Qiu was accused of treason, on 13 September his corpse was exhumed and cut into pieces.
The Mongol raids continued until 1566. The main reason was that they were starving and Ming refused to trade with them. During this, all the Ming generals failed to repel the raids.
Taoist pursuits
He was a devoted follower of TaoismTaoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
and attempted to suppress Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. After the assassination attempt in 1542, Jiajing began to pay excessive attention to his Taoist pursuits while ignoring his imperial duties. He built the three Taoist temples Temple of Sun
Temple of Sun
he Temple of the Sun is located in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. It is within Ritan Park , in the Jianguomen area. The nearest Beijing Metro station is Yonganli on the Beijing subway Line 1....
, Temple of Earth
Temple of Earth
The Temple of the Earth in Beijing, China, is located in the northern part of central Beijing, around the Andingmen area and just outside of Beijing's second ring road. It is also located just a few hundred yards north of Yonghe Temple...
and Temple of Moon and extended the Temple of Heaven
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest...
by adding the Earthly Mount. Over the years, Jiajing's devotion to Taoism was to become a heavy financial burden for the empire and create dissent across the country.
Particularly during his later years, Jiajing was known for spending a great deal of time on alchemy in hopes of finding medicines to prolong his life. He would forcibly recruit young girls in their early teens and engaged in sexual activities in hopes of empowering himself, along with the consumption of potent elixirs
Elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life and or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create...
. He employed Taoist priests to collect rare minerals from all over the country to create elixirs, including elixirs containing mercury
Mercury poisoning
Mercury poisoning is a disease caused by exposure to mercury or its compounds. Mercury is a heavy metal occurring in several forms, all of which can produce toxic effects in high enough doses...
, which inevitably posed health problems at high doses.
Legacy and death
After 45 years on the throne (the second longest reign in the Ming dynasty), Emperor Jiajing died in 1567 – possibly due to mercury overdose believing to be the Elixir of LifeElixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life and or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create...
– and was succeeded by his son, the Longqing Emperor
Longqing Emperor
The Longqing Emperor was the 12th emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1567-1572. His era name means "Great celebration". His name at birth was Zhu Zaihou and he was born during the reign of his father Emperor Jiajing, at the Forbidden City at the Ming Dynasty capital Beijing....
. Though his long rule gave the dynasty an era of stability, Jiajing's neglect of his official duties resulted in the decline of the dynasty at the end of the 16th century. His style of governing or for that matter the lack thereof would be emulated by his grandson
Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor was emperor of China between 1572 and 1620. His era name means "Ten thousand calendars". Born Zhu Yijun, he was the Longqing Emperor's third son...
later in the century.
Sons
| Number | Title | Name | Born | Death | Married | Spouse | Mother | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crown Prince Aichong 哀沖太子 |
Zhu Zaiji 朱載基 |
1533 | 1533 | none | none | Imperial Consort Yan | |
| 2 | Crown Prince Zhuangjin 莊敬太子 |
Zhu Zairui 朱載壡 |
1536 | 1552 | none | none | Imperial Consort Wang | |
| 3 | Emperor Muzong Zhuang 穆宗莊皇帝 |
Zhu Zaihou Longqing Emperor The Longqing Emperor was the 12th emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1567-1572. His era name means "Great celebration". His name at birth was Zhu Zaihou and he was born during the reign of his father Emperor Jiajing, at the Forbidden City at the Ming Dynasty capital Beijing.... |
1537 | 1572 | ||||
| Empress Xiaoyizhuang | Empress Xiaoke | |||||||
| 4 | Prince Gong of Jin 景恭王 |
Zhu Zaixun 朱载圳 |
1537 | 1565 | ||||
| Consort Lu | ||||||||
Daughters
| Number | Title | Name | Born | Death | Married | Spouse | Mother | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Princess Chang'an 常安公主 |
Zhu Shouying 朱寿媖 |
1536 | 1549 | none | none | Consort Duan, née Cao | |
| 2 | Princess Si'rou 思柔公主 |
Zhu Fuyuan 朱福媛 |
1538 | 1549 | none | none | Consort Hui, née Wang | |
| 3 | Princess Ning'an 宁安公主 |
Zhu Luzhen 朱禄媜 |
1539 | 1607 | - | Li He 李和 |
Consort Duan, née Cao | Raised by Noble Consort,née Shen, after Consort Duan was slowly sliced to death in 1542 |
| 4 | Princess Guishan 归善公主 |
Zhu Luirong 朱瑞嬫 |
1541 | 1544 | none | none | Consort Yong, née Chen | |
| 5 | Princess Jiashan 嘉善公主 |
Zhu Suzhen 朱素嫃 |
1541 | 1564 | - | Xu Congcheng 许从诚 |
Consort De, née Zhang |