Taichang Emperor

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Taichang Emperor
Birth and death: 28 August 1582–26 September 1620
Family name: Zhu (朱)
Given name: Changluo (常洛)
Dates of reign: 28 August 1620–26 September 1620
Dynasty: Ming (明)
Era name: Taichang (泰昌)
Era dates: 28 August 1620¹–21 January 1621
Temple name: Guangzong (光宗)
Posthumous name:
(short) 		 Emperor Zhen (貞皇帝)
Posthumous name:
(full) 		 Emperor Chongtian Qidao
Yingrui Gongchun Xianwen
Jingwu Yuanren Yixiao Zhen
崇天契道英睿恭純憲文景武淵仁
懿孝貞皇帝
Note: Dates before October 1582 are given in the Julian calendar,
not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. Dates after October 1582
are given in the Gregorian calendar, not in the Julian calendar
that remained in use in England until 1752.
———
1. The Taichang era should have started on January 22, 1621; however, the emperor died before the start of his era. He was succeeded by his son the Tianqi Emperor, and according to the law the Tianqi era was now scheduled to start on January 22, 1621, so that the Taichang era would never exist in practice. In order to honor his father, the new emperor decided that the Wanli era would be considered ended since August 27, 1620, the last day of the 7th month in the Chinese calendar. The period from August 28, 1620 (1st day of the 8th month, which was the day on which Taichang had ascended the throne) until January 21, 1621 would become the Taichang era, enabling this era to be applied for a few months. Thus, quite an extraordinary situation resulted from this choice: the 7th month of the 48th year of the Wanli era was followed by the 8th month of the 1st year of the Taichang era (the 1st year of the Taichang era, in fact the only year of the Taichang era, lacks its first seven months), then the 12th month of the 1st year of the Taichang era was followed by the 1st month of the 1st year of the Tianqi era.

Taichang Emperor[1] (Zh: 泰昌, Pinyin: Táichàng; August 28, 1582 - September 26, 1620) was the fourteenth Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was born Zhu Changluo (Zh: 朱常洛), the eldest son of Emperor Wanli (Zh: 万历皇帝) and succeeded his father as Emperor in 1620. However his reign came to an abrupt end less than one month after his coronation and was found dead one morning in the palace following a bout of diarrhea. He was succeeded by his son Zhu Youxiao (Zh: 朱由校).

Contents

[edit] Early life

Zhu Chanluo was born in the tenth year of Emperor Wanli’s reign to a common palace girl née Wang (Zh: 王氏) serving on the staff of Wanli's mother, the Dowager Empress Li (Zh: 李太后). Although upon her pregnancy she was bestowed the title of "Consort Gong of Second Grade" (Zh: 恭妃),[2] the mother of future Emperor Taichang was not one of the favourites of Emperor Wanli. Consequently after he was born, Zhu Chanluo was more or less completely ignored by his father Emperor Wanli even though, as the Emperor’s eldest son, he was by Ming law of succession,[3] the heir presumptive.

Zhu Chanluo spent most of his life as a hapless pawn in the palace power struggle for the title of Crown Prince. His father Emperor Wanli openly preferred naming Zhu Changxun (Zh: 朱常洵), Wanli Emperor's younger son by his favourite consort Lady Zheng (Zh: 鄭貴妃), as Crown Prince over the seniority of Zhu Chanluo, but his intention was met with vehement opposition by most of his Confucian educated ministers. Frustrated by the multiple petitions to create Zhu Chanluo as Crown Prince, Emperor Wanli decided to stonewall the entire issue. Some historians have suggested that the impasse on the selection of Crown Prince was part of the cause of Emperor Wanli's withdrawal from day to day government administration.

Caught in this political limbo, Zhu Chanluo was deliberately not assigned a regular tutor nor given any systematic Confucian education even after he started school at thirteen years old — an unusually late age for Ming princes to begin their education. Finally in 1601 Emperor Wanli gave in to pressure from his ministers and more importantly from his mother the Dowager Empress and a nineteen year old Zhu Chanluo was formally created Crown Prince and heir apparent to his father. However this formal recognition did not signal the end of court intrigues. Rumours of Emperor Wanli's intend to replace the Crown Prince with his younger son by Lady Zheng continued to resurface through the years,[4]

In 1615 the court was hit by yet another scandal. A man by the name of Zhang Chai (Zh: 张差) armed with no more than a wooden staff managed to chase off eunuchs guarding the gates and broke into Ci-Qing palace (Zh: 慈庆宫), then the Crown Prince’s living quarters. Zhang Chai was eventually subdued and thrown in prison. Initial investigation found him to be a lunatic, but upon further investigation by a more conscientious magistrate named Wang Zicai (Zh: 王之寀) the man confessed to being party to a plot instigated by two eunuchs[5] working under Lady Zheng. According to Zhang Chai’s confession, the two had promised him rewards for assaulting the Crown Prince thus implicating the Emperor’s favourite concubine in an assassination plot. Presented with the incriminating evidence and the gravity of the accusations, Emperor Wanli in an attempt to spare Lady Zheng personally presided over the case and laid the full blame on the two implicated eunuchs who were executed along with the would-be assassin. Although the case was quickly hushed up, it did not squelch public discussion and eventually became known as the "Case of the Palace Assault" (Zh: 梃击案), one of three notorious 'mysteries'[6] of Late Ming Dynasty.

[edit] Short Reign & Death

Emperor Wanli died on August 18, 1620 and Zhu Chanluo officially ascended the throne on August 28, 1620 taking the era name Tai-Chang, meaning "Magnificent Prosperity". The first few days of his reign started promisingly enough as recorded in official Ming court history. Two million teals of silver was entailed as a gift to the troops guarding the border, important bureaucratic posts left vacant during Wanli’s long periods of administrative inactivity were finally starting to be filled, and many of the deeply unpopular extraordinary taxes and duties imposted by the late Emperor were also revoked at this time. However ten days after his coronation Emperor Taichang was taken ill. So grave was the new Emperor's physical condition his birthday celebration originally planned for the next day was canceled.

According to some non-official primary sources,[7] Taichang’s illness was brought about by excessive sexual indulgence after he was presented with eight beautiful serving girls by his nemesis Lady Zheng as a coronation gift.[8] The Emperor's already serious condition was further compounded by severe diarrhea after taking a dose of laxative recommended by an attending eunuch Cui Wensheng (Zh: 崔文昇) on September 10. Finally on September 25 to counter the effects of the laxative, he asked for and took a red pill[9] presented by a minor court official named Li Kezhuo (Zh: 李可灼) who dabbled in apothecary.

It was recorded in the official Ming court history[10] that Emperor Taichang felt much better after taking the pill, regained his appetite and repeatedly praised Li Kezhou as a "Loyal subject" . That same afternoon the Emperor took a second pill and was found dead the next morning. The death of a second Emperor who was seemingly in good health within the span of a month sent shock waves through the empire and started rumours flying. The much talked about mystery surrounding the Emperor's death became known as the infamous "Case of the Red Pills" (Zh: 红丸案). The fate of Li Kezhuo whose pills were at the center of this controversy became a hotly contested subject between competing power factions of officials and eunuchs vying for influence at the Ming Court. Opinions ranged from awarding him money for the Emperor's initial recovery to executing his entire family for murdering the Emperor. The question was finally settled in 1625 when Li Kezhuo was exiled to the border regions on the order of the powerful eunuch Wei Zhongxian (Zh: 魏忠賢) signaling the total dominance of eunuchs during the reign of Taichang’s son Emperor Tianqi.

[edit] Epilogue

Taichang’s untimely death threw the Ming Court into some logistical disarray. Firstly the court was still officially in mourning over the passing of the late Wanli Emperor whose corpse at this point was still lying in state waiting for an auspicious date to be interred. Secondly, all imperial tombs were custom made by the reigning Emperor and there was no proper place to bury Taichang who had only just ascended the throne. A tomb was hastily commissioned over the foundation of the demolished tomb of Emperor Jintai. The construction was finally completed on the eighth month of 1621 and consecrated Qing Ling (Zh: 庆陵). Finally on the question of naming the Emperor’s reign, although the Emperor had taken the formal era name of ‘Taichang’, it was sandwiched between the Forty-eighth year of Wanli era (1620) and the first year of his son’s Tianqi era (1621). After much discussion it was decided to adopt an official Zuo Guangdou’s (Zh: 左光斗) suggestion that Wanli era ends on the seventh lunar month of 1620, while Taichang era spans the eighth to twelfth months of the same year. Tianqi era officially starts from the first lunar month of 1621.

From a historical perspective, Taichang’s reign by nature of its short time span amounts to nothing more than a footnote in Ming history. It exposed the constitutional weakness of Ming Dynasty's autocratic system when headed by a weak Emperor as typified by Taichang and his successor. From the limited information gleaned from official Ming court history on the life of the Emperor, he came across as an introverted half-literate alcoholic satirical weakling. Given this dismal track record there is no evidence that had Taichang reign lasted any longer than it did, he could have turned around the fortunes of the beleaguered Ming Dynasty after the long steady decline of the latter years of Wanli's reign.

[edit] Family

  • Father: Emperor Wanli (Zh: 万历皇帝)
  • Mother: Lady Gong, née Wang (Zh: 恭妃, 王氏); Posthumously dubbed Dowager Empress Xiaojin (Zh: 孝靖太后) by Emperor Taichang. Full posthumous title in Chinese: 孝靖温懿敬让贞慈参天胤圣皇太后.

[edit] Consorts

  1. Crown Princess, née Guo (Zh: 皇太子妃,郭氏); Posthumously created Empress Xiaoyuanzhen (Zh: 孝元贞皇后) by Emperor Tianqi; Full posthumous title in Chinese: 孝元昭懿哲惠莊仁合天弼圣贞皇后.
  2. Consort Fifth Grade, née Wang (Zh: 才人, 王氏); Posthumously created Empress Dowager Xiaohe (Zh: 孝和太后) by Emperor Tianqi; Full posthumous title in Chinese: 孝和恭献温穆徽慈谐天鞠圣皇太后.
  3. Consort Seventh Grade, née Liu (Zh: 淑女, 刘氏); Posthumously created Empress Dowager Xiaochun (Zh: 孝纯太后) by Emperor Chongzhen; Full posthumous title in Chinese: 孝纯恭懿淑穆莊静毘天毓圣皇太后.
  4. Consort 'Kang' of Second Grade, née Li (Zh: 康妃李氏), commonly called "Lady Li of the West" (Zh: 西李选侍)
  5. Consort 'Zhuang' of Second Grade, née Li (Zh: 莊妃李氏), commonly called "Lady Li of the East" (Zh: 东李选侍)
  6. Consort Sixth Grade, née Xiao (Zh: 选侍赵氏)
  7. Consort Sixth Grade, née Wang (Zh: 选侍王氏)
  8. Consort Sixth Grade, née Li (Zh: 选侍李氏)
  9. Consort 'Ding-Yi' of Second Grade (Zh: 定懿妃)
  10. Consort 'Jing' of Second Grade (Zh: 敬妃)

[edit] Sons

  1. Zhu Youxiao (Zh: 朱由校), later Emperor Tianqi. Son of Empress Dowager Xiaohe.
  2. Zhu Youxue (Zh: 简怀王, 朱由(学)), son of Empress Dowager Xiaohe. Died at age four.
  3. Zhu Youji (Zh: 齐思王, 朱由楫), son of Consort Sixth Grade, Lady Wang. Died at age eight.
  4. Zhu Youmo (Zh: 怀惠王, 朱由模), son of Consort Sixth Grade, Lady Li. Died at age five.
  5. Zhu Youjian (Zh: 朱由檢), later Emperor Chongzhen. Son of Empress Dowager Xiaochun.
  6. Zhu Youyi (Zh: 湘怀王, 朱由栩), son of Consort 'Ding-Yi' of Second Grade, stillborn.
  7. Zhu Youshan (Zh: 惠昭王, 朱由橏), son of Consort 'Jing' of Second Grade, stillborn.

[edit] Daughters

  1. Princess Huaishu (Zh: 怀淑公主), died at age seven.
  2. Princess Ninde (Zh: 宁德公主).
  3. Princess Yiping (Zh: 遂平公主).
  4. Princess LeAn (Zh: 乐安公主).

Additional five daughters stillborn.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Chinese Emperors are commonly known by their era name, such as Taichang in this instance. This stemmed from the Chinese practice (up to the nationalist era) of referring to the calendar year after the Emperor's reign. However because his reign so short Taichang era became lost between "Wanli Year Forty-Eight" (1620) and "Tianqi Year One" (1621). Secondly, the reigning Emperor's era name was usually inscribed on newly minted copper currency and as no coinage with Taichang era name was minted while the Emperor was alive. All Ming coins bearing the marking of Taichang were minted during the reign of his son, Emperor Tianqi. Thus Taichang is also known as the "Emperor without an era name", and commonly referred to by his temple name Guangzhong (Zh: 明光宗).
  2. ^ Apart from the Empress, there were seven grades of consorts in the Ming palace system. These in their order of seniority were: Huang Gui Fei (Zh: 皇贵妃), Gui Fei (Zh: 贵妃), Bin (Zh: 嫔), Gui Ren (Zh: 贵人), Chai Ren (Zh: 才人), Xuan Shi (Zh: 选侍), and Shu Niu (Zh: 淑女), beneath which were palace girls. "Lady Gong" in this case was a palace girl elevated to the rank of a consort of the second (most senior) grade.
  3. ^ Ming Dynasty followed a strict patrilineal line of succession. Of the Emperor's sons, those by the Empress were called dizi (Zh: 嫡子) took precedence over sons by the Emperor's other consorts called shuzi (Zh: 庶子), followed by seniority in accordance to their age. Although Wanli’s Empress never bore him a son, Chu Chanluo’s position as the eldest amongst the sons of Wanli’s consorts and heir presumptive could legally be superseded if either the Empress gave birth to a son or if Emperor Wanli made Lady Zheng his Empress.
  4. ^ "Ming Official Court History - The Chronicles of Taichang" (Zh: 《明史·光宗本纪》), documented two separate instances in the years 1603 and 1613, when pamphlets of unknown origins accusing Lady Zheng of plotting to remove the Crown Prince received widespread public circulation. Although several suspects were eventually apprehended, official investigations ordered by Emperor Wanli never satisfactorily establish the culprits behind these pamphlets.
  5. ^ The two eunuchs were named Pang Bao (Zh: 庞保), and Liu Cheng (Zh: 刘成).
  6. ^ The 'Three Mysteries of Late Ming' (Zh: 明宫三案) referred to the 'Case of the Palace Assault' (Zh: 梃击案), the 'Case of the Red Pills' (Zh: 红丸案), and the 'Case of Palace Removal' (Zh: 移宫案).
  7. ^ "National Discussions" (Zh:《国榷》) completed in the 1650s, & "Book of Ming" (Zh:《明書》; also known as 《罪惟錄》) a seventeenth century privately written record of Ming history.
  8. ^ Official Ming Court histories (Zh:《明史》 & 《明史紀事本末》) state the number of girls presented by Lady Zheng as four. Lady Zheng’s motive for the gift was never explained. It could either be an effort to get into the Emperor's good books or the latest in the long series of attempts to kill him.
  9. ^ The "Red Pills" (Zh: 紅丸; or 红铅金丹) were a Chinese apothecary concoction popular during mid Ming Dynasty. It contained among its many ingredients "red lead" (dried powdered female menstrual blood), "autumn stone" (crystallized urinal salts) baked into the form of a pill that claims to be an "energy" booster and an aphrodisiac. The formula is collected in a volume titled "Wondrous Methods for Life Extension" (Zh: 《摄生众妙方》) edited by a Ming scholar Zhang Shiqie (Zh: 张时彻).
  10. ^ Ming Court History, "Biography of HanGuang "(Zh:《明史·韩爌传》)
Taichang Emperor
Born: 28 August 1582 Died: 26 September 1620
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Wanli Emperor		 Emperor of China
1620		 Succeeded by
Tianqi Emperor