Hongxi Emperor

Zhu Gaochi was born on 16 August 1378, the eldest son of Zhu Di, the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor and Prince of Yan, and his principal consort, Lady Xu.[2] He received the usual military and Confucian education. He had poor health and physical condition, so he mainly devoted himself to books and discussions with his tutors.[2] He excelled at the noble sport of archery.[3] His grandfather was pleased with his literary and administrative skills; however, his father had more respect for his younger sons, who gravitated towards a military life. So far, Zhu Gaochi has surrounded himself with scholars such as Yang Shiji (楊士奇), Yang Yong (楊榮), Yang Pu (楊溥), and Huang Huai (黃淮).[2]

After the Hongwu Emperor's death in 1398, Zhu Di defeated the Jianwen Emperor in the Jingnan campaign, a civil war, and seized the throne as the Yongle Emperor in 1402. Zhu Gaochi managed his father's territory while he and his younger sons fought in the civil war.[2] During the siege of Beijing in late 1399, Zhu Gaochi demonstrated his organizational and military skills when he defended the city with tens of thousands of soldiers against Li Jinglong's much stronger army.[4] For the defense of Beijing, the Yongle Emperor expressed his appreciation to Zhu Gaochi, but he continued to look down more on his more militarily-inclined younger sons.[3]

In May 1404, his father created him crown prince following the appeals of Xie Jin and Huang Huai. During the Yongle Emperor's absence from the capital, mostly due to campaigns in Mongolia, he administered the empire with authorized ministers and grand secretaries. In his father's absence, under the influence of the grand secretaries and ministers, his policy partially deviated from his father's.[3] At the same time, he faced animosity from his younger brothers, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui.[4] In September 1414, upon the Yongle Emperor's return from Mongolia, Zhu Gaoxu accused Zhu Gaochi of breach of duty. The emperor then punished his advisor, Yang Pu, and the grand secretaries Huang Huai and Yang Shiji with imprisonment or removal from office. Although Zhu Gaoxu ceased to be dangerous after 1417, when he was relegated to Shandong,[4] relations with his father remained disturbed.[3] Even after that, Zhu Gaochi did not hold a grudge against his younger brother, and after ascending to the throne, he raised his income and gave his sons titles.[4]

The Yongle Emperor died on 12 August 1424, while returning from the fifth Mongol campaign.[5][4] Zhu Gaochi formally ascended the throne on 7 September 1424, declared an amnesty,[5] and, from the Chinese New Year of 1425, began the Hongxi era, by which name he is known.

A few days earlier, he had ensured the safety of the capital, sent the eunuch Wang Guitong (王貴通; formerly known as Wang Jinghong) to Nanjing as grand defender,[4] and released from prison the arrested ministers, Xia Yuanji (who had been imprisoned since April 1422),[4] and Wu Zhong (吳中).[5] On 8 September,[5] Xia Yuanji returned to his position as Minister of Revenue, and Wu Zhong also returned to his ministerial position at the same time.[4][5]

The reorganization of the Grand Secretariat took place on 9 September. Huang Huai and Yang Pu, who had been imprisoned since 1414, were appointed to it; Yang Shiji (who was promoted to the senior grand secretary), Yang Yong (who remained the grand secretary), and Jin Youzi (金幼孜) also remained in it. The grand secretaries received the high ranks of vice ministers, increasing their formal status in line with their real influence.[5] Later, they received an even higher first rank and the supernumerary title of minister (of War, Yang Shiji; of Works, Yang Yong; and of Revenue, Huang Huai), which allowed them to directly intervene in government affairs. The emperor worked closely with the grand secretaries and ministers, urging them to openly consider matters in meetings. Decisions were reached through collective discussion, which led to the cancellation of the Yongle Emperor's unpopular programs.[6]

On 29 October, he elevated his wife, Lady Zhang, to empress (she acted as regent in cooperation with grand secretaries from 1435 until her death in 1442 during the minority of her grandson, Emperor Yingzong). Three days later, he appointed his eldest son, Zhu Zhanji, as crown prince and the other sons as princes. He also increased the incomes of members of the imperial family, while confirming their exclusion from state affairs.[7]

The emperor reformed the state administration. By the end of 1424, redundant, incompetent, and overage officials had been dismissed, while successful ones were promoted.[6][5] Comptrollers were spread across the empire to investigate abuse of power and corruption, and to seek out capable candidates for vacant positions.[8] On 18 October 1424, the grand secretaries Yang Shiji, Yang Yong, and Jin Youzi, and the Minister of Personnel, Jian Yi (蹇義), were given the right to confidentially inform the emperor if they discovered any wrongdoing by other officials. At the end of the year, Xia Yuanji also received this privilege.[7] However, the corrupt Liu Quan (劉觀) remained the chief censor, and he was not the only corrupt official to remain unpurged.[7]

Confucian morality was promoted. In February 1425, Zheng He was appointed grand defender of Nanjing; however, generally, the eunuchs were kept under scrutiny. The changes also affected the civil service exams, as there was a significant preponderance of candidates from the southern provinces, which outnumbered the northern provinces in terms of population and level of education. The emperor, therefore, decided that 40% of the successful candidates in the metropolitan examinations would be from the North in order to increase the representation of Northerners in the civil service. This policy was maintained by his successors and adopted by the Qing dynasty.[8]

The Hongxi Emperor tried to correct the judicial blunders of the previous government. A number of cases were reassessed, and in late 1424,[7] the families of officials who had been executed for their loyalty to the Jianwen Emperor were rehabilitated and their confiscated property returned. The emperor also overturned some of his own judgments, saying that they had been given in anger regardless of the circumstances.[8]

The goal of his economic policy was to reduce the tax burden on the population, which under the Yongle Emperor had significantly increased due to the costs of foreign policy.[9] On the day of his accession to the throne, he canceled the long-distance overseas voyages that had been suspended several years prior, the exchange of tea for horses on the western and northern borders, and the extraordinary logging in Yunnan and Jiaozhi.[5] His government encouraged vagrants and the homeless to return home and settle down. Many people had left their homes due to the pressure of high state taxes and the demands of the Yongle government. The Hongxi Emperor guaranteed the returnees a two-year remission of taxes and work obligations. He sent a special investigative commission, headed by Zhou Kan (周侃), to Jiangnan (where desertion was particularly common). Based on their report, the Hongxi Emperor's successor, the Xuande Emperor, forgave the tax arrears and reduced taxes.[9]

He exempted areas affected by calamities from taxes and organized the distribution of food from state stocks. In such cases, he reduced the taxes and levies imposed on the population, and cancelled the extra taxes on wood, gold, and silver.[9] He criticized officials if they showed insufficient activity in helping the population.[7]

The Hongxi Emperor abandoned marches into Mongolia and consolidated the empire's northern outposts.[9] He canceled long-distance voyages, but normal foreign relations continued, for example, with Central Asian states. The war in Vietnam was the main military concern of the Hongxi government. He recalled Huang Fu (黃福) from Vietnam (since 1407 he had been the head of the civil administration and surveillance commissioner of the province) and replaced him with Chen Zhi (陳智), Earl of Yongchang; however, the army was not reinforced and the Vietnamese rebellion continued. Historians evaluate Huang Fu's recall negatively and identify it as the main cause of the Ming defeat, as he had great experience and was respected in the province.[10]

A month before his death, the Hongxi Emperor decided to take a radical step - returning the capital to Nanjing. This return was mainly promoted by Xia Yuanji and other high-ranking officials for financial reasons. The emperor himself felt more comfortable in Nanjing than in the north. On 16 April 1425, he renamed the Beijing authorities as "temporary" (行在, xingzai) and two weeks later sent his successor, Zhu Zhanji, to Nanjing. However, the actual transfer did not take place because the emperor died and his successor, who was more closely associated with the Yongle Emperor's policies and did not share the Hongxi Emperor's disapproval of the northern orientation of government policy, cancelled the plan.[10]

The Hongxi Emperor died suddenly in Beijing on 29 May 1425, most likely due to a heart attack, which is not surprising given his obesity and difficulty walking.[11] He was given the posthumous name Emperor Zhao (昭帝; "Luminous Emperor") and the temple name Renzong (仁宗; "Benevolent Ancestor"). His Xianling Mausoleum, one of the Ming tombs near Beijing, was built in a simple, austere style, thus characterizing the manner of his rule.[11]

The emperor had ten sons and seven daughters; nine sons and four daughters reached adulthood. The eldest son and, from November 1424, the crown prince, Zhu Zhanji, was the son of Empress Zhang. After the Hongxi Emperor's death, he succeeded as the Xuande Emperor.[11]

The Hongxi Emperor's main goal was to abolish the activities of the Yongle government that he perceived as wrong and un-Confucian; he wanted to establish a model Confucian government with a morally flawless emperor at the head, followed by wise and upright ministers. Even the transfer of the capital to Nanjing was a clear demonstration of a break from the Yongle Emperor's expansionist policy, which paid great attention to the northern border.[12]

Even after the Hongxi Emperor's death, the grand secretaries and ministers chosen by him continued to rule the empire, first as advisers and ministers to his son, the Xuande Emperor, later under the leadership of his widow, Empress Zhang, until they gradually died out in the first half of the 1440s.[12] As a result of his early death, he was unable to fully realize his goals, and the Confucian-educated officials did not completely win over the other groups of Ming elites;[13] they were unable to eliminate the eunuchs' independent agencies and stop their growth under the Xuande Emperor and his successors. None of the emperors wanted to return south to Nanjing, though the return policy was formally abandoned only in 1441. However, they remained the dominant layer of the Ming government, managing the day-to-day affairs of the state, until the end of the Ming dynasty.[12] Thus, the spirit of his rule, imbued with Confucian ideals, persisted. The moderate emperor, surrounded by educated ministers, sympathetic to the people, remained a model for subsequent generations.[13]

Chinese historians, sharing Confucian values with the bureaucracy, praised the Hongxi Emperor as an exemplary ruler who consolidated the empire by reversing the costly and unpopular programs of the previous government.[11] He was criticized for his occasional impulsiveness when he punished officials who displeased him disproportionately, but he was able to admit his mistakes and apologize for them. His faults were balanced by his humanity and sincere pursuit of the public interest.[13]

Portrait of the Hongxi Emperor in daily dress

Consorts and Issue:

• Empress Chengxiaozhao, of the Zhang clan (誠孝昭皇后 張氏; 1379 – 20 November 1442)
  • Zhu Zhanji, the Xuande Emperor (宣宗 朱瞻基; 16 March 1399 – 31 January 1435), first son
  • Zhu Zhanyong, Prince Jing of Yue (越靖王 朱瞻墉; 9 February 1405 – 5 August 1439), third son
  • Zhu Zhanshan, Prince Xian of Xiang (襄憲王 朱瞻墡; 4 April 1406 – 18 February 1478), fifth son
  • Princess Jiaxing (嘉興公主; 1409 – 9 March 1439), first daughter
    • Married Jing Yuan (井源; d. 1449) in 1428
• Noble Consort Gongsu, of the Guo clan (恭肅貴妃 郭氏; 1392–1425)
  • Princess De'an (德安公主; b. 1409), fourth daughter
  • Zhu Zhankai, Prince Huai of Teng (滕懷王 朱瞻塏; 1409 – 26 August 1425), eighth son
  • Zhu Zhanji, Prince Zhuang of Liang (梁莊王 朱瞻垍; 7 July 1411 – 3 February 1441), ninth son
  • Zhu Zhanyan, Prince Gong of Wei (衛恭王 朱瞻埏; 9 January 1417 – 3 January 1439), tenth son
• Consort Gongjingxian, of the Li clan (恭靜賢妃 李氏)
  • Zhu Zhanjun, Prince Jing of Zheng (鄭靖王 朱瞻埈; 27 March 1404 – 8 June 1466), second son
  • Zhu Zhanyin, Prince Xian of Qi (蘄獻王 朱瞻垠; 1406 – 7 November 1421), fourth son
  • Zhu Zhan'ao, Prince Jing of Huai (淮靖王 朱瞻墺; 28 January 1409 – 30 November 1446), seventh son
  • Princess Zhending (真定公主; d. 1450), seventh daughter
    • Married Wang Yi (王誼) in 1429, and had issue (one son)
• Consort Zhenjingshun, of the Zhang clan (貞靜順妃 張氏; d. 1419)
  • Zhu Zhangang, Prince Xian of Jing (荊憲王 朱瞻堈; 4 November 1406 – 11 December 1453), sixth son
• Consort Gongyihui, of the Zhao clan (恭懿惠妃 趙氏)
  • Princess Qingdu (慶都公主; 9 October 1409 – 12 June 1440), personal name Yuantong (圓通), second daughter
    • Married Jiao Jing (焦敬; d. 20 January 1467) in 1428
• Consort Zhenhuishu, of the Wang clan (貞惠淑妃 王氏; d. 1425)
  • Unnamed daughter
• Consort Hui'anli, of the Wang clan (惠安麗妃 王氏; d. 1425)
• Consort Gongxishun, of the Tan clan (恭僖順妃 譚氏; d. 1425)
• Consort Gongjingchong, of the Huang clan (恭靖充妃 黃氏; 1396–1425), personal name Jindi (金娣)
• Consort Daoxili, of the Li clan (悼僖麗妃 李氏)
• Consort Zhenjingjing, of the Zhang clan (貞靜敬妃 張氏; d. 1440)
• Unknown
  • Princess Qinghe (清河公主; 1409–1433), third daughter
    • Married Li Ming (李銘; d. 1435) in 1429
  • Princess Yanping (延平公主), fifth daughter
  • Princess Deqing (德慶公主), sixth daughter

• Chinese emperors family tree (late)

• Dreyer, Edward L. (2006), Zheng He: China and the oceans in the early Ming dynasty, 1405–1433, The library of world biography, Pearson Longman, ISBN 0-321-08443-8

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