Zhengde Emperor

Zhu Houzhao was made crown prince at a very early age and because his father did not take up any other concubines, Zhu did not have to contend with other princes for the throne. (His younger brother died in infancy.) The prince was thoroughly educated in Confucian literature and he excelled in his studies. Many of the Hongzhi Emperor's ministers expected that Zhu Houzhao would become a benevolent and brilliant emperor like his father.

Portrait of the Zhengde Emperor

Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne as the Zhengde Emperor and was married to his Empress at the age of 14.[1] Unlike his father, the Zhengde Emperor was not interested in ruling or his Empress and disregarded most state affairs. His actions have been considered reckless, foolish or pointless.[2] There are many instances where he showed a lack of responsibility.

The Zhengde Emperor took up a luxurious and prodigal lifestyle and indulged himself in women. It was said that he liked to frequent brothels and even created palaces called "Bao Fang" (豹房; literally "The Leopards' Chamber") outside the Forbidden City in Beijing initially to house exotic animals such as tigers and leopards for his amusement and then later used to house beautiful women for his personal enjoyment.[3] He also met Wang Mantang, one of his favorite consorts at a Bao Fang. On one occasion he was badly mauled while hunting tigers, and could not appear in court audiences for a month.[2] On another occasion he burned down his palace by storing gunpowder in the courtyards during the lantern festival.[2] His harem was so overfilled that many women starved to death due to lack of supplies.[4]

Stele in memory of the renovation of the Temple of Yan in Qufu, 1509 (4th year of the Zhengde era)

For months at a time he would live outside the Forbidden City or travel around the country with heavy expenditures being paid from the Ming government's coffers. While being urged to return to the palace and attend to governmental matters, the Zhengde Emperor would refuse to receive all his ministers and ignored all their petitions. He also sanctioned the rise of eunuchs around him. One particular Liu Jin, leader of the Eight Tigers, was notorious for taking advantage of the young emperor and squandered immense amount of silver and valuables. The diverted funds were about 36 million pounds of gold and silver.[5] There was even rumor of a plot that Liu Jin had intended to murder the emperor and place his own grandnephew on the throne. Liu Jin's plot was ultimately discovered, and he was executed in 1510. However, the rise of corrupt enunchs continued throughout the Zhengde Emperor's reign. There was also an uprising led by the Prince of Anhua and another uprising led by the Prince of Ning. The Prince of Anhua was the Zhengde Emperor's great-granduncle, while the Prince of Ning was his granduncle.[6]

In time, the Zhengde Emperor became notorious for his childish behaviour as well as abusing his power as emperor. For instance, he set up a staged commercial district inside his palace and ordered all his ministers, eunuchs, soldiers and servants of the palace to dress up and act as merchants or street vendors while he walked through the scene pretending to be a commoner. Any unwilling participants, especially the ministers (who viewed it as degrading and an insult), would be punished or removed from their post.

Then in 1517, the Zhengde Emperor gave himself an alter ego named Zhu Shou (朱壽) so he could relinquish his imperial duties and send himself off on an expedition to the north to repel raiding expeditions several tens of thousands strong led by Dayan Khan.[7] He met the enemy outside the city of Yingzhou and defeated them in a major battle by surrounding them. For a long period of time after this battle, the Mongols did not launch a raiding expedition into Ming territory. Then again in 1519, the Zhengde Emperor led another expedition to Jiangxi province to the south to quell the Prince of Ning rebellion by a powerful prince known as Zhu Chenhao who had bribed many people in the emperor's cabinet. He arrived only to discover that the revolt had already been put down by Wang Yangming, a local administrative officer. Frustrated at not being able to lead his troops to victory, the Zhengde Emperor's advisor suggested they release the prince in order to capture him again. In January 1521, the Zhengde Emperor had the rebel Prince of Ning executed in Tongzhou,[8] an event that was recorded even by the Portuguese embassy to China.

Chinese Islamic bronze incense burner made during the reign of Zhengde. Adilnor Collection, Sweden.

Relations with Muslims

Chinese ablution basin with word Taharat (cleanliness) in Thuluth calligraphy, Zhengde period

See also: Blue and white porcelain § 16th century

The Zhengde Emperor was fascinated by foreigners and invited many Muslims to serve as advisors, eunuchs, and envoys at his court.[9] Works of art such as porcelain from his court contained Islamic inscriptions in Arabic or Persian.[10][11][12][13]

Khataynameh, a travelogue written by the Central Asian merchant ʿAli Akbar Khata'i, records that there was a grand mosque in Beijing and the Emperor used to visit and pray.[14]

According to Bret Hinsch in the book Passions of the cut sleeve: the male homosexual tradition in China, the Zhengde Emperor had an alleged homosexual relationship with a Muslim leader from Hami, named Sayyid Husain, who served as the overseer in Hami during the Ming-Turpan border wars, although no evidence supporting this claim exists in Chinese sources.[15][16][17]

Contact with Europe

During the reign of Chingtih (Zhengde) (1506), foreigners from the west called Fah-lan-ki (or Franks), who said they had tribute, abruptly entered the Bogue, and by their tremendously loud guns shook the place far and near. This was reported at court, and an order returned to drive them away immediately, and stop the trade.

— Samuel Wells Williams, The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Geography, Government, Education, Social Life, Arts, Religion, &c. of the Chinese Empire and Its Inhabitants, 2 vol. (Wiley & Putnam, 1848).

Afonso de Albuquerque, who commissioned the first direct European maritime ventures to China from Portuguese Malacca.

The first direct European contacts with China occurred during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor. In several initial missions commissioned by Afonso de Albuquerque of Portuguese Malacca, the Portuguese explorers Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrello landed in southern China and traded with the Chinese merchants of Tuen Mun and Guangzhou. In 1513 their king, Manuel I of Portugal, sent Fernão Pires de Andrade and Tomé Pires to formally open relations between the main court at Beijing and Lisbon, capital of Portugal. Although the Zhengde Emperor gave the Portuguese ambassador his blessing while touring Nanjing in May 1520, he died soon after and the Portuguese (who were rumored to be troublemakers in Canton and supposedly even cannibalized kidnapped Chinese children), were ejected by Chinese authorities under the new Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe. Although illegal trade continued thereafter, official relations between the Portuguese and the Ming court would not improve until the 1540s, culminating in the Ming court's consent in 1557 to Portugal establishing Macau as their trading base in China.

Kangling, The tomb of The Zhengde Emperor —— early January 2020

The Zhengde Emperor died in 1521 at age 29, 31 according to the Chinese age reckoning used at the time. It was said that he was drunk while boating on a lake one day in the fall of 1520, fell off, and almost drowned.[39] He died after contracting illnesses from the Grand Canal waters.[5] Since none of his several children had survived childhood, he was succeeded by his cousin Zhu Houcong, who became known as the Jiajing Emperor. His tomb is located at Kangling of the Ming tombs.

Zhengde Emperor calligraphy plaque "Wonder of the World" on Pagoda of Fogong Temple

By the accounts of some historians, although bred to be a successful ruler, the Zhengde Emperor thoroughly neglected his duties, beginning a dangerous trend that would plague future Ming emperors. The abandonment of official duties to pursue personal gratification would slowly lead to the rise of powerful eunuchs who would dominate and eventually ruin the Ming dynasty. The Ming scholar Tan Qian argued that: "The Emperor was smart and playful... He also did not harm officials who argued against him. [He enjoyed] the support of the minister and the efficient works of the clerks. [He worked until] midnight to issue edicts that punished [the criminals] like Liu Jin and Qian Ning (Zhengde's own adoptive son)."

Some modern historians have come to view his reign in a new light and debate that his actions along with that of his successors such as the Wanli Emperor were a direct reaction to the bureaucratic gridlock that affected the Ming dynasty in its later half. The emperors were very limited in their policy decision and could not really implement any sort of lasting effective reforms despite the obvious need, while they were faced with constant pressure and were expected to be responsible for all the troubles the dynasty faced. As a result, the ministers became increasingly frustrated and disillusioned about their posts, and protested in different forms of what was essentially an imperial strike. Thus emperors such as the Zhengde Emperor sneaked out of the palace while emperors such as the Jiajing and Wanli emperors simply did not show up in the imperial court. Other authors[40] state that Zhengde was a ruler with a strong will, who dealt decisively with Liu Jin, Prince Ning, Prince Anhua and the Mongol threat, acted competently in crises caused by natural disasters and plagues and collected taxes in a benevolent manner. Although his reign's achievements were in large parts the contributions of his very talented officials, they also reflected on the capability of the ruler.

Consorts:

• Empress Xiaojingyi, of the Xia clan (孝靜毅皇后 夏氏; 1492–1535)
• Consort Shuhuide, of the Wu clan (淑惠德妃 吳氏; d. 1539)
• Consort Rongshuxian, of the Shen clan (榮淑賢妃 沈氏; 1492–1542)
• Consort, of the Wang clan (妃 王氏)
• Beauty, of the Liu clan (美人 劉氏)
• Wang Mantang (王满堂); 1471–1541)
• Lady, of the Ma clan (馬氏)
• Lady, of the Dai clan (戴氏)
• Lady, of the Du clan (杜氏)

• Family tree of Chinese monarchs (late)
• Zhengde Tongbao

• Dardess, John W. (2012). Ming China, 1368–1644: A Concise History of a Resilient Empire. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-0491-1.
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• Chiang Han Hua Jennifer (28 April 2007). "Crossing Culture in the Blue-and-White with Arabic or Persian inscriptions under Emperor Zhengde (r. 1506–21)" (PDF). FINE2055 Crossing Cultures: China and the Outside World Dr. Yeewan Koon Spring 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
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• "Lot 37 A Rare Blue and White Screen Zhengde six-character mark and of the period". Bonhams. 8 November 2012.
• Oriental Blue and White, London, 1970, p. 29.
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