Jiajing Emperor

Born as heir apparent of a vassal prince, 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, the Zhengde Emperor, who did not leave an heir. Prior to Zhengde Emperor's death, the line of succession was as follows:

The 14-year-old Zhu Houcong, then heir presumptive, succeeded to the throne, and so relocated from his father's princedom (near present-day Zhongxiang, Hubei) to the capital, 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.[1]

Yellow glazed pot and cover with hidden streak designs from the official kiln. Jiajing era. Excavated from Dadao tomb, Huangzhou.

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 the Hongzhi Emperor was proposed, but he resisted, preferring instead to have his father declared emperor posthumously. This conflict is known as the "Great Rites Controversy." The Jiajing Emperor prevailed and hundreds of his opponents were banished, flogged in the imperial court (廷杖), or executed. Among the banished was the poet Yang Shen.[2]

The Jiajing Emperor was known to be intelligent and efficient; whilst later he went on strike, and choose not to attend any state meetings, he did not neglect the paperwork and other governmental matters. The Jiajing Emperor was also 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, the Jiajing Emperor relied on Zhang Cong and Yan Song 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". Ministers such as Hai Rui and Yang Jisheng challenged and even chastised Yan Song and his son but were thoroughly ignored by the emperor. Hai Rui and many ministers were eventually dismissed or executed. The Jiajing Emperor 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 the emperor. This eventually led to corruption at all levels of the Ming government. However, the Jiajing Emperor was intelligent and managed to control the court.[3]

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 Ming government appeased him by granting special trading rights. The Ming government also had to deal with wokou pirates attacking the southeastern coastline.[4] Starting in 1550, Beijing was enlarged by the addition of the outer city.[5]

The deadliest earthquake of all times, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 that killed over 800,000 people, occurred during the Jiajing Emperor's reign.

Plot of Renyin year

Main article: Palace plot of Renyin year

The Jiajing Emperor's ruthlessness and lecherous life also led to an internal plot by his concubines and palace maids to assassinate him in October, 1542 by strangling him while he slept. His pursuit of eternal life led him to believe that one of the elixirs of extending his life was to force virgin palace maids to collect menstrual blood for his consumption. These arduous tasks were performed non-stop even when the palace maids were taken ill and any unwilling participants were executed on the Emperor's whim. A group of palace maids who had had enough of the emperor's cruelty decided to band together to murder him in an event known as the Renyin Plot (壬寅宮變). The lead palace maid 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 palace maids involved began to panic and one (Zhang Jinlian) ran to the empress. The plot was exposed and on the orders of the empress and some officials, all of the palace maids involved, including the emperor's favourite concubine (Consort Duan) and another concubine (Consort Ning, née Wang), were ordered to be executed by slow slicing and their families were killed.[6][7][8] The Jiajing Emperor later determined that Consort Duan had been innocent,[9] and dictated that their daughter, Luzheng, be raised by Imperial Noble Consort Shen.[10]

The Jiajing Emperor on his state barge, from a scroll painted in 1538 by unknown court artists

A porcelain vase with glazed fish designs, from the Jiajing era.

After 45 years on the throne (the second longest reign in the Ming dynasty), the Jiajing Emperor died in 1567 – possibly due to mercury overdose from Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning – and was succeeded by his son, the Longqing Emperor. Though his long rule gave the dynasty an era of stability, the Jiajing Emperor's neglect of his official duties resulted in the decline of the dynasty at the end of the 16th century. His style of governance, or the lack thereof, would be emulated by his grandson later in the century.

The time when the Jiajing Emperor was buried was very close to the time of completion of the manuscript copy of the lost Yongle Encyclopedia was completed. Jiajing Emperor died in December 1566, but was buried three months later, in March 1567.[11] One possibility is that they were waiting for the manuscript to be completed.

The Jiajing Emperor was portrayed in contemporary court portrait paintings, as well as in other works of art. For example, in this panoramic painting below, the Jiajing Emperor can be seen in the right half riding a black steed and wearing a plumed helmet. He is distinguished from his entourage of bodyguards as an abnormally tall figure.

Original – A panoramic painting showing the Jiajing Emperor traveling to the Ming Dynasty Tombs with a huge cavalry escort and an elephant-drawn carriage.

• Parents:
  • Zhu Youyuan, Prince of Xing, then posthumously Emperor Xian (獻皇帝 朱佑杬; 22 July 1476 – 13 July 1519)
  • Empress Cixiaoxian, of the Jiang clan (慈孝獻皇后 蔣氏; d. 1538)
• Consorts and Issue:
  • Empress Xiaojiesu, of the Chen clan (孝潔肅皇后 陳氏; 1508–1528)
  • Empress, of the Zhang clan (皇后 張氏; d. 1537), personal name Qijie (七姐)
  • Empress Xiaolie, of the Fang clan (孝烈皇后 方氏; 1516–1547)
  • Empress Xiaoke, of the Du clan (孝恪皇后 杜氏; d. 1554)
    • Zhu Zaihou, the Longqing Emperor (穆宗 朱載垕; 4 March 1537 – 5 July 1572), third son
  • Imperial Noble Consort Duanhe, of the Wang clan (端和皇貴妃 王氏; d. 1553)
    • Zhu Zairui, Crown Prince Zhuangjing (莊敬皇太子 朱載壡; 1536–1549), second son
  • Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun, of the Shen clan (莊順皇貴妃 沈氏; d. 1581)
  • Imperial Noble Consort Rong'an, of the Yan clan (榮安皇貴妃 閻氏; d. 1541)
    • Zhu Zaiji, Crown Prince Aichong (哀衝皇太子 朱載基; 7 September 1533 – 27 October 1533), first son
  • Noble Consort Gongxi, of the Wen clan (恭僖貴妃 文氏)
  • Noble Consort Rong'an, of the Ma clan (榮安貴妃 馬氏)
  • Consort Daoyingong, of the Wen clan (悼隱恭妃 文氏; d. 1532)
  • Consort Duan, of the Cao clan (端妃 曹氏; d. 1542)
    • Princess Chang'an (常安公主; 1536–1549), personal name Shouying (壽媖), first daughter
    • Princess Ning'an (寧安公主; 1539–1607), personal name Luzheng (祿媜), third daughter
      • Married Li He (李和) in 1555, and had issue (one son)
  • Consort Huairongxian, of the Zheng clan (懷榮賢妃 鄭氏; d. 1536)
  • Consort Jing, of the Lu clan (靖妃 盧氏; d. 1588)
    • Zhu Zaizhen, Prince Jinggong (景恭王 朱載圳; 29 March 1537 – 9 February 1565), fourth son
  • Consort Su, of the Jiang clan (肅妃 江氏)
    • Zhu Zaishang, Prince Yingshang (潁殤王 朱載墒; 8 September 1537 – 9 September 1537), fifth son
  • Consort Yi, of the Zhao clan (懿妃 趙氏; d. 1569)
    • Zhu Zai?, Prince Qihuai (戚懷王 朱載?; 1 October 1537 – 5 August 1538), sixth son
  • Consort Yong, of the Chen clan (雍妃 陳氏; d. 1586)
    • Zhu Zaikui, Prince Ji'ai (薊哀王 朱載㙺; 29 January 1538 – 14 February 1538), seventh son
    • Princess Guishan (歸善公主; 1541–1544), personal name Ruirong (瑞嬫), fourth daughter
  • Consort Hui, of the Wang clan (徽妃 王氏)
    • Princess Sirou (思柔公主; 1538–1549), personal name Fuyuan (福媛), second daughter
  • Consort Rong, of the Zhao clan (榮妃 趙氏)
    • Zhu Zaifeng, Prince Junsi (均思王 朱載堸; 23 August 1539 – 16 April 1540), eighth son
  • Consort Rongzhaode, of the Zhang clan (榮昭德妃 張氏; d. 1574)
    • Princess Jiashan (嘉善公主; 1541–1564), personal name Suzhen (素嫃), fifth daughter
      • Married Xu Congcheng (許從誠) in 1559
  • Consort Rong'anzhen, of the Ma clan (榮安貞妃 馬氏; d. 1564)
  • Consort Duanjingshu, of the Zhang clan (端靜淑妃 張氏)
  • Consort Gongxili, of the Wang clan (恭僖麗妃 王氏; d. 1553)
  • Consort Gongshurong, of the Yang clan (恭淑榮妃 楊氏; d. 1566)
  • Consort Duanhuiyong, of the Xu clan (端惠永妃 徐氏)
  • Imperial Concubine Ning of the Wang clan (王宁嫔) d. 1542) head of the Renyin plot

• Chinese emperors family tree (late)

• Fisher, Carney T. "Smallpox, Salesmen, and Sectarians: Ming-Mongol Relations in the Jiajing Reign (1522–67)." Ming Studies 1988.1 (1988): 1-23.
• Mote, F.W. Imperial China 900–1800 (1999) pp 660–72.
• Wan, Maggie CK. "Building an Immortal Land: The Ming Jiajing Emperor's West Park." Asia Major (2009): 65-99. online
• The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part I, "The Prince of Ning Treason" by Frederick W. Mote and Denis Twitchett.
• Huiping Pang, "The Confiscating Henchmen: The Masquerade of Ming Embroidered-Uniform Guard Liu Shouyou (ca. 1540-1604)," Ming Studies 72 (2015): 24-45. ISSN 0147-037X

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