Wanli
Wanli ( Chinese 萬曆 , Pinyin Wànlì - "ten thousand years"; birth name: Zhū Yìjūn朱翊鈞, temple name : Shénzōng 神宗(divine ancestor) , * September 4, 1563 in Beijing ; † August 18, 1620 ibid) was since July 19, 1572 the thirteenth and with a reign of 48 years the longest reigning emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty . Under Wanli, the expansion of the Great Wall of China reached its peak; in terms of foreign policy, China intervened in the Imjin War against Japan in 1592 . His rule was characterized by an economic upswing, the stabilization of the empire and a cultural boom. Towards the end of his term of office, however, there were increasing signs of government and economic deficits that would ultimately lead to the national crisis of the 17th century. The Wanli era thus marked a late high point of the Ming dynasty, but at the same time its beginning decline.
youth
Wanli was born on September 4, 1563 as the only son of the future Emperor Longqing and his concubine Xiaoding († 1614). When his grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, died in 1567, Wanli's father took over an empire with foreign and domestic problems. However, he was able to master this with the help of capable officials, above all Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng . Important measures were the restriction of farm expenses, the curtailment of the rights of large landowners, the protection of the peasants from exploitation, the expansion of the Great Wall against the Mongols , peace treaties with Altan Khan , the general regulation of the river system in China, the rebuilding of the sea fleet to protect the coasts the Wokou and the restoration of maritime trade with Europe and Asia. All these measures ultimately led to a resurgence, albeit brief, in the 3rd century of the Ming Dynasty (1550 to 1644) and it was Longqing's will that his son, as successor, continued to support Grand Secretary Zhang's reform policy.
First phase of the Wanli era (1572 to 1582)
After the sudden death of the 35-year-old Emperor Longqing, Prince Zhu Yijun inherited the dragon throne when he was only eight years old and took the era name Wanli . At the insistence of the Dowager Empress Xiaoding, he was under the influence of Zhang Juzheng , who was appointed tutor to the young emperor. With Zhang Juzheng practically ruling China, the first phase of the Wanli era was one of the most fruitful in the history of the Ming Dynasty. The development process found its expression in social change: a proletariat and an urban petty bourgeoisie emerged, the peasant world was permeated by urban influence and even a class of merchants and businessmen emerged. The bankers and money changers from Shanxi with their branches in Beijing , the wealthy merchants from Dongting Lake in Hunan , the shipowners from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in southern Fujian , who had enriched themselves through the sea trade, and the merchants from Xin'an formed a new one social class of wealthy townspeople. The richest merchants acted as suppliers for the army. Mass consumer goods were traded: rice, salt, grain and fabrics. This development also had an impact on the revival of literature and philosophical thought.
Advances in technology have also been made. Three to four reel silk looms were introduced and the use of cotton looms was perfected. Processes for printing three- to four-color woodcuts were improved in Wanli's time, so that from now on five-color woodcuts could also be created. With this, block printing reached a peak. The art of book printing had also developed, which resulted in increased publication. From 1517 the printing works of North Fujian, which published a number of multi-volume encyclopedias, had been one of the main centers of printing. In Songjiang , inventions such as a copper and lead alloy for casting movable type and a process for making white sugar and icing were even made.
However, technological advances also affected agriculture, which diversified it. New machines for tillage, new methods for irrigation, sowing and processing of agricultural products were described. The methods of soil improvement and the introduction of new crops had thus led to an improved working environment for the rural population until the end of the Ming period.
In 1581, Zhang Juzheng began the major project to reform the state finances, which also had a positive effect on the state's revenue. The amount of silver in circulation since the 15th century had also increased sharply by then as a result of the black market with Japan , the main exporter of this metal, and the development of domestic production. This economic growth accelerated towards the end of the 16th century, and after the Spanish settled in the Philippines in 1564, enormous amounts of American silver were imported into the coastal provinces. From that point on, most taxes were paid in silver. As a result of this phase of prosperity, the population grew to 150 million by 1600.
Second phase of the Wanli era (1582 to 1620)
Neglect of reform policy
In 1582 Zhang Juzheng died unexpectedly, shortly afterwards court officials began to slander Zhang for alleged misconduct with the emperor. Because he had been friends with General Qi Jiguang for a long time (who had the Great Wall built to protect against the Mongols under Altan Khan), he was accused after his death of conspiring with Qi Jiguang against Wanli, enriching himself with the state income and succeeding himself to have aspired to the imperial crown. The cost of building the wall was already over 200 tons of silver, which corresponded to the state income of a decade at the time. The expansion of the wall was now finally stopped and General Qi resigned his post as commander in chief of the northern border troops on imperial orders, after which he retired to his hometown in Guangdong province and died in 1588. Finally, the only twenty-year-old Wanli believed the allegations and in 1583 posthumously removed Zhang Juzheng from all offices and titles and even had his entire family punished.
From then on, the emperor began to show less and less interest in everyday state affairs, whereupon the eunuchs increasingly gained control of the empire by 1620, whose endeavors were particularly aimed at personal enrichment. The eunuch Wang An gained the greatest influence on the bureaucracy and the emperor . His power should also promote the rise of the later feared head eunuch Wei Zhongxian .
The political crisis
Domestic politics
Wanli became more and more stubborn after 1582, but he still showed himself to be conscientious about state obligations. From 1585 to 1586 he ordered irrigation works in the Beijing area. The emperor left the management to the proven administrative officer Pan Jixun , who was responsible for the reorganization of the Chinese river system. However, in 1587 the Yellow River dam broke in Kaifeng . When Pan Jixuan died in 1595, Wanli could not find a replacement and the river system was gradually neglected. This resulted in severe flooding in Hebei around 1604 , then in the Beijing region and in Zhejiang Province , and around 1607 and 1609 in Fujian , killing nearly 100,000 people. That same year the Gansu earthquake struck , destroying nearly 400 kilometers of the Great Wall but not repairing the damage.
From 1582 onwards there were more and more unrest, initially in Hangzhou . The Great Epidemic from 1585 to 1589 resulted in a population decline in the North China Plain and in Jiangnan . In 1589 a rebellion followed in the Lake Taihu region . When eunuchs were appointed tax commissioners and enriched themselves with the state revenue, numerous craftsmen and merchants' revolts followed in the cities. In around 1600, popular uprisings broke out in Guizhou , which could only be suppressed with great effort. The general economic situation worsened after 1600. Wanli now devoted himself less and less to state affairs, probably out of deep frustration with the civil servants and offended by their paternalism. From then on he neither received state guests, nor did he let his ministers before, nor did he take note of any reports. From 1589 to 1615 he even consistently refused to take part in the imperial audiences, and so the court officials had to pay their respects to an empty throne for years. In 1601 urban riots followed in Wuchang and Suzhou and in 1611 craftsmen uprisings in the silk weaving mills of Suzhou. Ultimately, there was also a severe famine in Shandong , whereupon riots broke out again.
Wanli came into conflict with the Donglin Academy because of these problems . This reform party, which was founded in Wuxi in the 12th century at the time of the Song Emperor Huizong , was reopened in 1604 by Gu Xiancheng , a grand secretary of the emperor, together with the scholar Gao Panlong and became one of the main centers of the opposition: it established the political and moral principles of the neo-Confucian traditions of Zhu Xi as a weapon against the philosophy of Wang Yangming, which was then prevailing, and against the imperial court itself. In 1610 it was declared illegal by the politically influential eunuchs, which led to open conflicts between the two parties from 1615.
At the end of the Wanli era there was a scandal that directly affected the palace: In 1615, a failed assassination attempt on Crown Prince Zhu Changluo took place. Since Wanli's favorite wife Zheng was probably behind the attack in order to secure the succession to the throne for her own son, the emperor simply suppressed the clarification of this sensitive case.
Foreign policy
From 1582 onwards, the Wanli era was marked by serious foreign policy crises: In 1583 the Burmese invaded the province of Yunnan , which resulted in the occupation of Burma. In the same year, Chinese military officials intervened in Manchuria . Together with the Jurchen prince Nikan Wailan , the Ming army attacked the city of Gure . The chief Giocangga and his son Taksi were killed. Taksi's eldest son Nurhaci then raised his own army, but initially supported the Ming in the Korean War from 1593 to 1598 . In 1606, however, the Jurchen invaded Korea on their own initiative. After they had allied themselves with the Eastern Mongols against the Chaharmongols , the Jurchen pursued an increasingly aggressive policy against the Ming from 1609. From 1618 Nurhaci declared his ruling house to be the Late Jin Dynasty and began to claim the Chinese imperial throne. At the same time he occupied Fushun , part of Liaoning , and made incursions into northern China. The Chinese counter-offensives in the northeast failed in 1619, despite the numerical superiority of the Ming army. Ultimately, the Jurchen would remain victorious and under the new name Manchu they conquered Beijing in 1644.
In 1592, Bobai , the Mongol ruler of Ningxia near the upper reaches of the Yellow River, made his independence and the ethnic minorities of the Zunyi area in Guizhou rose up. From 1611 to 1612 there were also heavy Tatar incursions into Gansu .
Also in 1592, the Japanese landed in China's vassal state of Korea with a 160,000-strong invasion army under Toyotomi Hideyoshi . In the end, China was only able to win the so-called Imjin War by spending enormous amounts of money and materials. But the new development of the so-called turtle ships by the Koreans also played a central role. Wanli himself showed himself to be highly committed to the organization of the defensive war and closely observed the course of the fight, even personally participating in the diplomatic negotiations with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Although the Japanese withdrew defeated in 1598, they intensified the raids on the central Chinese coast, often burning entire cities during their raids and murdering all residents. It was not until 1613 that the defense against the Wokou in Fujian and Zhejiang was strengthened . The most serious consequence of the Imjin War, however, was that the state finances of the Ming government were so profoundly shattered that they were never to recover from it and brought the imperial court into serious financial hardship from 1598 onwards. In the years that followed, there were always new tax increases.
The financial crisis
Wanli's late reign is mainly characterized by a high degree of extravagance. The imperial court continued to spend large sums of money: the construction of the Dingling mausoleum at Wanli between 1584 and 1601 cost 8 to 10.4 million tael of silver. The grave was uncovered by archaeologists from 1956 to 1958 and was intended to serve as a propagandistic example for the Communist Party under Mao Zedong for the supposedly unrestrained exploitation of the Chinese people under imperial rule. Inside were three coffins made of red lacquer in which both the emperor and his two empresses had been buried. The burial chambers also contained a treasure trove of exquisite treasures, including porcelain vases , jade and ivory carvings, lacquer work, silk fabrics, jewelry, grave statuettes, bronze and cloisonné products , gold implements and brocade rolls .
The Imjin War waged against the Japanese under Toyotomi Hideyoshi ended in China's favor, but cost between 26 and 33.8 million silver tales. Despite the end of the war, the weight of the military expenditure did not decrease: the Ming army was a mercenary army and had the disadvantage of not being effective despite the very high costs. Matteo Ricci , a Jesuit who had lived in the Middle Kingdom since 1582, criticized the Chinese armed forces in his notes on China as follows:
- All who are under arms lead a miserable life, because they did not take up this profession out of love for their fatherland, out of devotion to their king, or out of a sense of honor and fame, but as subjects in the service of an employment agency.
After 200 years of the Ming government, the army had become the basin for the lower classes of society, a colorful collection of unemployed people and crooks.
Another reason for the level of expenditure were the apanages that were paid to the imperial family members: the 24 sons of the first Ming Emperor Hongwu was for prohibiting usurpation been deprived of any power; instead they had been provided with extensive domains throughout the empire, owned pasture land in the northern provinces, had a personal guard of 3,000 to 19,000 men, and received high salaries. The imperial clan grew with each generation. Under Wanli there were 45 princes of the first rank, who received an annual allowance of 10,000 shi (the equivalent in silver of around 600 tons of grain), and 23,000 relatives of lower rank. Of the tax revenue in Shanxi and Henan (7,400,000 shi ), more than half (4,040,000) was spent on these pension payments. During the period from 1572 to 1628, this led to the fact that marriage permits for princes and the granting of nobility titles were temporarily suspended.
The measures carried out by the imperial court increasingly forced social annoyance. In order to compensate for the income deficit caused mainly by rural exodus, trade taxes were increased as early as the middle of the 16th century, customs offices were created on the Yangzi and the Kaiserkanal and increasingly higher taxes were demanded from the farmers. Because the eunuchs had been collecting money illegally as mining and trade tax commissioners for a long time, the discontent of the rural population erupted in various places during the Wanli era. There were more and more frequent craftsmen revolts, sometimes triggered by the arrest of officials with integrity. Almost every year between 1596 and 1626 riots took place in the craft centers of the various regions. In 1603, miners from the private mines of Mentougou , 30 kilometers east of Beijing, organized a protest march in the imperial capital. The frustration resulting from the fiscal measures, the increasing layoffs of state employees, and the economically under pressure were to lead to the great popular uprisings of 1627-1644 under Li Zicheng .
Foreign influence in China
Christian proselytizing
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As a result of the European expansion into Asia, the China mission operated by the Europeans falls under Wanli's government . The Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci was most successful thanks to his persistence and his spiritual adaptability. As early as 1582 he reached Guangdong , in 1595 came to Nanchang , the capital of Jiangxi , and then to Nanjing . In 1601 he received permission to pay his respects to the imperial court in Beijing. The gifts he presented on this occasion were taken as a tribute (according to Chinese tradition) and Ricci was allowed to settle in Beijing. Soon other friars from Europe followed him. Commissioned by Emperor Wanli, Ricci created the first world map in China in 1602, which depicted the earth according to western cartographic knowledge.
Ricci, who wore the clothes of a Buddhist monk until 1595, realized that the missionaries could win over the Chinese upper class by adopting the clothes and manners as well as by studying classical culture. Ricci managed to work out a method of Christianization that strongly emphasized the apparent analogies between Chinese traditions and Christianity , that is, spoke out in favor of Confucian orthodoxy and took sides against Buddhism , Daoism and popular belief, and flattered the literary tendency towards European knowledge . The missionaries also introduced some mechanical curiosities such as clocks to China. Ricci was later the patron god of the Chinese watchmaker and was worshiped in the 19th century Shanghai in the form of the Bodhisattva Li Madou . Matteo Ricci had set up the first Jesuit missions on the route he had traveled between Macau and Beijing. From there, the missions extended across China until the end of the Ming Period. They were more numerous in the region of the lower Yangtze and in Fujian , until there were Dominicans and Franciscans (OFM) from Manila .
The best-known writers who converted to Christianity are those who have been called the three pillars of conversion to Christianity :
- Xu Guangqi (1562-1633) was one of the first to come into contact with the Jesuit missionaries. In Shaozhou he met Father Lazare Cattaneo and in 1600 in Nanjing Matteo Ricci. The missionary Jean de Rocha baptized him Paul. Matteo Ricci gave lessons to him and Li Zhizao. Xu then translated European textbooks on mathematics, astronomy, geography and hydraulics. The Jesuits are said to have brought nearly 7,000 books in Western languages to Beijing. In 1607, Xu made further contacts with Jesuits and then wrote a treatise on the soul . A small church was built near his place of residence near Shanghai, around which the important Catholic mission of Zikkawei was formed in the 19th century .
- Yang Tingyun (1557-1627) met in 1611 with Li Zhizao Lazare Cattaneo and Father Nicolas Trigault know, who converted him to Christianity and in 1612 baptized Michael. He founded a holy water association with relatives and friends and wrote a work on Chinese teaching. In 1621 he had an essay printed in which he tried to prove the superiority of Christianity over Buddhism. In the year of his death (1627), Yang Tingyun had a Christian church built in Hangzhou.
- Li Zhizao (? –1630) met Ricci shortly after arriving in Beijing around 1601. He passionately studied European cartography and natural sciences from 1604 to 1610 under Matteo Ricci and served him as a translator of various scientific and religious works. In 1611 he invited Cattaneo, Sebastian Fernandez and Nicolas Trigault to Hangzhou to preach there. During the Shen Que persecution of Christians in 1616 and 1622 , Li Zhizao put the Christians of Hangzhou under his protection.
Since Ricci was able to initiate a Sinization of Christianity, he found many influential friends in the Middle Kingdom. A friar characterized him as follows: Matteo Ricci, Italian, so similar in everything to the Chinese that he seems to be one of them in the beauty of the face and in the delicacy, and in the gentleness and gentleness that they so appreciate. When he died in 1610, the Jesuits were commissioned to reform the Chinese calendar with the help of some Chinese who had converted to Christianity. In 1629 Li Zhizao, along with Xu Guangqi and Father Longobardo, were given the task of creating a completely new calendar.
Trade with Europe and Asia
In 1557 the Chinese allowed Portugal to set up Macau , which strengthened the Portuguese monopoly in trade with China . However, their monopoly ended in the late 16th century. From 1565 came the Spaniards, who annexed Portugal and thus Macau under King Philip II in 1580 , and after them the Dutch arrived in China. The first Dutch ship arrived in Guangdong in 1601 . Both countries received trade permits and bought Chinese luxury goods on a large scale. Soon the Dutch outstripped their Portuguese-Spanish competitors, who in turn tried to drive away the newcomers. There were also some clashes between Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch merchant ships. Nevertheless, the European sea powers only fitted into the existing trade flows in the Far East and thus benefited from the prosperity of this part of the world. It was to them that the Chinese owed the first contributions from Europe and America: effective firearms, the sweet potato (it quickly became a beneficial substitute for the Chinese taro ), the peanut, tobacco and corn (it only spread later but became one the most important staple food for the Chinese) and the first silver coins from between Acapulco and Manila trains running galleon were introduced. The tea that the Dutch bought in Fujian and Zhejiang at the beginning of the 17th century has now been exported to Europe. According to Gu Yanwu (1613–1682), the 20–30% tax on maritime goods at the end of the 16th century should have covered half of government spending. Until the outbreak of the Imjin War (1592) between China and Japan over Korea, and again after 1598, China profited from the large silk exports to Japan. But this trade monopoly was also of great economic importance for the Japanese importers: Chinese silk was five to six times more expensive in Japan than in China. Whole shiploads of porcelain ware also ended up in Nagasaki .
Culture
The Wanli era is considered an epoch of cultural bloom. The colored woodblock prints and porcelain products from this period were of high artistic quality. Three of the most influential Chinese literary works were also created under Wanli's rule: The Robbers of Liang Shan Moor in 1573 , The Journey to the West in 1590 and the Jin Ping Mei in 1610 . The painter Xu Wei was particularly successful . His expressive, vivacious art found numerous fans even in childhood.
Wanli's legacy
Imperial family
Wanli had two main wives:
- The Empress Xiao Duan Xian (?; † 1620), the marriage remained childless.
- The concubine Xiaojing (* 1565, † 1612) was initially just a servant of the empress, who Wanli noticed by chance. He insisted on spending the night with her, but had no intention of fathering a child with her. Nor was she his favorite wife. Nevertheless, the son Zhu Changluo (* 1582, † 1620) emerged from this affair . As a result, he did not grant his eldest son the title of Crown Prince until 1601, so that in 1620 he became Wanli's successor. Historians believe that forcing court officials to recognize the first son as the legitimate heir was one reason Wanli became increasingly indifferent and neglected government duties. Xiaojing was made empress posthumously in 1620.
Overall, Wanli had various concubines (with whom he had eight sons and ten daughters), including the concubine Zheng (* 1567 ?; † 1630). She was Wanli's favorite concubine . She was also the mother of Wanli's third son Zhu Changxun (* 1586). The emperor could neither make her empress nor her son crown prince. Zhu Yousong , the Prince of Fu and first emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, was a son of Zhu Changxun and thus a grandson of Wanli.
Death and succession
Wanli died seriously ill on August 18, 1620 at the age of almost 57 years in the Forbidden City and was buried in his magnificent Dingling mausoleum in the area of the Ming tombs . According to research in 1958, significant amounts of morphine were found in his bones, which indicate a habitual consumption of opium . Among other things, this could be a plausible explanation for why Wanli viewed the duties of an emperor with increasing apathy . Whether the opium addiction is also connected to his death can only be guessed, but ultimately not proven. In addition, it is conceivable that Wanli was given opium as a kind of antidepressant , since it was considered a “vitalizing elixir” in Chinese medicine .
He was first succeeded by his eldest son as Taichang emperor. He was also seriously ill and died in an unexplained manner after only a month. He was allegedly poisoned by eunuchs led by Wei Zhongxian on the orders of concubine Zheng. Thus, state mourning had to be imposed on two Ming emperors simultaneously . Taichang received the rebuilt mausoleum of the usurper Jingtai . Wanli's almost fifteen-year-old grandson Zhu Youjiao, who was incapable of government , then assumed the imperial title under the name Tianqi .
Historical significance and conclusion
Wanli's late reign marked the end of a heyday of the Ming dynasty, which began again in 1567 under his father Longqing . In the end, his completely passive administration contributed to the lasting weakening of the imperial central government. From 1612 there was only one acting grand secretary at the court and half of all prefecture and district posts in the provinces were vacant, as the emperor did not appoint a successor. The corrupt eunuchs had also increasingly taken control of the Ming government. Through their personal enrichment and the assumption of most of the state offices they made the economic situation of the court even worse.
On the other hand, Wanli's repeated support of the Korean Joseon dynasty in the Imjin war against the Japanese in Korea is viewed with gratitude to this day.
Wanli's legacy proved to be a heavy burden for the last Ming emperors, but judging by the current state of research, it is not an insurmountable hurdle. Even after his death there were still committed reformers everywhere in the empire, such as the scholars of the Donglin Academy, as well as conservative officials who wanted to prevent the decline. But the growing influence of the eunuchs made the rehabilitation of the empire difficult. In the last years of his tenure, Wanli probably laid the foundation for the gradual collapse of his dynasty, which came to a head under his grandchildren Tianqi , but above all under Chongzhen, and thus facilitated the conquest of China by the Manchus under Huang Taiji and Dorgon .
literature
- Patricia Buckley-Ebrey: China. An illustrated story , Frankfurt am Main 1996. ISBN 3-593-35322-9
- Jacques Gernet : The Chinese World , Frankfurt 1997. ISBN 3-518-38005-2
- Gisela Gottschalk : Chinas große Kaiser , Herrsching 1985. ISBN 3-88199-229-4 , pp. 212-215
- Frederick Mote: Imperial China 900–1800 , Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-674-44515-5 , pp. 723-776 (Late Ming), in particular pp. 727-738 (Wan-li) ( restricted online version in Google - book search)
- Ann Paludan: Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors , London 1999. ISBN 0-500-05090-2
- Huang, Ray: 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline , New Haven 1981. ISBN 0-300-02518-1 , ISBN 0-300-02884-9
- Denis Twitchett , Frederick W. Mote: The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 7. The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644. Part 1., Cambridge 1988. ISBN 0-521-24332-7 , p. 514ff ( limited online version in the Google book search)
- Denis Twitchett: The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 8. The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644. Part 2., Cambridge 1998. ISBN 0-521-24333-5
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pierre Marchand: The Great Bertelsmann Encyclopedia of Knowledge - Emperors, Kings and Tsars (1993); Chapter: The Empires of India and China, The China of the Ming, p. 77
- ↑ Nic Young: China - The Great Wall (Part 1 and 2) , docu-drama
- ↑ Zheng Yangwen: The Social Life of Opium in China . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005, ISBN 0-521-84608-0 , pp. 18f ..
- ↑ Ibid., P. 11f.
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Longqing |
Emperor of China 1572 - 1620 |
Taichang |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wanli |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shenzong; Zhu Yijun; Shen-tsung |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chinese emperor from the Ming Dynasty |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 4, 1563 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Beijing |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 18, 1620 |
| Place of death | Beijing |