Zhengtong

Zhu Qizhen

Zhengtong (正統; birth name: Zhu Qizhen朱祁鎮, temple name : Yingzong英宗; born November 29, 1427 in Beijing ; † February 23, 1464 ibid) was the sixth Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty . He ruled as Zhengtong from 1435 to 1449 and a second time as Tianshun (天順) from 1457 to 1464.

Zhengtong was the eldest son of the Xuande Emperor and Empress Sun. At the age of eight he ascended the throne and was under the reign of his able grandmother, the Great Dowager Empress Zhang. However, he also came under the influence of the eunuch Wang Zhen. Under Emperor Zhengtong's reign, the ultimate abandonment of the great Chinese sea expeditions fell. These were dropped because major natural disasters struck all of China from 1430 to 1450 ; first by droughts , then by severe famines and finally by the rampant plague epidemics that killed millions of people. Given these problems, the enormous cost of government-funded merchant fleets was unsustainable and had to be used to contain the damage. In addition, there was an ongoing power struggle between supporters of Confucianism , who rejected the fleets, and the imperial eunuchs, who largely controlled maritime trade.

In 1449, at the age of 22, on the advice of Wang Zhen, Zhengtong embarked on a poorly prepared campaign against the Western Mongolian Oirats and was captured at the Battle of Tumu . This shook Ming State again, and only the capable leadership of Minister Yu Qian prevented worse. While Zhengtong was staying with Esen Khan as a hostage , his brother Zhu Qiyu usurped the dragon throne as Emperor Jingtai . The new emperor refused to honor any ransom demand. That made Zhengtong worthless to the Mongols. This had meanwhile won the friendship of Esen Khan and was released by him in 1450. The deposed Ming Emperor was placed under house arrest by his brother and his family within the Forbidden City and completely isolated.

After seven years, Emperor Jingtai fell ill, and the deposed Emperor Zhengtong decided to act in 1457. In a palace revolt, he overthrew his brother and took the throne again. But this time with a new motto, which was called Tianshun. After a second term of seven years in the Tianshun era, the new old emperor died at the age of only 37 in 1464.

literature

• Frederick W. Mote: Imperial China 900–1800. Harvard University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 0-674-44515-5 .
• Ann Paludan: Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors. Thames & Hudson, London 1998, ISBN 0-500-05090-2 .
• Denis Twitchett , Frederick W. Mote: The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644. Part 1. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988, ISBN 0-521-24332-7 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Xuande	Emperor of China 1435 - 1449	Jingtai
Jingtai	Emperor of China 1457 - 1464	Chenghua