Taichang
Taichang泰昌 (born August 28, 1582 ; † September 26, 1620 ), maiden name: Zhu Changluo朱 常 洛, temple name : Guangzong光宗, was the fourteenth Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty . He ruled China for only one month in 1620 .
Emperor Taichang was an unwanted heir, conceived with a concubine . He grew up ignored by his father, in a luxurious and decadent world of court intrigue , led by concubine Zheng, whose son the Wanli Emperor preferred by far. For the first twenty years of his life, his father did not even award him the title of crown prince , although he was the emperor's firstborn. He did not receive this rank until 1601, but he had to wait another twenty years before he could rule. In 1615 the concubine Zheng tried to have the crown prince murdered in his own palace in order to secure the succession for her own son. But the plot was discovered. Wanli, on the other hand, spared Zheng and instead suppressed all investigations into the case.
After the death of the Wanli emperor in 1620, Taichang ascended the throne. His rule lasted only a month and was therefore too short to be able to change anything about the weakened position of the government or the broken finances . Taichang ascended the dragon throne already sick and died under mysterious circumstances. To this day, there is suspicion that he was poisoned by supporters of concubine Zheng. When his own father Wanli died, he was not even buried, so that two emperors had to be mourned at the same time . Because he died so quickly, he couldn't build his own mausoleum either. As a way out, the mausoleum of the usurper Jingtai was rebuilt for him . Taichang was succeeded by his only 14 year old son as Tianqi in the emperor's office.
literature
- Frederick W. Mote: Imperial China 900–1800. Harvard, 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. University Press, Cambridge 1988, ISBN 0-521-24332-7
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Wanli |
Emperor of China 1620 |
Tianqi |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Taichang |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Zhu Changluo (maiden name); 朱 常 洛 (maiden name); Guangzong (temple name); 光宗 (temple name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chinese emperor of the Ming Dynasty |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 28, 1582 |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 26, 1620 |