Zhang Juzheng

Zhang Juzheng

Zhang Juzheng ( Chinese  張居正  /  张居正 , Pinyin Zhāng Jūzhèng , W.-G. Chang Chü-cheng ; * 1525 in Jiangling , Hubei Province , China , † 1582 in Beijing ) was a Chinese statesman and Supreme Grand Secretary under the emperors Longqing and Wanli during the Ming Dynasty .

Zhang Juzheng was appointed to the Imperial Grand Secretariat under Emperor Longqing and quickly gained its favor. In the office of Supreme Grand Secretary he led the Ming government and advised the emperor to favor a liberal reform policy. He advocated the curtailment of the powers of provincial officials, as well as the strengthening of the central state , the containment of special privileges and the abolition of tax exemptions for high officials.

After the Longqing Emperor's untimely death , Zhang became the mentor of the child Emperor Wanli , on whom he had an enormous influence. At the insistence of the Empress Dowager, he now took over unrestricted power in the empire and was de facto ruler of China as long as the emperor was still an underage child. His politics are considered exemplary, so that he laid the political basis for the economic and cultural success in China of the Wanli era, whose epoch is considered to be the climax of the late Ming period. After Zhang's death in 1582, many of his reforms were neglected, ultimately leading to the state crisis of the early 17th century and the weakening of the Ming government. Wanli posthumously stripped the power-conscious Zhang Juzheng of all his offices and ruled after his death as a despotic monarch.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Herbert Franke, Rolf wedding slip: The Chinese Empire. (= Fischer Weltgeschichte, vol. 19.) Frankfurt 1968, p. 266 f.

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Zhang is the family name here, Juzheng is the first name.