Zhu Youlang

Zhu Youlang ( Chinese  朱由榔 , Pinyin Zhū Youlang , W.-G. Chu Yu-lang * November, 1623 in Beijing , China ; † April 1662 in Kunming , province of Yunnan , China), ruler Name Yongli , also Prince of Gui called , was the last emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty after the Manchurians took the Ming capital Beijing and founded the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911 / 12).

Life

As the grandson of the Ming Emperor Shenzong (ruler name Wanli, 1572-1620) Zhu received the title of Prince of Gui . After Zhu Yujian ( Prince of Tang , 1602–1646), another heir to the throne, was captured and executed by the Qing troops, Zhu fled to Zhaoqing in southern China, where he was crowned the new Ming emperor with the title of Yongli . Zhu's forces faced significant resistance in Guilin City, Guangxi Province ; his armies, equipped with western cannons , were initially successful, so that in 1648 several provinces came under his nominal control.

Southern Ming Dynasty cannon cast around 1650

Retreat from Yongli after the coronation in 1646 in Zhaoqing to the capture in 1662 in Burma

In 1649 the Qing made up for their losses. Zhu was pushed to the southwest by a series of military defeats and in 1659 was forced to flee to Myanmar (Burma). Qing forces persecuted him there, captured him, and sent him back to China, where he was executed.

Letter from Helena to Innocent X.

Letter from Empress Mother Helena Wang to Pope Innocent X , in Latin translation by Michał Boym and Andreas Koffler

During the fighting, some members of the imperial family converted to Christianity . In 1650, the Empress Mother, baptized as Helena, sent the missionary and diplomat Michał Boym with a letter to Pope Innocent X , in which she asked for spiritual assistance and help for the survival of the dynasty. The Vatican's answer came back many years later, when Zhu and Helena were already dead.

See also

• Southern Ming Dynasty

literature

• Lynn A. Struve: The Southern Ming, 1644-1662 . In: Frederick W. Mote, Denis Twitchett (Eds.): The Cambridge History of China. Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part I. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988, ISBN 978-1-139-05475-1 , pp. 641-725 , doi : 10.1017 / CHOL9780521243322.013 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Zhu Youlang. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved August 10, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Phillip Grimberg: Some thoughts on the letter from the Empress Dowager Helena / Xiaozheng of the southern Ming to Pope Innocent X from 1650 . In: Monumenta Serica . tape 63 , no. 1 , 2015, p. 109-123 , doi : 10.1179 / 0254994815Z.0000000004 .

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