page_title: Zhengde Emperor
section_title: Reign as emperor
hierarchical_section_title: Zhengde Emperor / Reign as emperor
caption_attribution_description: English: The western stele pavilion of the middle court of the Temple of Yan Hui (Yan Miao), housing the Yan Miao Renovation Stele (Year 4 of Zhengde era, 1509 CE). 中文（简体）‎: 正德４年重修颜庙碑
context_page_description: The Zhengde Emperor was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521.
  Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhengde meaning "Right virtue" or "Rectification of virtue". He was known for favoring eunuchs such as Liu Jin and became infamous for his childlike behavior. He eventually died at age 29 from an illness he contracted after drunkenly falling off a boat into the Yellow River. He left behind no sons and was succeeded by his first cousin Zhu Houcong.
context_section_description: Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne as the Zhengde Emperor and was married to his Empress at the age of 14. Unlike his father, the Zhengde Emperor was not interested in ruling or his Empress and disregarded most state affairs. His actions have been considered reckless, foolish or pointless. There are many instances where he showed a lack of responsibility.
  The Zhengde Emperor took up a luxurious and prodigal lifestyle and indulged himself in women. It was said that he liked to frequent brothels and even created palaces called "Bao Fang" (豹房; literally "The Leopards' Chamber") outside the Forbidden City in Beijing initially to house exotic animals such as tigers and leopards for his amusement and then later used to house beautiful women for his personal enjoyment. He also met Wang Mantang, one of his favorite consorts at a Bao Fang. On one occasion he was badly mauled while hunting tigers, and could not appear in court audiences for a month. On another occasion he burned down his palace by storing gunpowder in the courtyards during the lantern festival. His harem was so overfilled that many of its women starved to death due to lack of supplies.
  Zhu Houzhao was noted by many sources as fairly efficient administrator, although indulging in an luxurious life style and refusing to attend most meetings, he showed himself to be competent in his decisions and governance. Under his rule, the economy continued to grow, and the people were generally prosperous.
  For months at a time he would live outside the Forbidden City or travel around the country with heavy expenditures being paid from the Ming government's coffers. While being urged to return to the palace and attend to governmental matters, the Zhengde Emperor would refuse to receive all his ministers and ignored all their petitions. He also sanctioned the rise of eunuchs around him. One particular Liu Jin, leader of the Eight Tigers, was notorious for taking advantage of the young emperor and squandered immense amount of silver and valuables. The diverted funds were about 36 million pounds of gold and silver. There was even rumor of a plot that Liu Jin had intended to murder the emperor and place his own grandnephew on the throne. Liu Jin's plot was ultimately discovered, and he was executed in 1510. However, the rise of corrupt enunchs continued throughout the Zhengde Emperor's reign. There was also an uprising led by the Prince of Anhua and another uprising led by the Prince of Ning. The Prince of Anhua was the Zhengde Emperor's great-granduncle, while the Prince of Ning was his granduncle.
  In time, the Zhengde Emperor became notorious for his childish behaviour as well as abusing his power as emperor. For instance, he set up a staged commercial district inside his palace and ordered all his ministers, eunuchs, soldiers and servants of the palace to dress up and act as merchants or street vendors while he walked through the scene pretending to be a commoner. Any unwilling participants, especially the ministers (who viewed it as degrading and an insult), would be punished or removed from their post.
  Then in 1517, the Zhengde Emperor gave himself an alter ego named Zhu Shou (朱壽) so he could relinquish his imperial duties and send himself off on an expedition to the north to repel raiding expeditions several tens of thousands strong led by Dayan Khan. He met the enemy outside the city of Yingzhou and defeated them in a major battle by surrounding them. For a long period of time after this battle, the Mongols did not launch a raiding expedition into Ming territory. Then again in 1519, the Zhengde Emperor led another expedition to Jiangxi province to the south to quell the Prince of Ning rebellion by a powerful prince known as Zhu Chenhao who had bribed many people in the emperor's cabinet. He arrived only to discover that the revolt had already been put down by Wang Yangming, a local administrative officer. Frustrated at not being able to lead his troops to victory, the Zhengde Emperor's advisor suggested they release the prince in order to capture him again. In January 1521, the 
caption: Stele in memory of the renovation of the Temple of Yan in Qufu, 1509 (4th year of the Zhengde era)
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