Zhu Houzhao

Zhu Houzhao (朱厚照; 1491 – 1521), the Zhengde Emperor (正德帝), was the tenth Emperor of the Ming dynasty of China.
==Biography==
Following his ascension to the throne in 1505, Zhu Houzhao did not attend to the affairs of state seriously, preferring to enjoy a life of leisure, outside the walls of the Forbidden City. That being said, he did not hesitate to condemn opponents to a painful death, typically via lingchi,Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: The Zhengde Emperor as was the case of Liu Jin, an eunuch who was implicated on charges of treason in 1510.Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: Liu Jin
Among his concubines, the Emperor's favorite was Shao Jun, who eventually became a member of the Chinese Assassins after his death. He liked abusing his power and often used Shao Jun for mischief and humiliation of the court,Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Scroll 1 as well as a spy in his campaigns against the Mongols.Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China – Database: Scroll 4
Due to the Zhengde Emperor's lack of a legitimate heir, he was eventually succeeded by his cousin Zhu Houcong, who ruled as the Jiajing Emperor through secret backing by the Templar eunuchs known as the the Eight Tigers.
==Personality and characteristics==
The Zhengde Emperor was notorious for his lackluster leadership and childish disposition.Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia
==Behind the scenes==
The Zhengde Emperor's birth name is Zhū Hòuzhào (朱厚照). His family name, Zhū (朱), refers to the color . His personal name is Hòuzhào (厚照). The former component Hòu (厚) literally means "thick" though in this context can mean "profound" or "substantial". Zhào (照) means "to shine", "to illuminate", or "to reflect".
Zhèngdé (正德) is Zhū Hòuzhào's era name. Historically, Chinese emperors were given posthumous names, s, and . In English, it is conventional to refer to early Chinese monarchs by their posthumous names. However, after the Tang dynasty, posthumous names became increasingly long and tedious to read and write, spanning at least seven characters. From the Tang up until the Mongol Yuan dynasty, emperors are conventionally referred to by their temple names, whereas the emperors of the last two dynasties, the Ming and Qing, are commonly referred to by their era names. Emperors of dynasties before the Ming tended to have multiple era names, which made it impractical to adopt their era names to identify them posthumously, but starting from the Ming, emperors began to adopt one era name per reign.
As Zhū Hòuzhào's era name, Zhèngdé is not one of his actual names, but the name of his regnal period. Thus, it is incorrect to call him "Emperor Zhengde" or even "Zhengde" rather than "the Zhengde Emperor" (i.e. "Emperor of the Zhengde era"). The era name Zhèngdé (正德) literally means "correct virtue".
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China 
*Assassin's Creed: Rebellion 
*Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun 
*Assassin's Creed: The Ming Storm 
*Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game 
==References==
de:Kaiser Zhengde
es:Emperador Zhengde
fr:Zhengde
hu:Zhengde
pl:Zhengde
ru:Император Чжэндэ
zh:朱厚照
Category:1491 births
Category:1521 deaths
Category:Individuals
Category:Ming people
Category:Han Chinese
Category:Emperors of China
Category:Ming dynasty
Category:Zhu (朱) lineage