Jiajing Emperor

The Jiajing Emperor (Personal name: Zho Houcong; Temple name: Emperor Shizong of Ming; Art name: Yaozhai, Leixuan, and Tianchi Diaosou; 16 September 1507 — 23 January 1567) was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty from 1521 until his death in 1567. His predecessor was his cousin the Zhengde Emperor. 

The Jiajing Emperor was born as a cousin of the reigning Zhengde Emperor, making his accession to the throne unexpected. However, after the Zhengde Emperor died without an heir, the government, led by Senior Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe and Empress Dowager Zhang, selected him as the new ruler. A dispute over the legal legitimacy of his accession, known as the Great Rites Controversy, arose between the emperor and the officials. After three years, the emperor prevailed, and his main opponents were either banished or executed.

Like the Zhengde Emperor, the Jiajing Emperor chose to reside outside the Forbidden City in Beijing. In 1542, he moved to the West Park, located west of the Forbidden City. He constructed a complex of Taoist temples and palaces inspired by the Taoist belief of the Land of Immortals. There, he surrounded himself with loyal eunuchs, Taoist monks, and trusted advisers, including grand secretaries and ministers of rites. His main advisers were Zhang Fujing, Xia Yan, Yan Song, and Xu Jie.

At the beginning of his reign, the borders were relatively peaceful, though Mongols under Altan Khan began pushing for the restoration of free trade in the 1540s. The emperor refused and attempted to close the borders by strengthening the Great Wall of China, prompting Altan Khan to raid Beijing's outskirts in 1550. The conflict continued until the reign of Jiajing's successor, Longqing, who allowed trade to resume.

The Wokou pirates also posed a threat in the southeastern provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong throughout the 1540s. The Ming government attempted to address this by implementing stricter laws against private overseas trade in the 1520s, but piracy peaked in the 1550s. The issue began to diminish in the 1560s after the Longqing Emperor relaxed maritime trade laws.

In 1556, northern China experienced the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest in history, killing over 800,000 people. Despite this, the economy thrived, with growth in agriculture, industry, and trade. The traditional Confucian philosophy of Zhuism gave way to more individualistic ideas championed by Wang Yangming.

In his later years, the emperor's obsession with immortality led to questionable actions, including his interest in alchemy and young girls. He sent Taoist priests across the land to collect minerals for life-extending potions, which contained harmful substances like arsenic, lead, and mercury, likely shortening his life.

 Childhood 


Zhu Houcong, the future Jiajing Emperor, was born on 16 September 1507 as the eldest son of Zhu Youyuan, Prince of Xing, and Lady Shao, a concubine of the Chenghua Emperor. Zhu Youyuan, the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor, was known for his poetry and calligraphy. Zhu Houcong’s mother, Jiang, was the daughter of Jiang Xiao, an officer in Beijing’s garrison. Zhu Houcong's parents lived in Anlu (now Zhongxiang) in Huguang, central China, where he was born.

Zhu Houcong received a Confucian education, with his father as his primary tutor. After his father's death in 1519, Zhu Houcong, assisted by Yuan Zonggao, took responsibility for managing the household. Following the customary mourning period, he officially became the Prince of Xing in March 1521.

Reign
Beginning of Reign

Simplification

Ascension to the Throne

The Zhengde Emperor died on 20 April 1521. Zhu Houcong, a cousin of the Zhengde Emperor, was selected to become the next emperor. However, Ming succession law stated that only the sons of the empress could inherit the throne. Since Zhu Houcong's father was not the son of the empress, his succession was legally questionable. To resolve this, Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe proposed adopting Zhu Houcong as the Hongzhi Emperor’s son.

Zhu Houcong rejected the adoption but accepted the throne. On 27 May 1521, he formally ascended the throne and chose the era name "Jiajing."

The day after the Zhengde Emperor's death, a delegation of high-ranking dignitaries left Beijing for Anlu to inform the prince of the situation. They arrived in Anlu on 2 May. Zhu Houcong accepted them, familiarized himself with the edict of the empress dowager, and agreed to ascend the throne. On 7 May, he set out for Beijing accompanied by forty of his own advisers and servants. Yang Tinghe issued orders for him to be welcomed in Beijing as the heir to the throne, but Zhu Houcong refused to appear as the heir apparent, stating that he was invited to assume the imperial rank and was therefore the emperor, not the son of the emperor. According to the grand secretaries and the government, he was the son of the Hongzhi Emperor. He forced his way into the city with imperial honors and on the same day, 27 May 1521, he ceremoniously ascended the throne. The young emperor reportedly chose the name of his era himself, from his favorite chapter of the Book of Documents, with jia meaning "to improve, make splendid" and jing meaning "to pacify" in Chinese.

Great Rites Controversy

The Jiajing Emperor wanted to posthumously elevate his father, but Yang Tinghe insisted on formal adoption to legitimize his rule. The emperor rejected this and instead pushed for the elevation of his parents to imperial status. By 1521, the emperor succeeded in having his parents and grandmother granted imperial rank. However, this sparked conflicts that led to Yang Tinghe's resignation in 1524.

Autocratic Rule

The emperor's strong stance on his rights led him to govern autocratically, rejecting the influence of grand secretaries. This led to the rise of the Confucian scholar Wang Yangming and a shift in intellectual thought during his reign.

Honoring Parents and Legitimizing Government

In 1530, the Jiajing Emperor published a biography of his great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Empress Ma, and the book Nüxun (Instructions for Women), attributed to her. He also worked to honor his parents and ancestors, restoring ancestral temples and overseeing rituals. After his mother’s death in 1538, he made plans to bury her alongside his father near Beijing.

Family

The Jiajing Emperor had three empresses during his reign. The first, Lady Chen, was chosen for him by his aunt, Empress Dowager Zhang. Lady Chen became empress in 1522, but in 1528, she suffered a miscarriage and died on 21 October of that year due to a dispute with the emperor.

Children with Lady Chen

 Miscarrriage (1528)

Death

He died in the place at West Park in 1567.

References

Notes

Category:1500s births