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Jiajing Emperor

Jiajing Emperor

The Jiajing Emperor (September 16, 1507–January 23, 1567) was the 11th emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1521-1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the Zhengde Emperor's cousin.

Early Years

Jiaqing was never brought up to expect to succeed the throne but was rather the nephew of the Hongzhi Emperor. The sudden death of Emperor Zhengde in 1521 created a temporary vacancy for the throne and the 14 year old Jiaqing was ultimately chosen to become emperor and relocated from his father's fief to Beijing.

Reign as Emperor

Ever since the beginning of Jiaqing's reign, he became infatuated with young women and Taoist pursuit. He was known to be a cruel and self aggrandizing emperor and he also chose to reside outside of the Forbidden city in Beijing where he could live in isolation while ignoring state affairs. Employing incapable individuals such as Zhang Cong and Yan Gao, Jiaqing thorougly relied on them to handle affairs of state. He eventually abandoned seeing his ministers from 1539 onwards and for a period of almost 25 years he refused to give official audience but chose instead to relay his wishes through eunuchs and officials. This eventually led to corruptions at all level of the Ming government. Jiaqing's ruthlessness also led to an internal plot by his concubines to assassinate him in 1542 by strangling him while he slept. The plot was ultimately foiled and all of the concubines involved were summarily executed.

Taoist Pursuits

Particularly during his later years, Jiajing was known for spending a great deal of time on Taoist pursuits in hopes of finding medicines to prolong his life. He would forcibly recruit young girls in their early teens and engaged in sexual activities in hopes of empowering himself along with potent elixirs he had consumed. He employed Taoist priests to collect rare minerals from all over the country to create all sorts of elixir including adding mercury which would pose inevitable health problems at high doses. Over the years, Jiaqing's mad devotion to Taoism would be a heavy financial burden for the empire and create dissent across the country.

Legacy and Death

After 45 years on the throne (the second longest reign in the Ming dynasty), Emperor Jiajing died in 1567–possibly due to mercury overdose–and was succeeded by his son. Though his long rule gave the dynasty an era of stability, Jiajing neglected his official duties which resulted in the decline of the dynasty at the end of the 16th century. His style of governing or for that matter the lack thereof would be emulated by his grandson later in the century. Category:1507 births Category:1567 deaths Category:Ming Dynasty emperors ja:嘉慶帝 zh-cn:明世宗

September 16

September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). There are 106 days remaining.

Events

- 1597 - Yi Sun-sin leads 12 ships of the Korean fleet against an invasion by 133 Japanese ships. The Koreans sink 31 enemy ships and force a Japanese retreat.
- 1701 - Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, more commonly referred to as the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant of the thrones of Scotland and England
- 1776 - American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
- 1795 - United Kingdom conquers Cape Town, South Africa
- 1810 - With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo proclaims Mexico's independence from Spain
- 1812 - Russians set fire to Moscow shortly after midnight - the city is burned down totally days later
- 1829 - The Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829, ends with the signing of the Treaty of Adrianople (Edirne)
- 1893 - Oklahoma Land Race: settlers race for prime land in the Cherokee Strip.
- 1901 - Alturas, California, incorporated as the only city in Modoc County
- 1908 - General Motors is founded.
- 1919 - The American Legion is incorporated.
- 1940 - The Selective Service Act is passed, instituting the draft in the United States.
- 1940 - Sam Rayburn elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
- 1941 - Concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia was about to align his petroleum-rich country with Germany during World War II, the United Kingdom and the USSR occupy Iran and forced him to resign in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
- 1955 - Juan Perón is deposed in Argentina
- 1956 - Play-Doh is introduced to the world
- 1963 - Malaysia is formed from Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo and Sarawak
- 1966 - The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City to the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, Antony and Cleopatra.
- 1970 - King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule, resulting in formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
- 1975 - Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
- 1981 - Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Thomas Hearns by a knockout in round 14 in Las Vegas to unify boxing's world Welterweight championship.
- 1982 - Sabra and Shatila massacre.
- 1987 - The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
- 1991 - The trial of Panamanian "strongman" Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.
- 1992 - Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the Deutschmark.
- 2000 - Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze is last seen alive. Madonna's 12th Number 1 single Music hits Number 1.
- 2004 - Hurricane Ivan touches land near Gulf Shores, Alabama, becoming the third costliest hurricane to strike the United States.

Births

- 1098 - Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess, mystic writer, and composer (d. 1179)
- 1387 - King Henry V of England, (d. 1422)
- 1507 - Jiajing, Emperor of China (d. 1567)
- 1557 - Jacques Mauduit, French composer (d. 1627)
- 1651 - Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (d. 1716)
- 1678 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (d. 1751)
- 1722 - Gabriel Christie, British general (d. 1799)
- 1725 - Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist (d. 1815)
- 1745 - Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, Russian field marshal, (d. 1813)
- 1782 - Daoguang, Emperor of China (d. 1850)
- 1823 - Francis Parkman, American historian (d. 1893)
- 1853 - Albrecht Kossel, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)
- 1875 - James C. Penney, American department store founder (d. 1971)
- 1881 - Clive Bell, English art critic (d. 1964)
- 1883 - T. E. Hulme, English writer (d. 1917)
- 1886 - Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor, painter, and poet (d. 1966)
- 1887 - Nadia Boulanger, French composer and composition teacher (d. 1979)
- 1888 - F. E. Sillanpää, Finnish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
- 1893 - Alexander Korda, Hungarian film director (d. 1956)
- 1893 - Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- 1905 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (d. 1980)
- 1910 - Karl Kling, German race car driver (d. 2003)
- 1914 - Allen Funt, American radio and television personality (d. 1999)
- 1916 - M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer (d. 2004)
- 1923 - Lee Kuan Yew, leader of Singapore
- 1924 - Lauren Bacall, American actress
- 1925 - Charlie Byrd, American musician (d. 1999)
- 1925 - B. B. King, American musician
- 1925 - Charles J. Haughey, sixth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland
- 1927 - Peter Falk, American actor
- 1930 - Anne Francis, American actress
- 1934 - Elgin Baylor, American basketball player
- 1934 - George Chakiris, American actor
- 1935 - Carl Andre, American artist
- 1935 - Bob Kiley, American public transit specialist
- 1937 - Alexander Medved, Russian wrestler
- 1939 - Breyten Breytenbach, South African writer and painter
- 1943 - James Alan McPherson, American writer
- 1947 - Russ Abbott, British comedian
- 1949 - Ed Begley, Jr., American actor
- 1950 - Loyd Grossman, American television presenter
- 1955 - Janet Ellis, British television presenter
- 1955 - Yolandita Monge, Puerto Rican singer
- 1955 - Robin Yount, baseball player
- 1956 - David Copperfield, American magician
- 1956 - Mickey Rourke, American actor
- 1958 - Orel Hershiser, baseball player
- 1958 - Jennifer Tilly, American actress
- 1960 - John Franco, baseball player
- 1960 - Danny John-Jules, British actor
- 1963 - Richard Marx, American singer
- 1964 - Molly Shannon, American actress
- 1968 - Marc Anthony, American singer
- 1971 - Amy Poehler, American actress
- 1975 - Shannon Noll, Australian singer and actor
- 1981 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
- 1984 - Katie Melua, Georgian singer

Deaths

- 96 - Domitian, Roman Emperor (b. 51)
- 307 - Flavius Valerius Severus, deposed Roman Emperor (murder)
- 1087 - Pope Victor III
- 1100 - Bernold of Constance, German chronicler
- 1345 - John IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1295)
- 1380 - King Charles V of France (b. 1338)
- 1394 - Avignon Pope Clement VII (b. 1342)
- 1406 - Cyprian, Metropolitan of Moscow
- 1589 - Michael Baius, Flemish theologian (b. 1513)
- 1672 - Anne Bradstreet, American colonial poet
- 1701 - James II of England and VII of Scotland (b. 1633)
- 1736 - Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist (b. 1686)
- 1775 - Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, English privy councillor (b. 1684)
- 1803 - Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (b. 1754)
- 1824 - King Louis XVIII of France (b. 1755)
- 1865 - Christian Julius De Meza, Danish general (b. 1792)
- 1911 - Edward Whymper, English mountain climber (b. 1840)
- 1932 - Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1857)
- 1945 - John McCormack, Irish tenor (b. 1884)
- 1950 - Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (b. 1881)
- 1973 - Víctor Jara, Chilean folk singer and activist (murdered)
- 1977 - Marc Bolan, English musician (b. 1947)
- 1977 - Maria Callas, American-born soprano (b. 1923)
- 1980 - Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (b. 1896)
- 1993 - Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (b. 1966)
- 1996 - McGeorge Bundy, U.S. National Security Advisor (b. 1919)
- 2000 - Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist (b. 1969)
- 2001 - Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)

Holiday and observances

- In ancient Greece, the third day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the initiates walked to the sea at Phaleron and purified themselves in the water.
- RC Saints - Saint Cyprian, Pope Cornelius, Saint Ludmila Also see September 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Mexico - Independence Day (from Spain; proclaimed 1810, recognised 1821, instituted 1825; See Fiestas Patrias)
- Papua New Guinea - Independence Day (from Australia, 1975)
- USA - Constitution Day (observed, 2005)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/16 BBC: On This Day] ---- September 15 · September 17 · August 16 · October 16 · more historical anniversaries ko:9월 16일 ms:16 September ja:9月16日 simple:September 16 th:16 กันยายน

1507

Events

- The western continent is named America on the maps of Martin Waldseemüller.
- Cisneros, inquisidor general de Castilla.
- The Portuguese occupy Mozambique and the islands Sokotra and Lamu.

Arts and Literature

- Rafael: "Burial of Jesus"

Science and Technology

- Martin Waldseemüller: "Introduction to Universal Cosmography".

Births

- March 7 - Magdalena of Saxony (died 1534)
- September 16 - Jiajing Emperor of China (died 1567)
- December 18 - Ouchi Yoshitaka, Japanese warlord (died 1551)
- Pieter Aertsen, Dutch painter (died 1573)
- Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Spanish general (died 1582)
- Bálint Bakfark, Hungarian composer (died 1576)
- Guillaume Rondelet, French physician (died 1566)
- Ralph Sadler, English statesman (died 1587)
- Johannes Sturm, German educator (died 1589)
- Inés Suárez, Spanish conquistadora (died 1580)

Deaths

- March 12 - Cesare Borgia, Italian general and statesman (born 1475)
- April 2 - Francis of Paola, Italian founder of the Order of the Minims (born 1416)
- July 29 - Martin Behaim, German navigator and geographer (born 1459)
- August 23 - Jean Molinet, French writer (born 1435)
- Jan Feliks "Szram" Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (born 1471) Category:1507 ko:1507년

January 23

January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 342 days remaining, 343 in leap years.

Events

- 1510 - Henry VIII of England, 18, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond, and is applauded for his jousting before he reveals himself.
- 1533 - Anne Boleyn, mistress of Henry VIII of England, discovers herself pregnant.
- 1546 - Having published nothing for 11 years, Francois Rabelais brings out his sequel to Gargantua and Pantagruel: the Tiers Libre.
- 1556 - The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China. 830,000 people may have been killed.
- 1570 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war.
- 1571 - The Royal Exchange opens in London.
- 1579 - The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
- 1719 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1789 - Georgetown College becomes the first Catholic college in the United States (Washington, DC).
- 1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor.
- 1855 - The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.
- 1870 - Marias Massacre
- 1904 - Ålesund Fire: Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless. German Kaiser Wilhelm helps rebuild the town in Jugendstil architecture.
- 1907 - Charles Curtis from Kansas, becomes the first Native American US Senator.
- 1912 - The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
- 1920 - The Netherlands refuses to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
- 1937 - In Moscow, 17 leading Communists go on trial accused of participating in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime and assassinate its leaders.
- 1941 - Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
- 1943 - World War II: British forces capture Tripoli from the Nazis.
- 1943 - World War II: Australian and American forces finally defeat the Japanese army in Papua. This turning point in the Pacific War marks the beginning of the end of Japanese aggression.
- 1943 - Duke Ellington plays at New York City's Carnegie Hall for the first time.
- 1950 - The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
- 1960 - The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record when by descending to the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean. (The depth was measured to be 35,813 ft (10,916 m) but later measurements show it to be 35,798 ft (10,911 m))
- 1964 - The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
- 1968 - North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship violated their territorial waters while spying.
- 1973 - President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
- 1975 - Barney Miller debuts on ABC.
- 1977 - The first segment of the Roots mini-series airs on ABC.
- 1978 - Sweden becomes the first nation to ban aerosol sprays that are thought to damage earth's protective ozone layer.
- 1983 - The A-Team debuts.
- 1984 - Hulk Hogan wins the World Wrestling Federation Championship from the Iron Sheik, in New York's Madison Square Garden. Hulkamania is born.
- 1985 - O. J. Simpson becomes the first Heisman Trophy winner elected to the Football Hall of Fame.
- 1986 - The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley)
- 1997 - Mir Aimal Kasi receives the death sentence for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed two and wounded three others.
- 1997 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
- 1999 - Australian Christian missionary Graham Stewart Stains and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in eastern India.
- 2002 - "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh returns to the United States under FBI custody.
- 2002 - Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and subsequently murdered in Karachi, Pakistan.
- 2005 - Viktor Yushchenko sworn in as the third President of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine.
- Actor Kiefer Sutherland became the first guest on "Inside the Actors Studio" to be the child of a former guest; his father, Donald, appeared on the show in 1998.
- 2006 - A Canadian federal election is planned after the falling of Paul Martin's minority Liberal government.

Births

- 1350 - Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1419)
- 1719 - John Landen, English mathematician (d. 1790)
- 1745 - William Jessop, English canal engineer (d. 1814)
- 1752 - Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (d. 1832)
- 1783 - Stendhal, French writer (d. 1842)
- 1813 - Camilla Collett, Norwegian writer and feminist (d. 1895)
- 1786 - Auguste de Montferrand, French architect (d. 1858)
- 1832 - Edouard Manet, French artist (d. 1883)
- 1840 - Ernst Abbe, German physicist (d. 1905)
- 1857 - Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian seismologist (d. 1936)
- 1862 - David Hilbert, German mathematician (d. 1943)
- 1872 - Goce Delchev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1903)
- 1872 - Joze Plečnik, Slovenian architect (d. 1957)
- 1876 - Otto Diels, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
- 1884 - Ralph DePalma, Italian-born race car driver (d. 1956)
- 1896 - Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1985)
- 1897 - Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian independence fighter (d. 1945)
- 1897 - Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (d. 2000)
- 1898 - Sergei Eisenstein, Russian film director (d. 1948)
- 1898 - Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1903 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (d. 1948)
- 1907 - Dan Duryea, American actor (d. 1968)
- 1907 - Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
- 1910 - Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist (d. 1953)
- 1915 - Arthur Lewis, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
- 1915 - Potter Stewart, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1985)
- 1918 - Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1999)
- 1919 - Hans Hass, Austrian zoologist and underwater scientist
- 1919 - Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (d. 1962)
- 1923 - Walter M. Miller Jr., American writer (d. 1996)
- 1928 - Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1928 - Jeanne Moreau, French actress
- 1929 - John Charles Polanyi, Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1930 - Derek Walcott, West Indian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 - Chita Rivera, Puerto Rican actress and dancer
- 1936 - Jerry Kramer, American football player
- 1938 - Shohei Baba, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 1999)
- 1938 - Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
- 1943 - Gil Gerard, American actor
- 1944 - Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
- 1947 - Thomas R. Carper, U.S. Senator from Delaware.
- 1947 - Megawati Sukarnoputri, President of Indonesia
- 1948 - Anita Pointer, American singer
- 1950 - Richard Dean Anderson, American actor
- 1950 - Danny Federici, American musician (Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band)
- 1954 - Franco De Vita, Venezuelan singer and songwriter
- 1957 - Princess Caroline of Monaco
- 1963 - Gail O'Grady, American actress
- 1964 - Mariska Hargitay, American actress
- 1969 - Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian-Russian footballer
- 1967 - Naim Suleymanoglu, Bulgarian-born weightlifter
- 1972 - Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer
- 1974 - Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
- 1984 - Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer

Deaths

- 1002 - Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
- 1199 - Yaqub, Almohad Caliph
- 1548 - Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (b. 1490)
- 1549 - Johannes Honter, Transylvanian Saxon humanist and theologian

Emperor of China

The emperor or huangdi (皇帝 in pinyin: huang2 di4) of China was the head of government and head of state of China from the Qin dynasty in 221 BC until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. The pre-Qin heads of the government were called wang (roughly translated as King). Before Qin Shi Huang, the characters huang ("godking") and di ("sage king") were used separately and never consecutively (See Three Huang and five Di). After the Han dynasty, huangdi began to be abbreviated to huang or di -- the two characters had lost their original pre-Qin meanings.

Position and power

Since the Qin Dynasty, the Emperor has been formally styled the Son of Heaven(天子), and as the descendant and representative of heaven on earth, legally has the absolute power over all matters, big or small, under heaven. The Emperor's words and directives are considered Sacred Edicts (聖旨). In theory, the emperor's orders are followed with immediate obedience. He is elevated above all commoners, nobility, and members of the imperial family. Address to the Emperor is always to be formal and self-deprecatory, often even with the closest of family members. In practice, however, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties. Many emperors ruled as absolute monarchs with an iron fist on the country. A prominent example is Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Other emperors, however, have found the Empress Dowager, court officials, eunuchs, and nobility taking over actual power (ex. Wanli Emperor of the Ming, Guangxu Emperor of the Qing).

Heredity and succession

The title of Emperor was transmitted from father to son. By convention in most Han Chinese-ruled dynasties, the eldest son born to the Empress (嫡長子) succeeds the throne. In some cases when the Empress did not bear any children, she could adopt a son as her own and the son is subsequently made heir (although all children of the Emperor are said to also be the children of the Empress, regardless of birth mother). In some dynasties the rule of the Empress' eldest son succeeding is disputed, and because many Emperors had large progenies, often led to wars of succession between rival sons of the Emperor. In attempts to resolve disputes after death, the Emperor often designated a Crown Prince (太子) at early times. Even such a clear designation, however, caused problems within the imperial family involving jealousy and distrust, whether it is the Crown Prince plotting against the Emperor, or brothers plotting against each other, and further does not actually ensure a peaceful succession. Some Emperors, like the Kangxi Emperor, after abolishing the position of Crown Prince, placed the succession papers in a sealed box, only to be opened and announced after his death. Unlike the Emperor of Japan, Chinese political theory (See Mandate of Heaven) allowed for a change in dynasty and an emperor could be replaced by a rebel leader. Prominent examples include the first Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Era), and Hong Xiuquan, leader of the Taiping Rebellion, who ruled with the title Heavenly King. As the Emperor usually has a large number of sons, it was generally not possible for a female to succeed to the throne. In the history of China there has only been one lawful reigning Empress, the Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty. Many females, however, have come to become de facto leaders, usually as the Empress Dowager. Prominent examples include the Empress Dowager Cixi, mother of the Tongzhi Emperor and adoptive mother of the Guangxu Emperor, ruling China for 47 years (1861-1908), and the Empress Dowager Lü of the Han Dynasty.

Styles, names and forms of address

To see naming conventions in detail, please refer to Chinese sovereign As the Emperor has, by law, a high position challenged by no one else, his subjects are to show the utmost respect in his presence, whether it includes direct conversation or otherwise. In a conversation with the Emperor, it is considered a crime to compare oneself to the Emperor in any way. It is taboo to refer to the Emperor by his given name, even if it is from his own mother, who uses Huangdi (Emperor), or "Er" (simply "son"). The Emperor is never to be addressed "you". The Emperor addresses himself as Zhen (朕) in front of his subjects. Anyone speaking to the Emperor is to address him as Bixia (陛下), translated as "Your Imperial Majesty"; Huang Shang (皇上, lit. Emperor Above or Emperor Highness), Wan Sui (萬歲, lit. Ten thousand years), or Sheng Shang (聖上, lit. the Divine Above or the Holy Highness). Servants often address the Emperor as Wan Sui Ye (萬歲爺, lit. Lord of Ten Thousand Years). In English all these forms of address are roughly translated as Your Imperial Majesty. Contrary to western convention of referring to a sovereign using a reign name (ex. George V), sometimes the sovereign's personal name (Queen Victoria), a governing Emperor is to be simply referred to as Huang-di Bi-xia (皇帝陛下 lit. His Majesty the Emperor) or Dang-jin Huang-shang (当今皇上 lit. The Imperial Highness of the Present Time) when speaking in third person. He is usually styled His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great [X] Dynasty, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years. His styles varied considerably during the Yuan and Qing Dynasties. An Emperor rules with a reign title (年号). Up until the Ming Dynasty, the sovereign had conventionally changed the reign title on a semi-regular basis during his reign. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Emperors simply chose one reign title to last for that entire reign, and people often referred to past Emperors with that title. In earlier dynasties the Emperors were known with a Temple name (庙号) given after their death. All Emperors are all given a Posthumous name (谥号), which are sometimes combined with the Temple name to refer to an Emperor (ex. Shengzu-Ren-Emperor 圣祖仁皇帝 for Kangxi). Da-xing Huangdi (大行皇帝) is used to refer to an Emperor that had just passed away. The passing of an Emperor is referred to as Jia-beng (驾崩), literally meaning "collapse".

Family

The Emperor's family, termed the Imperial Family, is made up of the Emperor as the head, the Empress (皇后) as the primary consort, leader of the harem, and Mother of the Nation (国母). In addition, the Emperor has a series of other consorts and concubines (妃嫔) divided in a system of ranks that make up the harem. Although the Emperor has the highest status by law, by tradition and precedent the mother of an Emperor, i.e. the Empress Dowager (皇太后), usually receives the greatest respect in the palace, and is the decision maker in most family affairs, and at times, especially when a young Emperor is on the throne, becomes the de facto ruler. The Emperor's children, the Princes and Princesses (皇子/公主), are often called with their order of birth, i.e. Eldest Prince, Third Princess. The Princes are often given titles of peerage once they reach adulthood. The Emperor's brothers and uncles serve in court by law with the status of any other court officials (臣子), and the Emperor is always elevated above despite chronological or generational superiority of another person in the family when in court. Category:China See also: Chinese sovereign -- Table of Chinese monarchs (VERY LONG) th:ฮ่องเต้

Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. It was the last ethnic Han dynasty in China, supplanting the Mongol Yuan Dynasty before falling to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty () was also called The Great Ming Empire (大明帝國). Though the Ming capital, Beijing, fell in 1644, remnants of the Ming throne and power (now collectively called the Southern Ming) survived until 1662. This dynasty began as a time of renewed cultural blossoming, with Chinese merchants exploring all of the Indian Ocean and Chinese art (especially the porcelain industry) reaching unprecedented heights. Under Ming rule, a vast navy and army was built, with four masted ships displacing 1,500 tons and a standing army of one million troops. Over 100,000 tons of iron per year were produced in North China, and many books were printed using movable type. Early Ming China was the most advanced nation on Earth at the time. There were strong feelings against the rule of "the foreigners" among the populace during the following Qing Dynasty and the restoration of the Ming dynasty was used as a rallying cry up until the modern era.

Origins

Qing Dynasty The Mongol Yuan Dynasty ruled before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. During the rule, the Mongols' discrimination against the Han Chinese is often considered the primary cause for the end of Yuan rule in China. This finally led to a peasant revolt that pushed the Yuan dynasty back to the Mongolian steppes. Other causes include collusion with Tibetan lamas in depriving Chinese of their lands, paper currency over-circulation, which caused inflation to go up ten-fold during Yuan Emperor Shundi's reign, and the flooding of the Yellow River as a result of Mongols' abandonment of irrigation projects. In Late Yuan times, Chinese agriculture was in shambles. When hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were called upon to work on the Yellow River, the prospect of rebellion ripened, and war broke out.The Ming dynasty emperors were members of the Zhu family. The revolt, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, established the Ming Dynasty in 1368. After many years of fighting, the rebel group led by Zhu Yuanzhang, secretly assisted by an ancient, highly secret intellectual fraternity called the Summer Place people, became the most powerful of the various Han Chinese groups. The future Hongwu emperor, Zhu declared the foundation of the Ming Dynasty in 1368, establishing his capital at Nanjing and adopting "Hongwu" as his reign title. With a Confucian aversion to trade, Hongwu also supported the creation of self-supporting agricultural communities. Neo-feudal land-tenure developments of late Song and Yuan times were expropriated with the establishment of the Ming dynasty. Great land estates were confiscated by the government, fragmented, and rented out; and private slavery was forbidden. Consequently, after the death of Yongle Emperor, independent peasant landholders predominated in Chinese agriculture. Under Hongwu, the Mongol bureaucrats who had dominated the government for nearly a century under the Yuan dynasty were replaced by the Han Chinese. The traditional Confucian examination system that selected state bureaucrats or civil servants on the basis of merit and knowledge of literature and philosophy was revamped. Candidates for posts in the civil service or the officer corps of the 80,000-man army, once again, had to pass the traditional competitive examinations in the Classics. The Confucian scholar gentry, marginalized under the Yuan for nearly a century, once again assumed its predominant role in the Chinese state of mind.

Exploration to isolation

Classics during the early Ming Dynasty. Decorated in dragons and phoenixes it was made to stand in an imperial palace. Made sometime during the Xuande reign period (1426-1435) of the Ming Dynasty. Currently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

( See the closeup for more detail )

]] Between 1405 and 1433, Ming emperors sent seven maritime expeditions probing down into the South Seas and across the Indian Ocean. The era's xenophobia and intellectual introspection characteristic of the era's increasingly popular new school of neo-Confucianism, thus did not lead to the physical isolation of China. Contacts with the outside world, particularly with Japan, and foreign trade increased considerably. Yongle Emperor, fourth son of Hongwu, strenuously tried to extend China's influence beyond her borders by encouraging other rulers to send ambassadors to China to present tribute. The Chinese armies reconquered Annam and blocked Mongol expansionism, while the Chinese fleet sailed the China seas and the Indian Ocean, cruising as far as the east coast of Africa. The Chinese gained a certain influence over Turkestan. The maritime Asian nations sent envoys with tribute for the Chinese emperor. Internally, the Grand Canal was expanded to its farthest limits and proved to be a stimulus to domestic trade. The most extraordinary venture, however, during this stage was the dispatch Zheng He's seven naval expeditions, which traversed the Indian Ocean and the Southeast Asian archipelago. An ambitious Muslim eunuch of Hui descent, a quintessential outsider in the establishment of Confucian scholar elites, Zheng He led seven expeditions from 1405 to 1433 with six of them under the auspices of Yongle. He traversed perhaps as far as the Cape of Good Hope and, according to the controversial 1421 theory, the Americas. Zheng's appointment in 1403 to lead a sea-faring task force was a triumph the commercial lobbies seeking to stimulate conventional trade, not mercantilism. The interests of the commercial lobbies and those of the religious lobbies were also linked. Both were offensive to the neo-Confucian sensibilities of the scholarly elite: Religious lobbies encouraged commercialism and exploration, which benefited commercial interests, in order to divert state funds from the anti-clerical efforts of the Confucian scholar gentry. The first expedition in 1405 consisted of 62 ships and 28,000 men--then the largest naval expedition in history. Zheng He's multi-decked ships carried up to 500 troops but also cargoes of export goods, mainly silks and porcelains, and brought back foreign luxuries such as spices and tropical woods. The economic motive for these huge ventures may have been important, and many of the ships had large private cabins for merchants. But the chief aim was probably political, to enroll further states as tributaries and mark the reemergence of the Chinese Empire following nearly a century of barbarian rule. The political character of Zheng He's voyages indicates the primacy of the political elites. Despite their formidable and unprecedented strength, Zheng He's voyages, unlike European voyages of exploration later in the fifteenth century, were not intended to extend Chinese sovereignty overseas. Indicative of the competition among elites, these excursions had also become politically controversial. Zheng He's voyages had been supported by his fellow low eunuchs at court and strongly opposed by the Confucian scholar officials. Their antagonism was in fact so great that they tried to suppress any mention of the naval expeditions in the official imperial record. A compromise interpretation realizes that the Mongol raids tilted the balance in the favor of the Confucian elites. By the end of the fifteenth century, imperial subjects were forbidden from either building oceangoing ships or leaving the country. Some historians speculate this measure was taken in response to piracy. But during the mid-1500s, trade started up again with the "silverization" of China. China was like a bottomless sink. Silver replaced paper money and the value of silver skyrocketed relative to the rest of the world. Eventually with the laws of supply and demand, silver wasn't needed and there was a huge price inflation not just in China, but all over the world. Historians of the 1960s, such as John Fairbank and Joseph Levinson have argued that this renovation turned into stagnation, and that science and philosophy were caught in a tight net of traditions smothering any attempt to venture something new. Historians who held to this view argue that in the 15th century, by imperial decree the great navy was decommissioned; construction of seagoing ships was forbidden; the iron industry gradually declined.

Ming military conquests

iron in Washington, D.C.]] The beginning of the Ming dynasty was one of Ming military conquests as they sought to perpetuate their hold on power. Early in his reign the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang provided instructions as injunctions to later generations. These instructions included the advice that those countries to the north were dangerous and posed a threat to the Ming polity and those to the south did not.Furthermore he stated that those to the south, not constituting a threat, were not to be subject to attack. Yet, either because of, or despite of, this, it was the polities to the south which were to suffer the greatest effects of Ming expansion over the following century.This prolonged entanglement in the South with no long lasting tangible benefits was ultimately to weaken the Ming.

Decline of the Ming, the aborted commercial revolution

Long wars with the Mongols, incursions by the Japanese into Korea, and harassment of Chinese coastal cities by the Japanese in the sixteenth century weakened Ming rule, which became, as earlier Chinese dynasties had, ripe for an alien takeover. See Qing Dynasty for an account of these events. Historians debate the relatively slower "progression" of European-style mercantilism and industrialization in China since the Ming. This question is particularly poignant, considering the parallels between the commercialization of the Ming economy, the so-called age of "incipient capitalism" in China, and the rise of commercial capitalism in the West. Historians have thus been trying to understand why China did not "progress" in a similar pattern since the last century of the Ming dynasty. In the early 21st century, however, some of the premises of the debate have come under attack. Economic historians such as Kenneth Pomeranz have begun to argue that China was technologically and economically equal to Europe until the 1750's and that the divergence was due to global conditions such as access to natural resources from the new world. Much of the debate nonetheless centers on contrast in political and economic systems between East and West. Given the causal premise that economic transformations induce social changes, which in turn have political consequences, one can understand why the rise of capitalism, an economic system in which capital is put to work to produce more capital, was somewhat of a driving force behind the rise of modern Europe. Capitalism after all can be traced in several distinct stages in Western history. Commercial capitalism was the first stage, and was associated with historical trends evident in Ming China, such as geographical discoveries, colonization, scientific innovation, and the increase in overseas trade. But in Europe, governments often protected and encouraged the burgeoning capitalist class, predominantly consisting of merchants, through governmental controls, subsidies, and monopolies, such as British East India Company. The absolutist states of the era often saw the growing potential to excise bourgeois profits to support their expanding, centralizing nation-states. This question is even more of an anomaly considering that during the last century of the Ming dynasty a genuine money economy emerged along with relatively large-scale mercantile and industrial enterprises under private as well as state ownership, such as the great textile centers of the southeast. In some respects, this question is at the center of debates pertaining to the relative decline of China in comparison with the modern West at least until the Communist revolution. Chinese Marxist historians, especially during the 1970s identified the Ming age one of "incipient capitalism," a description that seems quite reasonable, but one that does not quite explain the official downgrading of trade and increased state regulation of commerce during the Ming era. Marxian historians thus postulate that European-style mercantilism and industrialization might have evolved had it not been for the Manchu conquest and expanding European imperialism, especially after the Opium Wars. Post-modernist scholarship on China, however argues that this view is simplistic and at worst, flat out wrong. The ban on ocean going ships, it is pointed out, was intended to curb piracy and was lifted in the Mid-Ming at the strong urging of the bureaucracy who pointed out the harmful effects it was having on coastal economies. These historians, who include Jonathan Spence, Kenneth Pomeranz, and Joanna Waley-Cohen deny that China "turned inward" at all and point out that this view of the Ming Dynasty is inconsistent with the growing volume of trade and commerce that was occurring between China and southeast Asia. When the Portuguese reached India, they found a booming trade network which they then followed to China. In the 16th century Europeans started to appear on the eastern shores and founded Macao, the first European settlement in China. Other historians usually link the "premature" development of European-style mercantilism and industrialization to the decline of the Ming dynasty. The role of state support is the focus of much of this debate on the official downgrading of commerce. During the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu laid the foundations for a state uninterested in commerce and more interested in extracting revenues from the agricultural sector. With little understanding of economic processes of markets, Hongwu, backed by the Confucian scholar gentry, just accepted the Confucian viewpoint offhand that merchants were solely parasitic. In a typically Confucian viewpoint, Hongwu felt that agriculture should be the country's source of wealth and that trade was ignoble and parasitic. Perhaps this view was accentuated because of his background as a peasant. As a result, the Ming economic system emphasized agriculture, unlike that of the Sung dynasty, which had preceded the Mongols and relied on traders and merchant for revenues. The laws against the merchants and the restrictions under which the craftsmen worked, remained essentially as they had been under the Sung, but now the remaining foreign merchants of Mongol time also fell under these new laws, and their influence quickly dwindled. Although the late Ming, following contacts with the Europeans, saw the emergence of a genuine silver money economy (due, in large part, to trade with the New World via the Spanish and Portuguese), due to the attendant development of relatively large-scale mercantile and industrial enterprises under private as well as state ownership (most notably the great textile centers of the southeast), the Ming age was probably not one of "incipient capitalism" due to the predominance of the political realm over the economic. As mentioned, Hongwu laid the foundations for a state uninterested in commerce and more interested in extracting revenues from the agricultural sector. The state extracted most of its revenues from agriculture, not commerce, providing it little incentive to stimulate commerce. Although commerce was stimulated by the flow of silver from the New World, used to pay for Chinese exports of tea, silk, and ceramics, and although Chinese businessmen devised a way of mass-producing cheaper types of porcelain to satisfy European markets, comparing economic patterns to the those in Europe during the genesis of capitalism illustrate why state backing of capitalism was crucial. In Europe these early capitalists, who generated most of their profits from the buying and selling of goods, were protected and encouraged by governmental controls, subsidies, and monopolies. The bourgeoisie, after all, were a viable new taxbase for the crown in Europe but not to the same extent in China. Although Hongwu's rule saw the introduction of paper currency, capitalist development would be stifled from the beginning or at least limited from reaching its true potential. Not understanding inflation, Hongwu gave out so much paper money as rewards that by 1425 the state was forced to reintroduce copper coins given that the currency was worth 1/70 of its original value. State control (but not necessarily support) of the Chinese economy and for that matter, of society in all its aspects, remained the dominant characteristic of Chinese life in Ming times as earlier. Concentrating power would also have disastrous implications if the emperor were incompetent or uninterested in government. The key issue in this decline was the Ming political innovation of concentrating all power in the hands of the emperor. Western historians also argue that the quality of the emperors declined and this was exacerbated by the centralization of authority. As mentioned, since the era of Hongwu the emperor's role this became even more autocratic, although Hongwu necessarily continued to use what he called the Grand Secretaries to assist with the immense paperwork of the bureaucracy, which included memorials (petitions and recommendations to the throne), imperial edicts in reply, reports of various kinds, and tax records. Hongwu increasingly concentrated power in his own hands and in 1380 abolished the Imperial Secretariat, which had been the main central administrative body under past dynasties, after suppressing a plot for which he had blamed his chief minister. When the emperorship became hereditary, the Chinese recognized this and established the office of prime or chief minister. While incompetent emperors could come and go, the prime minister could guarantee a level of continuity and competence in the government. Hongwu, wishing to concentrate absolute authority in his own hands, abolished the office of prime minister and so removed the only insurance against incompetent emperors. Hongwu was succeeded by his son, but the latter was soon usurped by Cheng Zu, who ruled as the Emperor Yongle from 1403 to 1424. He was responsible for moving the capital to Beijing. Yongle was also very active and very competent as an administrator, but an array of bad precedents was established. First, although Hongwu maintained some Mongol practices, such as corporal punishment, to the consternation of the scholar elite and their insistence on rule by virtue, Yongle exceeded these bounds, executing the families of his political opponents, murdering thousands arbitrarily. Second, despite Hongwu's strong aversion to the eunuchs, encapsulated by a tablet in his palace stipulating: "Eunuchs must have nothing to do with the administration," his successors revived their informal role in the governing process. Hongwu, unlike his successors, noted the destructive role of court eunuchs under the Song, drastically reducing their numbers, forbidding them to handle documents, insisting that they remained illiterate, and liquidating those who commented on state affairs. Third, Yongle's cabinet or Grand Secretariat, would become a sort of rigidifying instrument of consolidation that became an instrument of decline. Earlier, however, more competent emperors time supervised or approved all the decisions of this council. Hongwu himself was generally regarded as a strong emperor who ushered in an energy of imperial power and effectiveness that lasted far beyond his reign, but the centralization of authority would prove detrimental under less competent rulers.

Fall of the Ming Dynasty

The fall of the Ming Dynasty was a protracted affair, its roots beginning as early as 1600 with the emergence of the Manchu state under Nurhaci. With superior artillery the Ming were able to repeatedly fight off the Manchu invaders, notably in 1623 and in 1628. However they were never able to capitalise on their victories and from 1629 onwards the Ming were wearied by a combination of internal strife and constant harassment of Northern China by the Manchu; who had turned to raiding tactics so as to avoid facing the Ming armies in open battle. Unable to attack the heart of Ming China directly, the Manchu instead bided their time, developing their own artillery and gathering allies. In 1633 they completed a conquest of Inner Mongolia, resulting in a large scale recruitment of Mongol troops into the Manchu banners, and an additional route into the Ming heartland. By 1636 the Manchu ruler Abahai was confident enough to proclaim the Imperial Qing Dynasty at Shenyang, which had fallen to the Manchu by treachery in 1621, taking the Imperial title Chongde. The end of 1637 saw the defeat and conquest of China's traditional ally Korea by a 100,000 strong Manchu army, and the Korean renunciation of the Ming dynasty. On May 26, 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng. Seizing their chance, the Manchus crossed the Great Wall after Ming border general Wu Sangui opened the gates at Shanhai Pass, and quickly overthrew Li's shortlived Shun Dynasty. Despite the loss of Beijing (whose weakness as an Imperial capital had been foreseen by Zhu Yuanzhang) and the death of the Emperor, Ming power was by no means destroyed. Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong, Shanxi and Yunnan could all have been and were in fact strongholds of Ming resistance. However, the loss of central authority saw multiple pretenders for the Ming throne, unable to work together. Each bastion of resistance was individually defeated by the Qing until 1662, when the last real hopes of a Ming revival died with Zhu Youlang. (See also the relevant sections in the Qing Dynasty article)

1567

Events

- The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. He replaces Margaret of Parma as Governor of the Netherlands. Prince William of Orange is outlawed, and Count Lamoral of Egmont imprisoned.
- February 10 - Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, husband of Mary I of Scotland, is murdered at the Provost's House in Edinburgh.
- May 15 - Mary I of Scotland marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.
- June 15 - Mary I of Scotland is defeated at Carberry Hill by the Scottish nobles. She is imprisoned in Lochleven Castle.
- July 24 - Mary I of Scotland abdicates the throne, succeeded by her son King James VI of Scotland.
- July 25 - The city of Santiago de León de Caracas, in Venezuela, is founded by Diego de Losada.
- July 29 - James VI is crowned at Stirling.
- September 9 - At a dinner, the Duke of Alva arrests the Count of Egmont and the Count of Horne for treason.
- September 29 - Beginning of the Second War of Religion in France when the Prince of Condé and Gaspard de Coligny fail in an attempt to capture King Charles IX and his mother at Meaux. The Huguenots do capture several cities (including Orleans), and march on Paris.
- November 10 - Battle of Saint-Denis - Anne de Montmorency, with 16,000 Royalists falls on Condé's 3,500 Huguenots. The Huguenots surprisingly hold on for some hours before being driven off. Montmorency is mortally wounded.
- King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway founds Fredrikstad in Norway.

Births

- February 12 - Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (died 1620)
- May 15 - Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer (died 1643)
- August 21 - Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (d. 1622)
- November 1 - Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, conde de Gondomar, Spanish diplomat (died 1626)
- November 14 - Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (died 1625)
- November 21 - Anne de Xainctonge, French saint (died 1621)
- December 15 - Christoph Demantius, German composer (died 1643)
- Valens Acidalius, German critic and poet (died 1595)
- William Alabaster, English poet (died 1640)
- Adriaen Block, Dutch fur trader and navigator (died 1624)
- Samuel de Champlain, French explorer (died 1635)
- Jacques Clément, French assassin of Henry III of France (died 1589)
- Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley (died 1643)
- Jan Szczesny Herburt, political writer
- Thomas Lake, Secretary of State to King James I (died 1630)
- Date Masamune, Japanese daimyo
- Thomas Nashe, English poet (died 1600)
- Willem Schouten, Dutch navigator (died 1625)
- Torii Tadamasa, Japanese nobleman (died 1628)
- Akizuki Tanenaga, Japanese samurai and soldier (died 1614)
- Yodo-Dono, Japanese concubine of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- Sanada Yukimura, Japanese warrior See also :Category: 1567 births.

Deaths

- January 23 - Jiajing Emperor of China (b. 1507)
- January 26 - Nicholas Wotton, English diplomat
- February 10 - Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary I of Scotland (born 1545)
- March 31 - Philipp I of Hesse (born 1504)
- April 18 - Wilhelm von Grumbach, German adventurer (born 1503)
- June 2 - Shane O'Neill, Irish chieftain (born 1530)
- June 12 - Richard Rich, Lord Chancellor of England (born 1490)
- October 1 - Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (born 1508)
- November 12 - Anne de Montmorency, constable of France (born 1493)
- Thomas Beccon, English protestant reformer (born 1511)
- Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician (born 1501)
- Marin Drzic, Croatian writer (born 1508)
- Shahgali, khan of Qasim in 1516-1519
- Lawrence Sheriff, English gentleman and grocer to Elizabeth I (born 1510)
- Michael Stifel, German mathematician (born 1487)
- Jan Krzysztof Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (born 1537) See also :Category: 1567 deaths. Category:1567 ko:1567년

Zhengde Emperor

The Zhengde Emperor (October 26, 1491–April 20, 1521) was emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1505-1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son.

Early Years

Zhengde was created crown prince at a very early age and because his father did not take up any other concubines, Zhengde did not have to contend with other princes for the throne. (His younger brother died in infancy.) Zhengde was thoroughly educated in Confucian studies like his father was and he excelled in his studies. Many of Emperor Hongzhi's minister surmised that Zhengde would yet turned out to be a benevolent and brilliant emperor.

Reign as Emperor

Zhengde ascended the throne at the age of 14. Unlike his father, Zhengde was not interested in ruling and disregarded all state affairs. He took up a luxurious and prodigal lifestyle and also indulged himself in women. It was said that he liked to frequent brothels and even created palaces outside the Forbidden City in Beijing just to house beautiful women for his personal enjoyment. While being urged to return to the palace and attend to governmental matters, Zhengde would refused to receive all his ministers and ignored all their petitions. Zhengde also sanctioned the rise of eunuchs around him. One particular Liu Jin (劉瑾) was notorious for taking advantage of the young emperor and squandered immense amount of silver and valuables. 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. Emperor Zhengde died in 1521 at the age of only 30. One day in the fall of 1520 it was said that Zhengde was drunk while boating on a lake. He fell off his boat and almost drowned himself ¹. After that he became ill and died the following year. He had no heir and was succeeded by his cousin.

Legacy

Though bred to be a successful ruler, Zhengde thoroughly neglected his duties, beginning a dangerous trend that would plague future Ming emperors. The abandoning of official duties to pursue personal gratifications would slowly lead to the rise of powerful eunuchs that would dominate and eventually ruin the Ming dynasty.

Source

¹ Source: Imperial China - 900-1800, F.W. Mote, Pages 658, First Harvard University Press, 2003. Category:1491 births Category:1521 deaths Category:Ming Dynasty emperors ja:正徳帝

Taoist

:For other uses of the words "tao" and "dao", see Dao (disambiguation). Dao (disambiguation) Taoism (sometimes written as Daoism) is the English name for :(a) the Chinese folk religion; :(b) a family of organized Chinese religious movements such as the Zhengyi ("Orthodox One") or Quanzhen ("Complete Reality") sects, which collectively trace back to Zhang Daoling in the late Han dynasty; and/or :(c) academic philosophies or belles lettres based on the texts Daodejing (ascribed to Laozi) and Zhuangzi. The English word "Taoism" translates the Chinese terms Daojiao (道教) and Daojia (道家). The character Dao 道 (or Tao, depending on the transcription scheme one prefers) literally means "path" or "way", but in Chinese religion or philosophy has taken on more abstract meanings. The compound Daojiao refers to "Daoism" as a "religion" (i.e., people worshipping at altars); Daojia refers to the activity of scholars in their studies. (It must be noted that this distinction is itself controversial and fraught with hermeneutic difficulty.) Much uncertainty exists over the meaning of "Taoism." In some countries and contexts (for example, the national "Taoism" organizations of China and Taiwan), the label has come to be applied to the Chinese folk religion, which would otherwise not have a readily-recognizable English name. However many, if not most, of its practitioners would not recognize "Taoism" (in any language) as the name of their religion. Moreover, the several forms of what we might call "elite" or "organized" Taoism often distinguish their ritual activities from those of the folk religion, which professional "Taoists" (Daoshi) tend to view as debased. Chinese alchemy, Chinese astrology, Chinese cuisine, many Chinese martial arts, Chinese traditional medicine, fengshui and many styles of qigong breath training disciplines have some relationship with Taoism.

History

Depending on how it is defined, Taoism's origins may be traced to the prehistoric Chinese religion; to the composition of the Daodejing (third or fourth century BC); or to the activity of Zhang Daoling (second century AD). Alternatively, one could argue that "Taoism" as a religious identity only arose later, by way of contrast with the newly-arrived religion of Buddhism, or with the fourth-century codification of the Shangching and Lingbao texts.

Warring States Period (403-222 BC)

The texts of the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi date back to this period. Scholars disagree as to which is earlier (if the question has any meaning given the likelihood of each being composed by multiple authors over a gradual period). Some parts of the Zhuangzi quote some parts of the Daodejing. The name "Laozi" may have been assigned to the latter because of Sima Qian's assertion that a certain "Laozi" was the teacher of Confucius (thus giving Taoism seniority over its ideological rival). Both texts are claimed by later Taoist religious movements, who variously interpret them in line with their own beliefs. To what extent such readings accurately reflect their original meaning, is a point of controversy.

Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220)

By the early Han, Laozi came to be worshipped as a god--either in association with or conflated with the Yellow Emperor. A major text from this "Huang-Lao" movement would be the Huainanzi, which interprets earlier Taoist teachings in light of the quest for immortality (including drugs, sexual practices, and breathing techniques). Zhang Daoling began receiving new revelations from Laozi in AD 142, and founded the Tianshi ("Celestial Masters") sect around them. He performed spiritual healing, and collected dues of "five pecks of rice" from his followers (thus providing an alternative name for his movement). Zhang Daoling's major message was that the world-order as his followers knew it would soon come to an end, and be succeeded by an era of "Great Peace" (Taiping). In fact their activities did hasten the downfall of the Han dynasty. The same could be said of their contemporaries and fellow Taoists, the Yellow Turban sect. Zhang's grandson set up a theocratic state in what is now Sichuan province. Today's Zhengyi sect claims continuity with Zhang Daoling. Laozi received imperial recognition as a divinity in AD 166. The Yin and Yang and "five elements" theories date from this time, but were not yet integrated into Taoism. The name Daojia comes from the Han Dynasty. In Sima Qian's history (ch. 63) it refers to immortals; in Liu Xiang it refers to Laozi and Zhuangzi. Daojiao came to be applied to the religious movements mentioned above. The two terms were used interchangeably until modern times. (We owe the distinction to Confucian writers.) The earliest commentary on the Daodejing is actually that of Heshang Gong (the "Riverside Master"), a religious Taoist.

Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-265)

The Xuanxue ("Dark Learning") school, including Wang Bi, focuses on the texts of Laozi and Zhuangzi (not the organized religion).

Six Dynasties (AD 316-589)

Taoist alchemist Ge Hong, also known as Baopuzi (The "Master Embracing Simplicity") active in the third and fourth centuries AD. The Shangching ("Highest Purity") (365-70) and Lingbao ("Sacred Treasure") scriptures (397-402) received at Maoshan. The former were a series of revelations received by Yang Xi, a relative of Ge Hong's, which emphasized meditative visualization (neiguan). The latter added some Buddhist elements such as chanted rituals, and an emphasis on universal salvation. The Huahujing ("Scripture of Conversion of Barbarians") claimed that Laozi went to India, where he taught less advanced doctrines under the name of Buddha. Buddhists found its premise objectionable, and emperors regularly condemned it. A similar claim is made in the Xishengjing (the "Scripture of Western Ascension").

Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907)

Taoism gained official status in China during the Tang dynasty, whose emperors claimed Laozi as their relative. However, it was forced to compete with Confucianism and Buddhism, its major rivals, for patronage and rank. This marks the beginning of a long-lived tendency within imperial China, in which the government supported (and simultaneously regulated) all three movements. Emperor Tang Gaozong added the Daodejing to the list of "classics" (jing, 經) to be studied for the imperial examinations; hence the appearance of -jing in its title.

Song Dynasty (960-1279)

Aspects of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were consciously synthesized in the Neo-Confucian school, which eventually became Imperial orthodoxy for state bureaucratic purposes. Several Song emperors were active in collecting Taoist texts and publishing editions of the Daozang.

Yuan Dynasty (1279-1367)

Neidan ("Interior Alchemy") became a major emphasis of the Quanzhen sect, whose practitioners followed a monastic model inspired by Buddhism. One of its leaders, Qiu Chuji became a teacher of Genghis Khan (and uses his influence to save millions of lives). Originally from Shanxi and Shandong, the sect established its main center in Beijing's Baiyunguan ("White Cloud Monastery"). Before the end of the dynasty, the Celestial Masters sect (and Buddhism) again gained preeminence.

Nationalist Period (1912-1949)

Guomindang (China Nationalist Party) leaders embrace science, modernity, and Western culture, including (to some extent) Christianity. Viewing the popular religion as reactionary and parasitic, they confiscate some temples for public buildings, and otherwise attempt to control traditional religious activity.

People's Republic of China (1949-present)

The Communist Party of China, officially atheistic, initially suppressed Taoism along with other religions. Much of the Taoist infrastructure was destroyed. Monks and priests were sent to labor camps. This practice intensified during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, nearly eradicating most Taoist sites. Deng Xiaoping eventually restored some religious tolerance beginning in 1982. Subsequently, communist leaders have recognized Taoism as an important traditional religion of China and also as a potential lucrative focus for tourism, so many of the more scenic temples and monasteries have been repaired and reopened. Taoism is one of five religions recognized by the PRC, which insists on controlling its activities through a state bureaucracy (the China Taoist Association). Sensitive areas include the relationship of the Zhengyi Taoists with their sect's lineage-holder (he lives in Taiwan); and the status of various traditional temple activities (astrology, shamanism) which have been criticized as "superstitious" or "feudal".

Adherents

The number of "Taoists" is difficult to estimate, partly for definitional reasons (who counts as a Taoist?), and partly for practical ones (it is illegal for private parties to conduct surveys in China). The number of people practicing some aspect of the Chinese folk religion might number in the hundreds of millions. (Adherents.com estimates "Traditional Chinese religion" at nearly four hundred million). The number of people patronizing Daoshi (Taoist "priests" or masters) would be smaller by several orders of magnitude, while the number of literary Daojia would be smaller yet. At the same time, most Chinese people and many others have been influenced in some way by Taoist tradition. Geographically, Taoism flourishes best in regions populated by Chinese people: inland China, Taiwan, Singapore, and various Chinese diaspora communities. Taoist literature and art has influenced the cultures of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, and these countries' folk religions have many common elements. "Organized" Taoism seems not to have attracted a non-Chinese following until modern times.

Beliefs

Religious Taoism

Chinese folk religion guardian spirits can be seen.]] Taoism is not a belief-centered religion, and there are no known Taoist creeds. At the same time, certain characteristic beliefs or assumptions can be identified. One of these is the