Duan Zhengchun, also known by his

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...

as the Emperor Zhongzong of Dali, was the 15thIf Gao Shengtai's reign is taken into consideration, Duan Zhengchun would have been the 16th emperor. Se

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the

Dali Kingdom The Dali Kingdom, also known as the Dali State (; Bai: Dablit Guaif), was a state situated in modern Yunnan province, China from 937 until 1253. In 1253, it was conquered by the Mongols but members of its former ruling dynasty continued to a ...

. He reigned from 1096 to 1108. He was the younger brother of

Duan Zhengming Duan Zhengming, also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Baoding of Dali, was the 14th emperor of the Dali Kingdom. In 1081, the regent Gao Zhisheng forced Duan Zhengming's predecessor, Duan Shouhui, to abdicate and replaced him with Du ...

, and the first ruler of the Later Dali Kingdom. In 1094, Duan Zhengming was forced by

Gao Shengtai Gao Shengtai (died 1096) was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Dazhong Kingdom from 1094 until his death in 1096. He was from Cang Mountain in the present-day southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Life In 1080, Duan Lianyi, ...

to abdicate and become a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. Gao then crowned himself emperor. However, after two years of reign, Gao Shengtai died in 1096 and made a will to return the throne to the Duan family. Duan Zhengchun ascended to the throne in 1096. Duan Zhengchun abdicated and became a monk in 1108. He was succeeded by his son

Duan Yu Duan Yu (1083–1176), courtesy name Heyu, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Xianzong of Dali, was the 16thIf Gao Shengtai's reign is taken into consideration, Duan Yu would have been the 17th emperor. Se emperor of the Dali Kingdom, ...

In fiction

Duan Zhengchun is fictionalised as one of the key supporting characters in the

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted f ...

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'' is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first serialised concurrently from 3 September 1963 to 27 May 1966 in the newspapers ''Ming Pao'' in Hong Kong and ''Nanyang Siang Pau'' in Singapore. It has been a ...

'' by

Louis Cha Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), pronounced "Gum Yoong" in Cantonese, was a Chinese wuxia ("martial arts and chivalry") novelist and essayist who co-founded the Hong Kong dail ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duan, Zhengchun 11th-century births 12th-century deaths Dali emperors Chinese Buddhist monarchs 11th-century Chinese monarchs 12th-century Chinese monarchs Monarchs who abdicated