The Xuande Emperor (16 March 1399 31 January 1435), personal name Zhu Zhanji (朱瞻基), was the fifth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1425 to 1435. His era name " Xuande" means "proclamation of virtue". Ruling over a relatively peaceful period within Ming history, he was also personally fond of painting and literature. The Emperor ordered tax reductions on burdened farmers and attempted to purge corruption from the revenue collectors. His attempts to reform meritocracy within the military was unsuccessful, and he was forced to declare independence to Vietnam when his invasion failed.

Biography

Zhu Zhanji was the eldest son of the

Hongxi Emperor The Hongxi Emperor (16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), personal name Zhu Gaochi (朱高熾), was the fourth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1424 to 1425. He succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, in 1424. His era name " Hongxi" mean ...

and Empress Chengxiaozhao. He was described as a crown prince who was endowed with the quality of an excellent monarch in a section of his biography surrounded by superstition. His grandfather, the Yongle Emperor, had high hopes that he might play an important part to assist his father. He was fond of poetry and literature. Although he continued to refer to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

as the secondary capital on all official documents, he maintained it as his residence and continued to rule there in the style of his grandfather, the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

. He permitted

Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferre ...

to lead the seventh and last of his maritime expeditions. The Xuande Emperor's uncle, Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Han had been a favorite of the Yongle Emperor for his military successes, but he disobeyed imperial instructions and in 1417 had been exiled to the small fief of Le'an in Shandong. When Zhu Gaoxu revolted, the Xuande Emperor took 20,000 soldiers and attacked him at Le'an. Zhu Gaoxu surrendered soon afterward, was reduced to the status of a commoner. Six hundred rebelling officials were executed, and 2,200 were banished. The emperor did not wish to execute his uncle at the start, but later events angered the emperor so much that Zhu Gaoxu was executed through fire torture. All his sons were executed as well. It is very likely that Zhu Gaoxu's arrogance, well detailed in many historic texts, offended the emperor. A theory states that when the emperor went to visit his uncle, Zhu Gaoxu intentionally tripped him. In 1428, the Xuande Emperor granted King Hashi of Chūzan the family name Shang (尚, Shō in Japanese), gave him the title of ''Liuqiu Wang'' (琉球王, ''Ryūkyū-Ō'' in Japanese, lit. 'King of Ryūkyū'), and gifted him a red lacquered tablet with ''Chung Shan'' (中山, ''Chūzan'' in Japanese) inscribed in gold, which was then placed on the Chūzonmon gate near Shuri Castle. The Xuande Emperor wanted to withdraw his troops from Việt Nam, but some of his advisors disagreed. After Ming garrisons suffered heavy casualties, the emperor sent Liu Sheng with an army. These were badly defeated by the Vietnamese. The Ming forces withdrew and the Xuande Emperor eventually recognized the independence of Việt Nam. In the north, the Xuande Emperor was inspecting the border with 3,000 cavalry troops in 1428 and was able to retaliate against a raid by the Mongols of the

Northern Yuan The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongols, Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen people, ...

. The Ming government let Arughtai's Eastern Mongols battle with Toghon's Oirat tribes of the west. The Ming imperial court received horses annually from Arughtai, but he was defeated by the

Oirats Oirats ( mn, Ойрад, ''Oirad'', or , Oird; xal-RU, Өөрд; zh, 瓦剌; in the past, also Eleuths) are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai Mountains, Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western M ...

in 1431 and was killed in 1434 when Toghon took over eastern Mongolia. The Ming government then maintained friendly relations with the Oirats. China's diplomatic relations with Japan improved in 1432. Relations with Korea were generally good with the exception of the Koreans resenting having to send virgins occasionally to the Xuande Emperor's imperial harem. A privy council of eunuchs strengthened centralized power by controlling the Jinyiwei (secret police), and their influence continued to grow. In 1428, the notorious censor Liu Guan was sentenced to penal servitude and was replaced by the incorruptible Gu Zuo (d. 1446), who dismissed 43 members of the Beijing and Nanjing censorates for incompetence. Some censors were demoted, imprisoned, and banished, but none were executed. Replacements were put on probation as the censorate investigated the entire Ming administration including the military. The same year the emperor reformed the rules governing military conscription and the treatment of deserters. Yet the hereditary military continued to be inefficient and to suffer from poor morale. Huge inequalities in tax burdens had caused many farmers in some areas to leave their farms in the past forty years. In 1430, the Xuande Emperor ordered tax reductions on all imperial lands and sent out "touring pacifiers" to coordinate provincial administration, exercising civilian control over the military. They attempted to eliminate the irregularities and the corruption of the revenue collectors. The emperor often ordered retrials that allowed thousands of innocent people to be released. The Xuande Emperor died of illness in 1435 after ruling for ten years. He ruled over a remarkably peaceful period with no significant external or internal problems. Later historians have considered his reign to be the height of the Ming dynasty's golden age.

The emperor as an artist

Ming Dynasty porcelain ding vessel, Xuande Reign Period

The Xuande Emperor was known as an accomplished painter, particularly skilled at painting animals. Some of his art work is preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei and formerly in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (a division of Harvard Art Museum) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Robert D. Mowry, the curator of Chinese art at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, described him as "the only Ming emperor who displayed genuine artistic talent and interest." The period of the Xuande Emperor (1426–1435) is often considered one of the most sophisticated periods in the history of Chinese Blue and White porcelain crafts. File:Zhu-Zhanji-Gibbons-at-Play.jpg, ''Gibbons at play'' (戲猿圖; 1427), National Palace Museum,

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

, Taiwan File:Zhu Zhanji-Mouse and Stone.jpg, ''Mouse and Stone'' (苦瓜鼠圖; 1427),

The Palace Museum The Palace Museum () is a huge national museum complex housed in the Forbidden City at the core of Beijing, China. With , the museum inherited the imperial royal palaces from the Ming and Qing dynasties of China and opened to the public in 1925 ...

, Beijing File:Xuande-salukis-092x0507 01lg.jpg, ''Two Saluki Hounds'' (猎犬圖; 1427), Harvard Art Museum, United States File:明朱瞻基三阳开泰轴.jpg, ''Three Yang

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human co ...

an Auspicious Start (to the New Year)'' (三陽開泰; 1429), National Palace Museum File:明朱瞻基御临黄筌花鸟卷.jpg, 《御臨黃筌花鳥》National Palace Museum File:Xuande Bamboo.jpg, '' Marquis Wu in Repose'' (武侯高臥圖), The Palace Museum File:Ming dynasty Xuande mark and period (1426–35) imperial blue and white vase, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 明宣德景德鎮窯青花貫耳瓶, 纽约大都博物馆 .jpg, Ming dynasty Xuande mark and period (1426–35) imperial blue and white vase.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York.

Portrayal in art

Family

Consorts and Issue: * Empress Gongrangzhang, of the Hu clan (; 20 May 1402 – 5 December 1443), personal name Shanxiang () ** Princess Shunde (; 1420–1443), first daughter *** Married Shi Jing (; 9 January 1420 – 17 October 1479) in 1437 ** Princess Yongqing (; d. 1433), second daughter * Empress Xiaogongzhang, of the Sun clan (; 1399–1462) ** Princess Changde (; 1424–1470), third daughter *** Married Xue Huan () in 1440 ** Zhu Qizhen, Emperor Yingzong (; 29 November 1427 – 23 February 1464), first son * Consort Rongsixian, of the Wu clan (; 1397 – 16 January 1462) ** Zhu Qiyu, the Jingtai Emperor (; 21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457), second son * Noble Consort Duanjing, of the He clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Chunjingxian, of the Zhao clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Zhenshunhui, of the Wu clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Zhuangjingshu, of the Jiao clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Zhuangshunjing, of the Cao clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Zhenhuishun, of the Xu clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Gongdingli, of the Yuan clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Zhenjinggong, of the Zhu clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Gongshunchong, of the Li clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Suxicheng, of the He clan (; d. 1435) * Consort Shu, of the Liu clan () * Concubine Zhen'aiguo, of the Guo clan (; d. 1435), personal name Ai () * Lady Gongshen, of the Korean Cheongju Han clan (; 9 April 1410 – 18 May 1483), personal name Gye-ran ()Her eldest sister was Consort Kanghuizhuangshuli, a concubine of the

; while her niece was Queen Sohye, the mother of King Seongjong of

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and ...

Ancestry

Popular culture

* Portrayed by Zhu Ya Wen in the 2017 Hunan TV series Ming Dynasty * Portrayed by Xu Kai in the 2022 Hunan/Mango TV series Royal Feast "尚食".

Biography

The emperor as an artist

Portrayal in art

Family

Ancestry

Popular culture

See also

References

Sources

Further reading