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 Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
, the founder of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. He was originally
enfeoffed as the
Prince of Yan () in May 1370,
[Chan Hok-lam.]
Legitimating Usurpation: Historical Revisions under the Ming Yongle Emperor (r. 14021424)
. ''The Legitimation of New Orders: Case Studies in World History''. Chinese University Press, 2007. . Accessed 12 October 2012. with the capital of his princedom at Beiping (modern
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 ...
). Zhu Di was a capable commander against the Mongols. He initially accepted his father's appointment of his eldest brother
Zhu Biao and then Zhu Biao's son
Zhu Yunwen
The Jianwen Emperor (5 December 1377 – ?), personal name Zhu Yunwen (), was the second List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1398 to 1402. The Chinese era name, era name of his reign, Jianwen (era) ...
as
crown prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
, but when Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne as the Jianwen Emperor and began executing and demoting his powerful uncles, Zhu Di found pretext for rising in rebellion against his nephew.
Assisted in large part by
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...
s mistreated by the Hongwu and Jianwen Emperors, who both favored the Confucian
scholar-bureaucrats,
[Crawford, Robert B.]
Eunuch Power in the Ming Dynasty
. ''T'oung Pao'', 2d Series, Vol. 49, Livr. 3 (1961), pp. 115–148. Accessed 9 October 2012. Zhu Di survived the initial attacks on his princedom and drove south to launch the
Jingnan campaign against the Jianwen Emperor in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
. In 1402, he successfully overthrew his nephew and occupied the imperial capital,
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, after which he was proclaimed emperor and adopted the
era name Yongle
Yongle () (23 January 1403 – 19 January 1425) was the era name of the Yongle Emperor, the third emperor of the Ming dynasty of China.
Comparison table
Other eras contemporaneous with Yongle
* Vietnam
** ''Thiệu Thành'' (紹成, 1401–1 ...
, which means "perpetual happiness".
Eager to establish his own legitimacy, Zhu Di voided the Jianwen Emperor's reign and established a wide-ranging effort to destroy or falsify records concerning his childhood and rebellion.
This included a massive purge of the Confucian scholars in Nanjing
and grants of extraordinary extralegal authority to the eunuch secret police.
One favorite was
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 conferred ...
, who employed his authority to launch major
voyages of exploration into the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. The difficulties in Nanjing also led the Yongle Emperor to re-establish Beiping (present-day Beijing) as the new imperial capital. He repaired and reopened the
Grand Canal and, between 1406 and 1420, directed the construction of the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
. He was also responsible for the
Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, part of the former Great Bao'en Temple, is a historical site located on the south bank of external Qinhuai River in Nanjing, China. It was a pagoda constructed in the 15th century during the Ming dynasty, but was m ...
, considered one of the wonders of the world before its destruction by the
Taiping rebels in 1856. As part of his continuing attempt to control the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, the Yongle Emperor also greatly expanded the
imperial examination system
The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
in place of his father's use of personal recommendation and appointment. These scholars completed the monumental ''
Yongle Encyclopedia'' during his reign.
The Yongle Emperor died while personally leading a military campaign against the Mongols. He was buried in the Changling Mausoleum, the central and largest mausoleum of the
Ming tombs
The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led ...
located north of Beijing.
Youth
The Yongle Emperor was born Zhu Di () on 2 May 1360, the fourth son of the new leader of the
Red Turbans,
Zhu Yuanzhang, who led these rebels to success and became the
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty. According to surviving Ming historical records, Zhu Di's mother was the Hongwu Emperor's primary consort,
Empress Ma, the view Zhu Di himself maintained. Some contemporaries maintained, however, that Zhu Di's mother was one of his father's concubines, who might be of Korean origin,
and that the official records were changed during his reign to list him as a son of the Empress Ma in order to sanction his succession on the "death" of the
Jianwen Emperor.
Zhu Di grew up as a prince in a loving, caring environment. His father supplied nothing but the best education and, trusting them alone, reestablished the old feudal principalities for his many sons. Zhu Di was created
Prince of Yan, a location important for being both the former capital of the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
and the frontline of battle against
Northern Yuan, a successor state to the Yuan dynasty. When Zhu Di moved to
Beiping, the former
Khanbaliq
Khanbaliq or Dadu of Yuan () was the winter capital of the Yuan dynasty of China in what is now Beijing, also the capital of the People's Republic of China today. It was located at the center of modern Beijing. The Secretariat directly administ ...
of Yuan, he found a city that had been devastated by famine and disease, but he worked with his father's general
Xu Da who was also his own father-in-law to continue the pacification of the region. The official Ming histories portray a Zhu Di who impressed his father with his energy, daring, and leadership amid numerous successes; nonetheless, the Ming dynasty suffered numerous reverses during his tenure and the great victory at
Buir Lake was won not by Zhu Di but by his brother's partisan
Lan Yu. Similarly, when the Hongwu Emperor sent large forces to the north, they were not placed under Zhu Di's command.
Rise to power
![Yangshan Quarry - Monument Base - P1060909](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Yangshan_Quarry_-_Monument_Base_-_P1060909.JPG)
The
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
was long-lived and outlived his first heir,
Zhu Biao, Crown Prince Yiwen. He worried about his succession and issued a series of dynastic instructions for his family, the ''
Huang Ming Zu Xun
The ''Huang-Ming Zuxun'' (''Instructions of the Ancestor of the August Ming'') were admonitions left by the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Chinese Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynas ...
''. These instructions made it clear that the rule would pass only to children from the emperor's primary consort, excluding the Prince of Yan in favour of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Biao's son.
When the Hongwu Emperor died on 24 June 1398, Zhu Yunwen succeeded his grandfather as the
Jianwen Emperor. In direct violation of the dynastic instructions, the Prince of Yan attempted to mourn his father in Nanjing, bringing a large armed guard with him. The imperial army was able to block him at
Huai'an
Huai'an (), formerly called Huaiyin () until 2001, is a prefecture-level city in the central part of Jiangsu province in Eastern China. Huai'an is situated almost directly south of Lianyungang, southeast of Suqian, northwest of Yancheng, almos ...
and, given that three of his sons were serving as hostages in the capital, the prince withdrew in disgrace.
The Jianwen Emperor's harsh campaign against his weaker uncles (dubbed ,
lit. "Weakening the Marcher Lords") made accommodation much more difficult, however: Zhu Di's full brother,
Zhu Su
Zhu Su (; 8 October 1361 – 2 September 1425), the Prince of Wu (吳王, created 1370), later the Prince of Zhou (周王), was a prince of the Ming dynasty. He was the fifth son of the Hongwu Emperor and Empress Ma. He was assigned to Kaifeng ...
, Prince of Zhou, was arrested and exiled to Yunnan;
Zhu Gui, Prince of Dai was reduced to a commoner; Zhu Bai, Prince of Xiang committed suicide under duress; Zhu Fu, Prince of Qi and Zhu Pian, Prince of Min were demoted all within the later half of 1398 and the first half of 1399. Faced with certain hostility, Zhu Di pretended to fall ill and then "went mad" for a number of months before achieving his aim of freeing his sons from captivity to visit him in the north in June 1399. On 5 August, Zhu Di declared that the Jianwen Emperor had fallen victim to "evil counselors" () and that the Hongwu Emperor's dynastic instructions obliged him to rise in arms to remove them, a conflict known as the
Jingnan campaign.
In the first year, Zhu Di survived the initial assaults by superior forces under
Geng Bingwen Geng Bingwen () (1334–1403) was a Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-le ...
and
Li Jinglong thanks to superior tactics and capable Mongol auxiliaries. He also issued numerous justifications for his rebellion, including questionable claims to have been the son of Empress Ma and bold-faced lies that his father had attempted to name him as the rightful heir, only to be thwarted by bureaucrats scheming to empower Zhu Biao's son. Whether because of this propaganda or for personal motives, Zhu Di began to receive a steady stream of turncoat eunuchs and generals who provided him with invaluable intelligence allowing a hit-and-run campaign against the imperial supply depots along the
Grand Canal. By 1402, he knew enough to be able to avoid the main hosts of the imperial army while sacking
Xuzhou
Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...
,
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
, and
Yangzhou
Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...
. The betrayal of Chen Xuan gave him the imperial army's Yangtze River fleet; the betrayal of Li Jinglong and the prince's half-brother Zhu Hui, Prince of Gu opened the gates of Nanjing on 13 July. Amid the disorder, the imperial palace quickly caught fire: Zhu Di enabled his own succession by claiming three bodies charred beyond recognition as the Jianwen Emperor, his consort, and their son but rumours circulated for decades that the Jianwen Emperor had escaped in disguise as a Buddhist monk.
Having captured the capital, Zhu Di now left aside his former arguments about rescuing his nephew from evil counsel and voided the Jianwen Emperor's entire reign, taking 1402 as the 35th year of the Hongwu era.
His own brother Zhu Biao, whom the Jianwen Emperor had posthumously elevated to emperor, was now posthumously demoted; Zhu Biao's surviving two sons were demoted to commoners and placed under house arrest; and the Jianwen Emperor's surviving younger son was imprisoned and hidden for the next 55 years. After a brief show of humility where he repeatedly refused offers to take the throne, Zhu Di accepted and proclaimed that the next year would be the first year of the Yongle era. On 17 July 1402, after a brief visit to his father's tomb, Zhu Di was crowned emperor of the Ming dynasty at the age of 42. He would spend most of his early years suppressing rumours and outlaws.
Becoming the emperor
With many
scholar-bureaucrats in Nanjing refusing to recognise the legitimacy of his claim to the throne, the Yongle Emperor began a thorough purge of them and their families, including women and children. Other supporters of the Jianwen Emperor's regime were extirpated throughout the country, while a reign of terror was seen due to eunuchs settling scores with the two prior administrations.
![Yongle Emperor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Yongle_Emperor.png)
Chinese law had long allowed for the
execution of families along with principals: The ''
Classic of History
The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...
'' records insubordinate officers being threatened with it as far back as the
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
. The
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
had fully restored the practice, punishing rebels and traitors with
death by a thousand cuts as well as the death of their grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, siblings by birth or
by bond, children, nephews and nieces, grandchildren, and all cohabitants of whatever family, although children were sometimes spared and women were sometimes permitted to choose slavery instead. Four of the purged scholars became known as the Four Martyrs, the most famous of whom was
Fang Xiaoru
Fang Xiaoru (; 1357–1402), courtesy name Xizhi (希直) or Xigu (希古), was a Chinese politician and Confucian scholar of the Ming dynasty. He was an orthodox Confucian scholar-bureaucrat, famous for his continuation of the Jinhua school of ...
, the former tutor to the Jianwen Emperor: threatened with execution of all nine degrees of his kinship, he fatuously replied "Never mind nine! Go with ten!" and alone in Chinese history he was sentenced to execution of 10 degrees of kinship: along with his entire family, every former student or peer of Fang Xiaoru that the Yongle Emperor's agents could find was also killed. It was said that as he died, cut in half at the waist, Fang used his own blood to write the character ("usurper") on the floor and that 872 other people were executed in the ordeal.
The Yongle Emperor followed traditional rituals closely and held many popular beliefs. He did not overindulge in the luxuries of palace life, but still used
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
and Buddhist festivals to help calm civil unrest. He stopped the warring between the various Chinese tribes and reorganised the provinces to best provide peace within the Ming Empire. The Yongle Emperor was said to be an "ardent Buddhist" by Ernst Faber.
Due to the stress and overwhelming amount of thinking involved in running a post-rebellion empire, the Yongle Emperor searched for scholars to serve in his government. He had many of the best scholars chosen as candidates and took great care in choosing them, even creating terms by which he hired people. He was also concerned about the degeneration of Buddhism in China.
Reign
Relations with Tibet
In 1403, the Yongle Emperor
sent messages, gifts, and envoys to Tibet inviting
Deshin Shekpa
Deshin Shekpa () (1384–1415), also Deshin Shegpa, Dezhin Shekpa and Dezhin Shegpa, was the fifth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu, a subschool of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.
Deshin Shekpa was born in Nyang Dam in the south of ...
, the fifth
Gyalwa Karmapa
The Karmapa (honorific title '' His Holiness the Gyalwa'' ྒྱལ་བ་, Victorious One''Karmapa'', more formally as ''Gyalwang'' ྒྱལ་དབང་ཀརྨ་པ་, King of Victorious Ones''Karmapa'', and informally as the ' ...
of the
Kagyu
The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...
school of
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
, to visit the imperial capital – apparently after having a vision of the
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
Avalokitesvara. After a long journey, Deshin Shekpa arrived in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
on 10 April 1407 riding on an elephant towards the imperial palace, where tens of thousands of monks greeted him.
Deshin Shekpa convinced the Yongle Emperor that there were different religions for different people, which does not mean that one is better than the others. The Karmapa was very well received during his visit and a number of miraculous occurrences were reported. He also performed ceremonies for the imperial family. The emperor presented him with 700 measures of silver objects and bestowed the title of 'Precious Religious King, Great Loving One of the West, Mighty Buddha of Peace'. A khatvanga in the British Museum was one of the objects given to the Karmapa by the Yongle Emperor.
Aside from the religious matter, the Yongle Emperor wished to establish an alliance with the Karmapa similar to the one the 13th- and 14th-century
Yuan khans had established with the
Sakyapa. He apparently offered to send armies to unify Tibet under the Karmapa but Deshin Shekpa demurred, as parts of Tibet were still firmly controlled by partisans of the former Yuan dynasty.
Deshin Shekpa left Nanjing on 17 May 1408. In 1410, he returned to
Tsurphu
Tsurphu Monastery ( or Tölung Tsurphu (, "Tsurphu of Tölong") is a gompa which serves as the traditional seat of the Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located in Gurum in Doilungdêqên District, Tibet Auto ...
where he had his monastery rebuilt following severe damage from an earthquake.
Selecting an heir
When it was time for him to choose an heir, the Yongle Emperor wanted to choose his second son,
Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Han. Zhu Gaoxu had an athletic-warrior personality which contrasted sharply with his elder brother's intellectual and humanitarian nature. Despite much counsel from his advisers, the Yongle Emperor chose his older son, Zhu Gaozhi (the future
Hongxi Emperor), as his heir apparent mainly due to advice from
Xie Jin. As a result, Zhu Gaoxu became infuriated and refused to give up jockeying for his father's favour and refusing to move to
Yunnan Province
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
, where his princedom was located. He even went so far as to undermine Xie Jin's counsel and eventually killed him.
National economy and construction projects
After the Yongle Emperor's overthrow of the
Jianwen Emperor, China's countryside was devastated. The fragile new economy had to deal with low production and depopulation. The Yongle Emperor laid out a long and extensive plan to strengthen and stabilise the new economy, but first he had to silence dissension. He created an elaborate system of censors to remove corrupt officials from office that spread such rumors. The emperor dispatched some of his most trusted officers to reveal or destroy secret societies, bandits, and loyalists to his other relatives. To strengthen the economy, he fought population decline, using the most he could from the existing labour force, and maximising textile and agricultural production.
The Yongle Emperor also worked to reclaim production rich regions such as the Lower
Yangtze Delta
The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD, or simply ) is a triangle-shaped megalopolis generally comprising the Wu Chinese-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The area lies in the heart of the Jiangnan reg ...
and called for a massive reconstruction of the
Grand Canal. During his reign, the Grand Canal was almost completely rebuilt and was eventually moving imported goods from all over the world. The Yongle Emperor's short-term goal was to revitalise northern urban centres, especially his new capital at Beijing. Before the Grand Canal was rebuilt, grain was transferred to Beijing in two ways; one route was simply via the
East China Sea
The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...
, from the port of
Liujiagang (near
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
); the other was a far more laborious process of transferring the grain from large to small shallow barges (after passing the
Huai River
The Huai River (), Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...
and having to cross southwestern
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
), then transferred back to large river barges on the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...
before finally reaching Beijing.
[Brook, 46–47.] With the necessary tribute
grain shipments of four million ''shi'' (one ''shi'' equal to 107
liter
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...
s) to the north each year, both processes became incredibly inefficient.
It was a magistrate of
Jining, Shandong
Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jining ...
who sent a memorandum to the Yongle Emperor protesting the current method of grain shipment, a request that the emperor ultimately granted.
The Yongle Emperor ambitiously planned to move his capital to Beijing. According to a popular legend, the capital was moved when the emperor's advisers brought the emperor to the hills surrounding Nanjing and pointed out the emperor's palace showing the vulnerability of the palace to artillery attack.
The emperor planned to build a massive network of structures in Beijing in which government offices, officials, and the imperial family resided. After a painfully long construction time (1407–1420), the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
was finally completed and became the imperial capital for the next 500 years.
The Yongle Emperor finalised the architectural ensemble of his father's
Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing by erecting a monumental "Square Pavilion" (Sifangcheng) with an eight-metre-tall
tortoise-borne stele, extolling the merits and virtues of the Hongwu Emperor. In fact, the Yongle Emperor's original idea for the memorial was to erect an unprecedented stele 73 metres tall. However, due to the impossibility of moving or erecting the giant parts of that monuments, they have been left unfinished in
Yangshan Quarry
The Yangshan Quarry () is an ancient stone quarry near Nanjing, China. Used during many centuries as a source of stone for buildings and monuments of Nanjing, it is preserved as a historic site. The quarry is famous for the gigantic unfinished ste ...
, where they remain to this day.
Even though the Hongwu Emperor may have meant for his descendants to be buried near his own Xiaoling Mausoleum (this was how the Hongwu Emperor's heir apparent,
Zhu Biao was buried), the Yongle Emperor's relocation of the capital to Beijing necessitated the creation of a new imperial burial ground. On the advice of
fengshui experts, the Yongle Emperor chose a site north of Beijing, where he and his successors were to be buried. Over the next two centuries, thirteen emperors in total were laid to rest in the
Ming tombs
The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led ...
.
Religion and philosophy
The Yongle Emperor was a Chinese traditionalist. He promoted
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
, retained traditional ritual ceremonies, and respected the classical culture, overhauled numerous
Taoist temples and monasteries in
Mount Wudang
The Wudang Mountains () consist of a mountain range in the northwestern part of Hubei, China, just south of Shiyan. They are home to a famous complex of Taoist temples and monasteries associated with the Lord of the North, Xuantian Shangdi. The ...
dedicated to
Zhenwu Dadi. During his reign, many Buddhist and Taoist temples were built. The Yongle Emperor sought to eradicate old Yuan influence from China; the use of popular
Mongol names, habits, language, and clothing were forbidden.
The Yongle Emperor sponsored a mosque each in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
and
Xi'an
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...
; both survive. Repairs to mosques were encouraged and conversion to other uses was forbidden.
He commissioned
Grand Secretary
The Grand Secretariat (; Manchu: ''dorgi yamun'') was nominally a coordinating agency but ''de facto'' the highest institution in the imperial government of the Chinese Ming dynasty. It first took shape after the Hongwu Emperor abolished the off ...
Xie Jin to write the ''
Yongle Encyclopedia'', a compilation of Chinese civilization. It was completed in 1408
[ '']Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
'' and was the world's largest general encyclopedia until being surpassed by
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
in late 2007.
Military campaigns
Wars against the Mongols
Mongol invaders were still causing many problems for the Ming Empire. The Yongle Emperor prepared to eliminate this threat. He mounted
five military expeditions into the Mongol steppes and crushed the remnants of the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
that had fled north after being defeated by the Hongwu Emperor. He repaired the northern defences and forged buffer alliances to keep the Mongols at bay in order to build an army. His strategy was to force the Mongols into economic dependence on the Chinese and to launch periodic initiatives into Mongolia to cripple their offensive power. He attempted to compel Mongolia to become a Chinese tributary, with all the tribes submitting and proclaiming themselves vassals of the Ming Empire, and wanted to contain and isolate the Mongols. Through fighting, the Yongle Emperor learned to appreciate the importance of cavalry in battle and eventually began spending much of his resources to keep horses in good supply. The emperor spent his entire life fighting the Mongols. Failures and successes came and went, but after the emperor's second personal campaign against the Mongols, the Ming Empire was at peace for over seven years.
Conquest of Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
was a significant source of difficulties during the Yongle Emperor's reign. In 1406, the emperor responded to several formal petitions from members of the
Trần dynasty
The Trần dynasty, (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳)also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái T ...
, however on arrival to Vietnam, both the Trần prince and the accompanying Chinese ambassador were ambushed and killed. In response to this insult, the Yongle Emperor sent two armies led by
Zhang Fu and
Mu Sheng
Mu Sheng (; vi, Mộc Thạnh; 1368–1439), courtesy name Jingmao (), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Ming dynasty.
Mu Sheng was the second son of Mu Ying, the first Marquis of Xiping (). He was a solemn man of few wo ...
to conquer Vietnam. As the Trần royal family were all executed,
[Maspero, G., 2002, The Champa Kingdom, Bangkok: White Lotus Co., Ltd., ] Vietnam was integrated as a province of China, just as it had been up until 939. With the Ho monarch defeated in 1407, the Chinese began a serious and sustained effort to
sinicise the population. Various ancient sites such as pagoda Bao Minh were looted and destroyed. On 2 December 1407, the Yongle Emperor gave orders to Zhang Fu that innocent Vietnamese were not to be harmed, ordering family members of rebels to be spared such as young males if they themselves were not involved in rebellion. In early 1418,
Lê Lợi
Lê Lợi (, Chữ Hán: 黎利; c. 10 September 1384/1385 – 5 October 1433), also known by his temple name as Lê Thái Tổ (黎太祖) and by his pre-imperial title Bình Định vương (平定王; "Prince of Pacification"), was a Vietname ...
, who founded the
Lê dynasty
The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty ( vi, Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or vi, nhà Hậu Lê, link=no, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê ...
, started a major rebellion against Ming rule. By the time the Yongle Emperor died in 1424, the Vietnamese rebels under Lê Lợi's leadership had captured nearly the entire province. By 1427, the
Xuande Emperor gave up the effort started by his grandfather and formally acknowledged Vietnam's independence on condition they accept vassal status.
Diplomatic missions and exploration of the world
![Tribute Giraffe with Attendant](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Tribute_Giraffe_with_Attendant.jpg)
As part of his desire to expand Chinese influence throughout the known world, the Yongle Emperor sponsored the massive and long term
treasure voyages led by admiral
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 conferred ...
. While Chinese ships continued travelling to Japan,
Ryukyu
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
, and many locations in Southeast Asia before and after the Yongle Emperor's reign, Zheng He's expeditions were China's only major sea-going explorations of the world (although the Chinese may have been sailing to
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
,
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
since the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
or earlier). The first expedition was launched in 1405 (18 years before
Henry the Navigator
''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...
began Portugal's
voyages of discovery
Voyage(s) or The Voyage may refer to:
Literature
*''Voyage : A Novel of 1896'', Sterling Hayden
* ''Voyage'' (novel), a 1996 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter
*''The Voyage'', Murray Bail
* "The Voyage" (short story), a 1921 story by K ...
). The expeditions were under the command of Zheng He and his associates (
Wang Jinghong,
Hong Bao
Hong Bao (; '' fl.'' ''ca.'' 1412–1433) was a Chinese eunuch sent on overseas diplomatic missions during the reigns of the Yongle Emperor and Xuande Emperor in the Ming dynasty. He is best known as the commander of one of the detached squadron ...
, etc.). Seven expeditions were launched between 1405 and 1433, reaching major trade centres of Asia (as far as
Tenavarai (
Dondra Head
Dondra (, ) is a settlement on the extreme southernmost tip of Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean near Matara, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. The Dondra Head Lighthouse, ruins of several Hindu shrines of Tenavaram and a Vihara (Buddhist temple) are ...
),
Hormuz and
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
) and northeastern Africa (
Malindi).
Some of the ships used were apparently the largest sail-powered wooden ships in human history.
The Chinese expeditions were a remarkable technical and logistical achievement. The Yongle Emperor's successors, the
Hongxi
Hongxi () (20 January 1425 – 7 February 1426) was the era name of the Hongxi Emperor, the fourth emperor of the Ming dynasty of China.
Comparison table
Other eras contemporaneous with Hongxi
*Japan
** ''Ōei'' (応永, 1394–1428): era name ...
and
Xuande
Xuande () (8 February 1426 – 17 January 1436) was the era name of the Xuande Emperor, the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty of China.
Comparison table
Other eras contemporaneous with Xuande
* Vietnam
** ''Thiên Khánh'' (天慶, 1426–142 ...
Emperors, felt that the costly expeditions were harmful to the Ming Empire. The Hongxi Emperor ended further expeditions and the descendants of the Xuande Emperor suppressed much of the information about Zheng He's treasure voyages.
On 30 January 1406, the Yongle Emperor expressed horror when the
Ryukyuans
The Ryukyuan people ( ryu, 琉球民族 (るーちゅーみんずく), Ruuchuu minzuku or ryu, どぅーちゅーみんずく, Duuchuu minzuku, label=none, ja, 琉球民族/りゅうきゅうみんぞく, Ryūkyū minzoku, also Lewchewan or L ...
castrated some of their own children to become eunuchs to serve in the Ming imperial palace. The emperor said that the boys who were castrated were innocent and did not deserve castration, and he returned the boys to Ryukyu and instructed them not to send eunuchs again.
In 1411, a smaller fleet, built in
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
and commanded by another eunuch
Yishiha
Yishiha (; also Išiqa or Isiha; Jurchen: ) ( fl. 1409–1451) was a Jurchen eunuch of the Ming dynasty of China. He served the Ming emperors who commissioned several expeditions down the Songhua and Amur Rivers during the period of Ming rule o ...
, who was a
Jurchen, sailed down the
Sungari and
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
s. The expedition established a
Nurgan Regional Military Commission in the region, headquartered at the place the Chinese called Telin (特林; now the village of
Tyr, Russia
Tyr (russian: Тыр) is a settlement in Ulchsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Amur River, near the mouth of the Amgun River, about upstream from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur.
Tyr has been known as a historical ...
). The local
Nivkh
Nivkh or Amuric or Gilyak may refer to:
* Nivkh people
The Nivkh, or Gilyak (also Nivkhs or Nivkhi, or Gilyaks; ethnonym: Нивхгу, ''Nʼivxgu'' (Amur) or Ниғвңгун, ''Nʼiɣvŋgun'' (E. Sakhalin) "the people"), are an indigenous et ...
or Tungusic chiefs were granted ranks in the imperial administration. Yishiha's expeditions returned to the lower Amur several more times during the reigns of the Yongle and
Xuande
Xuande () (8 February 1426 – 17 January 1436) was the era name of the Xuande Emperor, the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty of China.
Comparison table
Other eras contemporaneous with Xuande
* Vietnam
** ''Thiên Khánh'' (天慶, 1426–142 ...
Emperors, the last one visiting the region in the 1430s.
[L. Carrington Godrich, Chaoying Fang (editors), "Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368–1644". Volume I (A-L). Columbia University Press, 1976. . (Article on ''Ishiha'', pp. 685–686)][Tsai (2002), pp. 158–159.]
After the death of
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
, who intended to invade China, relations between the Ming Empire and
Shakhrukh's state in Persia and Transoxania state considerably improved, and the states exchanged large official delegations on a number of occasions. Both the Ming Empire's envoy to
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
and
Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
,
Chen Cheng
Chen Cheng (; ; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965) was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main commanders of the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.
After moving ...
, and his counterpart,
Ghiyasu'd-Din Naqqah, recorded detailed accounts of their visits to each other's states.
One of the Yongle Emperor's consorts was a
Jurchen princess, which resulted in many of the eunuchs serving him being of Jurchen origin, notably
Yishiha
Yishiha (; also Išiqa or Isiha; Jurchen: ) ( fl. 1409–1451) was a Jurchen eunuch of the Ming dynasty of China. He served the Ming emperors who commissioned several expeditions down the Songhua and Amur Rivers during the period of Ming rule o ...
.
Due to Ming rule in Manchuria, Chinese cultural and religious influence such as
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
, the "Chinese god", Chinese motifs like the dragon, spirals, scrolls, and material goods like agriculture, husbandry, heating, iron cooking pots, silk, and cotton spread among the Amur natives like the
Udeghes,
Ulchis, and
Nanais.
After
Manchuria under Yuan rule
Manchuria under Yuan rule refers to the Yuan dynasty's rule over Manchuria, corresponding to modern Northeast China and Outer Manchuria (including Sakhalin), from 1271 to 1368. Mongol rule over Manchuria was established after the Mongol Empire's ...
, Ainu and Nivkh of Sakhalin became tributaries to the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
of China after
Manchuria came under Ming rule as part of the
Nurgan Regional Military Commission. Boluohe, Nanghar and Wuliehe were Yuan posts set up to receive tribute from the Ainu after their war with the Yuan ended in 1308. Ming Chinese outposts in Sakhalin and the Amur river area received animal skin tribute from
Ainu
Ainu or Aynu may refer to:
*Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East
*Ainu languages, a family of languages
**Ainu language of Hokkaido
**Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands
**Sakhalin Ainu la ...
on Sakhalin,
Uilta and Nivkh in the 15th century after the
Tyr based
Yongning Temple
The Yongning Pagoda or Yongning Temple () in Luoyang was one of the tallest buildings of the world from 516 AD to 534 AD. The timber-frame pagoda with a complete column grid and a stabilising masonry-core was built during the Northern ...
was set up along with the Nurkan (Nurgan) outposts by the Yongle emperor in 1409. The Ming also held the post at Wuliehe and received
marten
A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on t ...
pelt fur tribute from the assistant commander Alige in 1431 from Sakhalin after the Ming assigned titles like weizhenfu (official charged with subjugation), zhihui qianshi (assistance commander), zhihui tongzhi (vice commander) and Zhihuishi (commander) from Sakhalin indigenous headmen. The Ming received tribute from the headmen Alingge, Tuolingha, Sanchiha and Zhaluha in 1437. The position of headman among Sakhalin indigenous peoples was inherited paternally from father to son and the sons came with their fathers to Wuliehe. Ming officials gave silk uniforms with the appropriate rank to the Sakhalin Ainu, Uilta and Nivkh after they gave tribute. The
Maritime Province region had the Ming "system for subjugated peoples' implementers in it for the Sakhalin indigenous peoples. Sakhalin received iron tools from mainland Asia through this trade as Tungus groups joined in from 1456-1487. Local indigenous hierarchies had Ming Chinese given political offices integrated with them. The Ming system on Sakhalin was imitated by the Qing.
Nivkh
Nivkh or Amuric or Gilyak may refer to:
* Nivkh people
The Nivkh, or Gilyak (also Nivkhs or Nivkhi, or Gilyaks; ethnonym: Нивхгу, ''Nʼivxgu'' (Amur) or Ниғвңгун, ''Nʼiɣvŋgun'' (E. Sakhalin) "the people"), are an indigenous et ...
women in
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
married Han Chinese Ming officials when the Ming took tribute from Sakhalin and the Amur river region.
The Yongle Emperor instituted a Ming governor on Luzon during
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 conferred ...
's
voyages and appointed Ko-ch'a-lao (許柴佬; Xu Chailao) to that position in 1405. China also had vassals among the leaders in the archipelago. China attained ascendancy in trade with the area in the Yongle Emperor's reign. The local rulers on Luzon were "confirmed" by the governor or "high officer" appointed by the Yongle Emperor.
States in Luzon, Sulu (under
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Paduka Pahala
Paduka Pahala (died 1417) was East King of Sulu, most famous for being the first king from the area of the modern day Philippines to be buried in China. He ruled one of the three Kingdoms on Sulu during his time.
Journey to China and Demise of ...
),
Sumatra, and Brunei all established diplomatic relations with the Ming Empire and exchanged envoys and sent tribute to the Yongle Emperor.
The Yongle Emperor exchanged ambassadors with
Shahrukh Mirza, sending
Chen Cheng
Chen Cheng (; ; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965) was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main commanders of the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.
After moving ...
to Samarkand and Herat, and Shahrukh sent
Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh
Mawlānā Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh (غیاث الدین نقاش) ( fl. 1419-22)
was an envoy of the Timurid ruler of Persia and Transoxania, Mirza Shahrukh (r. 1404–1447), to the court of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) of the Min ...
to Beijing.
Death
![Mingchangling201910](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Mingchangling201910.jpg)
On 1 April 1424, the Yongle Emperor launched a large campaign into the
Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...
to chase an army of fleeing
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 region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia.
Histor ...
. Frustrated at his inability to catch up with his swift opponents, Yongle fell into a deep depression and then into illness, possibly owing to a series of minor strokes. On 12 August 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. He was entombed in Changling (), a location northwest of Beijing.
Legacy
![Yongle Bell 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Yongle_Bell_03.jpg)
The Yongle Emperor is generally regarded to have had a lifelong pursuit of glory, power, and wealth. He respected and worked hard to preserve
Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
by designing monuments such as the
Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, part of the former Great Bao'en Temple, is a historical site located on the south bank of external Qinhuai River in Nanjing, China. It was a pagoda constructed in the 15th century during the Ming dynasty, but was m ...
, while patronizing Mongol and Tibetan cultures. He deeply admired and wished to save his father's accomplishments and spent a lot of time proving his claim to the throne. His reign was a mixed blessing for the Chinese populace. The Yongle Emperor's economic, educational, and military reforms provided unprecedented benefits for the people, but his
despotic
Despotism ( el, Δεσποτισμός, ''despotismós'') is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot; but (as in an autocracy) societies which limit respect an ...
style of government set up a spy agency. Despite these negatives, the Yongle Emperor is considered an architect and keeper of Chinese culture, history, and statecraft and an influential ruler in Chinese history.
He is remembered very much for his cruelty, just like his father. He killed most of the Jianwen Emperor's palace servants, tortured many of his nephew's loyalists to death, killed or by other means badly treated their relatives. He ordered 2,800 concubines, servant girls and eunuchs who guarded them put to death as the Yongle Emperor tried to suppress a sex scandal which threatened to humiliate him.
His successor,
Hongxi Emperor freed most of the survivors.
Family
Consorts and Issue:
*
Empress Renxiaowen
Empress Renxiaowen (仁孝文皇后; 5 March 1362 – 6 August 1407), of the Xu clan, was the List of Chinese consorts, empress consort to the Yongle Emperor and the third empress of China, China's Ming dynasty. She was well educated, compiling ...
, of the Xu clan (; 1362–1407), personal name Yihua ()
**
Princess Yong'an (; 1377–1417), personal name Yuying (), first daughter
*** Married Yuan Rong, Marquis of Guangping () in 1395, and had issue (one son, three daughters)
** Zhu Gaochi, the
Hongxi Emperor (; 16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), first son
** Princess Yongping (; 1379 – 22 April 1444), personal name Yuegui (月贵), second daughter
*** Married Li Rang, Marquis of Fuyang () in 1395, and had issue (one son)
**
Zhu Gaoxu,
Prince of Han (; 30 December 1380 – 6 October 1426), second son
**
Zhu Gaosui,
Prince Jian of Zhao (; 19 January 1383 – 5 October 1431), third son
** Princess Ancheng (; 1384 – 16 September 1443), third daughter
*** Married Song Hu, Marquis of Xining () in 1402, and had issue (one son)
** Princess Xianning (; 1385 – 27 July 1440), personal name Zhiming (智明), fourth daughter
*** Married Song Ying, Marquis of Xining (; d. 1449) in 1403, and had issue (one son)
*
Noble Consort Zhaoxian, of the Wang clan (; d. 1420)
* Noble Consort Zhaoyi, of the Zhang clan ()
*
Consort Gongxianxian, of the Korean
Andong Gwon clan (; 1391–1410)
*
Consort Zhongjingzhaoshunxian, of the Yu clan (; d. 1421)
* Consort Kangmuyigonghui, of the Wu clan ()
** Zhu Gaoxi (; 18 January 1392 – January/February 1392), fourth son
* Consort Gongshunrongmuli, of the Chen clan (; d. 1424)
* Consort Duanjinggonghuishu, of the Yang clan ()
* Consort Gongherongshunxian, of the Wang clan ()
* Consort Zhaosujinghuixian, of the Wang clan ()
* Consort Zhaohuigongyishun, of the Wang clan ()
* Consort Huimuzhaojingshun, of the Qian clan ()
*
Consort Kanghuizhuangshuli, of the
Korean Cheongju Han clan (; d. 12 August 1424)
* Consort Kangjingzhuanghehui, of the Korean Choi clan (; 1395–1424)
* Consort Anshunhui, of the Long clan ()
* Consort Zhaoshunde, of the Liu clan ()
* Consort Kangyishun, of the Li clan ()
* Consort Huimushun, of the Guo clan ()
* Consort Zhenjingshun, of the Zhang clan ()
* Consort Shun, of the Korean Im clan ( 1392–1421)
*
Consort Hwang, of the Korean Hwang clan (; d. 1421)
*
Lady of Bright Deportment, of the Korean Yi clan ( 1392–1421)
*
Lady of Handsome Fairness, of the Korean Yeo clan (; 1393–1413)
* Beauty Gongrong, of the Wang clan ()
* Beauty Jinghui, of the Lu clan ()
* Beauty Zhuanghui ()
* Unknown
** Princess Changning (; 1387 – 5 April 1408), fifth daughter
*** Married Mu Xin, Marquis of Xiping (; 1386–1453), the fourth son of
Mu Ying
Mu Ying (1345–1392) was a Chinese military general and politician during the Ming dynasty, and an adopted son of its founder, the Hongwu Emperor.
When the Ming dynasty emerged, the Hongwu Emperor's military officers who served under him were gi ...
, on 20 June 1403, and had issue (one son)
Ancestry
See also
*
Chinese emperors family tree (late)
This is a family tree of Chinese monarchs from the Yuan dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty.
__TOC__
Yuan dynasty and Northern Yuan
The following is the Yuan dynasty family tree. Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire in 1206. The empire ...
*
Yongle Tongbao
The Yongle Tongbao (Traditional Chinese: 永樂通寳; Simplified Chinese: 永乐通宝; Hanyu Pinyin: ''yǒnglè tōng bǎo''; Japanese: ''Eiraku Tsūhō''; Vietnamese: ''Vĩnh Lạc Thông Bảo'') was a Ming dynasty era Chinese cash coin prod ...
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Brook, Timothy. (1998). ''
The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China''. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*Brown, Mick. (2004). ''The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17th Karmapa'', p. 34. Bloomsbury Publishing, New York and London. .
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Sperling, Elliot. "The 5th Karma-pa and some aspects of the relationship between Tibet and the early
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
." In: ''Tibetan Studies in Honour of
Hugh Richardson''. Edited by
Michael Aris and
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...
, pp. 283–284. (1979). Vikas Publishing house, New Delhi.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Tsai, Shih-Shan Henry, ''Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle'', University of Washington Press, 2002.
Partial texton Google Books.
* Louise Levathes, ''When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433'', Oxford University Press, 1997, trade paperback,
《明實錄太宗實錄》in the ''
Veritable Records of the Ming
The ''Ming Shilu'' () contains the imperial annals of the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It is the single largest historical source for the dynasty. According to modern historians, it "plays an extremely important role in the histo ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yongle Emperor
1360 births
1424 deaths
Ming dynasty emperors
15th-century Chinese monarchs
Ming dynasty Buddhists
Chinese Buddhist monarchs
Ming dynasty generals
Chinese encyclopedists
Generals from Jiangsu
Usurpers