Zhu Biao (; 10 October 1355 17 May 1392) was 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 ...

's eldest son and

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 ...

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 ...

. His early death created a crisis in the dynasty's first succession that was resolved by the successful usurpation of his brother Zhu Di as 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 ...

, an act with far-reaching consequences for the future of China. While his father completed his rebellion against 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 ...

, Zhu Biao was generally kept away from the front lines and provided with the most esteemed

Confucian 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 Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

scholars A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...

of his time as tutors. Particularly by comparison with his father or brother, Zhu Biao is remembered as being soft-hearted. The official ''

History of Ming The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It ...

'' records him once questioning his father why so many of the ministers and generals who had aided him in forming the Ming Empire were being rewarded with death or banishment. His father replied that they were like thorns on a vine; not trusting Zhu Biao to do it himself, the Hongwu Emperor was kindly removing them before passing it on to his son. Like his son, the

Jianwen Emperor The Jianwen Emperor (5 December 1377 – ?), personal name Zhu Yunwen (), was the second Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1398 to 1402. The era name of his reign, Jianwen, means "establishing civility" and represented a sharp chan ...

, Zhu Biao had a deep appreciation for traditional Chinese culture: he was involved in a survey of

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 ...

and

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

as potential capitals for the dynasty when he fell ill and died in 1392 at the age of 36. He was posthumously honored with the title Crown Prince Yiwen () by his father and Xingzong (), Emperor Xiaokang () by his son. After his younger brother Zhu Di usurped the throne, he was posthumously demoted back to Crown Prince Yiwen. During the

Southern Ming The Southern Ming (), also known as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the Jiashen Incident of 1644. Shun forces ...

, he was again posthumously restored as Xingzong and Emperor Xiaokang.

Generation Poem

After his first son, Zhu Xiongying, Zhu Biao followed the practice of including a

generation name Generation name (variously zibei or banci in Chinese; tự bối, ban thứ or tên thế hệ in Vietnamese; hangnyeolja in Korea) is one of the characters in a traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean given name, and is so called because each ...

into the

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known ...

s of his other children. The names followed a

generation poem Generation name (variously zibei or banci in Chinese; tự bối, ban thứ or tên thế hệ in Vietnamese; hangnyeolja in Korea) is one of the characters in a traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean given name, and is so called because each ...

:"Generation Names of the Ming Imperial Clan"
明宗室世系命名
).

This poem would've governed the first character of the personal names of the next 20 emperors of China, but only the first two were officially ever used. After the usurpation of the

Prince of Yan Prince or King of Yan () was a Chinese feudal title referring to the ancient Chinese State of Yan and to its fiefs including the capital Yanjing (located within modern Beijing). Typically, the title is translated as "King of Yan" for rulers prio ...

, the

was said to have died in a fire and his surviving children were killed or kept in isolation to prevent rivals from the throne, and the younger sons of Zhu Biao were also kept under house arrest or killed. But during

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, the politician Wang Pixu (王丕煦) wrote a county chronicle for

Laiyang Laiyang city () is a county-level city within Yantai bordering Qingdao, located in the middle of the Shandong Peninsula, in Shandong province, China. The majority (70%) of its population are farmers and it is famous for producing the Laiyang pear ...

, in which it was recorded that Zhu Yuntong had many descendants there through his son Zhu Wenkun (朱文坤).

Family

Consorts and Issue: * Empress Xiaokang, of the Chang clan (; 1355–1378) ** Zhu Xiongying, Prince Huai of Yu (; 1 December 1374 – 12 June 1382), first son ** Zhu Yuntong, Prince Dao of Wu (; 29 November 1378 – 1 September 1417), third son * Crown Princess Yiwen, of the Lü clan (; 1359–1412) ** Zhu Yunwen, the

(; b. 5 December 1377), second son ** Zhu Yunjian, Prince Min of Heng (; 27 July 1385 – 1402), fourth son ** Zhu Yunxi, Prince Jian of Xu (; 13 July 1391 – 3 February 1407), fifth son * Unknown ** Princess Jiangdu (), first daughter *** Married Geng Xuan (), the first son of

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 ...

, in 1394 ** Princess Yilun (), second daughter *** Married Yu Li () in 1417 ** ''Third daughter'' ** Princess Nanping (; d. 1412), fourth daughter

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Biao 1355 births 1392 deaths Ming dynasty imperial princes Yongle Emperor Burials in Nanjing Heirs apparent who never acceded Sons of emperors