Zhu Chenhao (; 1 July 1476 – 12 January 1521), or Prince of Ning (),

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...

Weitian (畏天), was a member 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 ...

's imperial family. He was the 5th generation descendant of

Zhu Quan Zhu Quan (; 27 May 1378 – 12 October 1448), the Prince of Ning (), was a Chinese historian, military commander, musician, and playwright. He was the 17th son of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty. During his life, he served as a mili ...

, the 17th 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 ...

. He attempted to usurp the throne and was the leader of the

Prince of Ning rebellion The Prince of Ning rebellion () was a rebellion that took place in China between 10 July and 20 August 1519 during the Ming dynasty. It was started by Zhu Chenhao, Prince of Ning and a fifth-generation descendant of Zhu Quan, and was aimed at ov ...

Early years

Zhu Chenhao was not a military man, but had literary talents and was a pleasure seeker. However, he was cunning and ambitious like almost all other princes, aiming to become emperor. Zhu Chenhao succeeded to the title "Prince of Ning" in 1499 from his father, Zhu Jinjun in the Hongzhi's era. The title was hereditary, from their ancestor Zhu Quan, the first Prince of Ning. Zhu Chenhao lived in

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

province, far away from the Ming capital.

Rebellion

Zhu Chenhao had long intended to rebel, but he did not have an army or even bodyguards. This situation started with his ancestor Zhu Quan. At that time, when 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 ...

acceded to the throne he relocated Zhu Quan (1st Prince of Ning) 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 ...

. Then, to prevent Zhu Quan's rebellion, his army and bodyguards were withdrawn and never restored until Zhu Chenhao's tenure. In the summer of 1507, in the

Zhengde Zhengde () (24 January 1506 – 27 January 1522) was the era name of the Zhengde Emperor, the 11th emperor of the Ming dynasty of China. Comparison table Other eras contemporaneous with Zhengde * China ** ''Mingzheng'' (明正, 1511): Ming per ...

's era, Zhu Chenhao sent a eunuch to Beijing with an enormous bribe for

Liu Jin Liu Jin (; 28 February 1451 – 25 August 1510) was a powerful Ming dynasty Chinese eunuch during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor. Liu was famous for being one of the most influential officials in Chinese history. For some time, Liu was the em ...

. The prince wanted Liu Jin to restore his princely bodyguards and its revenues in return for the bribe. Although the Ministry of War objected, the princely bodyguard was restored but it was withdrawn again in September 1510, the day before Liu Jin was executed. Zhu Chenhao was undaunted. He tried again to restore his army in 1514 through the Ministry of War,

Lu Wan Lu Wan (died 194 BC) was an official and vassal king of the early Han dynasty. He served under Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. Early life Lu Wan was from Feng Town (), which is in present-day Feng County, ...

. Several years before, Lu Wan was an officer in

and supporter to the prince. Lu Wan agreed to do it, but Grand Secretary Fei Hong refused to sign the draft; in other words he did not approve the request since he knew what the prince would do. However, the prince had plotted with some imperial officials such as Qian Ning, Cang Xian, several eunuchs and some of the Zhengde Emperor's personal staff to cheat Fei Hong. The plot was a success, Fei Hong was befooled and the Imperial decree was issued, the prince bodyguards being restored. In June 1514, the prince requested seals to give him authority to control the military army in his region. He also recruited hundreds of bandits to become his henchmen. In August 1514, Zhu Chenhao requested authority to punish guilty Imperial clansmen. With recommendation from Lu Wan, the Zhengde Emperor agreed. By this time, the Prince of Ning referred to himself as ruler, his bodyguards as Imperial attendants and his order as imperial edicts. He also order local officials to wear formal court robes when attending to him. Governor of Jiangxi, speaking on behalf of his subordinates, said that it would be improper and refused to do it. Zhu Chenhao began to recruit strategists and advisors to his cause. His principal advisor was a provincial examination graduate versed in military strategy. Local officials who refused to support the prince were eliminated. A Judicial Intendant of Jiangxi who reported the prince's treason to the court, was arrested and killed. Under these circumstances, other local officials cooperated and said nothing. In May 1517 several

eunuchs 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 ...

from Zhu Chenhao's household secretly went to

to report his unlawful activities. Commander of Imperial bodyguard Qian Ning reported this to the prince, then the eunuchs were arrested and beaten to die before reaching their objective. In July 1519, when Zhu Chenhao was attending a banquet in honor of his birthday, a spy arrived from Beijing with the news that high officials had been sent to arrest him, for that was what had been rumored in Beijing. He left the banquet at once and called an urgent meeting of his advisors. They all agreed that the prince's plot was known, and could not wait any longer to take action. On 10 July 1519, Zhu Chenhao assembled local officials and announced that eunuch Li Guang had fooled the

Hongzhi Emperor The Hongzhi Emperor () (30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505) was the tenth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1487 to 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng, he was the eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called t ...

into thinking that the

Zhengde Emperor The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhen ...

was his son. According to him, the person on the throne was the child of a commoner. The prince also announced that he had received an edict from the empress to punish those bandits.

Sun Sui The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, governor of Jiangxi asked the prince to show the empress's edict, but he was rejected. Then Sun Sui accused the prince of treason. Sun Sui and several officials who refused to cooperate were executed summarily. The prince's army issued out from his headquarters, the city of

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

, to secure the route to the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

city fell on 13 July and the prefectural city of Anqing was besieged on 23 July. When this news reached

Wang Yangming Wang Shouren (, 26 October 1472 – 9 January 1529), courtesy name Bo'an (), art name Yangmingzi (), usually referred to as Wang Yangming (), was a Chinese calligrapher, general, philosopher, politician, and writer during the Ming dynasty ...

, governor of Southern Jiangxi at that time, he soon took action. Wang Yangming spread a false report that a huge Imperial army from Beijing was marching to Nanchang. The Prince of Ning did not dare to leave his headquarters for several days until he realized it was a false report. On 9 August, the rebel Prince and his main army reached Anqing and besieged the city over ten days. After many lives were lost, Anqing city still could not be taken. On 13 August, Wang Yangming and his army reached Nanchang. The prince's headquarters was not garrisoned well and only a few soldiers of the army defended the city. Soon after the siege of Nanchang news reached Zhu Chenhao, he ordered a retreat from Anqing and back to Nanchang to protect his base. Wang Yangming stormed Nanchang and had a serious battle with the Prince of Ning. Then on 20 August, the rebel Prince and his army were totally defeated by Wang. The prince was going to flee with a small boat but it was discovered by Wang. Wang burned the boat before the prince reached it, and soon the prince was captured. Wang Yangming successfully put down the uprising that lasted for forty days.

Death

All allies of the Prince of Ning were captured, including the commander of the Imperial guard, Qian Ning and the Minister of War,

. Both were punished by death by slicing. The Imperial status of Zhu Chenhao was removed in 1519 and he was allowed to take his own life on 12 January 1521, after which his corpse was burned. All of the prince's family members were also executed, except a few who fled.

References

* ''The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644,'' Part I, "The Prince of Ning Treason" by Frederick W. Mote and Denis Twitchett. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Chenhao 1476 births 1521 deaths Ming dynasty imperial princes Ming dynasty rebels Executed people from Jiangxi Executed royalty Rebellious princes 16th-century executions by China

Early years

Rebellion

Death

See also

References