Zhu Yihai (; 1618–1662),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Juchuan (巨川),

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 ...

Hengshan (恆山) and Changshizi (常石子), was a regent of 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 force ...

from 1645 to 1653.

Early life

Zhu Yihai was born in 1618, during the 46th year of the reign of the

Wanli Emperor The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was th ...

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 Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

. A son of Zhu Shouyong, he was a ninth-generation descendant (the same generation as the

Taichang Emperor The Taichang Emperor (; 28 August 1582 – 26 September 1620), personal name Zhu Changluo (), was the 15th Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He was the eldest son of the Wanli Emperor and succeeded his father as emperor in 1620. However, his reign c ...

) of Zhu Tan, Prince Huang of Lu, tenth son of the Hongwu Emperor. The mansion of the Prince of Lu was located at Yanzhou. The Qing forces had attacked Yanzhou and destroyed the mansion. At that time, the peerage of Prince of Lu was succeeded by Zhu Yihai's eldest brother, Zhu Yipai. After the Qing invaded, Zhu Yipai committed suicide along with two of his brothers, Zhu Yixing (朱以洐) and Zhu Yijiang (朱以江). After his brother's suicide, Zhu Yihai was enfeoffed as the 11th Prince of Lu by the

Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor (; 6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian (), courtesy name Deyue (),Wang Yuan (王源)，''Ju ye tang wen ji'' (《居業堂文集》), vol. 19. "聞之張景蔚親見烈皇帝神主題御諱字德� ...

. After four days he succeeded his peerage, Li Zicheng attacked

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 ...

and he fled to southern China.

Regency

The Prince of Lu was part of the resistance against the invading

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

forces. His primary consort, Lady Chen, committed suicide during the impending fall of the Ming. The location of her suicide can still be found on the island of Zhoushan. In 1651 he fled to the island of

Kinmen Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It lies roughly east of the city of Xiamen in Fujian, from which it is separat ...

, which in 1663 was taken over by the invading force. His grave was discovered on the island in 1959, which disproved the theory advanced by the 18th-century ''

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 ...

'' that he was killed by

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...

. His eldest son, Zhu Honghuan ( 朱弘桓), married the fourth daughter of Koxinga and went to live in the

Kingdom of Tungning The Kingdom of Tungning (), also known as Tywan by the British at the time, was a dynastic maritime state that ruled part of southwestern Taiwan and the Penghu islands between 1661 and 1683. It is the first predominantly Han Chinese state in ...

Taiwan under the protection of

Zheng Jing Zheng Jing, Prince of Yanping (; 25 October 1642 – 17 March 1681), courtesy names Xianzhi () and Yuanzhi (), pseudonym Shitian (), was a 17th-century Chinese warlord, Ming dynasty loyalist and ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan. Bi ...

, his brother-in-law and worked as a farmer. Another Ming prince who accompanied Koxinga to Taiwan was Zhu Shugui, Prince of Ningjing. After the surrender of the Kingdom of Tungning, the Qing sent the 17 Ming princes still living on Taiwan back to mainland China where they spent the rest of their lives. Including Zhu Honghuan.

References

* ''The Pacification of Taiwan by the Great Qing'' (大清台湾绥记). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Yihai 1618 births 1662 deaths 17th-century Chinese monarchs Southern Ming emperors People from Fengyang