The Hongguang Emperor (; 1607–1646), personal name Zhu Yousong (), childhood nickname Fuba (福八), was the first

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

of the Chinese Southern Ming dynasty. He reigned briefly in southern China from 1644 to 1645. His

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

, ''Hongguang'', means "great light". In 1646, Zhu Yousong was captured and executed by the

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-speak ...

at the

Caishikou Execution Grounds Caishikou Execution Grounds (), also known as Vegetable Market Execution Ground, was an important execution ground in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. It was located at the crossroads of Xuanwumen Outer Street and Luomashi Street. The exact locat ...

Early life

Zhu Yousong was a member of Ming imperial family. He was eldest son of

Zhu Changxun Zhu Changxun (1586–1641) was the third son of the Ming dynasty Wanli Emperor. His mother, Noble Consort Zheng, was a favoured concubine and, in efforts to please her, the emperor attempted to have Zhu made heir apparent, but failed to overturn t ...

, and a grandson 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 ...

and

Noble Consort Zheng Noble Consort Zheng (1565–1630), was a Ming dynasty concubine of the Wanli Emperor. She is known for having been his most beloved consort and, in an attempt to please her, he tried to make her son his heir apparent. This act caused over a decade ...

. He followed his father to his fief at

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of 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 southeast, Nanyan ...

in 1614 and later granted the title "Commandery Prince of Dechang" (德昌郡王). He was later designated as Hereditary Prince of Fu. In 1641,

Li Zicheng Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by the nickname, Dashing King, was a Chinese peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China briefly as the emperor of the short-li ...

's forces invaded Luoyang, and Zhu managed to escape but his father was killed. He held his father's princely title in two years later. In 1644, he escaped again to Weihui to seek asylum from his distant uncle, Zhu Changfang, Prince of Lu (grandson of the

Longqing Emperor The Longqing Emperor (; 4March 15375July 1572), personal name Zhu Zaiji (朱載坖), was the 13th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1567 to 1572. He was initially known as the Prince of Yu (裕王) from 1539 to 1567 before he became th ...

and nephew of the

). They later escaped to

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, a ...

together, and were on the same boat with Zhu Gonghao, Prince of Zhou and Zhu Cilun, Prince of Chong. On 25 April, 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� ...

committed suicide.

Accession to the throne

Chongzhen's death

The news of the Chongzhen Emperor's suicide was met with consternation when it reached Nanjing in mid May 1644. The highest officials in Nanjing soon met to deliberate about how to face the crisis. Since the fate of the official heir apparent was still unknown at the time, many thought it was too early to proclaim a new emperor, but most agreed that an imperial figure was necessary to rally loyalist support for the Ming in the south. From the perspective of pedigree, the Taichang Emperor had only two sons: Tianqi and Chongzhen. The Tianqi Emperor was sonless, and the three sons of the Chongzhen Emperor were missing. The successor can be only choose from uncles of the Chongzhen Emperor, which were brothers of the Taichang Emperor and other sons of the

, Prince of Fu was Wanli's 3rd son, Zhu Changhao, Prince of Rui was the 5th son, Zhu Changrun, Prince of Hui was the 6th son and the youngest was Zhu Changying, Prince of Gui ( Zhu Youlang's father). Among these imperial uncles, Zhu Changxun was the eldest uncle, and Zhu Yousong was the eldest son of Zhu Changxun. As the imperial sons were missing, Zhu Yousong became the first in line to the succession.

Support of officials

In early June 1644, the court decided that the caretaker government would be centered around Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu, who was next in line for succession after the dead emperor's sons. When he arrived in the vicinity of Nanjing (he had come from his princedom in Henan), the Prince could count on the military and political support of Ma Shiying (馬士英). Many officers allied with the Donglin Movement preferred Zhu Changfang, Prince of Lu to succeed."明史新編第十二章第二節南明政權的曇花一現" by 楊國楨, 傅衣凌, and 陳支平 On June 5 the Prince of Fu entered the city, the next day he accepted the title of "Protector of the State" (監國, sometimes translated as "Regent"), and on June 7 he moved into the imperial palace, where he received the insignia of his new office. ;Three choices for throne * Zhu Zaihou, the

**3 Zhu Yijun, the

***1 Zhu Changluo, the Taichang Emperor ****1 Zhu Youjiao, the Tianqi Emperor ****5 Zhu Youjian, the

***3 Zhu Changxun, Prince Zhong of Fu ****1 Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu ***7 Zhu Changying,

Prince of Gui Prince of Gui ( zh, 桂王), was a first-rank princely peerage used during Ming dynasty, this peerage title was created by Wanli Emperor. The first Prince of Gui was Zhu Changying, 7th son of Wanli Emperor. This peerage had 6 cadet commandery pri ...

**4 Zhu Yiliu, Prince Jian of Lu ***1 Zhu Changfang, Prince of Lu

Reign

Prodded by some court officials, the Prince of Fu immediately started to consider becoming Emperor. Fearing confrontation with Ma Shiying and other supporters of the Prince, Shi Kefa convinced reluctant members of the court to accept the enthronement. The Prince of Fu was officially crowned as emperor on June 19, 1644, under the protection of Ma Shiying, who had arrived in Nanjing two days earlier with a large war fleet. It was decided that the next lunar year would be the first year of the ''Hongguang'' (弘光) reign with the capital city of

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

. The Hongguang court proclaimed that its goal was "to ally with the Tartars to pacify the bandits" (聯虜平寇), that is, to seek co-operation with Qing military forces in order to annihilate rebel peasant militia led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. The Hongguang regime had been being plagued by political struggles from the beginning between the party which was formerly pro-

Wei Zhongxian Wei Zhongxian (1568 – December 12, 1627), born Wei Si (魏四), was a Chinese court eunuch who lived in the late Ming dynasty. As a eunuch he used the name Li Jinzhong (李进忠). He is considered by most historians as the most notorious eunuc ...

, including the influential officer Ma Shiying, and the pro-Donglin Movement party, including General Shi Kefa. Shi Kefa, who was sent to defend the area north of the Yangtze, could not have support from Ma Shiying. Even the generals in the front attacked each other for power and looted the civilians. In 1645, the Qing army moved rapidly and captured

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 trad ...

,. Subsequently, on 25 April of the same year,

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, ...

also fell to the Qing army. General Shi Kefa, who defended Yangzhou, attempted suicide, survived, and was captured. Prince Dodo of the Qing spared his life and even offered Shi a position. Shi, however, remained loyal to the Ming, so he refused the offer and was executed. When the news reached Nanjing, the Hongguang Emperor, Ma Shiying and a few eunuchs fled in panic to

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma' ...

city. On May 15, Minister Zhao Long, Wang Feng, Qian Xian surrendered to the Qing. As a result, Nanjing and a few other cities fell. The Hongguang Emperor fled into Anhui on the Yangzi's southern bank at Tongling, in Huang Degong's military camp. Huang Degong told him that if he died fighting to the death in Nanjing then all the ministers would have followed his lead in fighting against the Qing, but now that he fled without a fight and listened to traitors his small army could not act as a guard for the emperor. Huang Degong then said "I am willing to devote my life to you" after the emperor said he could not rely on him as a minister resentfully. Then a group of Qing Han Chinese and Banner soldiers showed up in Wuhu to Huang Degong's camp on June 15 under Zhang Tianlu, the Guazhou garrison commander, bannermen from Dodo and general Liu Liangzuo. Huang Degong rejected their demanded to turn over the Hongguang emperor but Zhang Tianlu then shot an arrow into Huang's throat and he died. Tian Xiong and Ma Deong, the brigade commanders under Huang Degong then defected to the Qing and gave General Liu the Hongguang Emperor. Hongguang was captured on May 28. Manchu Qing Prince of Yu,

Dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. ...

berated and attacked Zhu Yousong over his battle strategy in 1645, telling him that the Southern Ming would have defeated the Qing if only the Southern Ming assaulted the Qing military before they forded the Yellow river. The Prince of Fu could find no words to respond when he tried to defend himself.

Death

Hongguang was captured and sent to Beijing to face the Qing court. He was then executed in 1646 at

Caishikou Caishikou () is a neighborhood in Beijing, situated in Xicheng District. Part of it, known as Caishikou Execution Grounds (菜市口法场), was where most of Beijing's capital punishments were carried out during the Qing Dynasty and were open ...

, which ended his reign as the Southern Ming emperor. The last remnants of the Ming resistance were finally destroyed in 1662.

Family

Consorts and Issue: *Empress Xiaozhejian, of the Huang clan (孝哲坚皇后黄氏) *Empress Xiaoyi, of the Li clan (孝义皇后李氏) *Noble Consort, of the Jin clan (金貴妃) *Consort, of the Tong clan (童妃) *Consort, of the Wang clan (汪妃) *Consort, of the Chen clan (陳妃) *Lady of Gentleness, of the Huang clan (淑女黃氏) *Lady of Gentleness, of the Guo clan (淑女郭氏) *Lady of Selected Service, of the Mou clan (選侍某氏) *Palace Lady, of the Zhang clan (宮人張氏) *Palace Lady, of the Wang clan (宮人王氏) *Ye Zimei (葉子眉) *Palace Lady, of the Xu clan (宮人徐氏), personal name Shuxiu (淑秀) *Unknown **''A daughter''

Ancestry

In popular culture

*'' The Peach Blossom Fan (桃花扇)'', a historical drama completed in 1699 by Kong Shangren, depicted the life under the Hongguang regime. The work has been adapted into various plays, including the televised 16-episode Taiwanese opera ''"Qinhuai Yanyu (秦淮煙雨)"'' in 2001. *Portrayed by Lee Keun-hee in the 1981

KBS1 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

TV Series ''

Daemyeong ''Daemyeong'' () is a 1981 South Korean television series starring Kim Dong-hoon, Kim Heung-ki, Seo Young-jin, Won Mi-kyung, Kim Sung-won and Baek Il-sub. It aired on KBS1 from January 5, 1981 until December 28, 1981 every Mondays for 52 episode ...

''.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Yousong Southern Ming emperors Murdered Chinese emperors 1607 births 1646 deaths Executed Ming dynasty people People executed by the Qing dynasty by decapitation Executed people from Beijing People murdered in Beijing 17th-century Chinese monarchs 17th-century executions by China Executed monarchs Founding monarchs