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Emperor Yingzong Of Ming
Emperor Yingzong of Ming (; 29 November 1427 – 23 February 1464), personal name Zhu Qizhen (), was the sixth and eighth Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He ascended the throne as the Zhengtong Emperor () in 1435, but was forced to abdicate in 1449, in favour of his younger brother the Jingtai Emperor, after being captured by the Northern Yuan dynasty during the Tumu Crisis. In 1457, he deposed the Jingtai Emperor and ruled again as the Tianshun Emperor () until his death in 1464. First reign Zhu Qizhen was the son of the Xuande Emperor and his second wife Empress Sun. At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign, the Ming dynasty was prosperous and at the height of its power as a result of the Xuande Emperor's able administration. The Zhengtong Emperor's accession at the age of eight made him the first child emperor of the dynasty – hence the Zhengtong Emperor was easily influenced by others, especially the eunuch Wang Zhen. At first, Wang Zhen was kept under control by his fa ...
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Taishang Huang
In Chinese history, a ''Taishang Huang'' or ''Taishang Huangdi'' is an honorific and institution of a retired emperor. The former emperor had, at least in name, abdicated in favor of someone else. Although no longer the reigning sovereign, there are instances where the retired emperor became a power behind the throne, often exerting more power than the reigning emperor. History Origin The title ''Taishang Huangdi'' was first used when Qin Shi Huangdi posthumously bestowed it upon his deceased father, King Zhuangxiang. Development Emperor Gaozu of Han had also bestowed the title ''Taishang Huangdi'' on his then-living father Liu Taigong. He bestowed it onto his father to express filial piety. It was also intended to preserve the social hierarchy between father and son, as the former was a commoner and the latter was a dynastic founder. In 301, during the War of the Eight Princes, Sima Lun became the emperor by forcing his puppet Emperor Hui of Jin to become the ''Tais ...
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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 people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump regimes ruled by remnants of the Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the navy's dockyards in Nanjing were the largest in the world. He also took great care breaking the power of the court eunuchs and ...
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Yu Qian
Yu Qian (; 1398–1457), courtesy name Tingyi, art name Jie'an, was a Chinese official who served under the Ming dynasty. Biography Yu Qian was born in Qiantang County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He started his career in the Ming civil service after obtaining the position of a ''jinshi'' (進士; successful candidate) in the imperial examination in 1421. He helped to suppress a rebellion by the prince Zhu Gaoxu in 1426 and earned the favour of the Xuande Emperor (r. 1425–1435), who appointed him as the Grand coordinator of Shanxi and Henan. During the reign of the Zhengtong Emperor (r. 1435–1449), he offended the influential court eunuch Wang Zhen and ended up being imprisoned. However, he was released later, reinstated as an official, and further promoted to serve as the Minister of War. In 1449, Yu Qian played an important role in leading the Defense of Beijing from attacks by the Oirat Mongols, who had earlier captured the Zhengtong Emperor at the Battle of Tumu. The Ji ...
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Esen Taishi
Esen ( mn, Эсэн; Mongol script: ; ), (?–1454) was a powerful Oirat taishi and the ''de facto'' ruler of the Northern Yuan dynasty between 12 September 1453 and 1454. He is best known for capturing the Emperor Yingzong of Ming in 1450 in the Battle of Tumu Fortress and briefly reuniting the Mongol tribes. The Four Oirat reached the peak of their power under his rule. Name Esen means "good health" in Mongolian. Taishi is derived from the Chinese title 太師 (tàishī), meaning Grand Preceptor. Among Mongol tribes, this title was used for powerful nobles who were not part of the Chinggisid lineage. In Chinese, Esen is rendered as 也先 (Yěxiān) or less commonly as 額森 (Ésēn). Youth and early career Esen was born to his father, Toghan, the Choros taishi who had expanded Oirat territory substantially, with more Mongol tribes acknowledging his supremacy. As an Oirat, Esen himself was not descended from Genghis Khan, which would hamper his claim to the title of gr ...
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Wang Zhen (eunuch)
Wáng Zhèn ( 王 振) was the first Ming dynasty eunuch with power in the court. He served Zhu Qizhen.Mingshi Career The Zhihua Temple in Beijing was built in 1443 at his order. He was killed in 1449 during the Tumu Crisis campaign against the Northern Yuan The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Jin ..., during which the Ming emperor Zhu Qizhen was captured by Oirat Mongols. References External links * http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635328/Wang-Zhen Year of birth missing 1449 deaths Ming dynasty eunuchs Place of birth missing Politicians from Zhangjiakou People from Yu County, Hebei {{China-bio-stub ...
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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 BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, castrato singers, concubines, or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants. Eunuchs would usually be servants or slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter, or even relaying messages—could, in theory, give a eunuch "the ruler's ear" a ...
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Tumu Crisis
The Crisis of the Tumu Fortress (), also known as the Tumu Crisis (; mn, Тумугийн тулалдаан), or the Jisi Incident (), was a frontier conflict between the Northern Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Oirat ruler of the Northern Yuan, Esen, captured the Emperor Yingzong of Ming on September 1, 1449. Beginning of the conflict In July 1449, Esen Taishi launched a large-scale, three-pronged invasion of the Ming with khagan Toqtaq-Buqa. He personally advanced on Datong (in northern Shanxi province) in August. The eunuch official Wang Zhen, who dominated the Ming court, encouraged the 22-year-old Emperor Yingzong of Ming to lead his own armies into battle against Esen. The size of Esen's army is unknown. The Ming army of about 500,000 was hastily assembled; its command was made up of 20 experienced generals and a large entourage of high-ranking civil officials, with Wang Zhen acting as field marshal. On August 3, Esen's army crushed a badly supplied Ming army at Yangh ...
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Northern Yuan
The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Jin dynasty in 1635. The Northern Yuan dynasty began with the retreat of the Yuan imperial court led by Toghon Temür (Emperor Huizong of Yuan) to the Mongolian steppe. Although Yuan authority in most of China proper collapsed by 1368, Yuan loyalists in Yunnan led by Basalawarmi survived until their defeat by the Ming in 1382. This period featured factional struggles and the often only nominal role of the Great Khan. Dayan Khan and Mandukhai Khatun reunited the Mongol tribes in the 15th century. However, the former's distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs caused the decentralization of the imperial rule. Despite this decentralization, a remarkable concord continued within the Dayan Khanid aristocracy, and intr ...
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Abdicate
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societies (such as pre-Meiji Restoration Japan), abdication was a regular event and helped maintain stability during political succession. Historically, abdications have occurred both by force (where the regnant was forced to abdicate on pain of death or other severe consequences) and voluntarily. Some rulers are deemed to have abdicated ''in absentia'', vacating the physical throne and thus their position of power, although these judgements were generally pronounced by successors with vested interests in seeing the throne abdicated, and often without or despite the direct input of the abdicating monarch. Recently, due to the largely ceremonial nature of the regnant in many constitutional monarchies, many monarchs have abdicated due to ol ...
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Yan Miao - Eastern Stele Pavilion - Zhengtong 6 - Seen From W - P1050439
Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed independence in 237 but considered to have ruled since 190 * Former Yan (337–370) * Later Yan (384–407) * Yan (An–Shi) (756–763), a rebel state founded by the An-Shi Rebellion * Yan (Five Dynasties period) (911–913) Names * Yan (surname), romanization for several Chinese surnames * Yan, a Cantonese transcription of surname Zhen (甄) * Yan, a transliteration of the name "Ян" ( Jan) from the Russian language People * Yan Emperor, a legendary emperor of ancient China * Yan, Marquis of Tian (died c. 370 BC), 4th-century BC ruler of the state of Qi * Yan (musician) or Jan Scott Wilkinson, English singer-songwriter * Jacob Mikhailovich Gordin or Yan (1853–1909), Ukrainian-American Yiddish-language playwright * Yan Zhu, softwar ...
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Empress Xiaosu
Empress Xiaosu (1430 – 17 March 1504), of the Zhou clan, was the concubine of Emperor Yingzong of Ming and the mother of the Chenghua Emperor. Biography Zhou was the daughter of Zhou Neng (周能), ''History of Ming, vol 300. Biographies no. 188, Consort kins'' (in Chinese) a poor farmer in Changping County. When Emperor Yingzong went hunting, he accidentally entered her home by mistake. The whole family was shocked and scared, but Zhou was the only one who acted comfortably. Because of this, she caught the eye of the emperor and entered the palace with the high rank of consort. In 1446, she gave birth to Zhu Qizhen's eldest daughter the Princess Chongqing and his eldest son, Zhu Jianshen (the future Chenghua Emperor). When Emperor Yingzong was captured by the Mongols in 1449, the Empress Dowager Sun ordered that Consort Zhou's eldest son would be named Crown Prince. But when Emperor Yingzong's younger brother Zhu Qiyu became emperor, he deposed Crown Prince Zhu Jianshe ...
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Empress Qian
Empress Qian (; 1426 – 15 July 1468) was a Chinese empress consort during the Ming dynasty, married to the Zhengtong Emperor. She was addressed posthumously as Empress Xiaozhuangrui () Early life There is no record of Empress Qian's birth name, other than that she was a member of the clan ''Qian'' (). She married the Zhengtong Emperor on 8 June 1442, and became his primary consort and empress. Empress In 1449, the Zhengtong Emperor was captured after the Battle of Tumu and his captors demanded a ransom, which Empress Qian and her mother-in-law promptly raised. The ransom was rejected in favour of holding on to the Zhengtong Emperor as hostage, which prompted the court to assign him the status of retired emperor and name his half-brother Zhu Qiyu emperor. Empress Qian was moved from the court to a separate palace to allow Empress Wang to take the title of empress consort. When her spouse was returned by the Mongols, arriving in Beijing on 19 September 1450, Empress Qian jo ...
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