Zhu Youyuan

Zhu Youyuan
朱祐杬
Prince of Xing
A posthumous portrait on a hanging scroll, kept in National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Born21 July 1476
Died13 July 1519(1519-07-13) (aged 42)
Burial
Xian Mausoleum (in present-day Zhongxiang, Hubei)
Spouse
Empress Cixiaoxian
​
(m. 1492)​
Issue
Detail		Jiajing Emperor
Regnal name
Emperor Bensheng Huangkao Gongmu Xian[a]
Posthumous name
Prince Xian[b] →
Emperor Xingxian[c] →
Emperor Gongrui Yuanren Kuanmu Chuansheng Xian[d] →
Emperor Zhitian Shoudao Hongde Yuanren Kuanmu Chunsheng Gongjian Jinwen Xian[e]
Temple name
Ruizong[f]
HouseZhu
FatherChenghua Emperor
MotherEmpress Xiaohui
Chinese name
Chinese朱祐杬
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhū Yòuyuán

Zhu Youyuan (21 July 1476 – 13 July 1519), was a prince of the Ming dynasty of China. He was the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor and father of the Jiajing Emperor.

Although Zhu Youyuan never reigned as emperor during his lifetime, the Jiajing Emperor posthumously elevated his father to imperial status after ascending the throne, despite opposition from several court officials. The dispute became known as the Great Rites Controversy. In 1538, the Jiajing Emperor granted his father the temple name Ruizong and the posthumous name Emperor Xian.

Biography

Zhu Youyuan was born on 21 July 1476[1] as the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor, the ninth emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty. His mother, Lady Shao, was one of the Emperor's concubines.[2] The Emperor's two eldest sons died early, and his third son Zhu Youcheng succeeded him as the Hongzhi Emperor. When the Hongzhi Emperor ascended the throne in 1487, he gave Zhu Youyuan the title Prince of Xing (興王).[2]

In 1492, Zhu Youyuan married Lady Jiang, the daughter of an officer of the imperial guard. From 1494, he resided in his estate in Anlu near Zhongxiang, which is now part of Jingmen in Hubei Province.[2] He was a learned and cultured man[3] with an interest in poetry and calligraphy.[2] Zhu Youyuan died on 13 July 1519 and was succeeded by his younger son, Zhu Houcong.[4] He was given the posthumous name of Prince Xian of Xing (興獻王),[3] and buried in the Songlin Mountain, Zhongxiang.[5]

Controversy

In 1521, the Zhengde Emperor, son and successor of the Hongzhi Emperor, died without an heir. Zhu Houcong, as the late emperor's closest male relative, ascended the throne as the Jiajing Emperor. Soon thereafter a major political dispute, known as the Great Rites Controversy, arose between the new emperor and the court officials, led by Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe. For three years, the central contention lay in the matter of posthumous honors for Zhu Youyuan. In defiance of persistent ministerial opposition, the Jiajing Emperor maintained his resolve to elevate his father to imperial rank.[4]

In 1522, the Emperor first conferred upon his father the title of "Emperor Xingxian". In 1524, he further ennobled his father with the honorific "Emperor Bensheng Huangkao Gongmu Xian", erected the Guande Hall for his worship, and accorded him sacrificial rites equal to those of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, while his tomb was renamed the Xian Mausoleum. In 1528, his posthumous dignity was again enlarged to "Emperor Gongrui Yuanren Kuanmu Chuansheng Xian". The culminating act came in 1538, when the Jiajing Emperor bestowed upon him the august title "Emperor Zhitian Shoudao Hongde Yuanren Kuanmu Chunsheng Gongjian Jinwen Xian", granted him the temple name Ruizong, and placed his spirit tablet in the Imperial Ancestral Temple above that of the Zhengde Emperor.[6] During the reigns of the Wanli and Tianqi emperors, officials on multiple occasions petitioned to have Zhu Youyuan's tablet removed from the main ancestral temple and relegated to the lesser sacrificial hall, but these entreaties were consistently refused.[7]

Family

  • Empress Cixiaoxian (慈孝獻皇后) of the Jiang clan (蔣氏; d. 1538)[8]
    • Zhu Houxi (朱厚熙), Prince Huai of Yue (岳懷王), first son[9]
    • Princess Changning (長寧公主), first daughter[10]
    • Zhu Houcong (朱厚熜), the Jiajing Emperor (嘉靖帝; 1507–1567), second son[11]
    • Princess Yongchun (永淳公主; d. 14 April 1540), fourth daughter.[12] According to Wanli yehuo bian (萬曆野獲編) and Veritable Records of Shizong, she was the daughter of Prince Xian of Xing,[13] but the History of Ming mistakenly recorded her as the daughter of the Hongzhi Emperor.[14] Married in 1527 to Xie Zhao (謝詔).[15]
  • Consort Wenjingshu (溫靜淑妃) of the Wang clan (王氏; d. 1532)[16]
    • Princess Shanhua (善化公主), second daughter[10]
  • Unknown
    • Princess Yongfu (永福公主; d. 20 June 1525), third daughter.[17] According to Wanli yehuo bian (萬曆野獲編) and Veritable Records of Shizong, she was the daughter of Prince Xian of Xing,[18] but the History of Ming mistakenly recorded her as the daughter of the Hongzhi Emperor.[14] Married in 1523 to Wu Jinghe (鄔景和).[19]

Notes

  1. ^ simplified Chinese: 本生皇考恭穆献皇帝; traditional Chinese: 本生皇考恭穆獻皇帝
  2. ^ simplified Chinese: 献王; traditional Chinese: 獻王; pinyin: Xiàn Wáng
  3. ^ simplified Chinese: 兴献帝; traditional Chinese: 興獻帝; pinyin: Xìngxiàn Dì
  4. ^ simplified Chinese: 恭睿渊仁宽穆纯圣献皇帝; traditional Chinese: 恭睿淵仁寬穆純聖獻皇帝
  5. ^ simplified Chinese: 知天守道洪德渊仁宽穆纯圣恭简敬文献皇帝; traditional Chinese: 知天守道洪德淵仁寬穆純聖恭簡敬文獻皇帝
  6. ^ Chinese: 睿宗; pinyin: Ruìzōng

References

Citations

  1. ^ Goodrich & Fang (1976), p. 315.
  2. ^ a b c d Geiss (1998), p. 440.
  3. ^ a b Mote (2003), p. 659.
  4. ^ a b Goodrich & Fang (1976), pp. 315–316.
  5. ^ Veritable Records of Wuzong, vol. 175.
  6. ^ History of Ming, vol. 115, pp. 3552–3553.
  7. ^ History of Ming, vol. 51, p. 1320.
  8. ^ Wong (1997), p. 193.
  9. ^ History of Ming, vol. 115, p. 3553.
  10. ^ a b Veritable Records of Shizong, vol. 54; History of Ming, vol. 121, p. 3674.
  11. ^ History of Ming, vol. 17, p. 215.
  12. ^ Veritable Records of Shizong, vols. 79, 235.
  13. ^ Veritable Records of Shizong, vol. 79; Wanli yehuo bian, vol. 5.
  14. ^ a b History of Ming, vol. 121, p. 3674.
  15. ^ Veritable Records of Shizong, vol. 79; History of Ming, vol. 121, p. 3674.
  16. ^ Wong (1997), p. 196.
  17. ^ Veritable Records of Shizong, vols. 13, 28, 51.
  18. ^ Veritable Records of Shizong, vol. 13; Wanli yehuo bian, vol. 5.
  19. ^ Veritable Records of Shizong, vol. 29; History of Ming, vol. 121, p. 3674.

Works cited

  • Goodrich, L. Carington; Fang, Chaoying (1976). Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368-1644. Vol. 1, A–L. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-03801-1.
  • Geiss, James (1998). "The Chia-ching reign, 1522-1566". In Mote, Frederick W.; Twitchett, Denis C (eds.). The Cambridge History of China. Volume 7, The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644, Part 1 (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 440–510. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521243322.010. ISBN 0521243335.
  • History Office (1525). Wuzong Shilu 武宗實錄 [Veritable Records of Wuzong] (in Literary Chinese).
  • History Office (1577). Shizong Shilu 世宗實錄 [Veritable Records of Shizong] (in Literary Chinese).
  • Mote, Frederick W (2003). Imperial China 900-1800. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1cbn3m5. ISBN 0-674-01212-7.
  • Shen, Defu (1619). Wanli yehuo bian 萬曆野獲編 [Compilation of Wanli era catastrophes] (in Literary Chinese).
  • Wong, Nai-kwan (1997). Ming dai huang shi yan jiu 明代皇室研究 [A Study of the Imperial Family of the Ming Dynasty] (MPhil thesis) (in Chinese). Pokfulam, Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong. doi:10.5353/th_b3122010. hdl:10722/33933.
  • Zhang, Tingyu (1974) [1739]. Ming Shi 明史 [History of Ming] (in Literary Chinese). Beijing: Zhonghua Book. ISBN 7101003273.
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