Jiajing Emperor

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About Jiajing Emperor

Lifespan: 1507-1567 A.D

Reign Years: 1521 – 1567 A.D

Given Name: Zhu Houcong

Reign Name: Jiajing

Jiajing Emperor – Ming Dynasty

Zhu Houcong was also respected and known as Emperor Jiajing. He was referred to as Emperor Shizong of Ming and was considered a controversial ruler of the dynasty.

He was a clever yet sly politician who firmly controlled and managed centralized authority. However, he was only the Chinese emperor that the imperial maids almost killed.

Almost half a century of his rule, the Ming Dynasty had developed adequately. Yet Emperor Jiajing rarely appeared in public after he began fully practicing Taoism.

The Life of Zhu Houcong before Ruling Ming

Zhu Houcong’s father was the half-brother of Emperor Hongzhi. He was rewarded the king’s title and fief by the emperor.

As an only child and honored crown prince, Zhu Houcong was well-educated and lived affluently and happily in their fief. It can be said that he had a perfect childhood.

Inheritance of the Throne

Zhu Houcong inherited the title of king when he was only 12-years-old. It was after his father died. A couple of years later, Emperor Zhengde, his cousin, died and left no heir to the throne.

Since he was the closest family of the late ruler, Zhu Houcong was welcomed into the capital. Then, he took the throne as an emperor with the support of the empress dowager of that time. A couple of powerful ministers of the court also assisted Emperor Jiajing.

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The Great Rites Controversy

Based on customs, a ruler who isn’t an immediate descendant of the earlier emperor should be adopted. It’s to keep an unbroken line of heritage.

To achieve this, a posthumous adoption for Emperor Jiajing by Emperor Hongzhi was suggested. However, he resisted and preferred to have his father declared as the ruler posthumously instead.

It became the first conflict linked to Zhu Houcong, and it was called the Great Rites Controversy. Emperor Jiajing triumphed, and a lot of his rivals were banished, chastised in the imperial court, or killed. One of those who were banished was the poet named Yang Shen.

Based on the rules back then, he had to respect his cousin’s father, Zhu Youcheng, as his adoptive father. If not, he should respect the emperor as a superior overlord, at least.

After learning that he couldn’t leave as emperor, Emperor Jiajing intensely and frequently debated with the intelligent ministers. These people were the carefully chosen individuals through the Imperial Exams.

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The Reign of Emperor Jiajing

Emperor Jiajing was known as an efficient and intelligent ruler. Yet, at some point, he went on a strike and chose not to attend state meetings. Despite this, he didn’t neglect or ignore the paperwork and the other matters needed by the Ming government.

Aside from being smart and efficient, he was also known for being self-aggrandizing and cruel. Plus, he chose to live outside the Forbidden City so he could live in pure isolation.

Since he ignored state affairs, Zhu Houcong relied on politicians like Yan Song and Zhang Cong to handle these. During those moments, Cong and his son, Yan Shifan, began dominating the entire government. They even went as far as calling themselves the 1st and 2nd Prime Ministers.

Ministers like Yang Sheng and Hai Rui challenged and even chastised both Yan Song and his son. Despite the situation, the emperor completely ignored this. Eventually, Hai Rui and other ministers were either dismissed or executed.

Then, Zhu Houcong or Emperor Jiajing abandoned meeting with his ministers altogether. This began in 1539 onwards. And for about 25 years, he refused to give official audiences and relayed his requests through officials and eunuchs.

Only Yan Song and a couple of hand-picked Daoist priests and eunuchs ever saw Zhu Houcong. Because of his actions eventually led to corruption in the Ming government. Luckily, Emperor Jiajing was brilliant and was able to manage and control the court.

The Attack of Wokou Pirates

There was a time where the Ming Dynasty enjoyed and experienced a long period of peace and tranquility. Yet in 1542, Altan Khan of the Mongols started harassing China and its northern borders. In 1550, the Mongol leader even accessed the suburbs of the Beijing capital.

Eventually, the Ming government appeased the Mongol leader by bestowing him with special trading rights. Aside from this, the Ming had to deal with the Wokou pirates assaulting the southeast coast. Beginning in 1550, Beijing was extended further by the addition of an external city.

The Renyin Plot

Emperor Jiajing’s ruthlessness and lustful lifestyle led to a plot by his palace maids and concubines. They wanted to assassinate him by strangling the emperor while he slept.

Because he pursued eternal life, the emperor went through outrageous means to achieve this. He believed that one of the elixirs to extend his life was the menstrual blood of virgins. So, he forced virgin palace maids to collect their menstruation for his consumption.

It was an arduous and repulsive task that had to be performed continuously. It didn’t stop even when the maids were ill. Anyone who refused or was unwilling would be killed on Zhu Houcong’s whim.

At some point, a group of maids eventually decided to murder him in an event called the Renyin Plot. The head palace maid tried strangling him using her hair’s ribbons while others pinned his arms and legs down. However, they made a mistake by tying a ribbon around his neck, which would not tighten at all.

Meanwhile, a couple of the younger maids started panicking, and one of them rushed to the empress.

The plot of the palace maids was eventually exposed. From the empress and some officials’ orders, all those involved, including the emperor’s favorite concubine, were executed by slow slicing. Not only that, but the palace maids’ families were killed too.

Emperor Jiajing later discovered that his favorite concubine, Consort Duan, was innocent all along. So, he commanded that their daughter should be raised by the Shen, the Imperial Noble Consort.

Taoist Quests of the Emperor

Zhu Houcong was a devotee of Taoism, so he tried suppressing Buddhism during his reign. After his assassination attempt, Emperor Jiajing moved out of the imperial palace. He lived with a 13-year-old teenager who was frail, petite, and was able to satiate his sexual urges.

Emperor Jiajing started paying more attention to his Taoist goals than his imperial duties. He built Taoist temples (Temple of the Earth, Moon, and Sun) then extended the Temple of Heaven by increasing the Earthly Mount.

Throughout the years, his devotion to Taoism ended up becoming a huge financial burden to the Ming government. Thus, created dissent across China.

During his later years, the emperor spent a lot of time on alchemy. He hoped to find medications and elixirs to prolong his life.

Emperor Jiajing would force then recruit young girls in their early teens to engage in sexual acts with him. This was in hopes of making him stronger and prolonging his life while consuming potent elixirs.

Death of Emperor Jiajing

Emperor Jiajing ruled for 45 years, which was the second-longest reign of an emperor during the Ming Dynasty. He died in 1567, which was likely due to mercury overdose, specifically for Chinese alchemical-elixir poisoning. Emperor Longqing, Jiajing’s son, succeeded the ruler.

His lengthy rule gave the empire a period of stability. Yet, neglect over official duties in the Ming government resulted in the dynasty’s decline.