Jingtai Emperor

景泰

Reign facts

Reigned: 1449–1457 (8 years)
Lived: 1428–1457
Personal name: Zhu Qiyu 朱祁鈺
Temple name: Daizong 代宗
Era name: Jingtai 景泰 1450–1457

Zhu Qiyu (1428–1457) was the seventh emperor of the Ming dynasty. He was a son of the Xuande Emperor and the younger half-brother of the Zhengtong Emperor, and he took the throne in 1449 after his brother was captured by the Oirat Mongols at the battle of Tumu. He ruled under the era name Jingtai, often translated as "exalted view", from 1450 until he was overthrown early in 1457. His temple name is Daizong.

He is the only Ming emperor after Yongle who is not buried in the Ming Tombs outside Beijing. His name survives in an unexpected place: in Chinese, cloisonné enamel is still called Jingtai lan, "Jingtai blue".

Early Life

Zhu Qiyu was born in September 1428, the son of the Xuande Emperor by his consort Lady Wu. His half-brother Zhu Qizhen, the son of Empress Sun, was slightly older and succeeded their father in 1435 as the Zhengtong Emperor. Zhu Qiyu was made Prince of Cheng and lived in Beijing.

In 1449 the Zhengtong Emperor led a large army against the Oirat leader Esen, leaving Zhu Qiyu in charge of the capital.

Tumu and the Defence of Beijing

In September 1449 the imperial army was routed near the post station of Tumu, north-west of Beijing. Much of the army was destroyed, many senior officials and commanders were killed, and the emperor himself was taken prisoner. When the news reached Beijing there was panic, and some officials urged the court to abandon the city and retreat south.

The vice-minister of war, Yu Qian, argued forcefully against flight. He was promoted to minister of war and took charge of the defence, gathering troops from the surrounding provinces and stationing them outside the nine gates of the city. With the emperor in their hands, the Oirats hoped to extract concessions; the court's answer was to put a new emperor on the throne.

In October 1449 Esen's army reached Beijing. After several days of fighting outside the walls it failed to break the defences and withdrew beyond the Great Wall.

Enthronement

Zhu Qiyu was first appointed regent and then, on the insistence of the leading officials, enthroned as emperor in September 1449, at the age of twenty-one. The captive Zhengtong Emperor was given the title of Retired Emperor, and Zhengtong's infant son, Zhu Jianshen, remained heir apparent for the time being.

With a new emperor on the throne, the captive lost his value to the Oirats, and in 1450 Esen released him. He returned to Beijing, where his half-brother had no intention of giving back the throne. The former emperor was confined in the Southern Palace, within the imperial precincts, and kept there under close watch for the next seven years.

Reign of the Jingtai Emperor

Jingtai governed with the help of capable ministers, above all Yu Qian, who reorganised the capital's armies after the disaster at Tumu. Under the official Xu Youzhen, major repairs were carried out on the dykes of the Yellow River, which had been breaking in Shandong and threatening the Grand Canal.

The Question of the Heir

In 1452 the emperor set aside his nephew Zhu Jianshen as heir and named his own son, Zhu Jianji, crown prince in his place. Empress Wang, who had borne him no son and opposed the change, was deposed, and the boy's mother, Lady Hang, was made empress.

The decision did not last. Zhu Jianji died in 1453, still a small child, and Jingtai had no other son. Empress Hang died in 1456. Officials who urged him to restore Zhu Jianshen as heir were punished, and the succession was left unsettled.

Overthrow and Death

Early in 1457 Jingtai fell seriously ill. With no heir named, a group led by the general Shi Heng, the official Xu Youzhen and the eunuch Cao Jixiang saw their opportunity. In February they forced their way into the Southern Palace, brought out the former Zhengtong Emperor and restored him to the throne. The coup is known in Chinese as the "seizing of the gate".

The restored emperor, who now took the era name Tianshun and is known by his temple name as Emperor Yingzong, reduced his brother once more to Prince of Cheng. Jingtai died a month later. Whether he died of his illness or was killed has been debated ever since. Yu Qian, the defender of Beijing, was executed on charges of treason.

Jingtai was buried as a prince in the Western Hills near Beijing, not in the imperial tombs. The Chenghua Emperor, Zhu Jianshen, later restored his imperial title, and the temple name Daizong was conferred on him in 1644.

Art of the Jingtai Reign

The years from 1436 to 1464, covering the Zhengtong, Jingtai and Tianshun reigns, are known to collectors as the Interregnum. The imperial kilns at Jingdezhen are not known to have used reign marks during this time, so porcelain of the period is identified by style rather than inscription. It links the early Ming wares of the Xuande reign with the refined porcelain of the Chenghua Emperor.

A tall blue and white meiping vase painted with a robed scholar walking among swirling clouds and rocks, below a shoulder band of hexagon diaper and floral panels. — Museum exampleA blue and white meiping with a scholar among swirling clouds, dated by the museum only to the fifteenth century. Such painting is associated with the unmarked mid-century wares.Art Institute of Chicago, 1964.639. Public domain.

The reign's lasting name in the arts belongs to cloisonné enamel, which the Chinese call Jingtai lan. Many cloisonné pieces carry Jingtai marks, but most of these were added in later periods, and marked pieces genuinely of the reign are rare. See our page on the middle Ming dynasty for the wider period, and a middle Ming porcelain plate in our collection.