Longqing Emperor

Zhu Zaiji (1537–1572) was the twelfth emperor of the Ming dynasty. Before his accession he was known as the Prince of Yu. He came to the throne early in 1567 and ruled under the era name Longqing, usually translated as "great celebration", until his death in the summer of 1572, a reign of little more than five years. His temple name is Muzong.

The Longqing Emperor took little part in government himself, but he kept able ministers and let them work, and his short reign brought lasting changes: officials punished under his father were recalled, the ban on private overseas trade was lifted, and peace was made with the Mongol leader Altan Khan. For collectors the reign is known for its scarce porcelain and its unusual reign mark.

Early Life and Accession

Zhu Zaiji was the third son of the Jiajing Emperor. He was not his father's favourite and was not brought up to rule: that training went to an elder brother, the heir apparent. When the elder brother died unexpectedly, Zhu Zaiji became the eldest surviving son and so, under the rules of succession, the natural heir, but he came to the throne with little preparation for it.

Once emperor, he showed little interest in the daily business of government, which he left largely to his grand secretaries, and he spent much of his time on the pleasures of the palace.

Reform and Recovery

The Longqing Emperor inherited a state weakened by corruption and mismanagement in the last years of his father's reign, and the new court moved quickly. Officials whom Jiajing had dismissed, banished or imprisoned were recalled. Among them was the scholar-official Hai Rui, who had been jailed in 1566 for a memorial criticising the old emperor. The Daoist priests whom Jiajing had favoured in his search for immortality were driven from the court.

In 1567 the court lifted the ban on private overseas trade. Chinese merchants were allowed to sail from the port of Yuegang in Fujian to South-East Asia, although direct trade with Japan remained forbidden. The coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang, raided by pirates under Jiajing, were given stronger defences. The legal trade that followed carried Jingdezhen porcelain abroad in growing quantities, including the export blue and white that collectors call kraak porcelain.

On the northern frontier, the general Qi Jiguang, who had made his name fighting the coastal pirates, was given command of the defences east of Beijing in 1568 and began rebuilding the Great Wall there with brick watchtowers.

At court, the eunuch Meng Chong dominated the inner palace. In 1567 the senior grand secretary Xu Jie urged the emperor to curb the power of the eunuchs, but he retired the following year, and attempts to check corruption among officials fell short.

Peace with the Mongols

For decades the Mongols under Altan Khan (also written Anda Khan) had raided northern China; in 1550 they had broken through the Great Wall and reached Beijing. In 1570 Altan's grandson Bahan Naji, angry that his grandfather had taken the bride promised to him, rode south and surrendered to the Ming at Datong.

Many expected the Ming to hold him hostage or execute him. Instead, on the advice of the grand secretaries Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, the court received him with honour and gave him an official title. Altan negotiated for his return and halted his raids. In 1571 he accepted the Ming title Shunyi Wang, "Obedient and Righteous Prince", and frontier markets were reopened where Mongol horses were traded for Chinese silk.

The peace was the work of the emperor's ministers more than of the emperor himself, but it lasted for decades and gave the Ming the chance to rebuild the northern defences.

Death of the Longqing Emperor

The Longqing Emperor died in 1572, at the age of thirty-five. On his deathbed he entrusted the government to his grand secretaries, among them Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, and charged them to serve his son, the future Wanli Emperor, who was still a young child. Zhang Juzheng soon displaced Gao Gong and led the government for the next ten years. The Longqing Emperor was buried at the Zhaoling, one of the Ming Tombs near Beijing.

Historians have generally judged him one of the more open-minded Ming emperors, whose choice of ministers counted for more than his own interest in ruling.

Longqing Porcelain

Because the reign was so short, imperial porcelain of the Longqing period is scarce. The kilns at Jingdezhen continued the styles of the Jiajing period, in blue and white and in brightly enamelled wucai.

The six-character reign mark, Da Ming Longqing nian zao (大明隆慶年造), is unusual: it ends with zao (造), "made", where most Ming reign marks end with zhi (製). Our chart of Ming reign marks sets it beside the marks of the other reigns, and our Ming dynasty porcelain collection shows wares from across the dynasty.