Wanli Emperor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
Wanli Emperor (September 4, 1563 - August 18, 1620) was emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1572 and 1620. Born Zhu Yijun, he was the Longqing Emperor's son. His rule of 48 years would be the longest in the Ming dynasty and it witnessed the steady decline of the dynasty. Wanli also saw the arrival of the first Jesuit missionary in Beijing, Matteo Ricci.
 |
|
| Wanli Emperor | |
|---|---|
| Birth and death: | 4 September 1563–18 August 1620 |
| Family name: | Zhu (朱) |
| Given name: | Yijun (翊鈞) |
| Dates of reign: | 19 July 1572–18 August 1620 |
| Dynasty: | Ming (明) |
| Era name: | Wanli (萬曆 / 万历) |
| Era dates: | 2 February 1573–27 August 1620¹ |
| Temple name: | Shenzong (神宗) |
| Posthumous name: |
Emperor Xian (顯皇帝) |
| Posthumous name: |
Emperor Fantian Hedao Zhesu Dunjian Guangwen Zhangwu Anren Zhixiao Xian 範天合道哲肅敦簡光文章武安仁 止孝顯皇帝 |
| General note: Dates before 1582 are given in the Julian calendar, not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. Dates after 1582 are given in the Gregorian calendar, not in the Julian calendar that remained in use in England until 1752. ——— 1. Following the death of the emperor, the Wanli era was normally due to end on January 21, 1621. However, the new emperor Taichang died within a month, before January 22, 1621, which should have been the start of the Taichang era. The new emperor Tianqi decided that the Wanli era would be considered ended since August 27, 1620, the last day of the 7th month in the Chinese calendar, to enable the Taichang era to be applied for the five months remaining in that year (see Taichang article). |
|
Contents |
[edit] Early Reign (1572-1582)
Wanli ascended the throne at the age of 9. For the first ten years of his reign, the young emperor was aided by a notable statesman, Zhang Juzheng (張居正). Zhang Juzheng directed the path of the country and exercised his skills and power as an able administrator. After Zhang's death in 1582, Wanli felt that he was free of supervision and reversed many of Zhang's administrative improvements. Overall during these 10 years, the Ming Dynasty's economy and military power prospered not seen since the Yongle and "Ren Xuan Rule" during the 15th century.
[edit] Middle Reign (1582-1600)
After Zhang Juzheng died, Wanli decided to take control of the whole government. This early part of his rule were signs of a decent and diligent emperor. Overall, the economy continued to prosper and the country was extremely powerful. Unlike his last 20 years, the Wanli at this time would attend meeting every morning and to discuss affairs of state. The first eighteen years of Wanli's reign would be dominated by three wars that were all extremely successful. 1) Against the Mongols. In the outer regions, one of the leaders rebelled and allied with the Mongols to attack the Ming. At this time, Wanli sent out the Li father and son to handle this situation which was overall a success. 2) Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Japan once sent 200,000 in the first expedition to invade Korea. Wanli made three decisions. First, send reinforcements for the Koreans. Second, if Koreans were to go into Ming territory, give them a place to live. Third, told the Liandong area to prepare and be careful. In actual combat, the first 2 battles were losses since the Ming Dynasty's troop were minute in comaprision to the 200,000 army. Next, Wanli sent out general Song and the Li father and son to handle the situation with successes. This resulted in negiotiation with the Ming getting the tip. 2 years later in 1596, the Japan once again invaded and this time hte Ming Dynasty had huge casulties. However, that same year, Hideyoshi died and the Japan had no desire to fight. This resulted in the Ming Dynasty defeating the demoralized Japan army, sending them back. 3) The Yang Yin Long rebelled. At first, Wanli was still handling the Japan war;therefore only sent out 3000 troops for Yang Guo Zhu to handle this rebellion. Unfortunetly, this 3000 army was completely annihalated and Yang Guo Zhu died. When the war with Japan ended, Wanli turned his attention to Yang Yin Long senting out Guo Zhi Zhang and Li Huo Long as the leaders. In the end, Li Huo Long would defeat the army of YAng and take him back to the capital. After these 3 successful warring periods, Wanli would slowly turn into the his well known lazy and idiotic self who never goes to the morning meetings, going into his later reign and his final 20 years on the throne.
[edit] Late Reign
During the latter years of Wanli's reign, he seldom attends state affairs and for years at a time would refuse to receive his ministers or read any reports sent to him. Wanli also extorted money from the government, and ultimately his own people, for his personal enjoyment. One example was the close attention he paid to the construction of his own tomb, which took decades to complete. The Wanli Emperor then became disenchanted with the moralistic attacks and counterattacks of officials, becoming thoroughly alienated from his imperial role. He finally resorted to vengeful tactics of blocking or ignoring the conduct of administration. For years on end he refused to see his ministers or act upon memoranda. He refused to make necessary appointments, and eventually became so obese he was unable even to stand without assistance. [1] The whole top echelon of Ming administration became understaffed. In short, Wanli tried to forget about his imperial responsibilities while building up personal wealth. Considering the emperor's required role as the lynchpin of the state, this personal rebellion against the bureaucracy was not only bankruptcy but treason.¹ Finally, during this period of "dreaming period", the future threat-the Manchurians developed. The Jurchen area was eventually conquered by the military genius-Nurhaci. Nurhaci would go on to create the Later Jin Empire which would now become an immediate threat. By this time, after 20 years, the Ming Dynasty army was in steep decline due to the lack of wars. On the other hand, while the Jurchens were of a fewer number, they were much more feircer and more powerful. In the grand battel of of Nun Er Chu in 1619, the Ming Dynasty sent out an force of 200,000 against the Later Jin Empire of 80,000 which Nurhaci controlling 6 banners and 60,000 as the central attack while Dai Shan and Huang Taji each controlled 10,000 troops and one banner attacked from the sides. After 5 days of battle, the Ming Dynasty had casulties over 100,000 and got 70% of there food supply stolen. From this point on, the Ming Dynasty would lose its advantage to the Jurchens, setting up the eventual downfall of the Ming Dynasty to the later Qing Dynasty.
In 1997 China's Ministry of Public Security published a book on the history of the drug problem in which it was stated that the Wanli emperor's remains had been examined in 1958 and found to contain morphine residues at levels which indicate that he had been a heavy and habitual user of opium. [2]
[edit] Family
[edit] Consorts
- Empress Xiaoduan (? - 1620), had no sons
- Empress Xiaojing (1565 - 1612), died after bearing the Taichang Emperor. Her grandson, the Tianqi Emperor, promoted her to Empress Dowager. Thus she was re-buried from an Imperial Concubine's tomb to the Wanli Emperor's tomb. The Wanli Emperor therefore was the only Ming Dynasty Emperor buried with two wives.
[edit] Legacy and death
The Wanli emperor’s reign is representative of the decline of the Ming. He was an unmotivated and avaricious ruler who allowed his country to fall apart under his rule. His reign was plagued with fiscal woes, military pressures, and angry bureaucrats. He also had sent eunuch supervisors to provinces to oversee mining operations which actually became covers for extortion. Discontent with the lack of morals during this time, a group of scholars and political activists loyal to Zhu Xi and against Wang Yangming, created the Donglin Movement, a political group who believed in upright morals and tried to affect the government. During the closing years of Wanli's reign, the Manchu began to conduct raids on the northern border of the Ming Empire. Their depredations ultimately led to the overthrow of the Ming dynasty in 1644. The Wanli Emperor died in 1620 and was buried in Dingling (定陵) located on the outskirts of Beijing. His tomb is one of the biggest in the vicinity compared and is one of only two that are open to the public. In many ways, he was a similar emperor to those emperors that were successful at first, but then loosened up and caused the eventual demise of the empire (Qianlong of Qing and Tang Xuanzong of Tang)
[edit] Source
¹Fairbanks, John King, and Merle Goldman. China A New History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Goodrich, Carrington L., and Fang Chaoying, eds. Dictionary of Ming Biography. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.
- ^ Zheng Yangwen, The Social Life of Opium in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 18-9.
[edit] Recommended Reading
Huang, Ray. 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982.
| Preceded by Longqing Emperor |
Emperor of China (Ming Dynasty) 1572–1620 |
Succeeded by Taichang Emperor |
