The Chenghua Emperor (December 9, 1447 – September 9, 1487) was Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China, between 1464 and 1487. Court portrait. ... Events March 6 - Nicholas V becomes Pope. ... Events Richard Fox becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... A Chinese surname, also called a clan name or family name (姓, pinyin: x ng; or 氏, shi), is one of the over seven hundred family names used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups. ... Chinese given names (Chinese: 名字; pinyin: míngzì) are made up of one or two characters. ... Events February - Christian I of Denmark and Norway who was also serving as King of Sweden is declared deposed from the later throne. ... Events Richard Fox becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... A Chinese era name (traditional Chinese: 年號, simplified Chinese: 年号, pinyin nían hào) is the era name, reign period, or regnal title used when traditionally numbering years in an emperors reign and naming certain Chinese rulers (see the conventions). ... Events July 13 - Battle of Montlhéry Troops of King Louis XI of France fight inconclusively against an army of the great nobles organized as the League of the Public Weal. ... // Events February 3 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, at the tip of Africa becoming the first known European to travel this far south. ... Temple names (Traditional Chinese: 廟號 Simplified Chinese: 庙号 Pinyin: miào hào;), are commonly used when naming most Chinese, Vietnamese (such dynasties as Tran,Anterior Lê and Nguyen Dynasty) and most Korean rulers of the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties. ... A posthumous name (Traditional Chinese: 諡號/謚號 Simplified Chinese: 谥号; Pinyin: shì hào; Romaji: shigō/tsuigō; Revised Romanization of Korean: siho) is a honorary name given to royalty in some cultures posthumously, that is, after the persons death. ... The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC by Julius Caesar and took force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ... The proleptic Gregorian calendar is produced by extending the Gregorian Calendar to dates preceding its official introduction in 1582. ... Events University of Freiburg founded. ... Zhu Qizhen (November 29, 1427–February 23, 1464) was an emperor of the Ming Dynasty. ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events March 6 - Nicholas V becomes Pope. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... Events Richard Fox becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... The emperor or huángdì (皇帝) of China was the head of government and head of state of China from the Qin dynasty in 221 BC until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. ... The Míng Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; Pinyin: Míng Cháo) was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. ... Events February - Christian I of Denmark and Norway who was also serving as King of Sweden is declared deposed from the later throne. ... Events Richard Fox becomes Bishop of Exeter. ...

Childhood

Born Zhu Jianshen, he was the Zhengtong Emperor's son. He was only 2 years old when his father - the Zhengtong emperor was captured by the Oirat Mongols and held captive in 1449. After that his uncle, the Jingtai Emperor took over whilst his father was put under house arrest for almost 7 years. During this time, Chenghua lived under his uncle's shadow and even had his title of crown prince removed while Jingtai installed his own son as heir. Chenghua was only reinstated as crown prince on the eve of death of Emperor Jingtai in 1457. Zhu Qizhen (November 29, 1427 – February 23, 1464) was an emperor of the Ming Dynasty. ... Zhu Qizhen (November 29, 1427–February 23, 1464) was an emperor of the Ming Dynasty. ... Oirats (also spelled Oyrats or Oyirads; Mongolian: Ойрадын Ojradyn) refers to both a Western Mongol people of Europe and Asia and, historically, to a Turkic people now known as the Altays. ... Events January 6 - Constantine XI is crowned Byzantine Emperor. ... Zhu Qiyu (September 21, 1428–March 14, 1457) was Emperor of China from the Ming Dynasty from 1449 to 1457 as the Jingtai Emperor. ... Events University of Freiburg founded. ...

Reign as Emperor

Chenghua ascended the throne at the age of 17. During the early part of his administration, Chenghua carried out new government policies to reduce tax and strengthen the dynasty. However this did not last and by the closing years of his reign, governmental affairs once again fell into the hands of eunuchs, notably Wang Zhi. Peasants uprising occurred throughout the country; however, they were violently suppressed. Chenghua's reign was also more autocratic than his predecessors' and freedom was sharply curtailed when Chenghua established institutes such as the Xi Chang (to compliment the existing Dong Chang), monitoring all civilians' actions and words. This institute, not unlike a spy agency, would administer punishment to those whom they suspected of treason. The Xi Chang would eventually be shut down but it was the start of a dangerous trend and Chenghua's descendants would again revive the Xi Chang during the 16th century.

Chenghua was also under the influence of Lady Wan who was a palace lady more than twice his age. Lady Wan had been a mother figure to young Chenghua but after ascending the throne she quickly became Chenghua's favourite consort after giving birth to a child in 1464. The child soon died however Lady Wan held sway over the imperial harem and prevented the young emperor from bearing any offspring. Lady Wan and her eunuchs would either induce abortion to those who were about to bear the emperor's child or administer poison to mother and child if birth had occurred ¹. Events February - Christian I of Denmark and Norway who was also serving as King of Sweden is declared deposed from the later throne. ...

It was not until 1475 that Chenghua discovered that he had a son (later Hongzhi Emperor) who survived and was raised in secrecy. Events August 29 - Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between France and England. ...

Chenghua died in 1487, after 23 years on the throne. He was buried in Maoling (茂陵)。

Legacy

Emperor Chenghua's reign can be distinguished by his early attempts to reform the government and trying his best to rule the country. His reign also saw a cultural flourishing with famous Ming personnel such as Hu Juren and Chen Baisha dominating the academic scene. However Chenghua's reign was prone to dominating individuals in the government and Chenghua was easily influenced into granting favours based on who he likes rather than their abilities. This led to the degradation at the ruling class and wasteful spending by corrupt individuals which eventually depleted the empire's coffer.

Source

¹ Imperial China - 900-1800, F.W. Mote, Page 630, First Harvard University Press, 2003.