Jiajing Emperor
Birth and death:	16 September 1507–23 January 1567
Family name:	Zhu (朱)
Given name:	Houcong (厚熜)
Dates of reign:	May 27, 1521–23 January 1567
Era name:	Jiajing (嘉靖)
Era dates:	28 January 1522–8 February 1567
Temple name:	Shizong (世宗)
Posthumous name: (short)	Emperor Su (肅皇帝)
Posthumous name: (full)	Emperor Qintian Lüdao Yingyi Shengshen Xuanwen Guangwu Hongren Daxiao Su 欽天履道英毅聖神宣文廣武洪仁 大孝肅皇帝
General note: Dates given here are in the Julian calendar. They are not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

The Jiajing Emperor (September 16, 1507–January 23, 1567) was the 11th emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1521-1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the Zhengde Emperor's cousin. Court portrait. ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 1507 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... 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 January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ... January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... 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). ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 9 - Adrian Dedens becomes Pope Adrian VI. February 26 - Execution by hanging of Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan under orders of conquistador Hernán Cortés. ... February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... 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. ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 1507 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... 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 January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. ... Events The Duke of Alva arrives in the Netherlands with Spanish forces to suppress unrest there. ... The Zhengde Emperor (October 26, 1491–April 20, 1521) was emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1505-1521. ...

Early years

Jiaqing was never brought up to succeed the throne but was rather the nephew of the Hongzhi Emperor. The throne became vacant with the sudden death of Emperor Zhengde in 1521 and the 14 year old Jiajing was eventually chosen to become emperor and relocated from his father's fief to Beijing. The Hongzhi Emperor (July 30, 1470–June 8, 1505) was emperor of the Ming dynasty in China between 1487 and 1505. ...

Reign as Emperor

From the beginning of Jiaqing's reign, he was infatuated with young women and Taoist pursuits. He was known to be a cruel and self-aggrandizing emperor and he also chose to reside outside of the Forbidden city in Beijing so he could live in isolation while ignoring state affairs. Meanwhile, Jiaqing employed incapable individuals such as Zhang Cong and Yan Gao, on whom he thorougly relied to handle affairs of state while loyal individuals such as Hai Rui and Yang Xusheng were dimissed or executed. He also abandoned the practice of seeing his ministers altogether from 1539 onwards and for a period of almost 25 years refused to give official audiences, choosing instead to relay his wishes through eunuchs and officials. This eventually led to corruption at all levels of the Ming government. Jiaqing's ruthlessness also led to an internal plot by his concubines to assassinate him in October, 1542 by strangling him while he slept. The plot was ultimately foiled and all of the concubines involved, as well as their families, were summarily executed. For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... , Overview of the Forbidden City The Forbidden City or Forbidden Palace (Chinese: ; pinyin: Zǐjìn Chéng; literally Purple Forbidden City), located at the exact center of the ancient city of Beijing, was the imperial palace during the mid-Ming and the Qing Dynasties. ... Hai Rui (Wade-Giles Hai Jui)(海瑞)(1514-1587) was a famous Chinese official of the Ming dynasty. ... Events May 30 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal to find gold. ... Events War resumes between Francis I of France and Emperor Charles V. This time Henry VIII of England is allied to the Emperor, while James V of Scotland and Sultan Suleiman I are allied to the French. ...

Taoist pursuits

Particularly during his later years, Jiajing was known for spending a great deal of time on Taoist pursuits in hopes of finding medicines to prolong his life. He would forcibly recruit young girls in their early teens and engaged in sexual activities in hopes of empowering himself, along with the consumption of potent elixirs. He employed Taoist priests to collect rare minerals from all over the country to create elixirs, including elixirs containing mercury, which inevitably posed health problems at high doses. Over the years, Jiaqing's mad devotion to Taoism was to become a heavy financial burden for the empire and create dissent across the country.

Legacy and death

After 45 years on the throne (the second longest reign in the Ming dynasty), Emperor Jiajing died in 1567–possibly due to mercury overdose–and was succeeded by his son. Though his long rule gave the dynasty an era of stability, Jiajing neglected his official duties which resulted in the decline of the dynasty at the end of the 16th century. His style of governing or for that matter the lack thereof would be emulated by his grandson later in the century.