1. The Wanli Emperor, known by his temple name as the Emperor Shenzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Yijun, art name Yuzhai, was the 14th emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1572 to 1620.
76 Facts About Wanli Emperor
1. 2.
The Wanli Emperor ascended the throne at the age of nine.
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Wanli Emperor then gained discretion and made significant changes to Zhang's administrative arrangements.
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The Wanli Emperor era was marked by a significant boom in industry, particularly in the production of silk, cotton, and porcelain.
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In 1596, the Wanli Emperor attempted to establish a parallel administration composed of eunuchs, separate from the officials who had traditionally governed the empire.
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Wanli Emperor had two older brothers, both of whom died in early childhood before 1563, and a younger brother, Zhu Yiliu, who was created Prince of Lu in 1571.
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Wanli Emperor adopted the era name Wanli, which means "ten thousand calendars".
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The Wanli Emperor was known for his restless and energetic nature during his youth.
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Wanli Emperor was described as a quick learner, intelligent, and perceptive, always staying well-informed about the happenings in the empire.
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From 1583 to 1588, the Wanli Emperor visited several mausoleums near Beijing and paid attention to the training of the palace guard.
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However, his mother, Zhang Juzheng, and high-ranking officials in Beijing were worried that he would become a ruler similar to the Zhengde Wanli Emperor, and discouraged him from traveling outside the Forbidden City and pursuing his interests in the military, horse riding, and archery.
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Under their pressure, the Wanli Emperor stopped leaving Beijing after 1588 and stopped participating in public sacrifices after 1591.
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Wanli Emperor canceled the morning audience and the evening study of Confucianism.
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Wanli Emperor was known to be both vulnerable and vengeful, but generous.
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Zhang Juzheng and his mother raised the Wanli Emperor to be modest in material possessions and exemplary in behavior, which he saw as a humiliation that he never forgot.
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However, upon learning that Zhang Juzheng himself lived in luxury, the Wanli Emperor was deeply affected.
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Two years after Zhang Juzheng's death, his family was accused of illegal land dealings, and the Wanli Emperor severely punished them by confiscating their property and sending Zhang's sons to the border troops.
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Wanli Emperor sought to centralize the government and increase the emperor's authority at the expense of local interests by streamlining the administration and strengthening the military.
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Wanli Emperor was able to handpick his colleagues in the Grand Secretariat and informally control the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate, appointing his followers to important positions in central offices and regions.
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Wanli Emperor simply made existing processes more efficient under the slogan of returning to the order from the beginnings of the empire.
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Wanli Emperor appointed capable military leaders such as Qi Jiguang, Wang Chonggu, Tan Lun, Liang Menglong, and Li Chengliang to positions of responsibility.
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Wanli Emperor was eventually forced to resign in 1591 due to his approach to the succession issue, which had lost him the confidence of opposition officials.
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However, in 1588, the Wanli Emperor's censors accused him of accepting a bribe from one of his eunuchs, which shocked the emperor and caused him to withdraw from cooperating with officials.
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Wanli Emperor reduced his contact with them to a minimum and canceled the morning audience.
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Wanli Emperor justified the delay by stating that he was waiting for a son from the empress.
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Wanli Emperor ordered all Beijing officials of the fifth rank and above to contribute to her cause from their incomes.
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However, it was not until 1601, after facing pressure from another round of protests and requests, that the Wanli Emperor finally appointed Zhu Changluo as crown prince.
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Wanli Emperor pushed for a public investigation involving the Ministry of Justice.
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Wanli Emperor scolded the officials for doubting his relationship with the crown prince, whom he trusted and relied on.
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Wanli Emperor dispatched a team consisting of eunuchs, Imperial Guard officers, and representatives from the Ministry of Revenue to the outskirts of Beijing to establish new silver mines.
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Wanli Emperor sent an Imperial Guard officer to Henan province with the same task, and within a few weeks, other officers and eunuchs were sent to Shandong, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, and Shanxi provinces.
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Wanli Emperor appointed wealthy individuals from the local gentry to manage the mines and oversee necessary investments.
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Wanli Emperor recognized that the mining tax was causing more harm than good.
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In 1595, Minister of Personnel Sun Piyang conducted a questionnaire survey on the conditions of several offices and used the results to persuade the Wanli Emperor to dismiss a certain official from Zhejiang.
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Wanli Emperor believed that in evaluating officials, it was sufficient for him to impartially discover the widely held opinion of the individual's recklessness through the survey.
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Wanli Emperor did request the dismissal of several organizers of the purge during additional evaluations.
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Wanli Emperor restored the mints in Beijing and Nanjing, and later in Yunnan.
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Wanli Emperor closed the Yunnan mint the following year and most of the other provincial mints in 1582.
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In 1599, the Wanli Emperor returned to an expansive monetary policy.
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Wanli Emperor believed that actions that benefited the state and its people were the correct ones, stating "If it is to the benefit of the state, I would do it regardless of life or death".
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Wanli Emperor did not see them as moral role models, but rather as lazy individuals.
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Wanli Emperor questioned the infallibility of the classics and defended the legitimacy of human desires.
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Wanli Emperor himself positioned himself at the end of the development of the Southern School as the true heir of literati painting, seeking to express the thoughts of the creator rather than seeking material gain.
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One of the notable painters of the Wanli Emperor era was Wu Bin, who worked in Nanjing and later at the Beijing court.
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Wanli Emperor was known for his eccentric style, influenced by the local Fujian tradition and elements of the Wu School, which gave his paintings a sense of elegance and beauty.
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Wanli Emperor stressed the importance of studying calligraphy from the Eastern Jin and Tang periods, specifically highlighting the works of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi.
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Wanli Emperor was a versatile artist and the leading figure among the Later Seven Masters of the Ming.
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One of the most notable poets of the Wanli Emperor era was Hu Yinglin, who came from a wealthy family but chose to pursue literature instead of a career in the civil service after failing the examinations.
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Two notable novels from the Wanli Emperor era were Journey to the West, one of the Four Classic Chinese Novels, and the socio-critical Jin Ping Mei.
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Wanli Emperor criticized their focus on sensational news for the sake of marketability and profit, rather than reporting on truly important events.
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The largest military campaigns of the Wanli Emperor era were known as the "Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli Emperor Era".
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Additionally, the Wanli Emperor saw generals as representatives of a different lifestyle, one that was more free and unartistic.
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Wanli Emperor took great care in selecting capable generals and was not afraid to give them extraordinary powers, allowing them to make quick decisions without waiting for his approval.
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The Wanli Emperor was willing to allocate significant funds from his reserves to supply and equip the troops, and he entrusted the generals with powers and responsibilities that were typically reserved for civil officials, despite objections from the government.
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Wanli Emperor generally preferred a decisive rather than aggressive approach towards domestic rebels and foreign enemies.
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Wanli Emperor emphasized the importance of morale and training for soldiers.
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The Wanli Emperor decidedly took an anti-Japanese stance and only sent a small scouting force of three thousand soldiers.
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Wanli Emperor distinguished himself on the Ming side in battles against other natives and Tibetans, and received recognition from the Ming court for the quality of the wood he supplied.
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Wanli Emperor became involved in disputes between the local Miao tribes and Chinese colonists by attacking the former.
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Wanli Emperor gathered perhaps up to 150,000 warriors by the end of 1599.
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The Wanli Emperor justified this by stating that the civil war was not yet over and it was uncertain if the Le dynasty had true support.
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Wanli Emperor united the Jurchens with the support of the Ming dynasty, particularly General Li Chengliang.
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The Taichang Wanli Emperor relied on representatives and sympathizers of the Donglin movement, who were soon appointed to high positions.
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One of the many historical accounts of the Wanli Emperor and his reign is a unique book written by the eunuch Liu Ruoyu titled Zhuozhong zhi.
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The Wanli Emperor is often portrayed in traditional Chinese historiography as one of the main causes of the decline and fall of the Ming dynasty.
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The animosity of Confucian scholars towards the Wanli Emperor stemmed from different visions of the state and the emperor's protection of military officers against complaints from civilian officials who controlled the administration at the time.
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The Wanli Emperor had 18 children by eight women, including eight sons, five of whom lived to adulthood, and two daughters who survived.
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Wanli Emperor formed a ruling alliance with the head eunuch Feng Bao and retained her influence even after Zhang Juzheng's death.
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Wanli Emperor formed alliances with grand secretaries Shen Shixing, Xu Guo, and Wang Xijue.
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Wanli Emperor was a devout Buddhist and made large donations to Buddhist monks and monasteries.
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Wanli Emperor supported the succession of the Wanli Emperor's eldest son, the later Taichang Emperor, against the younger Zhu Changxun, the son of Wanli's favorite Lady Zheng.
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The Wanli Emperor did not have a good relationship with his empress and instead devoted himself to Lady Zheng.
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Wanli Emperor supported Wanli's eldest son, who would later become the Taichang Emperor, over Lady Zheng's son.
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Wanli Emperor lived in seclusion in the Forbidden City and was neglected by the emperor.
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Wanli Emperor went on to have a total of six children.
76.
The Wanli Emperor was buried in the Ming tombs at the base of the Tianshou Mountain, located outside of Beijing.