1. Zhu Quan, the Prince of Ning, was a Chinese historian, military commander, musician, and playwright.
11 Facts About Zhu Quan
1. 2.
Zhu Quan was the 17th son of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty.
3.
Zhu Quan is remembered as a great tea connoisseur, a zither player, and composer.
4.
Zhu Quan was initially a military commander in service to his father, the Hongwu Emperor who founded the Ming dynasty.
5.
Zhu Quan was granted the frontier fief of Ning with his capital at Daning in present-day Chifeng, Inner Mongolia in 1391.
6.
Zhu Quan was famous for his mastery of art and war and played an important role during the unrest surrounding the ascension of his teenage nephew, Jianwen Emperor, in 1399.
7.
Wary of the emperor's intentions, as other uncles were demoted or executed the same year, Zhu Quan refused and lost three of his divisions for insubordination.
8.
From that point, Zhu Quan assisted his brother in his uprising, with the History of Ming recording that the Prince of Yan offered to split the entire empire between them.
9.
Zhu Quan treasured and revised his Secret Book of Origins, a text which survived the fire of Daning and sharply attacked Buddhism as a foreign "mourning cult" at odds with Chinese culture and proper governance.
10.
Zhu Quan's brother ordered him to complete the Comprehensive Mirror of Extensive Essays and was credited with writing Family Advice, Ceremonial Customs of the Country of Ning, The Secret History of the Han and Tang, History Breaks Off, a Book of Essays, a Book of Poetry, and several other annotated anthologies.
11.
Zhu Quan is an important figure in the history of the Chinese zither, or guqin, for his compilation of the important Manual of the Mysterious and Marvellous in 1425.