Chongzhen

Emperor of China (r. 1628-1644)

• Born: February 6, 1611
• Birthplace: Beijing, China
• Died: April 25, 1644
• Place of death: Beijing, China

Chongzhen presided over the demise of the Ming Dynasty. He managed to stay on the throne while battling various problems in the country until the seventeenth year of his reign, when the Ming Dynasty came to an end.

Early Life

The Ming emperor Tianqi (also known as Zhu Youjiao) had five children, but they all died in infancy. Thus, when Tianqi passed away in 1627 at the age of twenty-two, he left no heir. Zhu Youjian, the emperor’s oldest surviving brother, came to the throne. The seventeen-year-old successor was the fifth son in the imperial family, and he took the reign name Chongzhen, meaning “lofty and auspicious.” His mother, Consort Liu had died in 1615, when he was four.

Chongzhen inherited from his brother a discredited country, void of hope and future. In the 1620’s, China had been troubled by both domestic and foreign issues, all of which the new emperor decided to overcome. In the foreign sphere, the Manchus’ threatening presence in the northeastern part of the country was a sore that never healed. At home, the ministers at court were engaged in factional power struggles, while Wei Zhongxian (Wei Chong-hsien, 1568-1628), the powerful eunuch from Tianqi’s era, continued to conspire against his enemies. Chongzhen, being a hardworking and conscientious young man, attempted to start a new age for himself and his people.

Life’s Work

Chongzhen’s first and most important priority was to rid the court of the vicious eunuch Wei Zhongxian. Wei had been promoted to be the director of Eastern Depot, a secret service of the Ming, by the previous emperor. Before Chongzhen came to the throne, Wei and the late emperor’s wet nurse, Madame Ke, had wreaked havoc at court, abusing the power bestowed on them by the emperor. Together, Wei and Ke intercepted memorials meant for the emperor and made decisions using the imperial seal. Any opponents or critics of the duo met with imprisonment and persecution.

When Chongzhen came on the scene on October 2, 1627, all were wary of the new ruler’s attitude. In three months’ time, Chongzhen issued an order to Wei, ordering him to serve at the imperial tombs at Nanzhili. Wei, aware of his imminent demise, committed suicide en route. The other culprit, Madame Ke, was stripped of her power and beaten to death. This first move by the new emperor was applauded by the whole court, which had been oppressed by the infamous duo for years. Soon after Wei’s demise, the Donglin (Eastern Grove) faction returned to power, bringing a partisan structure back to the imperial court.

Being a daring and curious young man, Emperor Chongzhen was open to new ideas and knowledge. Intellectual life at court was revived, and the emperor allowed the important task of reforming the imperial calendar to be given to two Jesuits , Adam von Schall and John Schreck. The two foreigners had predicted an eclipse more accurately than the court astronomers. The importance of an eclipse cannot be slighted in Chinese culture, where the natural phenomenon was believed to have ties with the imperial fortune.

In the mid-1620’s, maritime trade in China was severely affected by piracy along the southeast coastline. Both Dutch and Chinese pirates harassed the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Only after the capture of the pirate leader Zheng Zhilong (Cheng Chih-lung, 1604-1661) did the situation improve. At the same time, trading with the Spanish through Manila increased. Sino-Japanese commerce blossomed, while the Portuguese brought silver to China via Macao. Thus, the sagging Ming economy received a temporary boost during the early years of Chongzhen’s reign in the 1630’s, yet the maritime situation took a drastic turn in 1639, when Japan blocked Portuguese merchants in Macao from trading in Nagasaki. In the same year, the Chinese in Manila were involved with the Spanish and violence exploded. Hence, Sino-Japanese trade came to an end. The lucrative profits from maritime trade were important to the Ming economy, and their absence contributed to the end of the dynasty.

Soon, the domestic and foreign plagues that had almost devoured the Ming administration during the previous emperor’s reign began to reemerge. The Manchus’ constant invasions in the Liaodong area and the partisan disputes and conspiracy at court were intensified by the famine of 1628 in Shaanxi province, brought on by a severe drought. The government lacked the funds to provide food for the people. The situation went from bad to worse as wives and children were being sold for survival. Cannibalism was not unheard of, and groups of bandits began raiding the countryside for food. Without sustenance, soldiers deserted to join the bandits for a chance to live.

To counter this situation, Chongzhen decided to raise money by cutting government expenditures and reducing imperial posts. The dismissed attendants had no place to turn but to join the rebels, however, and the situation snowballed. When bad weather in the 1630’s and 1640’s brought another series of droughts, floods, and locust attacks, the provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Zhejiang, and Sichuan were devastated by mass starvation, infanticide, cannibalism, and epidemic diseases. Hordes of beggars were seen everywhere, snatching food wherever it was available. The rebels, led by Li Zicheng (Li Tzu-Ch’eng), were joined by thousands of volunteers; together they raided from city to city, taking over government institutions.

To battle the rebels, the Chongzhen administration raised funds by taxing landowners. Between 1618 and 1637, the land tax was increased six times. These funds were used entirely to fight the bandits and feed the military: Ordinary people found no relief, and the landowner class declined. Li Zicheng, supported by the poor masses and spurred by the misfortunes of the Ming, roared across the north China plain, defeating the Ming generals sent by Chongzhen. By November of 1643, Li, calling himself “The Prince of Shun,” controlled the northwest and central provinces. With the Manchu forces in the northeast, Li now aimed at the capital at Beijing.

The danger of their position was felt at the Ming court, where Emperor Chongzhen consulted his ministers for a possible solution. Some loyal officials suggested the imperial family move south, where there were Ming supporters. The emperor lacked the funds to move his capital, however. Many soldiers in the capital had not been paid for three months. When even Chongzhen’s son-in-law refused to let his private guards accompany the emperor, the son of heaven realized the end was near.

Doomsday came in April, 1644, when the Manchu army was marching toward Beijing, and Li’s rebel groups had sacked the imperial tombs. On the 24th, Chongzhen called the last meeting at court, during which emperor and ministers wept. Meanwhile, the imperial troops fled or surrendered. Chongzhen disguised his two sons in ordinary clothes and made sure they left for the south. Then, the intoxicated emperor ordered the women of the palace to commit suicide. The empress and Tianqi’s widow submitted, while Chongzhen finished off his concubines and daughters with his sword. He left one daughter with her arm cut off moaning in blood. At dawn, without his crown, the despondent ruler ran outside of the palace. With bloodstains in his hands, Chongzhen used his belt to hang himself on a tree. Only one eunuch, the loyal Wang Chengen, followed the emperor to death in the same manner.

Significance

Chongzhen was the sixteenth and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. After his death, the Manchu army moved in, overcame Li Zicheng and set up the Qing Dynasty (Ch’ing, 1644-1911) on the imperial throne. Chongzhen did his best to counter the damage done to the empire and to his dynasty by his weak predecessors, but his efforts were in vain. At the onset of Chongzhen’s reign, the dynasty was already beyond saving, and the emperor could only stave off the inevitable. Chongzhen was given the time, but he was never given the chance.

Bibliography

Chan, Albert. The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982. Has analytical discussions on the failure of the Ming Dynasty and the last ruler Chongzhen.

Mote, Frederick W., and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part 1. Vol. 7 in The Cambridge History of China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Problems for the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty include civil rebellions due to economic decline, Manchu invasions, natural disasters as well as a corrupted and factional government.

Paludan, Ann. Chronicles of the Chinese Emperors. London: Thames and Hudson, 2001. A comprehensive chronicle of Chinese emperors, beginning with Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China, and ending with the last emperor, Puyi of the Qing. Beside biographical details for each emperor, Paludan also presents cultural and political highlights for each dynastic era. Portraits, illustrations, and maps are helpful.

Perkins, Dorothy. Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, Its History and Culture. New York: Round Table Press, 1999. A good source on biographical and cultural data for classical China. Read entries on Chongzhen, Ming Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian and eunuchs.

Twitchett, Denis, and Frederick W. Mote, eds. The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part 2. Vol. 8 in The Cambrdge History of China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Chapter 2 discusses the issues on fiscal administration of the late Ming government that led to the final collapse of the dynasty.