Born Zhu Di, he became the third ruler of China’s Ming dynasty as Emperor Yongle or Yung-lo meaning lasting joy. He was the fourth son of Zhu Yunzhang the dynastic founder. His personal name was Zhu Di or Chu Ti. He was a well grounded in Confucian studies and also a proven military commander. He personally led expeditions deep into Mongolia. He was granted the title prince of Yan by his father.
Background
Zhu Di was born on May 2nd 1360 to the future founder of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang and an unknown mother. Rumors persist that his true biological mother was a Korean or Mongolian consort of Zhu Yuanzhang although officially the boy’s mother was the future Empress Ma.
Some scholars speculate that Zhu Di was actually the son of Toghun Temur the last Yuan Emperor. They note that Zhu Di inherited some concubines from the defeated Mongol ruler, one of whom might have already been pregnant. Zhu Di was accepted as the third son of Zhu Yuanzhang whatever his biological origin was.
Zhu Di proved more capable and courageous than his older brother Zhu Biao from an early age. The eldest son was the one to success to the throne according to Confucian principles. Any deviation from the rule could spark a civil war.
Zhu Di became Prince of Yan as a teenager with his capital at Beijing. He was well suited to holding northern China against raids by Mongols because of his military prowess and aggressive nature. He married the 14 year old daughter of General Xu Da at the age when he was 16 years old. His wife commanded the northern defense forces.
In 1392, Crown Prince Zhu Biao died suddenly of illness. His father had to choose a new successor; either the Crown Prince’s teenaged son Zhu Yunwen or the 32 year old Zhu Di. It was a difficult task to choose between the two and even one legend said that the emperor gave the two candidates the assignment of finishing a piece of poetry he had started. Despite Zhu Di’s cleverer and more ambitious answer to his assignment, the emperor did not make him crown prince. Zhu Yunzhang’s advisors believed that it was dangerous to bleak the tradition of crowning first sons.
In 1398, the first emperor died and his grandson Zhu Yunwen became the Jianwen Emperor. The new emperor carried out his grandfather’s orders that none of the other princes should bring their legions to observe his burial for fear of civil war. The Jianwen Emperor stripped his uncles of their lands, power and armies bit by bit. Zhu Bo, the prince of Xiang was forced to commit suicide.
Zhu Di, feigned mental illness as he plotted a revolt against his nephew. In July 1399, he made the first blow in his uprising killing two of the Jianwen Emperor’s officers. Jianwen sent a force of 500000 men against Beijing. Zhu Di and his army were out on patrol elsewhere so the women of the city fended off the imperial army by throwing crockery at them until their soldiers returned and routed Jianwen’s forces.
Zhu Di had made his way south to Nanjing defeating the emperor’s army at every turn by 1402. As he entered the city on July 13th 1402, the imperial palace went up in flames. Three bodies, identified as those of the Jianwen Emperor, the impress and their oldest son were found among the charred wreckage. Rumors persisted that Zhu Yunwen had survived.
Zhu Di took the throne under the name Yongle meaning perpetual happiness at age 42. He immediately set about executing anyone who opposed him, along with their friends, neighbors and relatives to the tenth degree.
He ordered the construction of a large ocean going fleet. Many people believed that the ships were intended to search for Zhu Yunwen whom some believed had escaped to Annam, northern Vietnam or some other foreign land.
Education
He was supplied with the best education by his father and trusting them alone, he re established the old feudal principalities for his many sons.
Career
Between 1403 and 1407, the Yongle emperor’s workmen built well over 1600 oceangoing junks of various sizes along the coast. The largest were named treasure ships so the armada was called the Treasure fleet. Under the direction of the Yongle Emperor’s old friend the eunuch Admiral Zhend He, the first of seven voyages of the treasure fleet left for Calicut India in 1405. The Yongle emperor would then oversee six voyages through 1422 and his grandson would launch a seventh in 1433.
The treasure fleet would then sail as far as the east coast of Africa projecting Chinese power throughout the Indian Ocean littoral and gathering tribute from far and wide. He hoped that these exploits would rehabilitate his reputation after the bloody coup which he gained the throne.
The northern Vietnamese killed a Chinese ambassador and a visiting Vietnamese prince. The Yongle Emperor Sent an army of half a million men to avenge the insult conquering the country in 1407. Vietnam thereafter revolted in 1418 under the leadership of Le Loi and china had lost control of nearly all Vietnamese territory by 1424.
The Yongle Emperor was the only ruler in the Chinese history to be acknowledged suzerain by the Japanese under the Ashikanga shogun Yoshimitsu.
Immediately after claiming the throne Yongle Emperor officially named Beijing as the new capital of the empire; ruling in Nanjing after setting fire to that Palace was profoundly troublesome for his efforts to build a sense of legitimacy. Once the Imperial Court, along with the army, had relocated to Beijing, the city grew and became the largest city in the world.
In 1414, he commissioned the production of a definitive edition of four Books; the four classical texts identified by Zhu Xi as the core of the Neo Confucian curriculum, restoring the full length Mencius into use.
He constructed nine- story, more than 276 foot tall octagonal porcelain pagoda in Nanjing.
The Yongle Emperor worked to reclaim the productions rich regions such as the lower Yangtze Delta and called for massive reconstruction of the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal was almost completely rebuilt and was eventually moving imported goods from all over the world during his reign. His short term goal was to revitalize northern urban centers especially his new capital at Beijing.
He finalized the architectural ensemble of his father’s Ming Xiaoling mausoleum in Nanjing by erecting a monumental square Pavilion with an eight tall tortoise borne stele extolling the merits and virtues of the Hongwu Emperor. His original idea for the memorial was to erect an unprecedented stele 73 metres tall.
He is regarded as the second founder of the Ming dynasty because of his numerous accomplishments and the expansion of the empire under his rule. He was a professional soldier and took great interest in military affairs.
Achievements
He is considered as one of the greatest Chinese emperors and one of the most influential rulers in Chinese history. He is also regarded as an architect and preserver of Chinese culture due to his efforts to remove all Mongol influence and his sponsorship of cultural activities.
Several major landmarks were achieved during his reign. This includes the design and the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing; the completion of the monumental Yongle Encyclopedia, the erections of monuments like the porcelain Tower of Nanjing and the exploratory sea voyages of Zheng He. He has military accomplishments and leadership in establishment of political relationships with the surrounding states and tribes that are only rivaled by a handful of people in the world history.
Yongle’s economic, educational and military reforms provided unprecedented benefits for the people but he is often criticized for his ruthless and despotic style of governance. He executed many of his own generals and advisors in order to prevent them from usurping his power. He was domineering and relied on eunuchs and young officials who were personally loyal to him rather than on experienced and more independent bureaucrats. He executed ten generations of the family of the historian Fang Xiao- ru for refusing to write his inaugural address.
His usurping of the throne is often called the Second Founding of the Ming.
Religion
Although Yongle Emperor was a Confucian he had tolerance of the Chinese ideas did not agree with his philosophers’ ideas. He treated Daoism, Confucian and Buddhism equally although he favored Confucianism to an extent. Strict Confucians considered him hypocritical but his even handed approach helped him win the support of the people and unify China. His love of Chinese religions sparked a sincere hatred for the Mongol culture.
He called for the construction and repair of Islamic mosque during his reign. He built two mosques one in Nanjing and the other one in Xian and the mosques still stand today. Mosques were not allowed to be converted to any other use.
Politics
He was an authoritative political ruler and used force to impose his ideologies. He took power by coup. To prevent the recurrence if his own rebellion against the reigning emperor, he removed his brothers and young sons from active command and reorganized the army.
He used both diplomacy and military action in relationships with the nomads to ensure Chinese interests and to prevent them from becoming allies for the Mongols in the northwest. He conciliated the various Jurchen tribes in Manchuria to gain their submission as vassals.
As Mongol power collapsed, Tibet went its own way under a fractured political- religious system and Yongle did not attempt to gain political control over Tibet and treated its top clergy with respect and lavished gifts on them when they visited. He knew they were not united and could not threaten his borders. He had major concern over the Mongols.
Views
The Yongle emperor was a strong leader and a natural ruler. He reinstated a solid government system and appointed able ministers. His rule was both expansionist and prosperous. He was a strong soldier and he eliminated the last pockets of Mongolian resistance in the south led by five major campaigns against the Mongols in the north and with diplomatic skill suppressed the Jurchen, Japanese and Koreans. His envoys reached central Asia, Java and even the Middle East.
He reached as far as the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and East African coast visiting a total of 30 nations between 1405 and 1433. He justified this huge expense claiming that the fleet was to find and kill the escaped Jianwen emperor.
Personality
He was a strong natural leader. He sometimes used excessive force during his reign executing numerous close advisers. He was an authoritative person.
Physical Characteristics:
He had a great interest in eliminating the Mongols as they had different cultural and religious beliefs from those of the Chinese. He also avenged any person that went against him or posed a threat to his reign.
Quotes from others about the person
‘Whenever I can find the time, I read history books and the classics so as to avoid idle living. I constantly remind myself that the world is so vast and state affairs so important that I cannot succumb to laziness and complacency for even a moment. Once one has succumbed to laziness and complacency, everything will become stagnant.’
Interests
Culture.
Connections
His father was Hongwu Emperor while his mother was Empress Xiaocigao. He was married to Empress Renxiaowen and together they had many off springs.
Father:
Hongwu Emperor
Mother:
Empress Xiaocigao
Spouse:
Empress Renxiaowen
References
Emperor Yongle- by Wang Rigen
Legitimating Usurpation: Historical Revisions under the Ming Yongle Emperor
The Legitimation of New Orders: Case Studies in World History. Chinese University Press, 2007.
