Chongzhen Emperor

Chongzhen Emperor 崇禎帝
Emperor of the Ming Dynasty
Reign	2 October 1627 – 25 April 1644
Predecessor	Tianqi Emperor
Successor	Hongguang Emperor
Emperor of China
Reign	2 October 1627 – 25 April 1644
Predecessor	Tianqi Emperor
Successor	Shunzhi Emperor
Spouse	Empress Zhuang Lie Min Noble Consort Gong Shu, concubine Noble Consort Yuan concubine Consort Shun, concubine Consort Shen, concubine Consort Wang, concubine Consort Wang, concubine Consort Liu, concubine Consort Fang, concubine
Issue
Zhu Cilang, Crown Prince Xianmin Zhu Cixuan, Prince Yin of Huai Zhu Cijiong, Prince Ai of Ding Zhu Cizhao, Prince Dao of Yong Zhu Cihuan, Prince Ling of Ding Zhu Cican, Prince Huai of Dao Prince Liang of Dao Princess Kunyi Zhu Meicuo, Princess Changping Princess Zhaoren
Full name
Family name: Zhu (朱; Chu in Wade-Giles spelling) Given name:Youjian (由檢; Yu-chien in Wade-Giles spelling)
Era name and dates
Chongzhen (崇禎; Chung-chen in Wade-Giles spelling): 5 February 1628 – 25 April 1644
Posthumous name
Emperor Zhaotian Yidao Gangming Kejian Kuiwen Fenwu Dunren Maoxiao Lie(martyr, staunch) 紹天繹道剛明恪儉揆文奮武敦仁懋孝烈皇帝
Temple name
Ming Sizong (Szu-tsung in Wade-Giles spelling) 明思宗
House	House of Zhu
Father	Taichang Emperor
Mother	Empress Dowager Xiao Chun
Born	(1611-01-06)6 January 1611
Died	25 April 1644(1644-04-25) (aged 33) Jingshan Hill, Beijing
Burial	Ming Dynasty Tombs, Beijing

The Chongzhen Emperor (Wade-Giles: Chung-chen Emperor; simplified Chinese: 崇祯; traditional Chinese: 崇禎; pinyin: Chóngzhēn; old spelling: Ch'ung-cheng) (6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644) was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".

Early years

Born Zhu Youjian (Wade-Giles: Chu Yu-chien; Chinese: 朱由檢), Chongzhen was the fifth son of Zhu Changluo, the Taichang Emperor. His mother Lady Liu was a humble concubine of the Taichang Emperor. When he was four years old, she was killed by Zhu Changluo for unknown reasons. She was buried secretly, and Zhu Youjian was adopted by Consort Kang, some years later transferred to Consort Zhuang, as Consort Kang gave birth to another princess and adopted Zhu Youxiao as well.

As such, he grew up in a relatively lonely but quiet environment, since most of the younger sons were left out of the power struggle that their elder brother the Tianqi Emperor had to endure. Chongzhen succeeded his brother to the throne at age 17 and immediately eliminated the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and Madame Ke, who had become de facto rulers of the empire.

Chongzhen tried to rule by himself and did his best to salvage the dynasty. However, years of internal corruption and an empty treasury made it almost impossible to find capable ministers to fill important government posts. Chongzhen also tended to be suspicious of the few skilled subordinates he did have, executing the famous general Yuan Chonghuan, who had almost single-handedly maintained the northern frontier against the Manchus, in 1630.

Fall of the Ming Dynasty

Chongzhen killing his daughter, before hanging himself. (Drawing by a European artist for Martino Martini's De bello tartarico)

The collapse of the Ming intensified during Chongzhen's reign. Popular uprisings broke out throughout China, including those of Zhang Xianzhong and the more important Li Zicheng. These could not be put down by the already hard-pressed Ming armies, who had to contend with the Manchu threat to the north.

In April 1644, Li prepared to take the Ming capital of Beijing. Rather than face capture, humiliation and probable execution at the hands of the newly-proclaimed Shun Dynasty, Chongzhen arranged a feast and gathered all members of the imperial household aside from his sons. Crying "Why must you be born into my family?" (汝何故生我家！), he killed them with his sword. All died except his second daughter, 16-year-old Princess Chang Ping, whose attempt to block the sword blow resulted in her left arm being severed by her father. Then, still wearing his imperial attire, Chongzhen fled to Jingshan Hill behind the palace and committed suicide when he hanged himself from a tree, leaving behind a death note on his robe:

“

I am insufficient in virtues and weak in conducts, hence the heavenly punishment, and the ministers also failed me. Having no dignity to face my ancestors, I would undress my crown and cover my face with hair. Mutilate my body as you wish, but do not harm a single civilian. (朕涼德藐躬，上干天咎，然皆諸臣誤朕。朕死無面目見祖宗，自去冠冕，以髮覆面。任賊分裂，勿傷百姓一人)

”

Guilty Scholar tree – Replica of the tree from which Chongzhen hanged himself in April 1644

Contrary to the popular belief that Chongzhen spent his final hours with only an eunuch Wang Cheng'en (王承恩) remaining loyal by his side, dozens of high-level government officials and over 700 households of imperial scholars committed suicide after the capital's fall as a statement of their loyalty to Chongzhen. Over a thousand palace eunuchs died in combat in a desperate attempt to defend the Palace against the rebel forces, and over 300 imperial maids committed suicide upon learning of the Emperor's death.

Li Zicheng's comment on Chongzhen is that "This Emperor was not a bad one, but he was alienated by the many hideous subordinates. The ministers were busy with self-interests and factionalism, and there were few loyal ones remaining" (君非甚闇，孤立而煬灶恆多；臣盡行私，比黨而公忠絕少). He ordered the dead emperor and his wife to be buried together into his concubine Consort Tian's tomb. The tomb was later called Siling of the Ming Dynasty Tombs.

The Manchus were quick to exploit the death of Chongzhen, claiming to "avenge the Emperor" to rally support from loyalist Ming forces and civilians. The Shun Dynasty lasted less than a year with Li's defeat at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, with the victorious Manchus establishing the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty as ruler of all China.

After Chongzhen's death, loyalist forces had proclaimed a Southern Ming Dynasty in Nanjing, naming Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu as the Hongguang Emperor. However, in 1645 Qing armies started to move against the Ming remnants. The Southern Ming, again bogged down by factional infighting, was unable to hold back the Manchu onslaught, and Nanjing surrendered on 8 June 1645. Zhu was captured on 15 June and brought to Beijing, where he died the following year. The dwindling Southern Ming were continually pushed farther south, and the last Emperor of the Southern Ming, Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui, was finally executed in Burma in 1662 by Wu Sangui, who was now a high-profile defector and served as general of Qing army's vanguard.

Legacy and personality

While Chongzhen was not especially incompetent by the standards of the later Ming, he nevertheless sealed the fate of the Ming dynasty. He did his best to save the dynasty. Despite a reputation for hard work, Chongzhen's paranoia, impatience, stubbornness and lack of regard for the plight of his people doomed his crumbling empire. Chongzhen's attempts at reform did not take into account the considerable decline of Ming power, which was already far advanced at the time of his accession. Over the course of his 17 year reign, Chongzhen executed 7 military governors, 11 regional commanders, replaced his minister of defense 14 times, and appointed an unprecedented 50 ministers to the Grand Secretariat (equivalent to the cabinet and prime minister). Even though the Ming Dynasty still possessed capable commanders and skilled politicians in its dying years, Chongzhen's impatience and paranoid personality prevented any of them from enacting any real plan to salvage a perilous situation.

In particular, Chongzhen's execution of Yuan Chonghuan on extremely flimsy grounds was regarded as the decisively fatal blow. At the time of his death, Yuan was supreme commander of all Ming forces in the northeast, and had just rushed from the borders to defend the capital against a surprise Manchurian invasion. For much of the preceding decade, Yuan had served as the Ming Empire's bulwark in the north, where he was responsible for securing Ming borders at a time when the Empire was suffering humiliating defeat after defeat. His unjust death destroyed Ming military morale and removed one of the greatest obstacles to the eventual Manchurian conquest of China.

Personal information

His father was the Taichang Emperor. His mother was Liu Shunu (淑女劉氏) (d. 1615), concubine of the Taichang Emperor, daughter of Liu Yingyuan, Duke of Ying (瀛國公劉應元) and Lady Xu (徐媪), posthumously honored as Empress Dowager Xiao Chun (孝純太后)

Consorts

Formal Title	Maiden Name	Born	Died	Father	Mother	Issue	Notes
Empress Xiao Jie 孝节皇后	Family name: Zhou (周)	Suzhou, Jiangsu Province	18 March 1644	Zhou Kui 嘉定侯周奎	–	Zhu Cilang, Crown Prince Xianmin Princess Kunyi Zhu Cixuan, Prince Yin of Huai Zhu Cijiong, Prince Ai of Ding
Noble Consort Yuan 袁貴妃	Family name: Yuan (袁)	–	1644	Yuan You (袁祐)	–	Princess Zhaoren
Noble Consort Gong Shu 恭淑貴妃	Family name: Tian (田) Given name: Xiuying (秀英)	Shaanxi Province	1642	Tian Hongyu 田弘遇	–	Zhu Cizhao, Prince Dao of Yong Zhu Cihuan, Prince Ling of Dao Zhu Cican, Prince Huai of Dao Prince Liang of Dao
Consort Shun 順妃	Family name: Wang (王)	–	1629	–	–	Zhu Meicuo, Princess Pingchang
Consort Shen 沈妃	Family name: Shen (沈)	–	–	–	–	–
Consort Wang 王妃	Family name: Wang (王)	–	–	–	–	–	Different from the below
Consort Wang 王妃	Family name: Wang (王)	–	–	–	–	–	Different from the above
Consort Liu 劉妃	Family name: Liu (劉)	–	–	–	–	–
Consort Fang 方妃	Family name: Fang (方)	–	–	–	–	–

Sons

Number	Name	Formal Title	Born	Died	Mother	Spouse	Issue	Notes
1	Zhu Cilang 朱慈烺	Crown Prince Xianmin 獻愍太子	26 February 1629	1644 Ning Jia Wan, Shaanxi Province	Empress Zhuang Lie Min	Lady Ning (daughter of Ning Hong (寧浤))	none	Created Crown Prince in 1630
2	Zhu Cixuan 朱慈烜	Prince Yin of Huai 懷隱王	15 January 1630	15 March 1630	Empress Zhuang Lie Min	none	none	Created Prince of Huai
3	Zhu Cijiong 朱慈炯	Prince Ai of Ding 定哀王	1631	unknown	Empress Zhuang Lie Min	–	–	Created Prince Ding in 1643; posthumously demoted to Duke An of Ding (定安公) under the Shun Dynasty; title of Prince of Ding restored under the Southern Ming Dynasty
4	Zhu Cizhao 朱慈炤	Prince Dao of Yong 永悼王	unknown	unknown	Consort Gong Shu	–	–	Created Prince of Yong in April 1642; Granted the posthumous name "Dao" (悼) under the Southern Ming Dynasty
5	Zhu Cihuan 朱慈煥	Prince Ling of Dao 悼靈王	1633	1708	Consort Gong Shu	Lady Hu 胡氏	Zhu Heshen (朱和兟) son Zhu Heren (朱和壬) Zhu Hezai (朱和在) Zhu Hekun (朱和堃) three daughters
6	Zhu Cican 朱慈燦	Prince Huai of Dao 悼懷王	1637	5 May 1639	Consort Gong Shu	none	none
7	none	Prince Liang of Dao 悼良王	unknown	unknown	Consort Gong Shu	none	none	Died at the age of three

Daughters

Number	Title	Name	Born	Died	Date Married	Spouse	Issue	Mother	Notes
1	Princess Kunyi 坤儀公主	Family name: Zhu (朱) (personal name unknown)	1630	unknown	none	none	none	Empress Zhuang Lie Min	Died young
2	Princess Changping 長平公主	Family name: Zhu (朱) Given name: Meicuo (朱媺娖)	1629	26 September 1646	1645	Zhou Xian 周顯	–	Consort Shun
3	Princess Zhaoren 昭仁公主	Family name: Zhu (朱) (personal name unknown)	1639	1644	none	none	none	Consort Yuan	Was killed by her father along with other members of the imperial household when Li Zicheng invaded the Ming capital of Beijing

Notes

•  This article incorporates text from China and the Manchus, by Herbert Allen Giles, a publication from 1912 now in the public domain in the United States.

References

• Chao, Zhongchen (2000). Chongzhen zhuan (崇禎傳) ISBN 957-05-1612-7

Chongzhen Emperor House of Zhu Born: 6 February 1611 Died: 25 April 1644
Regnal titles
Preceded by The Tianqi Emperor	Emperor of the Ming Dynasty 1627–1644	Succeeded by The Hongguang Emperor
	Emperor of China 1627–1644	Succeeded by The Shunzhi Emperor