Tianqi Emperor

• Reign: 1620-1627
• Other Names: Xizong

The Tianqi Emperor was the sixteenth (and penultimate) emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He is said to have spent most of his leisure time building and lacquering furniture, and to have never taken the time to learn to write.

His reign saw the continued rise of factionalism at court, continuing from the time of the Wanli Emperor, as well as the rise of the power of the palace eunuchs. Wei Zhongxian (1568-1627), perhaps the most (in)famous of influential palace eunuchs, seized power at this time, controlling court politics, and engineering the deaths of many of his political opponents, including many scholars of the Donglin Academy.

Preceded by Taichang Emperor

Emperor of Ming 1620-1627

Succeeded by Chongzhen Emperor

References

• Conrad Schirokauer, et al, A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations, Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 265.