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Created page with "*''Died: 1424'' *''Reign: 1402-1424'' *''Other Names'': 朱棣 ''(Zhu Di)'' *''Chinese/Japanese'': 永楽帝 ''(Yongle-di / Eiraku-tei)'' The Yongle Emperor was t..."
*''Died: [[1424]]''
*''Reign: [[1402]]-1424''
*''Other Names'': [[朱]]棣 ''(Zhu Di)''
*''Chinese/Japanese'': 永楽帝 ''(Yongle-di / Eiraku-tei)''
The Yongle Emperor was the third emperor of China's [[Ming Dynasty]]. His reign saw considerable developments in economics, foreign relations, and public works, including [[kango boeki|tally trade]] relations with the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] for a brief time, the first of the famous voyages of Admiral [[Zheng He]], and the last change of capital in the Imperial period.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Ming founder, the [[Hongwu Emperor]], and uncle to Hongwu's successor, the [[Jianwen Emperor]]. Following the death of Hongwu in [[1398]], and the ascension of Jianwen to the throne, Zhu Di sought to seize power for himself, succeeding in [[1402]] with an attack on the imperial palace at [[Nanjing]], which was set aflame. The Jianwen Emperor was believed killed in the fire, and his uncle, Zhu Di, then declared himself emperor, taking the reign name Yongle. Early in his reign, however, Yongle sent missions periodically to search for the Jianwen Emperor, who it was believed might have survived the attack and escaped; these missions were then, if they found him, to kill him, securing Yongle's claim to the throne. Some scholars have suggested that searching for Jianwen may have been a secondary or ulterior motive for Yongle's launching of [[Zheng He]]'s famous voyages across the entire Indian Ocean region.
Immediately after claiming the throne, Yongle officially named [[Beijing]] the new capital of the empire; ruling in Nanjing after having set fire to that palace was profoundly troublesome for his efforts to build a sense of legitimacy. He was not, however, able to actually relocate the Court and government to Beijing until [[1420]], after a major public works project repaired and reconstructed the [[Great Canal]]. For a time, Ming tax revenues had been shipped by sea, but ''[[wako|wakô]]'' ("Japanese" pirates) attacks were making this increasingly unsafe. Once the Imperial Court, along with the army and numerous associated individuals and families, relocated to Beijing, the city grew to become, quite likely, the largest city in the world.<ref>Hansen (p377) gives the figure of 2 million residents, but this seems difficult to believe, given that other sources indicate that Beijing and [[Edo]] were roughly tied for largest city in the world at roughly 1 to 1.5 million people in the mid-18th to early 19th centuries, hundreds of years later.<br>Yokohari, Makoto. "Agro-activities in the Fringe of Asian Mega-Cities." Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences, University of Tsukuba (2003), 1-2.<br>Nicholas Fiévé and Paul Waley, ''Japanese capitals in historical perspective: place, power and memory in Kyoto, Edo and Tokyo'', Psychology Press (2003), 100.<br>Other sources, speaking of the early Ming, give the city's population as reaching 1 million at that time. Lillian M. Li, Alison Dray-Novey, and Haili Kong, ''Beijing: From Imperial Capital to Olympic City'', Macmillan (2008), 27.</ref>
The ''[[Yongle Dadian]]'', the largest encyclopedia ever compiled, was commissioned by the Yongle Emperor in [[1407]]; roughly 2,000 literati were involved in its production.
Yongle continued formal [[tribute]]/[[kango boeki|tally]] trade relations with the [[Ashikaga shogunate]], established in [[1401]]-1402 under his predecessor, receiving ambassadors from [[Kyoto]] in [[1403]]; this 1403 mission marked the first time Japanese documents containing the phrases "your subject" and "King of Japan" were formally sent to a foreign court. This first initial phase of formal relations only lasted a few short years, however, as [[Ashikaga Yoshimochi]], following the death of his father [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]] in [[1408]], severed ties. The Yongle Emperor sent envoys to Shogun Yoshimochi several times, in [[1417]] and [[1419]], seeking to establish formal relations, but was rebuffed both times.
Still, the great number of coins minted during the Yongle reign which eventually flowed into Japan over the course of the 15th-16th centuries (and later) is attested by the continued use in Japan, as late as in the 19th century, of the character 「永」 - the ''Yong'' in ''Yongle tongbao'' (J: ''Eiraku tsûhô''), inscribed on the coins - to refer to copper coins in general.<ref>For example, an amount to be paid might be referenced or recorded in a document as 「永二〇〇文」 (''ei nihyaku mon''), meaning 200 ''[[currency|mon]]'', in copper.</ref>
The Yongle Emperor died in [[1424]], and was succeeded by the [[Hongxi Emperor]].
<center>
{| border="3" align="center"
|- align="center"
|width="35%"|Preceded by<br>'''[[Jianwen Emperor]]'''
|width="25%"|'''Emperor of [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]]<br>[[1402]]-[[1424]]'''
|width="35%"|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Hongxi Emperor]]'''
|}
</center>
==References==
*Valerie Hansen, ''The Open Empire'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 376-?.
<references/>
[[Category:Emperors]]
[[Category:Muromachi Period]]
*''Reign: [[1402]]-1424''
*''Other Names'': [[朱]]棣 ''(Zhu Di)''
*''Chinese/Japanese'': 永楽帝 ''(Yongle-di / Eiraku-tei)''
The Yongle Emperor was the third emperor of China's [[Ming Dynasty]]. His reign saw considerable developments in economics, foreign relations, and public works, including [[kango boeki|tally trade]] relations with the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] for a brief time, the first of the famous voyages of Admiral [[Zheng He]], and the last change of capital in the Imperial period.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Ming founder, the [[Hongwu Emperor]], and uncle to Hongwu's successor, the [[Jianwen Emperor]]. Following the death of Hongwu in [[1398]], and the ascension of Jianwen to the throne, Zhu Di sought to seize power for himself, succeeding in [[1402]] with an attack on the imperial palace at [[Nanjing]], which was set aflame. The Jianwen Emperor was believed killed in the fire, and his uncle, Zhu Di, then declared himself emperor, taking the reign name Yongle. Early in his reign, however, Yongle sent missions periodically to search for the Jianwen Emperor, who it was believed might have survived the attack and escaped; these missions were then, if they found him, to kill him, securing Yongle's claim to the throne. Some scholars have suggested that searching for Jianwen may have been a secondary or ulterior motive for Yongle's launching of [[Zheng He]]'s famous voyages across the entire Indian Ocean region.
Immediately after claiming the throne, Yongle officially named [[Beijing]] the new capital of the empire; ruling in Nanjing after having set fire to that palace was profoundly troublesome for his efforts to build a sense of legitimacy. He was not, however, able to actually relocate the Court and government to Beijing until [[1420]], after a major public works project repaired and reconstructed the [[Great Canal]]. For a time, Ming tax revenues had been shipped by sea, but ''[[wako|wakô]]'' ("Japanese" pirates) attacks were making this increasingly unsafe. Once the Imperial Court, along with the army and numerous associated individuals and families, relocated to Beijing, the city grew to become, quite likely, the largest city in the world.<ref>Hansen (p377) gives the figure of 2 million residents, but this seems difficult to believe, given that other sources indicate that Beijing and [[Edo]] were roughly tied for largest city in the world at roughly 1 to 1.5 million people in the mid-18th to early 19th centuries, hundreds of years later.<br>Yokohari, Makoto. "Agro-activities in the Fringe of Asian Mega-Cities." Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences, University of Tsukuba (2003), 1-2.<br>Nicholas Fiévé and Paul Waley, ''Japanese capitals in historical perspective: place, power and memory in Kyoto, Edo and Tokyo'', Psychology Press (2003), 100.<br>Other sources, speaking of the early Ming, give the city's population as reaching 1 million at that time. Lillian M. Li, Alison Dray-Novey, and Haili Kong, ''Beijing: From Imperial Capital to Olympic City'', Macmillan (2008), 27.</ref>
The ''[[Yongle Dadian]]'', the largest encyclopedia ever compiled, was commissioned by the Yongle Emperor in [[1407]]; roughly 2,000 literati were involved in its production.
Yongle continued formal [[tribute]]/[[kango boeki|tally]] trade relations with the [[Ashikaga shogunate]], established in [[1401]]-1402 under his predecessor, receiving ambassadors from [[Kyoto]] in [[1403]]; this 1403 mission marked the first time Japanese documents containing the phrases "your subject" and "King of Japan" were formally sent to a foreign court. This first initial phase of formal relations only lasted a few short years, however, as [[Ashikaga Yoshimochi]], following the death of his father [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]] in [[1408]], severed ties. The Yongle Emperor sent envoys to Shogun Yoshimochi several times, in [[1417]] and [[1419]], seeking to establish formal relations, but was rebuffed both times.
Still, the great number of coins minted during the Yongle reign which eventually flowed into Japan over the course of the 15th-16th centuries (and later) is attested by the continued use in Japan, as late as in the 19th century, of the character 「永」 - the ''Yong'' in ''Yongle tongbao'' (J: ''Eiraku tsûhô''), inscribed on the coins - to refer to copper coins in general.<ref>For example, an amount to be paid might be referenced or recorded in a document as 「永二〇〇文」 (''ei nihyaku mon''), meaning 200 ''[[currency|mon]]'', in copper.</ref>
The Yongle Emperor died in [[1424]], and was succeeded by the [[Hongxi Emperor]].
<center>
{| border="3" align="center"
|- align="center"
|width="35%"|Preceded by<br>'''[[Jianwen Emperor]]'''
|width="25%"|'''Emperor of [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]]<br>[[1402]]-[[1424]]'''
|width="35%"|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Hongxi Emperor]]'''
|}
</center>
==References==
*Valerie Hansen, ''The Open Empire'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 376-?.
<references/>
[[Category:Emperors]]
[[Category:Muromachi Period]]