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*''Died: [[1521]]''
*''Died: [[1521]]''
*''Reign: [[1505]]-1521''
*''Reign: [[1505]]-1521''
*''Other Names: Wuzong''
*''Chinese'': 正德帝 ''(Zhèngdédì / Shoutoku tei)''
The Zhengde Emperor was the eleventh emperor of China's [[Ming Dynasty]].
The Zhengde Emperor was the eleventh emperor of China's [[Ming Dynasty]].
While previous emperors were obligated to a strict schedule of rituals and audiences every day, Zhengde was the first to manage to break free, absenting himself from the palace, and from the city, for extended periods, beginning in [[1517]], during which time government and administration carried on without him. The Confucian scholar-bureaucracy resisted this, insisting on the importance of the daily rituals and meetings, but Zhengde simply pushed them aside, in favor of [[eunuchs]] who were more amenable to his intentions.
While previous emperors were obligated to a strict schedule of rituals and audiences every day, Zhengde was the first to manage to break free, absenting himself from the palace, and from the city, for extended periods, beginning in [[1517]], during which time government and administration carried on without him. The Confucian scholar-bureaucracy resisted this, insisting on the importance of the daily rituals and meetings, but Zhengde simply pushed them aside, in favor of [[eunuchs]] who were more amenable to his intentions. The palace eunuchs, led by eight known as the emperor's "tigers," thus dominated government while the Zhengde Emperor entertained himself with sports, sex, parties, drinking, and so forth.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 248.</ref>
Zhengde died in [[1521]] without a direct heir; he was succeeded by a nephew, who took the throne as the [[Jiajing Emperor]]. This marked the first time in the Ming Dynasty that an emperor was not directly succeeded by his son.
Zhengde died in [[1521]] without a direct heir; he was succeeded by a nephew, who took the throne as the [[Jiajing Emperor]]. This marked the first time in the Ming Dynasty that an emperor was not directly succeeded by his son.
==References==
==References==
*Ray Huang, ''1587: A Year of No Significance'', Yale University Press (1981), 8.
*Ray Huang, ''1587: A Year of No Significance'', Yale University Press (1981), 8.
<references/>
[[Category:Emperors|Zhengde]]
[[Category:Emperors|Zhengde]]
[[Category:Sengoku Period]]
[[Category:Sengoku Period]]