CHENG-TE Y CHIA-CHING (1547)

I.- CHENG-TE

Reign title of CHOU HOU-CHAO,
temple name WU TSUNG.

10th emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) during whose reign eunuchs achieved such power within the government that subsequent rulers proved unable to dislodge them.

Cheng-te ascended the throne in 1505.

Devoting himself entirely to pleasure-seeking, he relied on his eunuchs for information on the government.

Corruption became rampant, public offices were bought and sold, and excessive taxes were levied on the people. Because the eunuchs who dominated the goverrnment were for the most part northerners the southern provinces were without representation, and their situation was particularly bad.

Rebellions were frequent there, and large numbers of people turned to banditry. Finally in 1510, Cheng-te became aware of the corruption and ordered the execution pf the chief eunuch Liu Chin whose house was found to be piled with rare jewels, gold and silver.

But eunuchs still retained influential positions within the government, for the Emperor refused to devote himself to statecraft. Instead, he delighted inn travelling incognito throughout the country -on one ocasion he was nearly captured in a Mongol raid- and spending his time learning exotic languages. He mastered Tibetan, Mongol, and Manchu, and gave himself titles in these languages.

Hundreds of officials who criticized his eccentric behaviour were tortured, killed or demoted.

The young Emperor drowned when his pleasure boat capsized. He was succeeded on the throne by his cousin CHIA-CHING (reigned 1521-66).


II.- CHIA-CHING

11th emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) whose long reign (1521-66) added a degree of stability to the government but whose neglect of ifficial duties ushered in a era of misrule.

Notoriously cruel, he caused hundred of officials who had the temerity to disagree with him to be tortured, demoted or killed.

He spent much of his time and money, especially in his later years, patronizing Taoist alchemists in the hopes of finding an elixir to prolong his life.

The government was left in the hands of a few favourites who allowed the situation on China´s borders to deteriorate.

Mongol tribesmen under the leadership of Altan Khan (died 1583) raided the northwest frontier and several times even besieged the Chinese capital at Peking. Japanese pirates harassed trade along the coast, and rebellions in the southern provinces were frequent.