Talk:Yongle Emperor

Commentary

• "After Su's death in 1385, Fu Youde, Xu's deputy, took over leadership." Do you mean Xu Da rather than Su?
  • Done.
• "Zhu Di attempted to present himself as the Hongwu Emperor's legitimate successor by declaring himself and the Hongwu Emperor's fifth son, Zhu Su, as the only sons of Empress Ma in the 1403 edition of the official Veritable Records of Emperor Taizu." Can you briefly explain this decision in terms of the Ming succession law?
  • A note has been added.
• "Zhu Di did not have a good relationship with Lan Yu, and according to historian Wang Shizhen (王世貞; 1526–1590), he was responsible for Lan's execution in March 1393." Does the source Tsai (2002), pp. 50–52, explain Zhu Di's involvement in the Lan Yu execution?
  • Earlier in 1388, after suppressing the Uriyangqad Mongols in Manchuria, Lan Yu presented several rare steeds to the Prince of Yan, but the prince deftly turned him down by saying, “The booty horses have not yet been presented to the emperor. If I receive them first, how can I claim that I respect my lord and my father?” Lan Yu later penetrated into northern Mongolia without disaster, and that won him a dukedom but also led him to become increasingly arrogant and flippant in his conduct. As the Prince of Yan mused about the inevitable power struggle, Lan Yu suddenly became his biggest obstacle. It is very likely that it was upon the recommendation of the Prince of Yan that Emperor Hongwu sicced his spies on such veteran generals as Lan Yu, Feng Sheng, and Fu Youde. According to Wang Shizhen (1526–90), a prominent Ming scholar and a doctoral degree holder of 1547, the Prince of Yan was chiefly responsible for the execution of Lan Yu, on charge of treason, on March 22, 1393. Tsai (2002), pp. 51–52
• "During the clashes, the palace was set on fire, resulting in the deaths of the emperor, his empress, and his son." Does the source Chan (1988), p. 201 state as a definitive fact the Jianwen Emperor died in the fire?
  • During the melee that followed the arrival of the prince's armies, theimperial palace compound inside the Nanking city walls was set ablaze.When the fire subsided, several badly burned bodies were produced anddeclared to be those of the emperor, his wife empress Ma (married in1395), and his eldest son Chu Wen-k'uei (b. 1396). Chan (1988), p. 201
• "As a result, the atomization of administration that was characteristic of the Hongwu Emperor's rule diminished, allowing the emperor to focus less on routine details." Please clarify by giving a brief comparison of the Hongwu style of administration with Yongle's form of governance.
  • A note has been added.
• "The emperor restored the titles of the princes of Zhou, Qi, and Min, which had been abolished by the Jianwen Emperor, but these titles did not come with the same power and authority as before." Does the source go into the specific powers these three princes had held under the previous reigns?
  • It is obvious that in order to begin with a clean slate and to concentrate all power in his own hands, the new emperor wanted to wipe out the old princely guard units one by one. He realized that he needed to first eliminate the most politically volatile elements by transferring many of the northern princedoms to central and south China. As a result, the Prince of Gu (Zhu Hui) was transferred from Xuanfu to Changsha, the Prince of Ning (Zhu Quan) from Daning to Nanchang, and so on. For a while he allowed the Prince of Dai (Zhu Gui) to stay at Datong, the Prince of Liao (Zhu Zhi) at Liaodong, and the Prince of Shu (Zhu Chun, 1371-1423) at Chengdu, but later on Yongle took away their troop commands altogether. And in spite of the fact that he restored the titles and properties to the Prince of Zhou (Zhu Su), the Prince of Qi (Zhu Fu), and the Prince of Min (Zhu Bian), they became essentially ornamental symbols with ceremonial functions as Yongle brought the princely establishments firmly under his personal control. Tsai (2002), p. 76
• "During the latter half of his reign, the Yongle Emperor accused many of these princes of committing crimes and punished them by removing their personal guards." Can you give an example?
  • The emperor's desire to eliminate the princely guards is readily understandable: under the enfeoffment system set up during the Hung-wu reign, the imperial princes had had far-reaching power. The Yung-lo emperor had used this power to build up his own armies, and that experience led him to disband the princely guards and to remove his own sons from military commands. Both his eldest son and his second son had taken part in campaigns during the civil war. However, after he ascended the throne, he made his eldest son regent while he was away on military campaigns; his second son was arrested in 1417 for scheming against his elder brother. At the same time, just as the Chien-wen emperor had done, the Yung-lo emperor also felt compelled to cut back the power of the remaining imperial princes, who were his own brothers; many were purged on criminal charges and their guard units disbanded. Therefore, by the end of his reign, only four of the original thirty princely guard units created by the Hung-wu emperor survived intact. Chan (1988), p. 245
• "Grand Secretary Xie Jin disagreed and argued that Zhu Gaochi would win the hearts of the people with his humanity." Does the source also mention any arguments based on Zhu Gaochi being the eldest son?
  • But before making his critical decision, Yongle secretly sought Xie Jin’s advice. Xie said, “Your eldest son is noted for both his humanity and filial piety and has won the heart of the whole world.” While Yongle remained silent, Xie added, “Moreover, you have a splendid grandson to succeed your eldest son.” Xie was referring to Gaozhi’s six-year-old son, Zhu Zhanji, the future fifth Ming Emperor Xuande (r. 1426–35), who was Yongle’s favorite grandson. Yongle finally nodded his head and the difficult decision was made. Tsai (2002), p. 98
• "One significant and permanent step taken during this time was the relocation of a large portion of the army to the Beijing area. As the capital moved to Beijing, the majority of the 41 guard units of the Nanjing garrison also made the move." How many soldiers were in a guard unit?
  • A note has been added.
• The paragraph beginning with "At the beginning of the Yongle Emperor's reign, the defense system on the northern border was reorganized", this paragraph proceeds as though the Great Wall had been established but mid-way reads that "the Great Wall had not yet been built." Could you clarify when building on the Great Wall began and was completed?
  • The secondline was closer to Beijing along the Great Wall line (although the Wallhad not yet been built) and was mostly for defensive purpose. Wang (2011), p. 116
• "In an effort to incorporate countries from around the world into the tributary system of subordination to the Ming dynasty, the emperor utilized a combination of military force, diplomatic contacts, trade exchange, and the spread of Chinese culture." It would be helpful to provide a few sentences explaining how the Chinese tributary system functioned.
  • A note has been added.
• "In Tibet, the Hongwu Emperor did not establish contacts with the kings of the Phagmodrupa dynasty, but instead with the Karmapa, who ruled southeastern Tibet (Kham), which was adjacent to China." Does the source give any indication of why the Hongwu Emperor did not try to establish a relationship with the Phagmodrupa kings? Was Hongwu a devoted Buddhist?
  • At the time the Ming came to power, religious rivalries between the monastic orders in Tibet frequently led to open warfare; there was a deep split between religious and political authority. It is by no means clear how much of this was understood in Nanking. The first emperor is said to have been anxious to prevent a recurrence of the sort of trouble with the Tibetans that had happened in T'ang times. He did not, however, establish contacts with the Phag-mo-gru-pa kings, but with the Karma-pa abbots who controlled much of the nearer Kham region and southeastern Tibet. The emperor sent an envoy asking the former holders of office under the Yuan to come to Nanking for reinvestiture, and the first mission arrived in the winter of 1372—73. The head of the order at that time was the fourth Black Hat reincarnation of Rol-pa'i-rdo-rje (1340-83), who had been at the Yuan court from 1359 to 1363. He himself never accepted the emperor's invitation to Nanking, but he sent envoys until shortly before his death. Chan (1988), p. 262
• "Ming officials saw the high cost of equipping the fleet as a way for the eunuchs to gain disproportionate power." Can you write a few sentences about the conflict between officials and eunuchs at the Ming court?

Векочел (talk) 16:18, 5 July 2025 (UTC)

Min968, I am satisfied with your work on this article and will pass it. Векочел (talk) 21:32, 6 July 2025 (UTC)