#252 - Ming 37: The Donglin Debacle

The History of China

Chris Stewart

History

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

Great Ming's 15th emperor steps up to bat at the tender age of 15, but he's not terribly interested in tackling the challenges facing the empire. He'd rather sit in his room and... build models. As if that weren't enough, things go from already-bad to even-worse when a certain eunuch with a mountain of a chip on his shoulder manages to wrangle the reins of power from the teenage monarch. Time Period Covered: 1620-1627 CE Major Historical Figures: The Tianqi Emperor (Zhu Youjiao) [r. 1620-1627] Exalted Duke Wei Zhongxian [1568-1627] Madame Ke [1605-1627] Minister of War Cui Chengxiu [1571-1627] Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao [1559-1627] Minister Liu Zongzhou [1578-1645] Vice Censor-in-Chief Yang Lian [1572-1625] Xu Hengru, White Lotus rebel leader [d. 1623] The Chongzhen Emperor (Zhu Yujian) [r. 1627-1644] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an AirWave Media Podcast.
0:04.6	Hello and welcome to the history of China.
0:14.5	As our 252, the Donglin debacle.
0:22.3	Last time we finally finished off the longest rain era in the entire Ming Dynasty, the
0:27.0	48-year-long period of the Wanli Emperor.
0:29.9	We're buzzing through the by far shortest rain of the Ming, that of the Tai Chiang Emperor,
0:33.8	who managed to stay alive on a throne for a whopping two entire months.
0:37.9	As such, here we are today with the enthronement of the 15-year-old Zhu Yodiao, who will be
0:42.4	known as the Tian Qi Emperor and as the penultimate monarch of Great Ming.
0:47.6	The term that was chosen to define his period of rule, Tian Qi, meaning the opening of a
0:51.6	ruler's way by heaven, was selected from a passage of the dual commentary on the spring
0:55.9	and autumn annals, and came into effect on the first day of the Lunar New Year, January
1:00.1	22nd, 1621.
1:03.2	Historian William Atwell pulls no punches in his overview of this seven-year rain period.
1:07.5	Quote, the Tian Qi period was a disastrous one in Chinese history, and the Tian Qi Emperor
1:12.5	has acquired the worst reputation of the dynasty's rather undistinguished rulers.
1:17.2	One of his father's 16 children, only five of whom survived to maturity, the new Emperor
1:21.4	was physically weak, poorly educated, and perhaps mentally deficient.
1:26.2	Given the highly centralized nature of government during the late Imperial period, he clearly
1:29.9	was the type of ruler the state could ill afford in a time of crisis.
1:33.5	End quote.
1:34.5	And given both the continued stirrings of the monchews up in the north, the continued
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