Zhu Youyuan (21 July 1476 – 13 July 1519) was a prince of the Ming dynasty of China. He was the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor and the father of the Jiajing Emperor.
Although Zhu Youyuan never reigned as emperor during his lifetime, the Jiajing Emperor posthumously elevated his father to imperial status after ascending the throne, despite opposition from several court officials. The dispute became known as the Great Rites Controversy. In 1538, the Jiajing Emperor granted his father the temple name Ruizong and the posthumous name Emperor Xian.
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Biography
Zhu Youyuan was born on 21 July 1476 as the fourth son of the Chenghua Emperor, the ninth emperor of China's Ming dynasty. His mother, Lady Shao, was one of the Emperor's concubines. The Emperor's two eldest sons died early, and his third son Zhu Youcheng succeeded him as the Hongzhi Emperor. When the Hongzhi Emperor ascended the throne in 1487, he gave Zhu Youyuan the title Prince of Xing (興王).
In 1492, Zhu Youyuan married Lady Jiang, the daughter of an officer of the imperial guard. From 1494, he resided in his estate in Anlu near Zhongxiang, which is now part of Jingmen in Hubei Province. He was a learned and cultured man with an interest in poetry and calligraphy. Zhu Youyuan died on 13 July 1519 and was succeeded by his younger son, Zhu Houcong. He was given the posthumous name of Prince Xian of Xing (興獻王), and buried in the Songlin Mountain, Zhongxiang.
Posthumous elevation
In 1521, the Zhengde Emperor, son and successor of the Hongzhi Emperor, died without an heir. As the late emperor's closest male relative, Zhu Houcong ascended the throne as the Jiajing Emperor. Soon afterward, a major political dispute known as the Great Rites Controversy emerged between the new emperor and court officials led by Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe. For three years, the central issue concerned the posthumous status of Zhu Youyuan. Despite persistent opposition from the bureaucracy, the Jiajing Emperor remained determined to have his father recognized as an emperor. After prolonged political conflict, he crushed his opponents in 1524 and formally honored Zhu Youyuan as both his father and an imperial predecessor, thereby establishing a new imperial line that endured until the fall of the dynasty in 1644.
In 1522, the Emperor first granted his father the title "Emperor Xingxian". Two years later, he further elevated Zhu Youyuan with the honorific title "Emperor Bensheng Huangkao Gongmu Xian", constructed the Guande Hall for his worship, and accorded him sacrificial rites equivalent to those of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, while his tomb was renamed the Xian Mausoleum. In 1528, his posthumous title was expanded to "Emperor Gongrui Yuanren Kuanmu Chuansheng Xian". The process culminated in 1538, when the Jiajing Emperor bestowed upon him the title "Emperor Zhitian Shoudao Hongde Yuanren Kuanmu Chunsheng Gongjian Jinwen Xian", granted him the temple name Ruizong, and placed his spirit tablet in the Imperial Ancestral Temple above that of the Zhengde Emperor.
Under the Wanli Emperor and Tianqi Emperor, officials repeatedly petitioned for Zhu Youyuan's spirit tablet to be removed from the main ancestral temple and transferred to a secondary sacrificial hall, but these requests were consistently rejected.
Family
Empress Cixiaoxian (慈孝獻皇后) of the Jiang clan (蔣氏; d. 1538)
Zhu Houxi (朱厚熙), Prince Huai of Yue (岳懷王), first son
Princess Changning (長寧公主), first daughter
Zhu Houcong (朱厚熜), the Jiajing Emperor (嘉靖帝; 1507–1567), second son
Princess Yongchun (永淳公主; d. 14 April 1540), fourth daughter. According to Wanli yehuo bian (萬曆野獲編) and Veritable Records of Shizong, she was the daughter of Prince Xian of Xing, but the History of Ming mistakenly recorded her as the daughter of the Hongzhi Emperor. Married in 1527 to Xie Zhao (謝詔).
Consort Wenjingshu (溫靜淑妃) of the Wang clan (王氏; d. 1532)
Princess Shanhua (善化公主), second daughter
Unknown
Princess Yongfu (永福公主; d. 20 June 1525), third daughter. According to Wanli yehuo bian (萬曆野獲編) and Veritable Records of Shizong, she was the daughter of Prince Xian of Xing, but the History of Ming mistakenly recorded her as the daughter of the Hongzhi Emperor. Married in 1523 to Wu Jinghe (鄔景和).