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The Taichang Emperor〔Chinese emperors are commonly known by their era name, such as ''Taichang'' in this instance. This stemmed from the Chinese practice (up to the Republican era) of referring to the calendar year after the emperor's reign. However, because the Taichang Emperor's reign was so short, the Taichang era became lost between "48th year of the Wanli era" (1620) and "1st year of the Taichang era" (1621). Secondly, the reigning emperor's era name was usually inscribed on newly minted copper currency and as no coinage with Taichang era name was minted while the Taichang Emperor was alive. All Ming dynasty coins bearing the marking "Taichang" were minted during the reign of the Taichang Emperor's son, the Tianqi Emperor. Thus "Taichang" is also known as the "emperor without an era name", and commonly referred to by his temple name "Ming Guangzhong" (明光宗).〕 (; 28 August 1582 – 26 September 1620), personal name Zhu Changluo (), was the fourteenth emperor of the Ming dynasty of China. He was the eldest son of the Wanli Emperor and succeeded his father as emperor in 1620. However, his reign came to an abrupt end less than one month after his coronation when he was found dead one morning in the palace following a bout of diarrhoea. He was succeeded by his son, Zhu Youxiao, who was enthroned as the Tianqi Emperor. His era name, Taichang, means "grand prosperity". ==Early life== Zhu Changluo was born in 1582 – the 10th year of the Wanli era – to the Wanli Emperor and a palace attendant, Lady Wang, who served the Wanli Emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Li. After it was discovered that Lady Wang was pregnant, the Wanli Emperor awarded her the title "Consort Gong of the Second Grade" (恭妃).〔Apart from the empress, there were seven grades of consorts in the Ming palace system. These in their order of seniority were: Huang Guifei'' (皇贵妃), ''Guifei'' (贵妃), ''Bin'' (嫔), ''Guiren'' (贵人), ''Cairen'' (才人), ''Xuanshi'' (选侍), and ''Shunü'' (淑女), beneath which were palace attendants. "Lady Gong" in this case was a palace attendant elevated to the rank of a consort of the second (most senior) grade.〕 She was not one of the Wanli Emperor's favourite consorts though. After his birth, Zhu Changluo was largely ignored by his father even though he, as the firstborn son of the emperor, was entitled to be the heir apparent (crown prince) according to the Ming dynasty's law of succession.〔The Ming dynasty followed a strict patrilineal line of succession. Among the emperor's sons, those born to the empress were called ''dizi'' (嫡子) while those born to the emperor's other consorts were called ''shuzi'' (庶子). ''Dizi''s took precedence over ''shuzi''s in the line of succession; seniority according to age was considered only after the ''dizi''-''shuzi'' distinction was made. Although the Wanli Emperor's empress never bore a son, Zhu Changluo's position as the eldest among the emperor's sons and claim to the position of crown prince could be superseded if the empress gave birth to a son or if the emperor made Lady Zheng his empress.〕 Zhu Changluo spent most of his life as a hapless pawn in a power struggle for the title of crown prince. The Wanli Emperor openly preferred naming Zhu Changxun, his younger son born to his favourite consort Lady Zheng, as crown prince over the seniority of Zhu Changluo, but his intention was met with vehement opposition by most of his Confucian-educated ministers. Frustrated by the multiple petitions to instate Zhu Changluo as crown prince, the Wanli Emperor decided to stonewall the entire issue. Some historians have suggested that the impasse on the selection of crown prince was part of the cause of the Wanli Emperor's withdrawal from daily government administration. Caught in this political limbo, Zhu Changluo was deliberately not assigned a regular tutor nor given any systematic Confucian education even after he started school at the age of 13 — an unusually late age for Ming princes to begin their education. In 1601, the Wanli Emperor gave in to pressure from his ministers and more importantly from the empress dowager and a 19-year-old Zhu Changluo was formally instated as crown prince and heir apparent. However this formal recognition did not signal the end of court intrigues. Rumours of the Wanli Emperor's intention to replace Zhu Changluo with Zhu Changxun continued to surface through the years,〔"Ming Official Court History – The Chronicles of ''Taichang''" (明史·光宗本纪), documented two separate instances in the years 1603 and 1613, when pamphlets of unknown origins accusing Lady Zheng of plotting to remove the crown prince received widespread public circulation. Although several suspects were eventually apprehended, official investigations ordered by the Wanli Emperor never satisfactorily establish the culprits behind these pamphlets.〕 In 1615, the Ming imperial court was hit by a scandal. A man called Zhang Chai, armed with only a wooden staff, managed to drive away the eunuchs guarding the palace gates and break into Ciqing Palace, then the crown prince's living quarters. Zhang Chai was eventually subdued and thrown in prison. Initial investigation found him to be a lunatic, but upon further investigation by a magistrate named Wang Zhicai, Zhang Chai confessed to being party to a plot instigated by two eunuchs〔The two eunuchs were named Pang Bao, and Liu Cheng.〕 working under Lady Zheng. According to Zhang Chai's confession, the two eunuchs had promised him rewards for assaulting the crown prince – thus implicating Lady Zheng in an assassination plot. Presented with the incriminating evidence and the gravity of the accusations, the Wanli Emperor, in an attempt to spare Lady Zheng, personally presided over the case and laid the full blame on the two implicated eunuchs who were executed along with Zhang Chai. Although the case was quickly hushed up, it did not squelch public discussion and eventually became known as the "Case of the Palace Assault" (梃击案), one of three notorious mysteries〔The 'Three Mysteries of Late Ming' (明宫三案) referred to the Case of the Palace Assault (梃击案), the Case of the Red Pills (红丸案), and the Case of Palace Removal (移宫案).〕 of the late Ming dynasty. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Taichang Emperor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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