#239 - Ming 26: Red Lead Prescription

The Jianwen Emperor plays shell-games with his dad's spirit tablet, decides Confucius has had it too good for too long, gets gross in his pursuit for immortality, and tries breath-play with his concubines... oh yes, and fire. So, so much fire. Time Period Covered: ca. 1524-1547 CE Major Historical Figures: The Jiajing Emperor (Zhu Houcong) [r. 1521-1567] Empress Dowager Zhang [r. 1505-1541] Empress Chen [r. 1522-1528] Empress Zhang [r. 1529-1534] Empress Fang [r. 1534-1547] Confucius [551-479 BCE] Minister Xia Yan Minister Huo Tao Major Sources Cited: Works Cited: Geiss, James. “The Chia-ching reign, 1522-1566,” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I. Huang, Weibo. “The palace rebellion of ‘Renyin’ and the Jiajing Emperor’s belief in alchemy” in Xiang Chao. McMahon, Keith. Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing. Zhang, Tingyu. History of Ming, Vol. 114, Historical Biography 2, Empresses and Concubines 2. Zhang, Yongchang. “The ‘Renyin’ palace rebellion: palace women sacrifice themselves” in Quanzhou Wenxue.