| Zhu Quan 朱權 | |||||||||
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| Prince of Ning | |||||||||
| Reign | 1391–1448 | ||||||||
| Successor | Zhu Dianpei, Prince Jing | ||||||||
| Born | 1378 | ||||||||
| Died | 1448(1448-00-00) (aged 69–70) | ||||||||
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| Father | Hongwu Emperor | ||||||||
| Mother | Imperial Concubine Yang | ||||||||
| Occupation | Historian, military commander, musician, playwright | ||||||||
Zhu Quan (simplified Chinese:朱权;traditional Chinese:朱權;pinyin:Zhū Quán; 1378–1448[1]), thePrince of Ning (simplified Chinese:宁王; traditional Chinese:寧王; pinyin:Nìngwáng), was a Chinese historian, military commander, musician, and playwright. He was the 17th son of theHongwu Emperor of theMing dynasty. During his life, he served as amilitary commander,feudal lord,historian, andplaywright. He is also remembered as a great tea connoisseur, azither player, andcomposer.
In addition to Prince of Ning, Zhu Quan was also known as theStrange Scholar of the Great Ming (大明奇士,Da Ming Qi Shi). As part of hisTaoist attempts to avoid death, he adopted thealiases theEmaciated Immortal (臞仙,Qúxiān), the "Master who Encompasses Emptiness" (涵虚子,Hánxūzi), "Taoist of the Mysterious Continent" or "Taoist of the Mysterious Island" (玄洲道人,Xuánzhōu Dàoren), and "Perfected Gentleman of the Marvelous Way of the Unfathomable Emptiness of the Southern Pole" (南极沖虚妙道真君,Nánjí Chōngxū Miàodào Zhēnjūn).[2]
Zhu Quan was initially a military commander in service to his father, theHongwu Emperor who founded theMing dynasty. He was granted the frontier fief ofNing with his capital atDaning in present-dayChifeng,Inner Mongolia in 1391. He was famous for his mastery of art and war and played an important role during the unrest surrounding the ascension of his teenage nephew,Jianwen Emperor, in 1399.
Under the advice of hisConfucian advisors, the Jianwen Emperor summoned his uncle to an audience in the imperial capitalNanjing. Wary of the emperor's intentions, as other uncles were demoted or executed the same year, Zhu Quan refused and lost three of his divisions for insubordination.[3]
Zhu Di, thePrince of Yan, was preparing forhis own uprising against the emperor and considered it a major point to neutralize Zhu Quan, a talented leader of well-trained troops located behind his lines. Taking advantage ofWu Gao's attack onYongping near modernShanhaiguan, the Prince of Yan – after crushing Wu Gao's force – rode hastily to Daning and feigned defeat and distress. After several days, his forces were in position and successfully captured Zhu Quan as he was seeing his brother off. The official history of the Ming records Daning's evacuation, with Zhu Quan's harem and courtiers removed toSongtingguan and the prince himself kept in the Yan capital atBeiping,[3] but passes over Zhu Di's setting of the entire city to the torch and the destruction of Zhu Quan's extensive library.[2]
From that point, Zhu Quan assisted his brother in his uprising, with theHistory of Ming recording that the Prince of Yan offered to split the entire empire between them. After his elevation as theYongle Emperor in 1402, however, he swiftly reneged and refused to appoint his brother to lordship overSuzhou orQiantang, instead giving him a choice only of backwater appointments. He settled uponNanchang, the capital ofJiangxi. After a scare where he was accused of practicingwugu sorcery,[4] Zhu Quan essentially retired from any interference with the realm, devoting his time instead to cultural pursuits.[3]
Meeting daily with local or visiting scholars ang Taoists, hepursued immortality. He treasured and revised hisSecret Book of Origins (原始秘书,Yuánshǐ Mìshū), a text which survived the fire of Daning and sharply attackedBuddhism as a foreign "mourning cult" at odds with Chinese culture and proper governance. His encyclopedia ofTaoism, theMost Pure and Precious Books on the Way of August Heaven (天皇至道太清玉册,Tiānhuáng Zhìdào Tàiqīngyù Cè), was so esteemed it joined theTaoist canon.[2] His brother ordered him to complete theComprehensive Mirror of Extensive Essays (Tongjian Bolun) and was also credited with writingFamily Advice (Jia Xun),Ceremonial Customs of the Country of Ning (Ningguo Yifan),The Secret History of the Han and Tang (汉唐秘史,Hàn-Táng Mìshǐ),History Breaks Off (Shi Duan), aBook of Essays (文谱,Wén Pǔ), aBook of Poetry (诗谱,Shī Pǔ), and several other annotated anthologies.[3] His most successful was hisTea Manual (茶谱,Chá Pǔ). In addition, he personally funded the publication of many rare books and composed several operas.
Zhu Quan is an important figure in the history of the Chinese zither, orguqin, for his compilation of the importantManual of the Mysterious and Marvellous (神奇秘谱,Shénqí Mì Pǔ) in 1425. This is the earliest known large scale collection of qin scores to have survived to the present day.
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Zhu Quan's descendant,Zhu Chenhao, the Prince of Ning, rebelled against theZhengde Emperor in what is known as theChenhao rebellion. It was only forty-three days before it was put down byWang Yangming, the Governor of Nan'gan, resulting in the abolition of the Prince of Ning's fiefdom. The famous painterBada Shanren was his seventh-generation grandson, and Lin Shiyi (林時益), one of Yitang Jiuzi (易堂九子), was his eighth-generation grandson.
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