After Empress Xu died, she was posthumously named "Renxiao". From then on, she was referred to as "Empress Renxiao" in all texts.
Emperor Yongle followed the funeral regulations of his biological mother, Empress Xiaoci, and gave her a grand funeral.
That month, Zhang Fu, Marquis of Xincheng, who led the dynasty's first military operation, the Annan Campaign, finally returned to the capital. He had won a great victory in May and captured Hu Jiti and his son alive. However, due to the long journey, the large number of captives he carried, as well as trophies such as elephants and artillery, and the attempts of Hu Jiti's former subordinates to attack the camp and rescue their leader, the journey was delayed and it took him two months to reach the capital.
When the army received the news of Empress Xu's death, all three armies wore mourning clothes to mourn for her.
On one hand, there was the heavy blow of the Queen's death, and on the other hand, there was the good news that the southern expeditionary army returned victoriously.
The first major victory since he ascended the throne was a turning point in the destiny and morale of the Ming Dynasty.
After four years of civil war during the Jingnan Campaign, the Ming Dynasty was severely damaged. Even a vassal state like Annan dared to deceive Emperor Yongle, the suzerain monarch, and defrauded Emperor Yongle of the letter of enthronement. This was a slap in the face and a great humiliation.
The Ming Dynasty needed a victory in a foreign war to reunite and integrate the Ming army, boost public morale, and enhance national prestige.
Therefore, Emperor Yongle suppressed his grief over the loss of his wife and held a grand ceremony of presenting captives and conferring rewards, awarding rewards according to merit. The one who made the greatest contribution was of course Concubine Zhang's brother, Xincheng Marquis Zhang Fu.
Zhang Fu was conferred the titles of loyal and devoted military minister for the revival of the heavens, the title of specially promoted Ronglu official, the title of Right Pillar of the State, and the title of Duke of Ying, with an annual salary of 3,000 dan and a hereditary imperial certificate; he was also given a crown and clothes, gold, silver, colorful silk, and banknotes.
The Zhang family thus obtained the hereditary title of Duke of Yingguo and became the most powerful upstart family in the capital.
After a great victory, some people, like Zhang Fu, become famous and become members of one of the top noble families in the capital, while others remain unknown, do not seek rewards, and just want to go home to see their wives and children after the battle.
Hu's house.
Empress Renxiao passed away and the palace was holding funeral arrangements. Hu Shanwei had just arrived and had just taken over, so he was a little busy. He would rush home to spend a night every three or five days, have dinner with A Lei, and go to bed. He would get up at four o'clock the next morning and go to the palace. He would wait outside the Xi'an Gate before dawn for the palace gate to open. He did not rest for a single day for the entire month.
During the national mourning period, women of the fourth rank and above in the capital went to the palace to mourn on the dates assigned by the Shangyi Bureau. The weather in July was terrible, with either the sun being so hot that it could make people sweat to death, or torrential rain that soaked people like drowned rats. It was simply a cycle of ice and fire.
When the Queen Mother passed away, even the wife of the Duke of Qian, Geng, who had been living in seclusion in a Buddhist temple, wore mourning clothes and went to the harem to mourn and cry bitterly.
This was the first time Hu Shanwei had seen Geng in five years. She was once the most glorious lady in the capital. Both her parents' and her husband's families were top wealthy families in the capital. When he saw Geng again, Hu Shanwei almost didn't recognize the white-haired, dying old woman in front of him. Who could believe that this woman who walked all the way from Xi'an Gate to the coffin where the coffin of Empress Renxiao was placed and almost suffocated was less than sixty years old
Mu Sheng, the Duke of Qian, was also a great contributor to the southern expedition, so he had to take good care of his mother. Hu Shanwei winked and asked the female official in charge of guiding the ladies to help Geng to the side hall to rest first, and wait until she recovered her strength before crying.
In order to prevent these delicate ladies from fainting from heatstroke, Hu Shanwei ordered the Shangshi Bureau to supply iced mung bean soup and sour plum soup.
The ladies of the imperial court had to hold back even when they went to the toilet, so who dared to drink? The first group of people were crying, and the second group was waiting to cry. Every rhythm was arranged, and breaking the rhythm was disrespectful and embarrassing.
Hu Shanwei asked the young palace maids to bring green bean soup and persuade them to eat, and said to these imperial ladies: "Mourning is not about the form, but about the sincerity of the heart. When Empress Renxiao was alive, she always cared about the livelihood of the people and sympathized with the people's strength. Ladies, you come to the palace to mourn and mourn Empress Renxiao. If Empress Renxiao knew about this, she probably wouldn't want you to stare at the scorching sun and cry here at the risk of heatstroke.
"The Imperial Food Bureau has prepared soups to help you get rid of the heat, which is also done in accordance with the good intentions of Empress Renxiao when she was alive. There are also palace maids in the side halls to help you change clothes, so ladies don't have to worry about the trouble."
What this means is that you can drink as much as you want, as there are plenty of toilets available.
Now that Lady Hu had spoken, all the ladies of the imperial court let go of their reserve, drank the iced soup brought by the palace maids, and then cried and mourned.
After all, she is the palace maid of three dynasties. Her words are more authoritative and more effective than anyone else's. If she says it's okay, then it's okay, so just drink it without worry.
Although the weather was bad, fortunately Hu Shanwei was meticulous and humane. Every day, all the ladies of the royal family came in one after another and lined up to mourn. The Zigong (the palace where the coffins were placed) was filled with crying sounds all day long, but not a single lady of the royal family fainted from heatstroke.
The funeral of Empress Renxiao was proceeding in a busy but not chaotic manner.
When Lady Gaoming was crying for the third time, Lady Geng, the Dowager Consort of the Duke of Qian, finally recovered her strength and struggled to cry for Empress Renxiao.
Even though Empress Renxiao's husband, Emperor Yongle, executed all of Geng's family members, Geng still cried sadly.
Hu Shanwei was moved and felt pity for Geng when he saw her with completely white hair. He went to find Concubine Zhang Shufei and asked if she could be given a pair of shoulders so that when Geng finished her mourning, they could carry her out of the palace instead of walking all the way to the southwest gate under the scorching sun, for fear that Geng's physical and mental state could not bear it.
After Empress Renxiao passed away, the harem was left without a leader, and concubines were needed to take over the power and perform the duties of the empress.
Although Concubine Zhang Shu, who had just reached her twenties, was young, she had the highest position in the palace and had a good brother, Zhang Fu. Her family had just been awarded the title of Duke of Yingguo. Emperor Yongle intended to reward the Zhang family, so as not surprisingly, he wanted Concubine Zhang Shu to take charge of the power of the harem.
As a palace lady, Hu Shanwei had to ask Concubine Zhang Shufei for the final decision if there were any matters that she could not decide on her own.
Concubine Zhang Shufei lived in the Yanxi Palace among the six eastern palaces.
Concubine Zhang Shufei came from a family of generals, and she did not rise step by step through military merit. The Zhang family was originally a noble family of the Yuan Dynasty, with officials for many generations. Her father, Zhang Yu, was the director of the Privy Council of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, similar to the current director of the U.S. CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
If you have a good memory, you should remember that Hu Shanwei's fiancé Wang Ning once worked in the Privy Council of the Northern Yuan Dynasty and lurked in the intelligence agency to collect intelligence...
The victory of the third and fourth northern expeditions during the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty was achieved by relying on Wang Ning's intelligence to determine the enemy's position. At that time, Zhang Yu was Wang Ning's boss, and Wang Ning was specifically trying to poach Zhang Yu's people.
Because the Golden Family of the Northern Yuan Dynasty killed each other and fought for the throne, which led to the extinction of the direct line, the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed. The major tribes held a meeting, and no one was willing to accept the throne, so they simply broke up and split into equal nomadic tribes again, regressing to the barbaric era, where they would beat up whoever had the stronger fist and seize their territory and women.
Genghis Khan, the ancestor of the Golden Family, used his life's strength to lead the tribe out of the grassland and eventually conquer the Central Plains. However, the descendants of the Golden Family squandered their family fortune in just over fifty years, and returned to the place where their tribe rose to prominence. From then on, they fell into division and infighting, and no longer had the will to "recover the Central Plains."
Faced with a situation of disunity, Zhang Yu, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, became disheartened and threw himself into the arms of Prince Yan, the most powerful man in the Ming Dynasty at that time. He made many great contributions during the Jingnan Campaign, but was eventually killed in battle after being hit by more than a dozen arrows while trying to save Prince Yan.
When Zhang was still in the boudoir, Li Jinglong's army of 500,000 besieged the city of Beiping, and there were only 10,000 defenders in the city. The Princess of Yan called on the women in the city to take action, move stones and boil water to support the defenders.
Zhang, the daughter of a general, brought her servants and climbed the city walls in military uniform to kill the enemy. She was an excellent archer and never missed a target, and was praised by the Princess of Yan.
In order to thank Zhang Yu for saving his life, Prince of Yan brought Zhang into the Prince of Yan's Mansion and made use of her son Zhang Fu. Zhang Fu received orthodox military education since childhood, and lived up to expectations and made many outstanding achievements. After Emperor Yongle ascended the throne, he conferred the title of Marquis of Xincheng on Zhang Fu and the title of Shufei on Zhang, which was second only to Empress Xu.
Now that Zhang Fu has been conferred the title of Duke of Yingguo, Concubine Zhang Shufei is in charge of the harem. Although she is only twenty years old, she is quite majestic and can intimidate the concubines in the harem. After all, the nobility of generations of officials and the achievements in participating in the defense of Peking are not blown by the wind.
Zhang had fair skin and a face like a full moon, which was an excellent facial feature. Her ancestors had been well-nourished for generations, and her brother Zhang Fu was mighty and strong. She was also tall with big breasts and a fat buttocks. If her breasts were Mount Tai, then her buttocks were the Himalayas, and her waist was as thin as a wasp. She was simply the Ming Dynasty version of Kim Kardashian.
In the folks, this kind of body will be touted by matchmakers as being good at giving birth and having the potential to bear a boy.
Therefore, other concubines wore loose mourning clothes, just like they were covered with a torn sack, but Concubine Zhang wore the mourning clothes, and her chest, waist and buttocks were still correct. She looked like she was in a fashion blockbuster and had the aura of the master of the harem.
Every morning and evening, Concubine Zhang Shufei would take the concubines in the harem to the coffin palace to cry. Her eyes were red and her eyelids were swollen, as if they had been painted with light red eye shadow, which made her big eyes look even deeper and more charming.
Concubine Zhang Shu wrapped a few ice cubes in a handkerchief and applied them to her sore eyes. She looked very tired. Hu Shanwei suggested carrying Mrs. Geng, the wife of the Duke of Qian, out of the palace on his shoulders. After a long while, she said:
"Hu Shanggong came from a good heart. I am young and the first generation to hold power in the harem. I dare not act on my own or set precedents. I remember that when Empress Renxiao was alive, there were many more imperial concubines older than Geng. They walked in and out of the palace. I have never heard of Empress Renxiao granting a shoulder to an old lady."
Everyone has their own stance.
Hu Shanwei hit a wall that was neither too soft nor too hard, and said calmly, "There are precedents of this kind in the harem, but it was not during the reign of Empress Renxiao. When Empress Xiaoci was in power, when Princess Kaiping's mother, Lan, entered and left the palace, Empress Xiaoci would always give her a sedan chair or a shoulder belt. This matter is clearly recorded in the "Diary of Empress Xiaoci". If Concubine Shu gave Geng a shoulder belt, it would not be considered a precedent."
When Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he named his father, Prince Yiwen, Emperor Xiaokang and his stepmother, Chang, Empress Xiaokang. When Emperor Yongle ascended the throne, he did not recognize the title of Empress of Emperor Jianwen and restored the title of "Prince Consort Yiwen" of Chang during the reign of Emperor Gaozu.
Similarly, during the Hongwu reign, in order to consolidate the crown prince's position as heir, Emperor Gaozu implicated the Chang family of the Kaiping Palace in the "Lan Yu Rebellion Case" and exterminated the entire clan, stripping the Chang family of all their titles. Lan, who was then the Dowager Lady of Zheng, had her natal family and in-laws exterminated and she was demoted to commoners. She also lost her status as a noble lady and became just a commoner, Lan.
During the Yongle Dynasty, in order to win over the old generals and soldiers of the Hongwu period, Emperor Yongle restored the reputation of the Chang family and posthumously conferred the title of Princess Kaiping on Lan. It was really a case of things changing rapidly.
If you accidentally get the address wrong, you may lose your job or even be beheaded.
As a palace maid of three dynasties, Hu Shanwei had rich experience and solid basic skills in addressing people. She was also familiar with the origins of various allusions in the harem and could convince people with reason without putting on airs as a palace maid of three dynasties.
Concubine Zhang Shu was a person with her own ideas. She did not immediately agree to Hu Shanwei's precedent. She said, "The Empress Xiaoci granted the Princess of Kaiping a shoulder and a robe because she was the biological mother of Crown Princess Yiwen and treated her well. So the situations of the Princess of Kaiping and Geng are somewhat different. How can they be treated the same?"
Concubine Zhang Shufei was also a knowledgeable person. She was familiar with the genealogies and complicated family backgrounds of the old nobles of the previous dynasty. It seemed that she had put in a lot of effort.
Hu Shanwei said, "What the Empress Shu said is very true. At that time, the Princess of Kaiping was only in her early fifties and in good health. She did not need a sedan chair to carry her. Empress Xiaoci's suggestion was out of the royal family's favor to the Chang family and respect for her in-laws. Now the wife of the Duke of Qian is less than sixty years old, but her hair is all white. In recent years, she has been fasting, chanting Buddhist scriptures, and sitting in meditation. She is weak and can't even straighten her waist. The weather is hot. I see that she is really unable to bear it, so I came to ask whether Geng should be given a sedan chair to carry her."
Concubine Zhang Shu was a little surprised. "How could the wife of the Duke of Qian look so old?"
The last time she remembered seeing Geng was in the first year of Yongle, when the entire Geng family of Changxin Marquis's Mansion was executed. Geng went to the palace and knelt down to beg Empress Renxiao to spare the Geng family. At that time, Geng did not have a single gray hair, was in good health, and was a pampered lady.
Hu Shanwei said: "The wife of the Duke of Qian was devoted to Buddhism, so Empress Renxiao exempted her from the grand court meetings on festival days. Geng did not come to the palace, so Empress Shufei did not know that Geng had aged rapidly and her health had collapsed in recent years."
Geng was a man of no virtue and no ability, but she gave birth to a good son, Mu Sheng. Moreover, her daughter, Miss Mu, married Xu Zengshou, who was posthumously named Duke of Chengguo, and Mu was later posthumously named Lady of Duke of Chengguo. Another fourth son, Mu Xin, was the consort of Princess Changning.
In view of this, Concubine Zhang Shu did not dare to neglect it and said, "Since this is the case, let's grant Geng the right to carry her out of the palace... From now on, Geng will be carried in and out of the palace by her."
The Zhang family is a new noble family, while the Mu family is the most powerful old noble family, so it is better to be careful.
Hu Shanwei said, "Your Majesty, the Concubine Shu is kind and virtuous. I will do it right away."
Concubine Zhang Shu said: "It's hot, please tell Lady Hu that there's no need to come to Yanxi Palace to kowtow and thank you. No need to be polite."
"Yes." Hu Shanwei responded and stepped back.
As soon as Hu Shanwei left, the palace servants around Concubine Zhang Shu said indignantly: "This Concubine Hu is too arrogant. She has only been a Concubine for a few days, but she has always been hindering the Queen. This time, it was not enough to bring up Empress Renxiao, but she also brought up Empress Xiaoci to force the Queen to submit and do things according to her wishes. The Queen—"
"Shut up!" Concubine Zhang Shu gave him a glare, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll punish you to ring the bell."
Geng was eventually carried out of the palace on a shoulder strap. Hu Shanwei was afraid that she could not endure it, so he specially ordered two ice basins to be placed in the strap to cool her down.
A busy day came to an end, and the palace gates were about to be closed. Hu Shanwei breathed a sigh of relief, clocked out, showed his token and badge, and took a carriage home - Chunchun was back today, and she had to go home no matter what.
When he got home, Mu Chun sat under the grape trellis in the courtyard to enjoy the cool air. The weather was too hot, so he only wore a sleeveless jacket and gauze trousers with loose legs. He fanned himself with a Sichuan gold fan, lost in thought.
My own man is handsome even when he is being lazy.
Having not seen each other for more than half a year, Hu Shanwei was overwhelmed with emotion. He sat next to Mu Chun and asked, "What are you thinking about? You look so absorbed in it."
Mu Chun slapped the Chuanjin fan in his palm and said, "I was thinking that there is a silver vault behind our house. If we dig a hole and a tunnel from our house, we can empty the silver vault."
Hu Shanwei: My biological son! Really my biological son! Same idea as A Lei!
The author has something to say: The first seed player in the Yongle Dynasty's harem, Miss Zhang Kardashian, makes a brilliant appearance~~~~
Last night, many readers wanted to know how bloody the dispute over the title within the Guo family was. I found a paper for you, which describes the most exciting episodes of the fight over the title. The writing style and research are very sophisticated. The author is Zhu Zhongwen from Jiangxi Normal University.
The paper is very long. Since it is converted from PDF to Word, some words will be lost. If you want to see the PDF version, you can go to my Weibo to see it.
On the Dispute over the Succession of the Wuding Marquis Family
——A study from the perspective of the relationship between clan power and imperial power
Zhu Zhongwen
(School of History, Culture and Tourism, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, Jiangxi)
Abstract: Guo Xuan's succession to the title laid a hidden danger for the imperial power to intervene in the dispute over the succession of the Wudinghou family. Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty once tried to deprive the Wudinghou family of the right to inherit the title by shelving the succession, but after his restoration, he turned to support Guo Chang's succession to consolidate his rule. From the Chenghua period to the early years of the Hongzhi period, the court advocated depriving the Wudinghou family of the right to inherit the title. Guo Chang's son Guo Liang used various methods to create a favorable atmosphere for the succession of the title to influence the imperial power, and finally succeeded in the succession of the title. The dispute over the succession of the Wudinghou family reflects the delicate relationship between the family power of the meritorious officials and the imperial power in the Ming Dynasty.
Keywords: Wu Dinghou family; dispute over succession to the title; family of meritorious officials; family power; imperial power
Chinese Library Classification Number: k248 Document Identification Code: a Article Number: 1005-605x(2018)-0018-07
Meritorious officials are an important subject of the court history of the Ming Dynasty. There are many related research results, but in terms of time, most of them are concentrated in the early Ming Dynasty, and there are relatively few studies on the middle and late Ming Dynasty; in terms of objects, most of them are concentrated on related events and systems, and there is a lack of attention to the families of meritorious officials, and there is also a lack of discussion on the relationship between family power and imperial power. 1 In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there was an intricate relationship between the Wudinghou family and imperial power, which led to a half-century-long dispute over the succession of the title. 2 This article attempts to show the subtle relationship between the family power of meritorious officials and imperial power in the Ming Dynasty by discussing the causes and impacts of this event.
1. Guo Xuan's succession to the title and its hidden dangers
The ancestor of the Wudinghou family was Guo Ying, a founding hero of the Ming Dynasty. He was favored by the Ming government and escaped the catastrophe of the Hu-Lan Party case.
1 For related research, see Hu Jixun: "On the Publication of Guo Xun's Books: The Interaction between the Interpretation and Publication of Family History and the Politics in the Mid-Ming Dynasty", "Chinese Literature and History Review", No. 1, 2015; Qin Bo: "Heroic Officials and the Political Situation in the Late Ming Dynasty", "Shilin", No. 4, 2015; Wu Han: "A Study on the Hu Weiyong Party Case", "Yenching Journal", No. 1934; Lv Jinglin: "A Study on the Lan Yu Party Case", "Dongyue Review", No. 5, 1994; Li Xinfeng: "The Faction of Nobles in the Early Ming Dynasty and the Hu-Lan Party Case", "Chinese History Research", No. 4, 2011; Wang Jian:
"Iron Certificates, Iron Lists and Aristocratic Politics in the Early Ming Dynasty", Journal of Southwest Normal University, No. 6, 1999; Cao Xun: "On the Training and Appointment of Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty", Yunnan Social Sciences, No. 3, 2012; Liu Xiaodong and Nian Xu: "Selection of Civilians and Marriages: One Aspect of the History of Court Politics in the Hongwu Dynasty", Journal of Northeast Normal University, No. 5, 2014; Gu Cheng: "The Jingnan Campaign and the Geng Bingwen and Mu Sheng Families - An Example of the Role of Marriage in Feudal Politics", Journal of Beijing Normal University, No. 5, 1992; Ma Mingda: "Chang Yuchun's Family and the "Lan Yu Party" Case", Hui Nationality Studies, No. 1, 2001; Li Guyue: "Ming Dynasty Earls of Sincerity", Ancient Civilization
Issue 2, 2014.
2 Qin Bo once introduced the process of the dispute over the inheritance of the title by the Wuding Marquis family, but lacked discussion on its causes and impacts, "A Preliminary Study on the Inheritance of Noblemen and the Activities of the Clans of Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty", "Anhui Historiography", Issue 5, 2015.
He died in 1403. 1 Guo Ying had many descendants, including "seven sons, eight sons-in-law, and dozens of grandchildren" 2, and the system of succession of titles by meritorious officials, with the eldest son as the core, was established in the 26th year of Hongwu (1393). 3 With no shortage of heirs and institutional guarantees, the succession of titles by the Wudinghou family should have been relatively smooth. However, Guo Ying's wife Ma had no children, and his eldest son Guo Zhen was born to his concubine He 4 and died of illness in the first year of Jianwen (1399) 5. Guo Zhen's wife, Princess Yongjia, was the daughter of Ming □□, and his son Guo Zhen suffered from rheumatism, so the descendants of the second son Guo Ming and the eldest son started a struggle for the title.
Guo Ming was the second son of Guo Ying. He was the treasurer of the Liao Wangfu6. His mother, Yan, was Guo Ying’s concubine7. Guo Ming’s wife, Xu, was the daughter of Xu Cheng, the uncle of Xu Da, Duke of Wei.8 After the Jingnan Campaign broke out, the Liao Wang was ordered by Emperor Jianwen to cross the sea to Nanjing9. Guo Ming was likely to return with him. Although Guo Ming could have fled privately and joined the Jingnan Army, there is no record of this in various official and private works, which is inconsistent with Guo Ming’s noble status and influence as the second son of Wuding Hou. Moreover, the situation of the Jingnan Campaign was not clear at that time, so it was unlikely that Guo Ming would make such a choice. Regarding Guo Ming’s death, his son Guo Xuan said in his epitaph that he “died in state affairs”10, and his wife Xu’s epitaph said that he “served the state and died in Sizhou.” Guo Xuan was born in the 28th year of Hongwu (1395), and was only seven years old when Guo Ming died. Guo Ming should have died in the 4th year of Jianwen (1402). In May of that year, the commander Zhou Jingchu who guarded Sizhou surrendered to the Jingnan Army, which coincided with the time of Guo Ming’s death. Before his death, Guo Ming “left a will to his wife to raise the orphans”, which shows that he did not die in a hurry. There was no war in Sizhou, so Guo Ming could not have died in battle. After Guo Ming's death, "every year and every winter, whenever Xu mentioned his death in Sizhou, she would burst into tears and not eat for days."瑏�Therefore, Guo Ming should have been sent to Sizhou, and committed suicide to show his loyalty to Emperor Jianwen when his commander-in-chief surrendered without a fight.
Although Guo Ming was loyal to Emperor Jianwen, Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty tried hard to win over the Wudinghou family after the Jingnan Campaign. Therefore, Xu and her children were not persecuted, but were treated well because of their maternal relatives. In the ninth year of Yongle (1411), Guo Xuan was "appointed as the commander of the Jinyiwei as the son of a noble family, and then transferred to the commander of the Hanfu guards." His brother Guo Cong was also promoted from the commander of the Fujunwei Qianhu to the commander of the Qishouwei. Guo Xuan's two sisters became the crown princess and the Hanwang concubine respectively. "All the boxes, clothes and utensils came from the treasury, and they did not bother their families at all, and the gifts were especially generous."
During the Yongle period, the issue of the succession of the Wuding Marquis family was shelved. After Emperor Renzong ascended the throne, Guo Xuan's sister was promoted to imperial concubine. 瑐瑡 Soon, Guo Xuan was promoted to the deputy governor of the left army and inherited the title of Wuding Marquis. 瑐瑢 As early as the seventh year of Yongle (1409), Guo Xuan's sister wrote to her grandmother "to ask her brothers and nephews to go to school and let the governor take over", indicating that she had begun to consider Guo Xuan's political future. The Records of Succession of Meritorious Officials of the Ming Dynasty recorded that when Guo Xuan inherited the title, he specifically mentioned his sister's status as a noble concubine, and pointed out that his promotion to the position of deputy governor of the Left Army was due to the "special favor" of Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty. The Records of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty also recalled that "During the reign of Emperor Renzong, Xuan was promoted to deputy governor due to the favor of his sister, the noble concubine, and thus inherited the title." Although Guo Xuan's inheritance of the title was due to the fact that Guo Zhen, the son of Guo Zhen, suffered from rheumatism,
1 "History of Ming Dynasty", Volume 130, "Biography of Guo Ying", Zhonghua Book Company, 1974 edition, pages 3821-3822.
2 Jiao Hong: Records of Imperial Conquests, Volume 7, Epitaph of Wuding Marquis Guo Gong, Ming Dynasty Biography Series, Volume 109, Taiwan Mingwen Bookstore, 1991 edition, p. 224. According to the Records of Imperial Ming Dynasty Founding Meritorious Officials, Guo Ying had twelve sons, nine daughters, twenty-eight grandchildren, and sixteen granddaughters, and a specific list was given. Huang Jin: Records of Imperial Ming Dynasty Founding Meritorious Officials, Volume 12, Biography of Guo Ying, Ming Dynasty Biography Series, Volume 1, p. 723. Regardless of which record is true, it is a fact that Guo Ying had many descendants.
3 Wanli "Da Ming Hui Dian" Volume 6 "Inheritance of Titles for Meritorious Officials", Taiwan Wenhai Publishing House, 1968 edition, page 122.
47瑐瑤, The Record of Inheritance of Titles by Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty, Volume 1, "Marquis Wuding", Ming Dynasty Biography Collection, Vol. 1, pp. 85, 86, 87.
5 Jiao Hong: Records of Contributions in the Qing Dynasty, vol. 4, "The Tomb of Duke Guo, the Imperial Concubine's Consort", p. 132.
6810, "Epitaph of General Guo, the Former General Zhenshuo and General-in-Chief of the Ming Dynasty, Marquis Wuding", Epitaphs Excavated in New China, Beijing Volume II, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2003 edition, page.
9 "History of Ming Dynasty", Volume 117, "Biography of King Jian of Liao", page 3587.
瑏瑡瑏瑣瑏瑥瑏瑧瑐瑠Luo Hengxin: "Juefei Collection" Volume 4 "Epitaph of Mrs. Xu, Mother of Guo", "Sikuquanshu Cunmu Congshu Series" Collection Volume, Qilu Book Publishing House, 1997 edition, page 571.
瑏瑤Tan Qian: "Guoqie" Volume 12 "The Fourth Year of Jianwen in Emperor Huizong", Zhonghua Book Company, 1958 edition, page 834.
瑏瑦Wu Qi and Zhu Zhongwen: "On the Changes in the Fate of the Families of Founding Heroes from the Yongle to the Xuande Period", "Anhui Historiography", Issue 2, 2016.
瑏瑩The Veritable Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 114, March 1913, Gengwu, the 1962 collated edition of the Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty published by the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, p.
Page 1451. Note: “英” was originally written as “瀛”, which is probably wrong.
瑐瑡 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 4, October 1549, page 112.
瑐瑣Guo Liang ed.: "Yu Qing Xun Yi Ji" Volume 1 "Granddaughter Guo Duansu Presents a Letter to Her Grandmother", "Former National Peking Library Jiaku Rare Book Series" No. 234, National Library Press, 2013 edition, page.
瑐瑥The Veritable Records of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 21, December 15th of the first year of the Hongzhi reign, pages 490-491.
Reason 1: However, the role of his sister should be an important factor in his inheritance of the title.
Although Guo Xuan succeeded in inheriting the title, it also laid the hidden danger of the dispute over the title. First of all, Guo Ying had no legitimate sons or grandsons, so it was difficult for the illegitimate descendants to have a sense of respect for the family. According to the epitaph of Guo Ming's mother Yan, Yan usually had to do women's work. Shao Lei speculated that she was in a weak position in the Wudinghou family2, which indirectly shows that the status of Guo Ming's family in the Wudinghou family would not be too high. If Guo Zhen could inherit the title, at least the family could still form respect for the eldest branch, but Guo Xuan's inheritance broke this possibility, thus creating an atmosphere of "everyone can get the title" within the Wudinghou family.
Secondly, Guo Xuan inherited the title mainly by virtue of his sister's power, which made the issue of succession, which should have been resolved by clan power, affected by the imperial power. Guo Zhen's wife, Princess Yongjia, was still alive3. As the daughter of the Ming Dynasty, she could also rely on the imperial power.
To some extent, this approach was inspired by the Guo Xuan brothers and sisters, and it also made the dispute over the succession of the Wuding Marquis family more complicated.
During the period when Guo Xuan inherited the title, although the Wudinghou family did not have any disputes over the issue of inheritance, Princess Yongjia and Guo Zhen still attacked Guo Xuan for depriving him of the title. The court under the rule of the "Three Yangs" did not support Guo Zhen's seizure of the title and wrote back to criticize Princess Yongjia. 4 After Guo Xuan died of illness in July of the 12th year of Zhengtong (1447), Guo Zhen and Guo Xuan's son Guo Cong reported each other5, and the dispute over the inheritance of the title broke out. In the same month, Guo Zhen came to Beijing to meet the emperor at the order of Princess Yongjia and died of illness in Tongzhou. 6 After Guo Zhen's death, court officials headed by Zhang Fu supported Guo Cong's inheritance of the title. 7 However, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty did not allow anyone to inherit the title, and only granted Guo Cong an official position to put the matter aside. 8
The reasons why Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty made a decision that was different from the suggestions of the court officials were as follows: First, since the Yongle period, many families of meritorious officials had lost their titles after being unable to inherit the title for a long time, such as the family of Wu Jie, Marquis of Anlu, the family of Fu Youde, Duke of Ying, and the family of Wu Gao, Marquis of Jiangyin. 9 After Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty took power, he was also indifferent to the inheritance of the title by meritorious officials. One year before the dispute over the inheritance of the title by the family of Wu Ding broke out, he even used a family dispute to deprive Zhang An, the Earl of Anxiang, of his title. This situation was related to the emperor's subtle attitude towards the title. As Ming □□ said: "I believe that the rise of an emperor must have ministers who assist him in his destiny and who devote their loyalty and strength. Therefore, they can enjoy the title and salary while they are alive and receive the posthumous title after their death. This is the classic of rewarding merits in ancient and modern times." The emperor's granting of titles to ministers and allowing them to be inherited was an incentive mechanism, and the cost of doing so must be considered. In the Ming Dynasty, such costs included salary and legal privileges. Although official positions and titles had been separated since the early Ming Dynasty, in fact, those with titles still had more opportunities to obtain official positions than commoners, especially military positions. Although this privilege hardly posed a threat to the powerful imperial power of the Ming Dynasty, it was still in conflict with the supremacy of imperial power. This may be the fundamental reason why Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty did not support the Wuding Marquis family to inherit the title.
1 He Qiaoyuan: "Famous Mountains and Tibetan Biographies" Volume 41 "Biography of Guo Ying", "Ming Dynasty Biography Collection" Volume 511. According to He Qiaoyuan's record, "Zhen Zizhen was paralyzed and could not be a marquis, so Zhen's younger brother Xuan borrowed the title of marquis for a generation." It is possible that the two sides reached a "borrowing marquis" agreement at that time, but this was likely coercive under the circumstances at the time. Among Guo Zhen's four sons, Guo Lan, Guo Hui and Guo Quan all died young, only Guo Zhen survived, which was also an important reason why Guo Xuan was able to inherit the title. See Guo Liangji: "Yuqing Xunyi Collection" Volume 8 "Grave Table of the Imperial Concubine Guo Gong", page 216.
2 See Shao Lei, “Newly Discovered Epitaphs of Ming Dynasty Nobles and Their Family Members”, Wenxian, No. 6, 2014.
3Princess Yongjia did not die until the Jingtai period. Her name changed with the replacement of emperors. For the sake of convenience, she is uniformly called "Princess Yongjia".
4 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty" Volume 15, March 15, the first year of Zhengtong, pp. 279-280. "The Records of the Succession of Titles to Meritorious Officials of the Ming Dynasty" (Volume 1 "Marquis Wuding", pp. 86-87) also records this event, but the time is the tenth year of Xuande.
57 The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, vol. 161, December 12th year of the Zhengtong reign, p. 3134.
6 Guo Liang, ed., Yuqingxunyiji, vol. 8, Epitaph for the Late Mingwei General Guo, Commander of the Nanjing Jinyiwei, p. 222.
8 "The Records of Inheritance of Titles by Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty" Volume 1 "Marquis Wuding", page.
9 Qin Bo: “A Preliminary Study on the Inheritance of Noblemen and the Activities of the Clans of Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty”, Anhui Historiography, No. 5, 2015.
瑏瑠The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 140, April 11th year of the Zhengtong reign, page 2770.
瑏瑡 "Ming □□ Veritable Records" Volume 166, October 23, the 17th year of Hongwu, page 2551.
瑏瑢Qin Bo: "Officials, Titles and Powers of Meritorious Officials in the Hongwu Dynasty", "Chinese Historical Studies", Issue 1, 2016.
Secondly, Princess Yongjia has a strong imperial color. If Guo Zhen is allowed to inherit the title, he will get additional protection from the imperial power. 1 But if Guo Cong is allowed to inherit the title, Princess Yongjia will not give up. In this case, Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty eliminated the dispute by shelving it and did not give the opportunity for the family power of the meritorious officials to combine with the imperial power. This is also a way to solve the problem. However, in the meritorious officials of the Ming Dynasty, the inheritors of the title enjoyed a lofty status and could handle all major events and struggles within the family, especially the families of the founding meritorious officials. 2 Under the temptation of such a lofty status and huge power, it was difficult for the members of the Wudinghou family not to continue the struggle. The only way for Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty to do was to try to stop the boiling water by adding more water.
As expected, the Wudinghou family did not give up on the issue of succession. In her memorial to Guo Zhen, Princess Yongjia wrote, "I could neither inherit the legacy of my ancestors nor carry on the legacy of my ancestors. As a son, I failed to show my filial piety, and as a minister, I failed to show my loyalty." She still felt resentful that Guo Zhen could not inherit the title. 3 The resulting contradictions became increasingly intensified, as can be seen from the letter written by Dingxiang Bo Guo Deng to Guo Zhen's eldest son Guo Chang in the fifth year of Jingtai (1454):
There are many descendants of the Guo family, and the branches and leaves are scattered, so there are close and distant relatives. From the perspective of our ancestors, how can there be close and distant relatives? Why should we use a small quarrel to turn flesh and blood into enemies, and not communicate with each other until we die, hurting the feelings of the same blood, causing others to laugh, and bringing shame to the predecessors? When I think of this, I feel sad.
In July of the first year of the Tianshun reign (1457), the newly restored Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty ordered Guo Chang, the son of Guo Zhen, to inherit the title of Marquis of Wuding and restore his title.5 At the same time, the families of the meritorious officials, such as Marquis of Guangping, Marquis of Fuyang, Marquis of Anshun, Marquis of Chengshan, Marquis of Baoding, and Marquis of Zhenyuan, which had long stopped inheriting their titles or inherited them at a lower level, also obtained hereditary positions.6 It is worth noting that shortly after Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty was restored to the throne, Guo Deng, the Earl of Dingxiang, once proposed: "Nowadays, the people of the four seas yearn for the saint's virtue more than they are hungry and thirsty. Without extraordinary grace, how can we arouse the hearts of the people and comfort their joy and encouragement?" Yingzong agreed.7 This shows that Guo Chang's inheritance of the title was the result of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty winning the hearts of the people in order to consolidate his position, and it also caused the Wuding Marquis family's inheritance of the title to rekindle the flames of the dispute.
After Guo Chang inherited the title, Guo Xuan's eldest son Guo Cong raised an objection, which was rejected by the Left Military Governor's Office and the Censorate. 8 Although Guo Xuan had inherited the title, his father Guo Ming was not a legitimate son, and at this time he no longer had the support of the imperial power represented by Guo Xuan's sister, so he had no advantage in the competition with Guo Chang. Guo Chang had inherited Guo Zhen's official position after his death9, which shows that his inheritance of the title was in line with the principle of primogeniture. Moreover, Princess Yongjia had already been in the sixth year of Jingtai.
After his death in 1455, the threat of the Wuding Marquis family's power combining with the imperial power was eliminated, so Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty naturally supported Guo Chang's succession to the title.
But Guo Chang's title was not stable. In the fourth month of the summer of the third year of Tianshun (1459), Guo Chang's brother Guo Zhao bribed his son-in-law Zhao Hui and Fei Zhao, the Marquis of Chongxin, to falsely accuse Guo Chang of being unfilial. Guo Chang was imprisoned for this and was not released until the court found out the truth. 瑏瑡 Brothers with the same father were so unscrupulous, so the intensity of the dispute over the succession of the title in the Wuding Marquis family can be imagined. Although Guo Zhao's conspiracy did not succeed, Guo Chang and his family suffered a lot because of it. Guo Chang's two wives had to bring their young son Guo Liang to the Jinyiwei prison for investigation and interrogation. 瑏瑢 Guo Chang died in February of the fifth year of Tianshun (1461) shortly after he was released from prison, which was obviously the result of torture in the Jinyiwei prison. It is worth noting that the bribed son-in-law Zhao Hui and the Marquis of Chongxin Fei Zhao were only punished by being “not allowed to manage government affairs” and did not even hand over the bribes. The lack of records of Guo Zhao’s punishment in history books shows that it was not too severe, and it is not even ruled out that he escaped punishment. The cost of the false accuser was so low, but it caused such great harm to the falsely accused, which undoubtedly contributed to the dispute over the succession of the Wuding Marquis family.
1 Guo Zhen had been under the protection of Princess Yongjia. For example, in the fifth year of Zhengtong (1440), Guo Zhen illegally purchased the eunuch Yang Jing and killed him, but the court pardoned him for the sake of Princess Yongjia, and only ordered Princess Yongjia to "warn Zhen to observe all etiquette and laws, so as to preserve the friendship between relatives." This incident is recorded in Volume 68 of "The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty", June 1440, the fifth year of Zhengtong, page 1311.
2 Shen Defu: Wanli Yewaibian, Volume 5, Lords of Titles and Soldiers, Zhonghua Book Company, 1959, p. 147.
3 Guo Liang, ed.: Yuqingxunyiji, vol. 6, Princess Yongjia’s Sacrifice to Her Son, p. 169.
4 Guo Liang, ed., Yuqing Xunyi Ji, vol. 1, "Book from Uncle Dingxiang to My Nephew Jinyi Huishi", p. 24. Guo Deng was also a descendant of Guo Ying. He was granted the title of Dingxiang Bo for his military merits and did not participate in the dispute over the succession of Wuding Hou.
58 The Records of Inheritance of Titles by Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty, Volume 1, Marquis Wuding, pp. 87-88, 88.
6 "History of Ming Dynasty", Volume 106, "Table of Meritorious Officials II", pages 3019-3110, 3111-3112, 3141-3142, 3150-3151, 3157-3158, 3188-3189.
7 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 274, January 1st of the first year of Tianshun, page 5790.
9 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 178, May 14th year of the Zhengtong period, page 3431.
瑏瑠The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 258, September 18th of the sixth year of Jingtai, page 5543.
瑏瑡瑏瑤"The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 303, April 15th, the third year of Tianshun, page 6408.
瑏瑢Liang Chu: "Yuzhou's Remaining Manuscripts" Volume 7 "Epitaph of the Joint Burial of Wuding Marquis Guo Gong and His Wife Xu", "Jingyin Wenyuange Sikuquanshu" Collection No. 1256, Taiwan Commercial Press, 1983 edition, page 593.
瑏瑣 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 325, February 15th, Tianshun Year 5, Page 6713.
After Guo Chang died, Guo Liang's mother, Yi, requested that Guo Liang inherit the title. However, Guo Liang was only eight years old, and the court required him to apply for the title after he grew up.1 The dispute over the title came to an end. During the Tianshun period, Guo Chang's succession to the title was the result of a change in political situation, mixed with personal factors of Emperor Yingzong of Ming. In addition, Guo Chang died too early and Guo Liang was young, which made the foundation of the Guo Zhen family's succession to the title not solid. During this period, not only did the descendants of Guo Zhen and Guo Ming participate in the dispute over the title, but even the descendants of Guo Zhen fought among themselves, and even used the power of the powerful outside the family for this purpose. All these laid the groundwork for the future disputes over the title.
3. The deprivation of the Wuding Marquis family’s right to inherit the title during the Chenghua period and the final solution to the issue of inheriting the title during the Hongzhi period
In the early days of Emperor Xianzong's reign, the court was kind to Guo Liang and gave him two dan of rice every month as requested by Yeshi.2 In the fourth year of Chenghua (1468), Guo Liang, who had already had a child, requested to inherit the title3, but Guo Cong falsely accused Guo Cong of having an affair and having a child4, and the dispute over the title revived. Emperor Xianzong ruled that "since the dispute over the title is unclear, Guo Liang should only be appointed as the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei"5, which showed that he did not support Guo Liang's inheritance of the title. In December of the ninth year of Chenghua (1473), Guo Liang's request to inherit the title was rejected again, and he was threatened with being dismissed from the position of deputy commander of the Jinyiwei. 6 During his reign, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty was equally cold towards meritorious officials. Soon after he ascended the throne, he agreed with Li Sen, a member of the Household Department, who suggested that he should discipline the untalented marquises and barons.7 In the first year of Chenghua (1465), he refused to allow Yang Zhen, the grandson of Yang Hong, the Marquis of Changping, to inherit the title on the grounds that Yang Jun, the son of Yang Hong, had committed a crime.8 In the fifteenth year of Chenghua (1479), he refused to allow Guo Can, the nephew of Guo Deng, the Marquis of Dingxiang, to inherit the title on the grounds that they were adopted.9 His refusal to allow Guo Liang to inherit the title was a reflection of this attitude.
After that, Guo Liang repeatedly requested to inherit the title, but was imprisoned and confronted Guo Cong. At the suggestion of court officials such as Yin Min, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty issued an edict to deprive the Wuding Marquis family of the right to inherit the title. It is worth noting that, unlike the attitude of court officials such as Yin Min during the Chenghua period, in the dispute over the inheritance of the title during the Zhengtong period, most court officials supported Guo Cong's inheritance of the title. This difference stems from the following two points: First, as a meritorious official, Zhang Fu, the Duke of Ying, who presided over the discussion during the Zhengtong period, naturally tended to support the descendants of meritorious officials to inherit the title, which would undoubtedly have an important impact on the opinions of court officials; while there were no meritorious officials among the ministers participating in the discussion this time, there was naturally a lack of voices supporting the descendants of meritorious officials to inherit the title. Second, before the last dispute, the title of Wuding Marquis had been inherited by Guo Xuan for a long time, and the court officials naturally tended to support his son Guo Cong to inherit the title in order to maintain the status quo. Before this discussion, Guo Chang died shortly after inheriting the title, and the established fact of inheriting the title had not been established, so the court officials naturally did not support the Wuding Marquis family's right to inherit the title.
In December of the first year of the Hongzhi reign (1488), Guo Liang again petitioned for the title of successor and was dismissed from his post as the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei. Afterwards, he was questioned by the Ministry of Justice for his application to inherit the title. Guo Liang’s stepmother, Xu, also petitioned the court twice to allow Guo Liang to inherit the title. After the second application was rejected, she requested to restore Guo Liang’s post as the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei on the grounds of livelihood, and was approved. This result was not only related to Xu’s application:
Gong (Guo Liang) once won a military examination and was well-known, but he was not very prominent. When the Jinyi Corps was short of personnel, the Ministry of War put Gong (Guo Liang)'s names up for consideration. Emperor Xiaozong personally reviewed them in the Wenhua Hall and saw that Gong was well-mannered and his answers were clear and fluent. He ordered him to take charge of the guard affairs and whenever he accompanied the guards, he would always look at him.
Guo Liang failed in the civil examination and later took part in the military examination in the fifth year of Hongzhi (1492). It is worth noting that Guo Liang's re-appointment as the commander of the Jinyiwei was inseparable from the recommendation of the Ministry of War. Before he took part in the military examination, Gu Da, the deputy minister of the Ministry of War's Chariot and Imperial Guard, had written a preface for him. In fact, the civil officials who interacted with Guo Liang were not limited to the Ministry of War. For example, Tang Zhen, the director of the Ministry of Personnel's Wenxuan Division, wrote a preface to Xu in the twenty-second year of Chenghua (1486) to congratulate him.
1245瑏瑢瑏瑣, "The Records of Inheritance of Titles by Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty", Volume 1, "Marquis Wuding", pages 88, 88, 88, 89, 90, 90-91.
3 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 51, February 18th of the fourth year of Chenghua, page 1032.
6 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 123, December 9th of the Chenghua Period, Page 2366.
7 The Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 5, May 146-148, the eighth year of Tianshun.
8 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 22, October 15th, the first year of Chenghua, page 442.
9 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 190, May 15th, Chenghua 15th year, page 3385.
瑏瑠, "The Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 189, April 15th, summer of the 15th year of Chenghua, pages 3361-3362.
瑏瑡 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 21, December 15th of the first year of Hongzhi, page 491.
瑏瑤Li Dongyang: "Collected Works of Li Dongyang", Volume 29, "Epitaph of the Late Ming Wuding Marquis Guo Gong", Yuelu Publishing House, 2008 edition, page 1317. "The Edict of Inheriting the Title of Wuding Marquis Guo Liang" records: "You were able to learn Confucian books at an early age, and were well versed in military strategies. You were selected by the Jinwu Army and your reputation was well known... Recently, you were recommended by the court to lead the Beijing Camp", which proves that Li Dongyang's record is true. According to Guo Liang's collection:
"Yuqingxunyiji" Volume 3, page.
瑏瑥Guo Liang ed.: "Yu Qingxun Yi Ji" Volume 4 "Farewell Preface to Mr. Guo Cunzhong", page 127.
Shou1, Chen Lun, the Right Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple and the former Military Department Secretary, wrote poems with Guo Liang on the way to Changsha in the ninth year of Hongzhi (1496), and then went to Hangzhou together. 2 These facts show that Guo Liang had some contacts with civil officials and used the power of civil officials to serve himself. In addition, Guo Liang also actively interacted with literati to expand his social influence, and the literati valued him very much: "In his spare time, the public recited poems and wrote books, opened a garden to plant flowers, and especially liked bamboo, calling himself Binzhu. When officials and scholars passed by, they talked all day and night without getting tired. He was filial to his mother and their friendship was particularly deep. He prepared coffins for those who died of poverty, and people praised him for this." 3 "The public was always hospitable, and the lady always prepared the utensils in advance without waiting for her to ask, and the public also became famous for this." 4
When Guo Chang was alive, he was "talented and knowledgeable, and enjoyed associating with wise men and officials."5 Guo Liang also actively interacted with scholars such as Liu Hong and Wang Qin. 6 During the interaction, Guo Liang asked them to appreciate the paintings and poems of his ancestor Guo Zhen. These people praised Guo Zhen in the process of writing prefaces and inscriptions, and publicized the founding contributions of the Wudinghou family. 7 It can be seen that Guo Liang's interaction with court officials helped to win their support for his succession to the title, and his interaction with scholars helped to expand his and even the entire family's social influence and create a good public opinion environment for his succession to the title. At the same time, Guo Liang and his family also helped the young and inferior clan party and worked hard to win the support of the internal forces of the clan. 8 In short, in addition to winning the support of the imperial power, Guo Liang and his family also tried to integrate various resources to serve their succession to the title.
During this period, other members of the Wudinghou family, including Guo Yin, Guo Ling, and Guo Mi, requested to inherit the title. 9 The situation at this time was similar to that during the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Xiaozong originally wanted to deprive the Wudinghou family of the right to inherit the title by shelving it, but it fostered the desire of various forces within the Wudinghou family to compete for the title, which brought more trouble to the court. Interestingly, during the process of other members of the Wudinghou family requesting to inherit the title, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty ordered the memorial to be filed10, and did not explicitly oppose the Wudinghou family's inheritance of the title, which shows that his attitude has begun to change and foreshadows a turn for the better.
The emperor ordered Jinyiwei Commander Guo Liang to inherit the title of Marquis of Wuding… At this time, Liang's mother, Xu, asked to inherit the title. The emperor ordered the Ministry of Personnel to hold a meeting with officials in the court to discuss the matter. The people discussed the dispute over the title, but it took a long time to reach a decision. The Minister of Rites Jiao Fang said: "The crime of fighting for the title is small, and the merit of founding the country is great. How can the merit of founding the country be abolished because of the small dispute over the title?" The people were convinced by his words, and the discussion was settled, so this order was issued.
The court discussion in the 15th year of Hongzhi's reign did not result in a situation where the court officials unanimously opposed the Wudinghou family's inheritance of the title, which should be the result of Guo Liang and his family's long-term friendship with court officials and scholars. Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty did not express his position this time, but agreed to the result of the ministers' discussion. Jiao Fang's reasons for supporting the Wudinghou family's inheritance of the title can also reflect the court's concerns: the title of a founding hero is a recognition of his merits and is closely related to the legitimacy of the Ming Dynasty. If the Wudinghou family is deprived of their right to inherit the title simply because of the dispute over the inheritance of the title, it will undermine the legitimacy of the Ming Dynasty and the court will lose more than it gains.
Guo Liang's succession to the title marked the end of the dispute over the succession of the title in the Wuding Marquis family, and left a deep impression on Guo Liang and his family. After Guo Liang successfully succeeded to the title, Bai said with emotion: "As a wife of the Guo family, I have worked hard for thirty years to get this, and I will not regret it even if I die!" Xu's reaction was even stronger:
Liang thanked the court and went home to celebrate. His wife (Xu) took Liang to the family temple, retreated to the inner chamber, thanked Liang and said to him: "I and your stepmother took you to the prison to face you. At that time, you were suffering from smallpox and close to death, but fortunately you survived. Since your father and your stepmother succeeded to the throne, I have been in charge of the internal affairs, abstaining from meat and eating vegetarian food, and teaching your children and grandchildren every day. Now it has been more than 40 years, but I have never thought about you. Now that you can do this, even if I die, I can still see your father and mother here." She was so happy that she burst into tears, and Liang and his friends all bowed and cried and couldn't stand up. 瑏瑣
This dispute over the title also had a profound impact on Guo Liang’s son Guo Xun. Guo Xun was born in the 11th year of Chenghua (1475), and his growth period coincided with the time when Guo Liang failed to inherit the title and was dismissed and then reinstated. This experience may have made Guo Xun realize the importance of integrating political and social resources to consolidate the family’s status. Therefore, after inheriting the title, he took the initiative to cater to Emperor Jiajing and gain the emperor’s favor. On the other hand,
1 Guo Liang, ed.: Yuqingxunyiji, vol. 4, "Birthday Preface for Guo's Mother, Mrs. Xu", pp. 126-127.
2 Guo Liang, ed.: Yuqing Xunyi Collection, vol. 4, Three Friends on the Boat, p. 142.
3 Li Dongyang: Collected Works of Li Dongyang, vol. 29, Epitaph of the Late Ming Wuding Marquis Guo, p. 1318.
4 Li Dongyang: Collected Works of Li Dongyang, vol. 30, Epitaph of Mrs. Bai, the Wife of the Marquis of Wuding, p. 1334.
5 Guo Liangji: Yuqing Xunyi Collection, Volume 1, "Letter from Uncle Dingxiang to His Virtuous Nephew, the Imperial Guard Envoy", page.
6 Guo Liangji: Yuqingxunyiji, Volume 4, "Preface to Reading Yunge Manuscript and Song of Praise for Guo Bin's Bamboo", pp. 128-129, 152-153.
7 Guo Liang ed.: Yuqingxunyiji, vol. 4, "Preface to Duyunge Manuscript and Postscript to Xibaishouze", pp. 128-129, 136.
8瑏瑢Li Dongyang: Collected Works of Li Dongyang, vol. 30, Epitaph of Lady Bai, the Wife of the Marquis of Wuding, p. 1334.
910 "The Record of Inheritance of Titles by Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty" Volume 3 "Marquis Wuding", page.
瑏瑡 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 186, April 15th, Hongzhi 15th year, page 3426.
瑏瑣Liang Chu: "Yuzhou's Remaining Manuscripts", Volume 7, "Epitaph for the Joint Burial of Mr. Wuding Guo and his Wife Xu", page 593.
瑏瑤Changed name: "A Study on the Birth and Death Years of Guo Xun", "Academic Monthly", No. 1, 1982.
On the other hand, he actively interacted with court officials and scholars, and created a good public opinion atmosphere for the Wudinghou family by publishing books such as "Three Family History" and "The Biography of Ming Heroes". 1 As a result, he not only consolidated his own position, but was even promoted to Yiguogong, which improved the family's title. 2
Conclusion
Disputes over succession to titles among the families of meritorious officials in the Ming Dynasty were not uncommon. Qin Bo once divided the disputes over succession to titles among the families of meritorious officials in the Ming Dynasty into four categories: disputes between legitimate and illegitimate branches, disputes between the eldest and the youngest in legitimate branches, disputes between the eldest and the youngest in illegitimate branches, and disputes between distant and close illegitimate branches. He also classified the disputes over succession to titles among the Wudinghou family as disputes between the eldest and the youngest in illegitimate branches. 3 In fact, the disputes over succession to titles among the Wudinghou family also had two particularities. First, most of the disputes over succession to titles among the families of meritorious officials in the Ming Dynasty involved court officials or were purely family affairs, and the imperial power rarely played an important role in them. However, in the disputes over succession to titles among the Wudinghou family, the ownership and even the survival of the right to inherit the title were closely related to the imperial power from beginning to end, especially in the early days. Secondly, the disputes over succession to titles among the families of meritorious officials in the Ming Dynasty generally did not last long, and there were rarely any repetitions in the ownership and survival of the right to inherit the title. However, the disputes over succession to titles among the Wudinghou family lasted for more than half a century, spanning five dynasties and four emperors, and were finally settled after several repetitions.
This peculiarity is determined by the following two factors: First, Guo Ying's eldest son Guo Zhen and second son Guo Ming both died young, which resulted in a long period of lack of a suitable successor to the title in the family after Guo Ying's death, and the title of Marquis Wuding remained vacant for more than 20 years. On the one hand, this made Guo Xuan and subsequent successors lack a solid foundation, thus making the title of Marquis Wuding lack effective support. On the other hand, it was difficult for the family of Marquis Wuding to form a stable force to control the title, and this dispute over the title was difficult to completely settle.
Secondly, the Wudinghou family had an extremely close relationship with the imperial power. Guo Zhen was the consort of Princess Yongjia, the daughter of Emperor Ming □□, and Guo Xuan's sister was the imperial concubine of Emperor Ming Renzong. This kind of marriage relationship with the royal family across dynasties was rare in the history of the Ming Dynasty. 4 Princess Yongjia and Guo Xuan's sister, two representatives of imperial power, were in opposition to each other, making the Wudinghou family's succession dispute particularly complicated. Although their influence no longer existed after the Jingtai period, they had left a deep imprint of imperial power on this succession dispute.
This particularity reflects the intriguing relationship between the clan power of the meritorious officials' families and the imperial power in the Ming Dynasty. On the one hand, although the clan power of the meritorious officials' families originated from the imperial power, they still had a certain degree of independence. If it were not for the difficulty for the descendants of the eldest son of Wuding Hou to inherit the title due to the early death of Guo Zhen and his two sons and Guo Zhen's illness, it would be difficult for Guo Xuan to use the imperial power represented by his sister to inherit the title. After Guo Xuan inherited the title, although Princess Yongjia hoped to use the imperial power she represented to regain the title for Guo Zhen, she did not receive the support of the court. All these can reflect the independence of the clan power of the meritorious officials' families in the Ming Dynasty relative to the imperial power.
On the other hand, the power of the family of meritorious officials in the Ming Dynasty was in opposition to the supremacy of the imperial power. Once conflicts occurred within the family of meritorious officials, the imperial power would always take the opportunity to intervene to weaken or even eliminate the power of the family. Both Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty tried to deprive the Wuding Marquis family of their right to inherit the title under the pretext of the dispute over the inheritance of the title. Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty even deprived Guo Liang of his official position for this reason, which were all manifestations of this relationship.
However, the imperial power itself is not independent. The existence of imperial power is inseparable from the support of the subjects, so in some cases, it will compromise with the power of the meritorious officials. In the early years of the Tianshun period, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty took the initiative to let Guo Chang inherit the title in order to consolidate his position. This is a clear proof. The imperial power is subject to other factors, so the meritorious officials' families can influence the imperial power by integrating various resources. Guo Liang and his son fully integrated the resources of court officials and literati, creating a good social atmosphere for their own inheritance of the title, and finally achieved the purpose of inheriting the title. In short, the dispute over the inheritance of the Wudinghou family fully reflects the delicate relationship between the family power of the meritorious officials and the imperial power in the Ming Dynasty, and also had an important impact on the development of the Wudinghou family.
[This article is funded by the Young Teachers Research Project (Humanities and Social Sciences) of Jiangxi Normal University.]
Author profile: Zhu Zhongwen (1988-), male, from Xinyang, Henan Province, lecturer at the School of History, Culture and Tourism, Jiangxi Normal University, and PhD in History.
Editor-in-charge: Hao Hongnuan
(Continued on next page)
1 See Hu Jixun, “A Study on Guo Xun’s Book Publication: The Interaction between the Publication of Family History and the Politics in the Mid-Ming Dynasty”, Chinese Literature and History Review, No. 1, 2015.
2 "The Veritable Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty", Volume 220, January 18th of the Jiajing reign, page 4550.
3 Qin Bo: “A Preliminary Study on the Inheritance of Noblemen and the Activities of the Clans of Meritorious Officials in the Ming Dynasty”, Anhui Historiography, No. 5, 2015.
4 In the early Ming Dynasty, many meritorious officials and the royal family had marriages, but in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the royal family only married with the middle and lower-level military and civilians as a family rule, and this situation no longer existed. See Li Jing: "A Study on the Marriage Relationship of Military Officers' Families in the Ming Dynasty - Focusing on Epitaph Materials", Master's Thesis of Shaanxi Normal University, 2015, pp. 23-39.
·Research on the issue of maritime boundary demarcation by the Beijing government of the Republic of China·
[This article is a phased result of the National Social Science Fund Project "Data Collection and Research on the Issue of Territorial Waters Sovereignty in Modern China" (15bzs076).]
Author profile: Liu Limin (1976-), male, from Ningxiang, Hunan, professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of History and Culture, Hunan Normal University.
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Xiuyu
on demarcating the territorial watersbeijing governmentthe republicchina:
focusthe sea board mittee
liu－ min
(college history and culture, hunan normal university, changsha 410081, china)
abstract: because the requestnavy department, the beijing government the republicchina established the sea board mittee i taskto discussdemarcate the territorial waters and relate mittee carried out discuss the importance and necessity the boundaryterritorial waters, the principle and methoddemarcating the territorial waters, and howdemarcate variou establishmentthe mittee showed that the beijing government was already aware of the importancethe maritim discussions didn't directly contributethe declarationthe relate, it still has a positiv course, the mittee was just a temporary meeting with its deficiency.
key words: the sea board mittee; beijing governmentthe republicchina; territorial waters
(Continued from previous page)
on struggles for inheriting the marquis rankwuding familythe ming dynasty:
a study from the relationship between clan authority and imperial power
Zhu Zhong - Wen
(college history culture and tour, jiangxi normal university, nanchang 330022, china)
abstract: guo xuan inherited the rankmarquis, which sowed the seedimperial power interposed the struggle for inheriting the marquis rankwudin emperorzhengtong attemptedcancel the marquis inheritancewuding familyshelving the struggle, however, he helped guo chang inherited the marquis rank for the purposeconsolidating his own politica imperial government contended that the marquis rankwuding family shoulddisinherited from the periodchenghuathe early period o liang inherited the marquis rank afterestablished good atmosphere for himself, which the struggles for inheriting the marquis rankwuding family wer struggles showed subtle relationship between clan authoritymeritorious families and imperial powerthe ming dynasty.
key words: familywuding marquis; struggle for inheriting the marquis rank; meritorious families; clan authority; imperial power
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