Jingtai Emperor

Jingtai景泰(* November 21, 1428, † March 14, 1457 ) Birth name: Zhu Qiyu朱 祁 钰, Temple name: Daizong代宗( until 1644 awarded by the Ming rebels ), was the seventh emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty. He usurped the throne of his brother Zhengtong and reigned from 1449 to 1457.

Jingtai ascended the throne after his older brother, the reigning Emperor Zhengtong, was captured in the Battle of Tumu in 1449 and held by the Mongols as a hostage. His brother was released after just one year imprisonment, because it was useless by Jingtais took office. Nevertheless, Jingtai saw as the rightful Emperor and imprisoned his elder brother along with his family. The ancestral heir to the throne he penned well and instead appointed his own son as heir. The former Zhengtong Emperor he approved only the more provisional title of the "Great Emperor " to.

Jingtai was led largely by the Minister Yu Qian enabled. By whose advice he devoted himself to the kingdom. He had put the Grand Canal repair, equip the Yellow River dikes with better and boost the economy. As a result, the power of the Ming Dynasty was strengthened again. In 1457 he became seriously ill and was in critical condition. After his son had died shortly before under mysterious circumstances, he refused to appoint a new heir. In this situation, his brother locked Zhengtong appointed successor and placed his brother in a palace coup behaves normally. Zhengtong ascended the throne again, but this time under the name Tianshun.

Jingtai died a few months later, probably murdered by his own eunuchs, on the orders of Emperor Tianshun. Jingtai was considered a usurper and no honorable burial granted as emperor. His brother would not let him be buried in the imperial Ming Tombs north of Beijing, but outside the grave district. He got a simple prince grave, while his begun Kaisermausoleum was later used for Kaiser Taichang.